Lingfei zhou Jingyu guan shuo wang qin li Pro W A Johnson Greek civ duke Kunshan university Writing systems in the East 1 Step 1 What is the East Writing System Writing systems in the East ID: 296680
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Slide1
Writing Systems in the East
Lingfei zhou; Jingyu guan; shuo wang; qin li. Pro. W A. JohnsonGreek civ, duke Kunshan university
Writing systems in the East
1Slide2
Step 1 What is the East Writing System?
Writing systems in the East 2Slide3
Oracle Bone Script
Writing systems in the East 3Slide4
Development in ShapeWriting systems in the East
4日
月
Sun MoonSlide5
Development in Sound
single syllable zero-consonantal syllable like “啊”, pronounced Ah, IPA[A]limited variety in pronunciationWriting systems in the East 5Slide6
Development in MeaningWriting systems in the East
6比(to compare)
“water”
河
river
会
” is “
hu
ì
(IPA[
xei
])
”,
“
绘
”
“
烩
” are both pronounced “
hu
ì
”Slide7
Dongba SymbolsSlide8
Origin and development
The Dongba script appears to be an independent ancient writing system, though presumably it was created in the environment of older scripts. According to Dongba Revolution in China, the use of Dongba was discouraged.In 1957, the Chinese governmreligious fables, the Dongba script was created by the founder of the Bön religious tradition of Tibet, Tönpa Shenrab (Tibetan: ston
pa gshen rab) or
Shenrab Miwo (Tibetan:
gshen
rab
mi
bo
). From Chinese historical documents, it is clear that
dongba
was used as early as the 7th century, during the early Tang Dynasty. By the Song Dynasty in the 10th century,
dongba
was widely used by the
Naxi
people. It continues to be used in certain areas; thus, it is the only pictographic language in the world still actively maintained.
After the 1949 Communist
ent
implemented a Latin-based phonographic writing system for
Naxi.During
the Cultural Revolution, thousands of manuscripts were destroyed. Paper and cloth writings were boiled into construction paste for building houses. About half of the
dongba
manuscripts that survive today had been taken from China to the United States, Germany and Spain.
Today
Dongba
is nearly extinct, and the Chinese government is trying to revive it in an attempt to preserve
Naxi
culture. Slide9
Usage
The script was originally used as a prompt for the recitation of ritual texts. For inventories, contracts, and letters, the geba script was used. Milnor concludes it is "unlikely that it [the Dongba script] would make the minor developmental leap to becoming a full-blown writing system. It arose a number of centuries ago to serve a particular ritual purpose. As its purpose need not expand to the realm of daily use among non-religious specialists—after all, literate Naxi today, as in the past, write in Chinese—at most it will presumably but continue to fulfill the needs of demon exorcism, amusing tourists and the like."Tourists to southern China are likely to encounter Dongba in the Ancient City of Lijiang where many businesses are adorned with signs in three languages: Dongba, Chinese, and EnglishSlide10Slide11
Structure and form
Dongba is both pictographic and ideographic. There are about a thousand glyphs, but this number is fluid as new glyphs are coined. Priests drew detailed pictures to record information, and illustrations were simplified and conventionalized to represent not only materialistic objects but also abstract ideas. Glyphs are often compounded to convey the idea of a particular word. Generally, as a mnemonic, only keywords are written; a single pictograph can be used to recite different phrases or an entire sentence.Examples of Dongba rebus include using a picture of two eyes, to represent fate ,a rice bowl for both 'food' and 'sleep', and a picture of a goral stands in for an aspectual particle.Slide12
Step 2
Writing systems in the East 12Chronological Order
Chinese
Greek
Cuneiform(3200BC)
Hieroglyph (
3
000 BC)
Oracle (14century BC)
《the book of songs》
诗经
(11century)
Greek Alphabet(800BC)
LinearB
(1500-1200BC)
《Iliad》(760-710BC)
bronze
inscription
金
文
(1300BC)
Hsiao
chuan
小篆
(221BC)
隶书
(Qin Dynasty)
《Homer》(9-8century BC)
A sign “X”(5000BC)
Some Signs (7000 BC)
Hieroglyph (3400 BC)
“日”“月”“
X”
“
#”
、“∞”、“▽”“△”Slide13
When and where
Did they go their separate ways?Writing systems in the East 13Slide14
Until
the moment of Linear B, still similarMeaning: signs represent something Shape-forming: abstraction of pictures Pronunciation: single syllable (Chinese Oracles at that time probably did so, but remain a hypothesis). Writing systems in the East
14Slide15
Writing systems in the East 15But what on earth happened later? Why did they become different and why
?
Did you know that the a group of people’s passion for
making money
had saved the Greek language?
Let’s explore.Slide16
“WE LOVE MONEY!”
Users of this upswing language were a group of people extremely good at navigation and making money, even better than Jewish. They were brave, aggressive and intelligent, engaged in trade around the Mediterranean. Everything involves making money attracted them to struggle for, whatever it was normal business or slave trade. Writing systems in the East
16Slide17
Writing systems in the East
17Slide18
business boomed
“official language”-cuneiform, was not convenient at
all(in accounting ,
etc
).
The cuneiform
was blocking their rapid speed of
blossoming
Writing systems in the East
18
Logical trainSlide19
Writing systems in the East
19So they quickly created some new “signs” directly representing some consonants that could help them recognize words at the soonest, even this list of signs were absent from vowels.Slide20
Writing systems in the East
20In fact, these non-vowel signs was a creative combination of Babylon cuneiform signs which evolved from Sumerian cuneiform and Egyptian hieroglyph signs. Later on, this so-called “alphabet” invention was so succinct and effective that it was used broadly, even affected Greek people who were in the lack of writing system, crying for the loss of Linear B. Slide21
Actually this intelligent and profit-minded group of people were called Phoenicians, who had no idea that their great passion for making money had even saved Greece.
Writing systems in the East 21Slide22
So that was exactly what happened.
The Greek language rebirthed by adopting this new mode of thinking and new signs of recording their vocal language. use some visual signs to “record” and “spell” their vocal language instead of giving each of them a syllable and making them represent something. unlimited words, more adaptive and easier to learn that the latter one. Then, Greek people added vowels in it, making this alphabet more suitable for Greek language and adjusted its number, finally making it a 24-letter complete alphabet writing system of Greek language.Writing systems in the East 22Slide23
While Chinese
writing system kept developing in the sense of logograph, using signs, that is, characters to represent things and give them pronunciation. What wonderful in Chinese characters is the cultural deposit they preserved in the long run of history and through what we can see ancestors wisdom and their world view.23Slide24
Basically, it is now clear that
it was the loss of Linear B and the accidental appearance of Phoenician which they adopted later successfully that made these two writing system begun to go their separate ways. Then story on these two continents changed as well.Writing systems in the East 24Slide25
How can you do that? They are all languages in nature, which adopted to their unique environment with different approaches to solve problems. You can go fishing with either your rod or your net.
Writing systems in the East 25Slide26
Poems
It is the mares that bear me, as far as my heart desires, may you be very happy when you set out in the light of dawn…. May you mount the chariot and have the road open before you. May the Wind Monarch and the Rain Legions wet down the road [to reduce the dust]. … May the Green Goddess travel at your side. with the maidens, Daughters of the Sun, hurrying to escort me, having left behind the House of Night for the light, pushing the veils from their heads with their hands. Writing systems in the East 26
In a felicitous year and a good month, an auspicious day and a fortunate
hour,
as the divine maidens place me upon the auspicious path of the
Dragon,
a path that can carry a man with understanding as far as the stars. Thereon am I borne, as the wise mares strain to pull the chariot … May the White Tiger help you advance. May the Vermillion bird [the sun] lead you. May Xuanwu [god of night and darkness] be your companion. … May you have joy without
end….Slide27
Shape and SoundWriting systems in the East
27LogographyCuneiformChinese Bone Script
Hieroglyphic
Phonography
Early
Syllabaries
Phoenician
Alphabet
Pictographic
(ideographs)Slide28
bei and bei
北 North背 BackWriting systems in the East 28
通假字
六书Slide29
Six CategoriesWriting systems in the East
29
East Han Dynasty (25-220)
9000+ words
82%
形声字
Southern Song Dynasty(1127-1279)
23000
+ words
90
%
形声字
Modern Chinese
7000
+ words
(Commonly used
)
80%
形声字
形 声 字
shape sound word Slide30
Spectrum
30Shape
Sound
Pictograph
Alphabet
Chinese
😵
🔡
🐶
😁
😌
“Not
until modern times has English and French Orthography abandoned Greek hyperphoneticism to return to a partly semasiographic and logographic writing
.”
Powell. Page 244
😵
English
Pseudoscience…Slide31
THX
Writing systems in the East 31