Graphemic indeterminacy in writing systems
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 10879720 |
|---|---|
| Authors | John Defrancis (University of Hawaii System, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1996 |
| Volume | 47 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 365-377 |
| Publication date | 1996-12-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | WORD (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0043-7956 • E-ISSN: 2373-5112 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/00437956.1996.11432455 |
| OpenAlex | W2472001867 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 14 |
The linguistic ideal calls for a one-to-one correspondence between phonemes or syllables on the one hand and the graphic symbols that represent them on the other. In some writing systems the orthgraphies have been systematized to the point of approximating this ideal, but in others that are characterized by graphemic indeterminacy their graphemes are multi-valent and their phonemes or syllables multi-represented. Although all writing systems contain both phonetic and semantic elements, the former, whether systematized or not, are decisive in determining the classification of writing systems. If writing systems are classified primarily on the basis of their phonological component and secondarily on the extent of their semantic component, the result is a basic 2 by 2 classification that can be summarized as follows: “pure” phonemic (Finnish), “pure” syllabic (Yi, kana), morphophonemic (English), and morphosyllabic (Sumerian, Chinese)
Chinese characters · Component (thermodynamics · Ideal (ethics · Indeterminacy (philosophy · Kana · Kanji · Linguistics · Morphophonology · Part of speech · Phonology · Point (geometry · Sumerian · Syllabic verse · Writing system · Computer Science · Historical Linguistics and Language Studies · Linguistic research and analysis · Mathematics · Natural Language Processing Techniques · Philosophy
| Citations per year | 0.17 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2020 - 2020 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |