COMS 381 Study Guide - Quiz Guide: Egyptian Hieroglyphs, Phoenician Alphabet, Walter J. Ong

• School: University of Calgary
• Department: Communications Studies
• Course: COMS 381
• Professor: Annie Rudd

Document Summary

There are two ways to think of communication: transmission view: the transmission of signals or messages over long distances for the purposes of control, ritual view: the construction and maintenance of an ordered and meaningful cultural world. Knowledge is largely deemed as impermanent because it depends on mental memory. Makes it hard to build on existing knowledges. Easier travel of information across long distances and time: empires can spread as a result. The agricultural revolution brings about a need for writing as people needed to document trade negotiations. Accounting is a major cause for the need for writing. Clay tokens > clay envelopes > cuniform tablets. A major milestone is the transition from spoken word to written language. Pictograms had no connection between written and spoken word, they were mostly pictures on walls. Ideograms contained symbols that overtime became accepted by agreement or customs. Phonograms were syllabic signs representing spoken sound and language.