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Writing systems. Linguistics 484. Preview. Some ideas about how to think about writing systems Japanese, Chinese, syllable structure Written languages are effectively codes. Leaf. Bee. Belief. Rebus principle. The symbols represent the parts of the word.
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Writing systems • Linguistics 484
Preview • Some ideas about how to think about writing systems • Japanese, Chinese, syllable structure • Written languages are effectively codes
Leaf Bee Belief
Rebus principle • The symbols represent the parts of the word. • The connection to the full word is through the sound.
Three kinds of problem • Class 1: language known, script not known. • Class 2: language not known, script known. • Class 3: neither script nor language known.
Class 1 • Ugaritic: language assumed to be Phoenician, script unknown
Class 2 • Gothic: script known, language not known, but clearly an ancestor of modern Germanic languages.
Class 3 • Hieroglyphics: language unknown, principles of script not understood • Linear B: same
Cryptography • For which class is it easiest to see how to use ideas we have already studied?
Types of writing system • Logographic • Logophonetic • Syllabic • Consonantal alphabetic • Syllabic alphabetic • C&V alphabetic
Chinese • Chinese is logographic. (From Greek “logos” = word, “graphos”= writing) • This means that each symbol represents a word.
Chinese • Omniglot (great resource http://www.omniglot.com) calls Chinese “semantic/phonetic” • Characters may contain a hint at meaning. • Characters may contain a hint at sound.
Pictograms: signlooks (a bit) like what it means
Ideograms: character represents an abstract concept
Radicals • Early Chinese writing was strongly pictographic and phonetic. • Used rebus principle. • But this led to ambiguity, so scribes began to add radicals to disambiguate the words. These are extra symbols that have no independent sound.
Sound change • Because of changes in the language, the “phonetic” part of the characters of modern Chinese may represent the sounds of old words that are no longer used.
Logographic systems • There may be thousands of signs. • Probably, no individual knows/uses them all. • Counting the signs is helpful
Syllables • Every language has syllables. • A syllable consists of a vowel plus (perhaps) some consonants before and after it
Onset Onset Coda Coda Rime Rime Syllable Syllable Nucleus Nucleus Parts of the syllable
Syllable structure • Languages have rules about what can appear in each structural position • Every syllable has to have a nucleus • All languages allow at least one consonant in the onset
For example • English allows the “NG” sound in the coda, but not in the onset. • This is called a “phonotactic constraint”.
Types of syllable • An open syllable is one that has an empty coda. (e.g. “boo”,”moo”,”ah”,”strew”) • A closed syllable is one that has a non-empty coda (e.g. “book”,”moon”,”at”,”strengths”)
Consonant clusters • “Strengths” has two clusters of three consonants each “S” “T” “R” and “NG” “TH” “S” • Languages can differ in what consonant clusters they allow, and where. • For example, English does allow “PT” in the coda “KEPT”, but not in the onset.
Hawaiian Akamai Aloha Hiapo Hauoli Kahu Kahuna Koa Kumu Kupuna Kuuipo Laki Lani Laulea Laulima Lehua Leilani Luna Mahalo Maikai Makana Makua Malama Moopuna Puuwai Tutu Waipahe
Hawaiian A-ka-mai A-lo-ha Hi-a-po Hau-o-li Ka-hu Ka-hu-na Koa Ku-mu Ku-pu-na Kuu-i-po La-ki La-ni Lau-lea Lau-lima Le-hua Lei-lani Lu-na Ma-ha-lo Mai-kai Ma-ka-na Ma-kua Ma-la-ma Moo-pu-na Puu-wai Tu-tu Wai-pa-he
Hawaiian • Simple rule 1: no coda allowed • Simple rule 2: onset has zero or one consonants • Simple rule 3: some long vowels
• a, ai, an, ang, ao • ba, bai, ban, bang, bao, bei, ben, beng, bi, bian, biao, bie, bin, bing, bo, bu • ca, cai, can, cang, cao, ce, cei, cen, ceng, cha, chai, chan, chang, chao, che, chen, cheng, chi, chong, chou, chu, chua, chuai, chuan, chuang, chui, chun, chuo, ci, cong, cou, cu, cuan, cui, cun, cuo • da, dai, dan, dang, dao, de, dei, den, deng, di, dian, diao, die, ding, diu, dong, dou, du, duan, dui, dun, duo • e, ê, ei, en, er • fa, fan, fang, fei, fen, feng, fo, fou, fu • ga, gai, gan, gang, gao, ge, gei, gen, geng, gong, gou, gu, gua, guai, guan, guang, gui, gun, guo • ha, hai, han, hang, hao, he, hei, hen, heng, hm, hng, hong, hou, hu, hua, huai, huan, huang, hui, hun, huo • ji, jia, jian, jiang, jiao, jie, jin, jing, jiong, jiu, ju, juan, jue, jun • ka, kai, kan, kang, kao, ke, kei, ken, keng, kong, kou, ku, kua, kuai, kuan, kuang, kui, kun, kuo • la, lai, lan, lang, lao, le, lei, leng, li, lia, lian, liang, liao, lie, lin, ling, liu, long, lou, lu, luo, luan, lun, lü, lüe • m, ma, mai, man, mang, mao, mei, men, meng, mi, mian, miao, mie, min, ming, miu, mo, mou, mu • n, na, nai, nan, nang, nao, ne, nei, nen, neng, ng, ni, nian, niao, nie, nin, ning, niu, nong, nou, nu, nuo, nuan, nü, nüe • o, ou • pa, pai, pan, pang, pao, pei, pen, peng, pi, pian, piao, pie, pin, ping, po, pou, pu • qi, qia, qian, qiang, qiao, qie, qin, qing, qiong, qiu, qu, quan, que, qun • ran, rang, rao, ren, reng, ri, rong, rou, ru, rua, ruan, rui, run, ruo • sa, sai, san, sang, sao, se, sei, sen, seng, sha, shai, shan, shang, shao, she, shei, shen, sheng, shi, shou, shu, shua, shuai, shuan, shuang, shui, shun, shuo, si, song, sou, su, suan, sui, sun, suo • ta, tai, tan, tang, tao, te, teng, ti, tian, tiao, tie, ting, tong, tou, tu, tuan, tui, tun, tuo • wa, wai, wan, wang, wei, wen, weng, wo, wu • xi, xia, xian, xiang, xiao, xie, xin, xing, xiong, xiu, xu, xuan, xue, xun • ya, yan, yang, yao, ye, yi, yin, ying, yong, you, yu, yuan, yue, yun • za, zai, zan, zang, zao, ze, zei, zen, zeng, zha, zhai, zhan, zhang, zhao, zhe, zhei, zhen, zheng, zhi, zhong, zhou, zhu, zhua, zhuai, zhuan, zhuang, zhui, zhun, zhuo, zi, zong, zou, zu, zuan, zui, zun, zuo
Total number of sounds • 411 possible sounds, plus 4 tones, makes about 1600 syllables
Rules for Mandarin • No consonant clusters. • Consonants only in onset, apart from two nasals. • All syllables are (kind of) open.
Pronunciations http://www.uvm.edu/~chinese/pinyin.htm
Implications for writing • Syllables quite restricted. • Explains need for radicals. • How would you use ciphers with Chinese?
Japanese • Differs from Chinese linguistically. • Chinese is isolating. • Japanese has inflections
Inflections Mary-ga kono Nihon kara-no kagaku-no gakusei-o korosi ta Mary-SUBJ that Japan from chemistry of student-DO killed PAST
Writing system • First shot at Japanese writing used Chinese characters for both content words and grammatical endings. • Way too confusing
Solution • Three scripts! • Hiragana - used for native Japanese words • Katakana - used for inflexions and non-Chinese foreign words • Kanji - the literate language
Kanji • Basic repertoire of 1945 Chinese characters everyone has too learn • About another 8,000 you might see in a novel but not in a government leaflet
Kanji • Many Chinese words have been borrowed into Japanese. Same characters get used for both • Kun yomi - Japanese reading • On yomi - Sino-Japanese reading
Water Native Japanese: water = mizu Sino- Japanese: water = sui
Japanese codes? • How do you make a code or cipher for this?
