logograms
Words as pictures
Logograms are written symbols that represent whole words or concepts rather than sounds.
Chinese characters are logograms: 木 means "tree" without indicating pronunciation.
Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs and many emoji function similarly.
The ampersand (&) and numerals (1, 2, 3) are logograms used in otherwise alphabetic writing systems.
Stylus-impressed ancient script
- oracle bonesInscribed Shang divination remains
- SumerianEarliest known civilization
- Mayan glyphsAncient script of Guatemala
- EgyptianRelating to the pharaohs' land
Mesopotamian · clay tablets · stele · Rosetta Stone · papyrus · Akkadian · Shang dynasty · Proto-Sinaitic
Chinese symbols in Japanese
- hanziChinese logographic symbols
- Chinese charactersLogographic writing system
- radicalsAdvocates for fundamental change
- stroke orderSequence for drawing characters
Ornamental handwriting art
- brush strokesMarks from painting tool
- inkWriting fluid
- charactersPersons in a narrative
- inscriptionText permanently marked
engraving · notation · orthography · typography · transcription · codification · syllabary · stenography
Visual form of character
- graphemeMinimal written symbol unit
- iconPictorial screen symbol
- emblemRepresentational sign or device
- sigilMagical or heraldic symbol
ideographic · logograph · determinative · rebus · morpheme
cuneiform
Stylus-impressed ancient script
- oracle bonesInscribed Shang divination remains
- SumerianEarliest known civilization
- Mayan glyphsAncient script of Guatemala
Egyptian · Mesopotamian · clay tablets · stele · Rosetta Stone · papyrus · Akkadian · Shang dynasty · Proto-Sinaitic · demotic
kanji
Chinese symbols in Japanese
- hanziChinese logographic symbols
- Chinese charactersLogographic writing system
- radicalsAdvocates for fundamental change
calligraphy
Ornamental handwriting art
- brush strokesMarks from painting tool
- inkWriting fluid
- charactersPersons in a narrative
inscription · engraving · notation · orthography · typography · transcription · codification · syllabary · stenography · shorthand
glyph
Visual form of character
sigil · ideographic · logograph · determinative · rebus · morpheme
- ChinaBeijing, Shanghai, Great Wall, Yellow River, Chinese calligraphy
- symbolssymbols, runes, symbol, asterisks, national symbol
- visual symbolssymbols, glyphs, hieroglyphics, signs, graphic symbols
- written symbolsletters, alphabets, punctuation, commas, periods
- Egyptologypyramids, pyramid, pharaohs, pharaoh, hieroglyphics
- writing historyalphabet, cuneiform, hieroglyphics, scripts, writing systems
logogramsphonograms
Symbols representing speech sounds
phonetic symbols · letters · alphabet · phonemes · Roman letters
hieroglyphs, pictograph, ideogram, pictogram, pictographs, pictograms, ideograms, ideograph, ideographs