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An ideogram or ideograph (from Greek
Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
  idea "idea" + grafo "to write") is a graphic symbol
Symbol

A symbol is something such as an entity, picture, written word, sound, or particular mark that represents something else by association, resemblance, or convention....
 that represents an idea
Idea

An idea is a form formed by consciousness through the process of Ideation . Human capability to contemplate ideas is associated with the ability of reasoning, human self-reflection, and of the ability to acquire and apply intellect, intuition, inspiration, etc.....
 or concept. They can be a straighforward pictogram
Pictogram

A Pictograph is a pictorial representation of an object. Earliest examples of pictographs include ancient or prehistoric drawings or paintings found on rock walls....
, or a more abstract symbol that is comprehensible only on the basis of prior convention.

Examples of ideograms include wayfinding
Wayfinding

Wayfinding encompasses all of the ways in which people and animals orient themselves in physical space and navigation from place to place.Wayfinding is often used to refer to traditional navigation methods used by indigenous peoples....
 signs, such as in airports and other environments where many people may not be familiar with the language of the place they are in, as well as Arabic numerals and formal languages (mathematical notation
Mathematical notation

A mathematical notation is a system of symbolic representations of mathematical objects and ideas. Mathematical notations are used in mathematics and the physical sciences, engineering and economics....
, logic
Logic

Logic is the study of the principles of valid demonstration and inference. Logic is a branch of philosophy, a part of the classical Trivium . The word derives from Greek language ?????? , fem....
, UML
Unified Modeling Language

Unified Modeling Language is a standardized general-purpose modeling language in the field of software engineering.UML includes a set of graphical notation techniques to create abstract models of specific systems....
), which are used worldwide regardless of how they are pronounced in different languages.






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An ideogram or ideograph (from Greek
Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
  idea "idea" + grafo "to write") is a graphic symbol
Symbol

A symbol is something such as an entity, picture, written word, sound, or particular mark that represents something else by association, resemblance, or convention....
 that represents an idea
Idea

An idea is a form formed by consciousness through the process of Ideation . Human capability to contemplate ideas is associated with the ability of reasoning, human self-reflection, and of the ability to acquire and apply intellect, intuition, inspiration, etc.....
 or concept. They can be a straighforward pictogram
Pictogram

A Pictograph is a pictorial representation of an object. Earliest examples of pictographs include ancient or prehistoric drawings or paintings found on rock walls....
, or a more abstract symbol that is comprehensible only on the basis of prior convention.

Examples of ideograms include wayfinding
Wayfinding

Wayfinding encompasses all of the ways in which people and animals orient themselves in physical space and navigation from place to place.Wayfinding is often used to refer to traditional navigation methods used by indigenous peoples....
 signs, such as in airports and other environments where many people may not be familiar with the language of the place they are in, as well as Arabic numerals and formal languages (mathematical notation
Mathematical notation

A mathematical notation is a system of symbolic representations of mathematical objects and ideas. Mathematical notations are used in mathematics and the physical sciences, engineering and economics....
, logic
Logic

Logic is the study of the principles of valid demonstration and inference. Logic is a branch of philosophy, a part of the classical Trivium . The word derives from Greek language ?????? , fem....
, UML
Unified Modeling Language

Unified Modeling Language is a standardized general-purpose modeling language in the field of software engineering.UML includes a set of graphical notation techniques to create abstract models of specific systems....
), which are used worldwide regardless of how they are pronounced in different languages. Other examples include the Blissymbols
Blissymbols

Blissymbols or Blissymbolics were conceived of as an ideographic writing system consisting of several hundred basic symbols, each representing a concept, which can be composed together to generate new symbols that represent new concepts....
, Emoticon
Emoticon

An emoticon is a textual portrayal of a writer's mood or facial expression. They are often used to alert a responder to the tenor or temper of a statement, and can change and improve interpretation of plain text....
s and pictographs as used by the Sioux
Sioux

Sioux are a Native Americans in the United States and First Nations people. The term can refer to any ethnic group within the Great Sioux Nation or any of the nation's many dialects....
 and Ojibwa
Ojibwa

The Ojibwa or Chippewa is the largest group of Native Americans in the United States-First Nations north of Mexico, including M?tis people ....
.

Terminology


The term "ideogram" is commonly used to describe logographs
Logogram

A logogram, or logograph, is a grapheme which represents a word or a morpheme . This stands in contrast to phonogram , which represent phonemes or combinations of phonemes, and determinatives, which mark semantics....
 in writing systems such as Egyptian hieroglyphs
Egyptian hieroglyphs

Egyptian hieroglyphs was a formal writing system used by the ancient Egyptians that contained a combination of logographic and alphabetic elements....
, Sumerian cuneiform and Chinese character
Chinese character

A Chinese character, also known as a Han character , is a logogram used in writing Chinese language ,'' Japanese language ,'' less frequently Korean language ,'' and formerly Vietnamese language .''...
s.

In the history of writing
History of writing

The history of writing is the history of how writing systems have evolved in different human civilizations. True writing is only thought to have developed independently in four different civilizations in the world, namely Mesopotamia, China, Egypt and Mesoamerica....
 symbols proceeded from ideographic (e.g. an icon of a bull's head in a list inventory, denoting that the following numeral refers to head of cattle) to logographic (an icon of a bull denoting the Semitic word ?alep "ox", to phonetic (the bull's head used as a symbol in rebus writing, indicating the glottal stop at the beginning of the word for "ox", viz. the letter
Letter

A letter is a written message from one person to another. The role of letters in communication has changed significantly since the 19th century....
 Aleph
Aleph

* Aleph or Alef is the first letter of the Semitic abjads descended from Proto-Canaanite alphabet, Arabic alphabet, Phoenician alphabet, Hebrew alphabet, Syriac alphabet....
). Bronze Age writing systems used a combination of these applications, and many signs in hieroglyphic
Egyptian hieroglyphs

Egyptian hieroglyphs was a formal writing system used by the ancient Egyptians that contained a combination of logographic and alphabetic elements....
 as well as in cuneiform writing could be used either logographically or phonetically. For example, the Akkadian sign AN
Dingir

Dingir is the Sumerian language for "deity". It is written as an ideogram in the cuneiform script . The sign at the same time expressed the syllable an, because it was in particular the ideogram for Anu, the supreme deity of the Sumerian pantheon....
  could be an ideograph for "deity
Deity

A deity is a postulated preternatural or supernatural immortal being, who may be thought of as holy, divinity, or sacred, held in high regard, and respected by human beings....
", an ideogram for the god Anum
An (mythology)

In Sumerian mythology and later for Assyrians and Babylonians, Anu was a sky-god, the god of heaven, lord of constellations, king of gods, spiritual being and demons, and dwelt in the highest heavenly regions....
 in particular, a logograph for the Akkadian stem il-
Ilah

, is the Arabic language for "deity" or "god". The feminine is "goddess"; with the article, it appears as . It appears in the name of the monotheistic god of the Abrahamic religions as , literally "the God", which is paralleled in a feminine form by the pagan goddess "the Goddess"....
 "deity", a logograph for the Akkadian word šamu "sky", or a syllabogram for either the syllable an or il.

Chinese characters

Chinese characters have often been called "ideograms", but since many Chinese characters also have morphemic and often phonetic significance, there were many attempts to abandon the name "ideogram" in favour of a term that more accurately represents their nature. One alternative is logogram
Logogram

A logogram, or logograph, is a grapheme which represents a word or a morpheme . This stands in contrast to phonogram , which represent phonemes or combinations of phonemes, and determinatives, which mark semantics....
, from the Greek roots logos ("word") and grapho ("to write"). Others include Sinogram
Chinese character

A Chinese character, also known as a Han character , is a logogram used in writing Chinese language ,'' Japanese language ,'' less frequently Korean language ,'' and formerly Vietnamese language .''...
, emphasising the Chinese origin of the characters, and Han character, a literal translation of the native term. These terms have gained some currency among scholars, but have failed to spread into common usage. The native terms (Chinese hanzi, Japanese kanji
Kanji

are the Chinese characters that are used in the modern Japanese language logogram along with hiragana , katakana , Arabic numerals, and the occasional use of the Latin alphabet....
, Korean hanja
Hanja

Hanja is the Korean language name for Chinese characters. More specifically, it refers to those Chinese characters borrowed from Chinese language and incorporated into the Korean language with Korean pronunciation....
) are also fairly widespread in the contexts of the individual languages, but they are not generally considered suitable for discussion of the script as a whole.

See also

  • Asemic writing
    Asemic writing

    Asemic writing is a wordless open semantic form of writing. The word asemic means "having no specific semantic content".Illegible, invented, or primal manuscripts are all influences upon asemic writing....
  • Energy Systems Language
    Energy Systems Language

    The Energy Systems Language , also referred to as Energese, Energy Circuit Language and Generic Systems Symbols, was developed by the ecologist Howard T....
  • Icon (computing)
    Icon (computing)

    On computer displays, a computer icon is a small pictogram. Icons have been used to supplement the normal alphanumerics of the computer. Modern computers now can handle bitmapped graphics on the display terminal, so the icons are widely used to assist users....
  • Lexigram
    Lexigram

    A lexigram is a symbol that represents a word but is not necessarily indicative of the object referenced by the word. Lexigrams were notably used by the Georgia State University Language Research Center to communicate with bonobos and chimpanzees....
  • Logotype
  • Sona language
    Sona language

    Sona is an international auxiliary language created by Kenneth Searight and described in a book he published in 1935. The word Sona in the language itself means "auxiliary neutral object ", but the name was also chosen to echo "sonority" or "sound"....
  • Traffic sign
    Traffic sign

    Traffic signs or road signs are signs erected at the side of roads to provide information to road users. With increasing speed of transport, the tendency is for countries to adopt pictorial signs or otherwise simplify and standardize signs, to faciliate international travel where language differences can create barriers and in genera...
  • Isotype (pictograms)
    Isotype (pictograms)

    In graphic design and sociology, an Isotype is a system of pictograms designed by the Austrian educator and philosopher Otto Neurath, an active member of the Vienna Circle, in collaboration with the illustrator Gerd Arntz to communicate information in a simple, non-verbal way....
  • Linear B
    Linear B

    Linear B is a script that was used for writing Mycenaean language, an early form of Greek language. It predated the Greek alphabet by several centuries and seems to have died out with the fall of Mycenaean Greece civilization....
    , which had an ideographic component


External links

  • Common US ideograms.
  • Extract from DeFrancis' book.