Multilingualism on the Web Pascal Vaillant <
[email protected]> IUT de Bobigny 1, rue de Chablis — 93017 Bobigny cedex www.iut-bobigny.univ-paris13.fr Writing systems IUT de Bobigny 1, rue de Chablis — 93017 Bobigny cedex www.iut-bobigny.univ-paris13.fr Writing systems • Mankind has been using speech for … as long as it deserves to be called human (definitory statement) e.g. 150 000 – 50 000 years (very approx) • It has been using writing since it has become organized in urban societies e.g. 5 000 years BP (approx) IUT de Bobigny 1, rue de Chablis — 93017 Bobigny cedex www.iut-bobigny.univ-paris13.fr Writing systems • Urban centres ⇒ specialization of economic units ⇒ currency ⇒ a central authority to control and organize ⇒ state and civil servants ⇒ taxes ⇒ accountancy ⇒ counting and writing IUT de Bobigny 1, rue de Chablis — 93017 Bobigny cedex www.iut-bobigny.univ-paris13.fr Development of writing systems • Highly probable origin: iconic (pictograms) • Examples (from Chinese): water: 水 (shuǐ) field: 田 (tián) mountain: 山 (shān) grass: 艸 (cǎo) fire: 火 (huǒ) beast: 豸 (zhì) horse: 馬 (mǎo) ox: 牛 (niú) IUT de Bobigny 1, rue de Chablis — 93017 Bobigny cedex www.iut-bobigny.univ-paris13.fr Development of writing systems • Combination → ideograms • Example (from Chinese): field: 田 (tián) grass: 艸 (cǎo) sprout: 苗 (miáo) IUT de Bobigny 1, rue de Chablis — 93017 Bobigny cedex www.iut-bobigny.univ-paris13.fr Development of writing systems • Rebus → ideophonograms • Example (from Chinese): ten thousands: 萬 (wàn) (orig. scorpion) sprout: 苗