ideographic
Meaning through pictures
Ideographic describes writing systems or symbols that represent ideas or meanings directly rather than sounds.
Chinese characters are partly ideographic—the symbol for "tree" depicts a tree.
The term extends to any communication through meaningful images: The warning signs use ideographic symbols that work across languages.
Contrast with alphabetic or phonetic systems, where symbols represent sounds.
Symbol representing entire word
- pictogramSymbol using visual likeness
- glyphVisual form of character
- characterNature, symbol, or role
- kanjiChinese symbols in Japanese
hanzi · cuneiform · hieroglyph · radical · stroke · script · calligraphy · inscription
Study of signs, symbols
- semanticsStudy of linguistic meaning
- morphemeSmallest meaningful language unit
- lexemeFundamental dictionary unit
- graphemeMinimal written symbol unit
phonetic · determinative · classifier · compound · polysemy · etymology · orthography · transcription
Symbol drawn as image
- iconPictorial screen symbol
- symbolRepresentational mark or sign
- signMark conveying information
- representationDepiction or likeness
visual · emblematic · figurative · schematic · diagrammatic · notation · signage · universal
logogram
Symbol representing entire word
kanji · hanzi · cuneiform · hieroglyph · radical · stroke · script · calligraphy · inscription · symbol
semiotics
Study of signs, symbols
- semanticsStudy of linguistic meaning
- morphemeSmallest meaningful language unit
- lexemeFundamental dictionary unit
grapheme · phonetic · determinative · classifier · compound · polysemy · etymology · orthography · transcription · transliteration
pictograph
Symbol drawn as image
representation · visual · emblematic · figurative · schematic · diagrammatic · notation · signage · universal
ideographicalphabetic
Relating to letters
phonetic · phonographic · phonemic · syllabic · segmental
ideographicpictographic
Using images as language
representational · iconic · mimetic · literal · phonetic