Chinese Characters: Their Ideographic Nature

Keywords: ideographic, Chinese characters, writing systems, phononoemaphore,

Lawrence J. Howell, Mark Liberman, Hikaru Morimoto,

Victor Mair, Bernhard Karlgren, kanji

The Chinese writing system has been described as logographic, morphosyllabic, or

morphographic. One term that Sinologists and linguists take great care not to use in

describing it is “ideographic.” For instance, in “What is Writing?” Mark Liberman

asserts

It is clearly inappropriate to call the Chinese system “ideographic”, as is sometimes

done. Chinese characters refer to morphemes, not ideas.

What Liberman intends by “ideographic” is: Elements denote ideas, combined in a

logical fashion.

Speaking of particular types of writing (pictographic, ideographic, logographic,

syllabic, moraic, alphabetic, featural), Liberman goes on to say that

This typology seem very rational, but in fact it is misleading, as rational taxonomies

often are. All documented writing systems are a mixture of two or (usually) more of

the these categories, and all include a significant phonological aspect.

(Sic: Text retrieved on 19 April 2012 is reproduced verbatim; italics indicating

quotation are mine.)

I concur that the Chinese writing system contains a mixture of the types noted by

Liberman. This particular writing system also, I dare say, conforms neatly to

Liberman's own definition of “ideographic.”

Ideas pervade the Chinese writing system. The ideas are often overt, sometimes

opaque, occasionally obscure, but they are omnipresent, conveyed by elements that I

denote phononoemaphores (sound-concept bearers). Their existence makes it

perfectly accurate to describe the Chinese writing system as ideographic.

In a recent response to Victor Mair, I inspected a number of characters with the

elements 方 and 旁, showing quite clearly that these “elements denote ideas,

combined in a logical fashion.” Here I will reiterate the point with additional

examples.

As noted at my online dictionary site, Kanji Networks, the vast majority of terms in

the Chinese language (family) derive from one of seven ideas, or concepts: Frame,

Continuum, Concealment, Supple, Spread, Small/Thin/Slender, Straight.

The text below presents subsets of phononoemaphores, one subset for each of the

seven concept groups. This is followed by a sample of a half-dozen characters in

which one of these phononoemaphores is at work. Hyperlinked characters lead to the

etymologies offered at Kanji Networks. (Note: The dictionary entries are written to

account for the principal meanings in modern Japanese; contemporary meanings in

Mandarin, Cantonese etc. may differ.)

Frame → Press upon horizontally: 夾 Pressed between; 及 Press upon; 劦 Pressure

from multiple sides; 巤 Pressure from all sides

Sample characters in which 夾 conveys the idea “Pressed between”

峽 挾 狹 頰 莢 鋏

Continuum → Curved object connected with continuation at length: 龍 Stretch

with a winding motion; 樂 Grind/continue a process at length, 老 Elderly person

(bent as the result of a long aging process), 六 Tall, curved mound; 率 Curved threads

brought into alignment, creating a compact unit

Sample characters in which 龍 conveys the idea “Stretch with a winding motion”

瀧 籠 壟 朧 聾 攏

Concealment → Covered and thus concealed: 莫 Concealed; 無 Concealed, 冥

Darkness; 亡 Dim(ly visible)

Sample characters in which 莫 conveys the idea “Concealed”

墓 暮 模 漠 膜 幕

Supple → Supple/soft objects: 襄 Soft object (that accepts/is accepting); 而 Soft and

droopy; 乃 Soft and clinging; 女 Supple (female/object)

Sample characters in which 襄 conveys the idea “Soft object (that accepts/is accepting)”

壤 孃 穰 釀 鑲 囊

Spread → Spread but maintain contact: 扁 Spread, but remain in contact; 番

Spread over/through; 辡 Split away

Sample characters in which 扁 conveys the idea “Spread, but remain in contact”

偏 遍 編 篇 諞 騙

Small/Thin/Slender → Slender and neatly aligned: 齊 Align neatly; 妻 Be in

alignment; 西 Aligned (in a nest)

Sample characters in which 齊 conveys the idea “Align neatly”

劑 齋 擠 濟 臍 齎

Straight → (Fundamentally straight, but with an element of curvature) → Curved

and vertical: 主 Stationary (object); 酉 / 酋 / 卣 Long-necked, rounded container; 豆

Food stand; 勺 Raise a curved spoon/ladle

Sample characters in which 主 conveys the idea “Stationary (object)”

住 注 拄 柱 註 駐

To reiterate what I said earlier, ideas saturate the Chinese writing system. The only

question is whether or not a particular observer is possessed of the ability to discern

them. The Chinese writing system is, indubitably, ideographic.

Notes

Regarding the ideas/concepts presented, my research collaborator (Hikaru Morimoto) and I have

identified these via inductive reasoning based on data taken from Bernhard Karlgren's

reconstructions. Those interested in confirming the soundness of the identifications may find Axel

Schuessler's ABC Etymological Dictionary of Old Chinese and his Minimal Old Chinese and Later

Han Chinese: A Companion to Grammata Serica Recensa excellent places to start.

Naturally, the characters as now used are impacted by occasional borrowing of meanings and

graphic shifts among the characters. It is also the case that present-day meanings are often

associated or extended senses of the original ones. In identifying the ideas pervading the characters,

these exigencies have been duly taken into consideration.

Note that a particular phononoemaphore may convey multiple conceptual values, in which case all

are derived from the original sense of the phononoemaphore. One example is 申 (originally, a bolt

of lightning stretching from sky to earth). In 神 and 電, the value is “bolt of lightning.” In 抻, 紳

and 曳 it is “stretch.”

Lawrence J. Howell

19 April 2012

Kanji Networks