Origin and Development of Chinese Writing

Fig . 1

F ig . 2 . F ig . 3 .

Lecture 1: WRITING

1. Langua ge: sp oken v s. wri ttenSpo ken la nguage is p r imary bo th phy logene t ic an d on to genet i c . The re were spok en lan guageslon g be fo re wri t ten l anguag es .

2. Writ in g and Civ i l i zationThe inven t ion o f wr i t ing an d o f a conve n ien t sys tem o f re cords on pap er has had a grea terin f luence in up l i f t in g the human race than an y o the r in te l lec tu a l ach ieveme nt in the ca reer o f man(Breas ted , 1926 ). As langua ge d is t ingu ishes m an fro m an im al , so wri t i ng d is t ingu ishes c iv i l iz edman from barbar ian . A l l the fac to rs --ge ograph ic , so c ia l , and ec onomic -- lea d ing towards a fu l lc iv i l iza t ion s imu l tan eous ly c rea ted a c omplex cond i t ion w h ich c ou ld n o t fun c t ion proper ly w i thoutwri t ing . Wri t in g ex is ts on ly in a c iv i l iza t io n and a c iv i l iza t i on can not ex is t w i thout wr i t in g (Ge lb ,196 3).

3. Stages of th e Deve lopmen t of Writ ing(1 ) P ic tograp hy is a fo rerunne rs o f wr i t in g , us ing p ic togram s(i .e . p ic tu res as s ig ns) su ch as are kn own am ong Am ericanInd ians . The ea r l ies t cave pa in t i ngs in Europ e were da ted about37,000 ye ars o ld . How ever, a rchae o log is ts in South Afr ica havefou nd eng raved symbols on two chu nks o f red o chre w h ich w eredated 77 ,000 ye ars ag o (Sc ience 2 95, 24 7, 200 2) (Fig . 1 )

(2 ) Sem as iography is a lso a fo re runner o f wr i t ing , us ing theide nt i fy ing-mne monic and de scr ip t ive-re presen ta t ion a l dev icesto ach iev e in te rcommu nica t ion by means o f v is ib le m arksexp ress in g mean ing , b u t no t neces sar i ly l ingu is t ic e lemen ts .e .g . The Narmer Pa le t te . Fig . 2 sh ows a le t te r f rom a Southern C heyenn e Turt le -Fo l lowing -His -Wife to h is son L i t t l e -Man and Fig . 3 . s hows a le t te r f rom a g i r l o f Yak agh ir t r ibe a t No rtheas ternSib er ia to a yo ung ma n. Th e con i fe r-sh aped o b jec ts a re p eop le . The row o f do ts represe ntsp la i ted h a ir o f female (Ge lb , 196 3).

(3 ) Fu l l Wri t in g : The c r i t i ca l s tep in the de ve lopm ent o f fu l l -wr i t in g is the inc lus ion o f ph oneme in tothe p ic to gram o r id iogram. There are two k in ds o f fu l l -w r i t ing , ( i ) Log ograph ic wr i t ing ( logogram isthe bas ic un i t o f log ograph ic wr i t ing): T he sys tem is chara c ter iz ed by a la rg e inve ntory o fe le mentary s ign s numb ering in the thous ands , s ince the wo rds (o r morp hemes) o f th e lang uageare much more n umerou s than mean ing less sound s such as sy l lab le s or p honeme s. Mos t a rch a icwri t ings are to var io us deg rees logogra ph ic , bu t in fu l l wr i t in g the logograph ic p r inc ip le issup p lemen ted in some measure by p honet i c wr i t ing . Ch ines e is l ogogra ph ic , bu t so me sch o larsth ink i t shou ld be mo re app ropr ia te ly c a l led morpho-sy l lab ic wr i t i ng . ( i i ) Pho nograp h ic wr i t ing :Sy l lab ic wr i t in g and a lphab et ic w r i t ing are p honograph ic wr i t in gs . Wr i t ing is acc ompl is hed bysym bols e xpress ing th e soun ds o f speech as op posed to h ig her- le ve l un i ts ( i .e . wo rds an dmorphemes ).

4. Major ancien t writ ings : C re tan L inear A (17 50-145 0 BC, und ec iphe red), Cre tan L inea r B(17 50-145 0 BC), H i t t i te (15 00-700 BC), Egypt ian (31 00 BC-500 AD ), Sum erian (3100-1800 B C),Pro to-E la mite (3000-2 200 BC ), Harappan (2300-1200 B C, und ec iphe red), Ch ines e (170 0 BC-pre sent) , Maya (200 B C-1500 AD). Some sample s o f these w ri t ing s are shown in Fig . 4 .

Origin and Development of Chinese Writing

Lin ear A . Chad wick , p . 13.

L in ear B . Pope,p15 3

Harappan (pro to -Ind ic ) .

Summar ian cun i forms . Jea np.1 5.2500 BC

Pro to-E la mi te . Gelb, p . 89, c .220 0 BC

Hi t t i te h ierog l yphs .Cou lmas , p . 211 . 1000 BC

May a wr i t ing f r om Temple ofCro ss , Pal enque. 700 A D

Fig . 4

5. F ive O rig ina l Writ ing Sy stemsOnly four o r f i ve ind epende nt wr i t ing s ys tems have been p roduce d in the en t i re h i s to ry o f hum anc iv i l iza t ion . A mong them on ly Ch inese s urv ive s in to the m odern t ime. A l l th e o the r four have long

Egy pt ian h ierog lyphs . TheEle phant i ne ca l endar waseng raved dur ing the r e ign o fTut hmos is I (c . 1450 BC)

O ra c le b o n e in s c r ip t i o n s .c . 1 3 0 0 B C

Origin and Development of Chinese Writing

Fig . 5

s in ce cea sed to be fu nc t ion a l . Ho wever, f rom Egypt ian and Sumer ian , the pro to-Can aan i teins cr ip t i on was deve loped in c . 1 700 BC and b ecame the precurso r o f a l l the a lpha bet ic wr i t in gs .

Nam e per iod s ig ns sy l labus Dura t ion (y rs )Sum erian 310 0 to 1 800 BC 600 150 130 0Egy pt ian 300 0 to 5 00 BC 700 100 250 0Harappan (?) 230 0 to 1 200 BC ? ? 110 0Chinese 170 0 BC to p res ent 50 ,000 62 >36 00May a 200 BC to 1500 AD 500 50 130 0

6. A gene alogy of a l l weste rn lan guagesFig . 5 l i s ts th e gene a logy o f wes tern w ri t ing sys te ms.

7. Status of Ch inese in mod ern wr it ing systemsThe re are on ly two grea t sy s tems o f wr i t ing w h ich b e tweenthe m prov ide th e med ia o f m ost o f the w orld 's wr i t t enlan guage: The S emit ic a lpha bet, v iewed as an endur ing anddev e lop in g h is to r ica l pheno menon, o f wh ich Arab ic , Roman,or Cyr i l l ic sc r ip ts a re ind iv idua l representa t ives . The o theris the Ch inese sys tem . Unt i l fa i r ly rec ent ly in the h is to ry o fwr i t ing i t is l ike ly tha t C h inese sc r ip t (eve n i f w e cons ideron ly the sys tem ac tua l ly us ed by the Ch inese, ignor ing i t so f f shoots such as the Japan ese sy s tem o r the Ch ines e-der ived s c r ip t fo rmer ly use d fo r V ie tna mese) was mo rewid esprea d than a l l t he Sem it ic -d er ived a lpha bet ic sc r ip tsput together. C h inese tex ts go ba ck 35 centur ies , thelon ges t c ont inu ous wr i t ten t rad i t ion in the w orld . l t has be enes t imated , fo r ins tan ce, th a t up to abo ut the end the 18cen tury m ore th an ha l f o f a l l the books ever pub l is hed in thewor ld was wri t t en in Ch ines e. Eve n toda y , whe n Semi t ic -de r ived a lphab et ic w r i t ing has s preadove r an e xcept iona l ly w ide domain thank s to the sud den sp urt in wea l th and power, wh ich theInd us tr ia l Revo lu t ion fue l l ed in some o f the na t ion s us in g tha t sys te m, Ch inese a nd Ch inese-der ived w ri t ing occup ies a very respec tab le s econd p lace in te rms o f number o f us ers . M ost o f thescr ip ts tha t ha ve no h is to r ica l c onnec t ion wi th e i ther Se mit ic o r Ch inese s ys tems , o f w h ich L inearB a nd Han 'gu l a re two examp les , a re (o r were) used in qu i te sma l l corners o f the wor ld . I t happen stha t what a re h is to r i ca l ly the tw o majo r sys tems o f wr i t i ng exe mpl i fy the two main typo log ica lca tegor ie s o f s c r ip t : where as the Semit ic fam i ly is phono graph ic , the Ch ine se sys tem islog ograph ic . A graph o f the Ch ine se wri t ing s ys tem s tands no t fo r a u n i t o f p ronu nc ia t i on bu t fo r amorpheme, a min ima l m ean ing fu l un i t o f the Ch inese langua ge. S ince Ch inese, l ike Eng l is h or a nyoth er lan guage, has thousan ds o f morphe mes in i ts v ocabu lary , the Ch inese s c r ip t inc lud estho usands o f g raphs , ra ther than the fe w doze n foun d in a segme nta l , o r eve n sy l l ab ic ,pho nograp h ic sc r ip t (Sampso n, p . 145).

8. Chines e Writ ing in d ig ita l ageTod ay 's m a jor w r i t ing sys te ms us ing p ic tograp h ic o r logog raph ic sc r ip ts a re the C h inesecha rac ters used in Ch ina , J apan, Korea, wh i le a l l o ther w r i t ing s are phonet ic , in c lud in g the mono-sy l lab ic sys tem s o f K atakan a and Hiraga na in Japan, the Dev anagar i in S outh-E as t As ia e tc , andthe d i f fe ren t a lphabe t ic sc r ip ts a l l ov er the world . A lmo st a l l Europ ean a lphabets a re based on theGre ek and Roman a lpha bet, w i th ce rta in mod i f i ca t ion and a dapta t ion . T he major d i f fe renc ebetween logogra ph ic a nd pho net ic sc r ip ts is tha t wh i le in the fo rmer the in d iv idu a l sym bolsor ig ina l l y represent ideas and ob jec ts , in th e la t te r the symbo ls s ta nd on ly fo r sound s . Thu s inCh inese the cha rac ter fo r ' horse ' u l t im ate ly der ive s f rom a p ic tu re o f a ho rse ; the sam e charac ter,whe n read by a Japane se or Korean , s t i l l mean s the same th ing b u t p ro nounce d d i f fe ren t l y . I t issor t o f l ike th e use o f num era ls in the West: 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 mean the exa c t sam e th in g a l l over E uropebut p rono unced "one, two, th ree , four" in Eng l ish , "od in , dva , t r i , che ty r i " in Rus s ian , and "u n ,deu x , t ro is , qua tre" i n Fren ch. Th ey rep resent the c oncept o f th e numb er, re gard le ss o f i ts so undva lue . Pe op le h ave be en us ing var ious s ymbols as re cords fo r so me 30,000 ye ars , b u t the f i rs tc iv i l iza t ion th a t use d true wri t i ng was tha t o f the Sumer ians , short l y fo l l owed b y the Egypt iancu l tu re . Bes ide th is , the C h inese , the Mesoam erican Ind ia ns , an d the Indus Va l ley c iv i l iza t io n a lsoinv ented un ique p ic to graph ic sys tems. T he Mes oameri can an d the Indus Va l ley sc r ip ts tu rned ou tto be a d ead en d wi th no he irs . T he o th er th ree sc r ip ts a re the ances tors o f a l l o ther wr i t in gsys tems in the world , bo th phonet ic and p ic to graph ic . As fa r as we kn ow, a l l phon et ic s ys tems a tone po in t evo lv ed ou t o f p i c togra ph ic o nes . T h is c i rcumstance h ad led certa in sch o lars to thebe l ie f in "deve loped" and "pr imi t ive" w r i t ing sys te ms; th e idea was tha t th ose sc r ip ts wh ich were

Origin and Development of Chinese Writing

s t i l l us ing p ic tograp h ic ch arac te rs were mere ly a t a lowe r s tag e o f e vo lu t i on tha n thos e wi tha lp habet i c o r m onosy l lab ic symbols . See ming ly , the two do zen le t te rs o f the Roman a lpha betsee ms muc h eas ie r to bo th l earn a nd to use th an the 6 ,000 or mo re cha rac ters o f w r i t ten Ch ine selan guage where every symbol is a un ique word and ha s to b e memo rized separa te ly . Yet th epra c t ice shows tha t c h i ld re n in c ountr i es us ing the a lpha bet do no t l earn to read and w ri te fas te rtha n thos e in C h ina o r Japa n: the road from learn in g the ind iv idua l l e t te rs o f th e a lph abet toac tua l ly read in g and compre hend in g wri t ten te x t is a long and labor io us pro cess . Sometimes th ereare o ther op in ions vo iced s ay ing tha t i n the age o f techn o logy and co mputer iza t io n , p ic tograp h iclan guages are b ecomin g obso le te : the h igh num ber o f symbo ls mak es the input o f th ese la nguage sted ious a nd unn ecessa r i ly t ime-co nsumin g. But in re a l i ty , no th ing is fu r the r f rom tru th than th is .Bec ause e ach ch arac te r s tan ds fo r an en t i re w ord an d idea , inpu tt ing a s ing le cha rac ter means theinp ut o f an en t i re wo rd . In Eng l i sh on the av erage i t tak es abo ut fou r keys trokes fo l lo wed by aspa ce to input a word ; us in g the p iny in input sys te m in C h inese i t ta kes ab out f i ve , an d the spaceis no t re qu ired ; bu t wh i le typ ing phras es and en t i re sentences makes no d i f fe renc e in k eys tro kenum ber, i n Ch in ese i t s ign i f ican t ly red uces the num ber. In Eng l ish , the phrase 'E uropea nCom munity ' cons is ts o f e igh teen k eys tro kes , i n Ch in ese i t can b e en te red wi th th ree key s troke s(h t tp : / /www .logo i .com/n otes /c h inese _orig ins .h tml) .

Reference s:

Cha dwick , John (1990) The dec ip hermen t o f L inear B, C ambrid ge Un ivers i t y Pres sChiera , E dward (1938) The y wro te on c lay , T he Un ivers i t y o f C h icago PressCou lmas, F lo r ian (1996) Enc yc lope d ia o f Wri t i ng sys tems, B lackwe l l Pub l ishersGelb , I ig nace J . (196 3) A s tudy o f wr i t ing , T he Un ivers i t y o f C h icago Press ,Jea n, Geo rges (1992) Wri t ing , The s to ry o f a lpha bets a nd sc r ip ts , H arry J . Abra ms, In c . Pub l ishersPop e, Mau rice (1975) The s to ry o f a rchaeo log ica l dec ip hermen t, C har les Scr ib ner 's SonsRob inson, Andre w (200 2) Los t Lang uages , The E n igma o f the World 's Und ec iphe red Sc r ip ts ,

McG raw-Hi l lSam pson, Geoffrey (19 85) Wri t ing s ys tems , an l ingu is t ic in troduc t ion , S tan ford Un iv ers i ty PressSen ner, Wayne M . (198 9) The or ig ins o f wr i t in g , U n ivers i ty o f Nebra ska PressGie d ion , S. (19 57) The e tern a l p re sent: The be g inn in g o f a rt , Pa theon B ooksBre as ted , James H. (1 926) i n The Conqu es t o f C iv i l iza t io n , N Y, pp 53 fMoo re , Ol iver (2000) Ch inese, Read in g the pas t s er ies , B r i t ish Museu m Pres s ,