The Importance Of Pictographs In Writing

Go on google.com and type in “writing”. You find that the definition of writing is “a medium of communication that represents language through the inscription of signs and symbols1”. Pictographs were a form of communication that used symbols to convey their meaning. Indeed, linguist John DeFrancis would argue against me because he, as well as many other linguists, consider writing as being able to convey all parts of speech. However, many language systems started out as pictographs such as Ancient Sumerian, Egyptian, and Chinese. Pictographs developed into systems that include meaning and sound which made communication more effective and accessible. However, that is not to say pictographs are not considered as writing. Writing should not have to strictly follow one definition because the sole purpose for writing is to be able to communicate with other people. As long as pictographs are consistent,recognizable, could be understood independently, and has rules and structure, they are considered a writing system, maybe not the best mode of communication, but still classified as “communication that represents language through signs and symbols1”.
North American Indians are exemplars of people who used pictographs successfully as a mode of communication. They all wrote in the same manner and understood their own culture-- “arrangement of hair, paint, and all tribal designations, and of their histories and traditions”(Pictographs of the North American Indians, 15). Interestingly, their system reveals the importance of knowing the context of the language. For example, the entire tribe successfully understood each other through pictographic devices, a term called kekeecin.While the tribe understood one form of pictographs only the pries...

... middle of paper ...

...o use it to communicate. Many would argue that if modern day people cannot understand pictographs, then pictographs should not be considered as a writing system. However, people now, do not have the context-- the background, knowledge, and culture of the time. If a person were to show me French, I would not be able to understand it, not having been taught the language. Because pictographs are able to be taught, like certain groups of North American Indians, then it can be used to interact. The definition of writing should not be so stringent. It does not have to be “appealing to the eye” (19) nor does it have to have both meaning and sound. Because many of our language systems are primarily based off of pictographs, we should not exclude them from writing. Even google’s definition of writing is so general, so linguists simply should not classify writing so narrowly.