ANT206H5 Lecture 8: week 8
Document Summary
Phonetic sign: mark that represents one or more sounds. Semantic sign: mark that represents specific idea/meaning. <2nd> (english) kinds of writing systems: pictographic, rebus, logographic, syllabic, logosyllabic, alphabetic. Recognize that all systems use combinations of types of signs. Drawing of a sun = the sun. Drawing of a sun can = warmth. Picture represents words that sound the same: Drawing of an eye = i (on previous slide) Drawing of a star represents (in sumerian): [an] = star, heaven, sky-god rebus writing single picture to represent two or more worlds that sound the same. A sig(cid:374) for su(cid:374) = the s(cid:455)lla(cid:271)le (cid:862)su(cid:374)(cid:863) [s n] Signs carry both semantic and phonetic information. English sign = the sound [s] Arabic sign < > = the sound [s] Arabic sign < > = the sound [a] 17th century bce akkadians/phoenicians adapt sumerian system. From syllabary to individual consonants and vowel. 9th century bce greeks adapt phoenician system.
