iconicity and chinese characters: the ideographic nature of pictograph-based characters

8/2/2019 Iconicity and Chinese Characters: The Ideographic Nature of Pictograph-Based Characters

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Iconicity and Chinese Characters:

The Ideographic Nature of Pictograph-Based Characters

Keywords: iconicity, ideograph, ideographic,

Chinese characters, etymology, Lawrence J. Howell

In aprevious 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, the original sense of

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

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 includebird, ear and 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,

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

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

dim (visiblity). The combination of elements originally indicated poor sunlight,
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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:bird, ear and 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, is not simply a pictorial representation of a bird, of an ear and of a

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

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

simply an organ of hearing; it is a supple object clinging to the side of the head. 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, and 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.
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Concept: Curved and vertical

dh 10-16 Food stand

dh 10-17 Two persons in combat

to 10-19 Lamp stand, a stationary object

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

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

ju 13-36 Long-necked, rounded alcohol container

dziu 13-36 Long-necked, rounded alcohol container

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

truk 14-8 (Rigid, tubular) bamboo

tiuk 17-3 Suspended vine

diauk 17-5 Raise a curved spoon/ladle

Supple/soft objects

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

n 4-40 Supple ear clinging to the side of the head

n 4-41 Soft, droopy beard

/ ns; nts 21-27 Knife pressed into soft wood in carving it

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

/ nns 33-20 Supple/flexible blade

nm 38-25 Spool encompassed by soft threads

Curved object stretching between and connecting two points

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

krns 25-9 Boards pierced by elliptical connecting rods

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

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


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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

Square orrectangular winnow

Square/rectangular

objects that

frame/are framed

Long desk; Frame of a vehicle;Door (frame); Large/great framingtool, with arms at distant ends; Tripodcooking vessel containing a square

partition

Neatly alignedbones of the spinal

column

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

pairs of arms on both sides of ameasuring device

The sun, as seenfrom ground level,

concealed by

vegetation

Covered and thus

concealed

Dancing figure with long, concealingsleeves; Fruits of grain (rice),concealed in husks/hulls; Cover anobject, obscuring it; Dish, plate or

bowl covered by a lid

Supple female Supple/soft objects Supple ear clinging to the side of thehead;/ Soft, droopy beard; Putgoods in a soft, yielding sack; Seal(pressed into soft clay)

Cracks spreadingover shells/bones in

a divination rite

Objects that curve

in spreading

Spread/expose an animal hide on theground for drying in the sun;Alcoholcontainer with a bulging middle;Spread the arms to signify

refusal/negation; Curls of peeledbamboo scattered in being pared

Slender pile ofobjects

Profusion ofsmall/slender

objects, creating a

pile

Rocks piled to cut off a stream;Chop/cut wood with an ax-like

implement, creating piles of shavings;/ Pile of slender threads; Figurative

pile of children/offspring

Curved ladle Curved andhorizontal

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

plants; Curved cracks splitting overthe surface of bones/shells in divination

rites


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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

Square/rectangularobjects that

frame/are framed

Square, earthen foundation;(Wooden) desk; Storehouse forcovering vehicles; Door of a cage;Carpenter's square; Earthen

partition/barrier

Rows of like objects Timber aligned in support of rafters at

the eaves; Rippling muscles of theribs; Latticework; Two-wheeledvehicle

Covered and thusconcealed

Desert, where water sources areconcealed; Luxuriant/overgrownvegetation that covers/conceals; Strayoff course on account of obscure

visibility; Cover blocking the entry ofsunlight; Fill a dish with food

/ Supple/soft objects Soft rice cake; Fetus clinging to thewomb; Tender, luxuriant plant life;Put inside a storehouse; Seal

Objects that curvein spreading

Tree with cracks in its bark;Explosion that exposes objects;Abundant/numerous spokes radiating

from a hub; Spread wordof refusal/negation/denial; Pare/strip

/ Profusion ofsmall/slender

objects, creating a

pile

Pile/heap of unpalatable rice; Pileearth to cut off the flow of a river;Slice then preserve vegetables in vinegar; Slender (silk) threads; Plum(produced in voluminous quantity)

Curved andhorizontal

Measure out grain by ladling it;Curved and knotted string/cord;Remove wood from a log to create a

dugout canoe; Circulate, completing

one cycle; Split away from the groundin leaping


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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

Kanji Networks
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iconicity and chinese characters: the ideographic nature of pictograph-based characters

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