Iconicity and Chinese Characters:

The Ideographic Nature of Pictograph-Based Characters

Keywords: iconicity, ideograph, ideographic,

Chinese characters, etymology, Lawrence J. Howell

In a previous essay I proposed that Chinese characters are ideographic (in distinction

to being ideographs). The present essay describes the ideographic nature of characters

that originated in pictographs. It also presents examples of compound characters built

upon them.

First, a repeat of three paragraphs outlining the types of characters.

A handful of characters have traditionally been regarded as ideographs: They were

created to represent ideas or concepts. One such example is 帝, the original sense of

which was a supreme god unifying heaven and earth. Two others would be 上 and 下,

the earliest forms of which suggested the meanings “above” and “below,”

respectively by depicting one line above (or below) another.

Several hundred among the existing characters were devised as pictographs,

representations of objects such as specific animals, body parts, features of the natural

world and so on. Examples include 鳥 bird, 耳 ear and 川 river.

That leaves thousands (even tens of thousands) of compound characters. These

characters combine two elements. One element, the signific, suggests the character's

meaning alone. The other element, the phononoemaphore (= sound-concept bearer)

suggests both the character's meaning and its pronunciation. For instance, 昧

combines the signific 日 sun and the phononoemaphore 未, which was originally a

tree with a diminutive, curved, and dimly visible branch on top. In 昧, 未 suggests

“dim (visiblity).” The combination of elements originally indicated “poor sunlight,

resulting in dim visibility.” Current meanings of this character include “dark” and

“conceal.”

Turning our attention to the pictographic characters, we'll start with the three noted

above: 鳥 bird, 耳 ear and 川 river. It is important to recall that all characters have

pronunciations. The earliest pronunciations that can be reconstructed with a certain

degree of confidence provide important clues about how each pictograph was

originally conceived.

That is, 鳥 is not simply a pictorial representation of a bird, 耳 of an ear and 川 of a

river. There are larger ideas behind each pictograph. 鳥 was conceived of not as a

generic bird, but specifically as one with a long, curved and rising tail. 耳 is not

simply an organ of hearing; it is a supple object clinging to the side of the head. 川 is

not just a waterway, but a curved object stretching between and connecting two

points.

How are we able to pinpoint these meanings so precisely? Linguistically, by

comparing terms that were homonymic in the early stages of the Han language.

Conceptually, by sifting through these terms to extract what it is they have in

common.

Let's look at 鳥, 耳 and 川 in the context of other terms that are phonologically and

conceptually close. The characters are followed by the Old Chinese readings offered

by Axel Schuessler in his Minimal Old Chinese and Later Han Chinese: A

Companion to Grammata Serica Recensa . The numbers pertain to the classification

scheme to which Schuessler has made slight modifications from Bernhard Karlgren's

system. Note that still earlier pronunciations of the terms in each group were likely

closer than what we find here.

Concept: Curved and vertical

豆 dôh 10-16 Food stand

鬥 dôh 10-17 Two persons in combat

主 toʔ 10-19 Lamp stand, a stationary object

鳥 tiûʔ 13-25 Bird with a long, curved and rising tail

卣 ju; juʔ 13-34 Long-necked, rounded alcohol container

酉 juʔ 13-36 Long-necked, rounded alcohol container

酋 dziu 13-36 Long-necked, rounded alcohol container

首 lhuʔ 13-38 (Tubular) neck running between head and trunk

竹 truk 14-8 (Rigid, tubular) bamboo

弔 tiâuk 17-3 Suspended vine

勺 diauk 17-5 Raise a curved spoon/ladle

Supple/soft objects

襄 snaŋ 3-42 Soft, yielding sack in which goods are placed

耳 nəʔ 4-40 Supple ear clinging to the side of the head

而 nə 4-41 Soft, droopy beard

柰/ 奈 nâs; nâts 21-27 Knife pressed into soft wood in carving it

日 nit 29-26 The sun, the heat of which softens objects and/or reduces them in size

刃/ 刄 nəns 33-20 Supple/flexible blade

壬 nəm 38-25 Spool encompassed by soft threads

Curved object stretching between and connecting two points

貫 kôns ! 25-3 Pierce rounded seashells, which adhere closely in being strung together

丱 krôns 25-9 Boards pierced by elliptical connecting rods

玄 gwîn 32-5 Tip of a twisted thread stretched between and linking two points

川 k-hlun ! 34-20 River boring through the earth between two points

Via a similar comparison process we can deduce how other objects and phenomena

were originally conceived. Here is a short list of examples.

Character/Original Signification

Larger Concept Related/Original Signification

其 Square or rectangular winnow

Square/rectangularobjects that frame/are framed

几 Long desk; 車 Frame of a vehicle; 戸 Door (frame); 巨 Large/great framing tool, with arms at distant ends; 鬲 Tripod cooking vessel containing a square partition

呂 Neatly alignedbones of the spinal column

Rows of like objects 力 Rippling muscles of a powerful arm; 霝 Linked beads of raindrops; 兩Aligned

pairs of arms on both sides of a measuring device

莫 The sun, as seen from ground level, concealed by vegetation

Covered and thus concealed

無 Dancing figure with long, concealing sleeves; 米 Fruits of grain (rice), concealed in husks/hulls; 冖 Cover an object, obscuring it; 皿 Dish, plate or bowl covered by a lid

女 Supple female Supple/soft objects 乃 Supple ear clinging to the side of the head; 冉/ 冄 Soft, droopy beard; 入 Put goods in a soft, yielding sack; 爾 Seal (pressed into soft clay)

卜 Cracks spreadingover shells/bones in a divination rite

Objects that curve in spreading

暴 Spread/expose an animal hide on the ground for drying in the sun; 畐Alcohol container with a bulging middle; 不 Spread the arms to signify refusal/negation; 彔 Curls of peeled bamboo scattered in being pared

且 Slender pile of objects

Profusion of small/slender objects, creating a pile

才 Rocks piled to cut off a stream; 乍 Chop/cut wood with an ax-like implement, creating piles of shavings; 糸/

絲 Pile of slender threads; 子 Figurative pile of children/offspring

斗 Curved ladle Curved and horizontal

丑 Small, curved boat; 舟 Curved boat; 周 Circulate an enclosed field of grain

plants; 兆 Curved cracks splitting over the surface of bones/shells in divination rites

A second chart suggests how characters deriving in pictographs are also conceptually

related to compound characters built upon them.

Conceptually Related Pictograph-Based Characters

Common Concept Conceptually Related Compound Characters, with Original Significations

其几車戸巨鬲 Square/rectangularobjects that frame/are framed

基 Square, earthen foundation; 机 (Wooden) desk; 庫 Storehouse for covering vehicles; 雇 Door of a cage; 矩 Carpenter's square; 隔 Earthen partition/barrier

呂力霝兩 Rows of like objects 梠 Timber aligned in support of rafters at the eaves; 肋 Rippling muscles of the ribs; 櫺 Latticework; 輛 Two-wheeled vehicle

莫無米冖皿 Covered and thus concealed

漠 Desert, where water sources are concealed; 蕪 Luxuriant/overgrown vegetation that covers/conceals; 迷 Stray off course on account of obscure visibility; 冥 Cover blocking the entry of sunlight; 盈 Fill a dish with food

女 乃冉/ 冄入爾 Supple/soft objects 籹 Soft rice cake; 孕 Fetus clinging to the womb; 苒 Tender, luxuriant plant life; 内 Put inside a storehouse; 璽 Seal

卜暴畐不彔 Objects that curve in spreading

朴 Tree with cracks in its bark; 爆 Explosion that exposes objects; 輻 Abundant/numerous spokes radiating from a hub; 否 Spread wordof refusal/negation/denial; 剝 Pare/strip

且才乍糸/ 絲子 Profusion of small/slender objects, creating a pile

粗 Pile/heap of unpalatable rice; 在 Pile earth to cut off the flow of a river; 酢 Slice then preserve vegetables in vinegar;

素 Slender (silk) threads; 李 Plum (produced in voluminous quantity)

斗丑舟周兆 Curved and horizontal

料Measure out grain by ladling it; 紐 Curved and knotted string/cord; 兪 Remove wood from a log to create a dugout canoe; 週 Circulate, completing one cycle; 跳 Split away from the ground in leaping

The concepts presented in this essay belong to larger conceptual groups. The latter

groups are the topic of a separate article.

By maintaining the distinction between form and function we discern that Chinese

characters are ideographic though they are not ideographs. This applies to characters

that are pictographic in origin and to compound characters as well.

Lawrence J. Howell

10 April 2012

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