Origin and Development of Chinese Writing Fig. 1 Fig. 2. Fig. 3. Lecture 1: WRITING 1. Language: spoken vs. written Spoken language is primary both phylogenetic and ontogenetic. There were spoken languages long before written languages. 2. Writing and Civilization The invention of writing and of a convenient system of records on paper has had a greater influence in uplifting the human race than any other intellectual achievement in the career of man (Breasted, 1926). As language distinguishes man from animal, so writing distinguishes civilized man from barbarian. All the factors--geographic, social, and economic-- leading towards a full civilization simultaneously created a complex condition which could not function properly without writing. Writing exists only in a civilization and a civilization cannot exist without writing (Gelb, 1963). 3. Stages of the Development of Writing (1) Pictography is a forerunners of writing, using pictograms (i.e. pictures as signs) such as are known among American Indians. The earliest cave paintings in Europe were dated about 37,000 years old. However, archaeologists in South Africa have found engraved symbols on two chunks of red ochre which were dated 77,000 years ago (Science 295, 247, 2002) ( Fig. 1 ) (2) Semasiography is also a forerunner of writing, using the identifying-mnemonic and descriptive-representational devices to achieve intercommunication by means of visible marks expressing meaning, but not necessarily linguistic elements. e.g. The Narmer Palette. Fig. 2 shows a letter from a Southern Cheyenne Turtle-Following-His- Wife to his son Little-Man and Fig. 3 . shows a letter from a girl of Yakaghir tribe at Northeastern Siberia to a young man. The conifer-shaped objects are people. The row of dots represents plaited hair of female (Gelb, 1963). (3) Full Writing: The critical step in the development of full-writing is the inclusion of phoneme into the pictogram or idiogram. There are two kinds of full-writing, (i) Logographic writing (logogram is the basic unit of logographic writing): The system is characterized by a large inventory of elementary signs numbering in the thousands, since the words (or morphemes) of the language are much more numerous than meaningless sounds such as syllables or phonemes. Most archaic writings are to various degrees logographic, but in full writing the logographic principle is supplemented in some measure by phonetic writing. Chinese is logographic, but some scholars think it should be more appropriately called morpho-syllabic writing. (ii) Phonographic writing: Syllabic writing and alphabetic writing are phonographic writings. Writing is accomplished by symbols expressing the sounds of speech as opposed to higher-level units (i.e. words and morphemes). 4. Major ancient writings : Cretan Linear A (1750-1450 BC, undeciphered), Cretan Linear B (1750-1450 BC), Hittite (1500-700 BC), Egyptian (3100 BC-500 AD), Sumerian (3100-1800 BC), Proto-Elamite (3000-2200 BC), Harappan (2300-1200 BC, undeciphered), Chinese (1700 BC- present), Maya (200 BC-1500 AD). Some samples of these writings are shown in Fig. 4 .
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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) .
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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 ,
