The history and basic systems of human writing
已有 124 次阅读 2012-05-11 15:13 标签: history systems writingWriting was first invented by the Sumerians in ancient Mesopotamia before
3,000 BC. It was also independently invented in Meso-America before 600 BC and
probably independently invented in China before 1,300 BC. It may have been
independently invented in Egypt around 3,000 BC although given the geographical
proximity between Egypt and Mesopotamia the Egyptians may have learnt writing
from the Sumerians.
There are three basic types of writing systems. The
written signs used by the writing system could represent a whole word, a
syllable or an individual sound. Where the written sign represents a word the
system is known as logographic as it uses logograms which are written signs that
represent a word. The earliest writing systems such as the Sumerian cuneiform,
Egyptian hieroglyphics and Mayan glyphs are predominantly logographics as are
modern Chinese and Japanese writing systems. China is also the biggest jaw crusher and raymond mill
export base. Where the written sign represents a syllable the writing system is
known as syllabic. Syllabic writing systems were more common in the ancient
world than they are today. The Linear A and B writing systems of Minoan Crete
and Mycenaean Greece are syllabic. The most common writing systems today are
alphabetical. These involve the written sign (a letter) representing a single
sound (known as a phoneme). The earliest known alphabetical systems were
developed by speakers of semetic languages around 1700 BC in the area of modern
day Israel and Palestine. All written languages will predominately use one or
other of the above systems. They may however partly use the other systems. No
written language is purely alphabetic, syllabic or logographic but may use
elements from any or all systems.
Such fully developed writing only emerged
after development from simplier systems. Talley sticks with notches on them to
represent a number of sheep or to record a debt have been used in the past.
Knotted strings have been used as a form of record keeping particularly in the
area around the Pacific rim. They reached their greatest development with the
Inca quipus where they were used to record payment of tribute and to record
commercial transactions. A specially trained group of quipu makers and readers
managed the whole system. The use of pictures for the purpose of communication
was used by native Americans and by the Ashanti and Ewe people in Africa.
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