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The Development of Lettering
DEVELOPMENT OF LETTERING   EARLY MAN   SUMERIANS   EGYPTIANS
 GREEK & ROMAN   PIGMENTS & INKS   INSTRUMENTS & SCRIBES

wpf748471e.gif wp9533cfb4.gif It wouldn’t have taken early man long, relatively speaking, to realise that he could simplify some pictures and replace them with symbols.

 

A few abstract lines could represent an object or thing and be recognisable to many people, as in the matchstick men children are familiar with.

 

wpcce06770.gif We call these symbols ‘pictograms’ (picture writing). Pictograms are still in use everyday on our road signs, public buildings, petrol stations and packaging. If you wish to use the toilet in a public place you will know whether you are going to the Ladies or the Gents wherever you are in the world (unless, of course, there are strong cultural differences in dress code!).

 

wp6a47c81a.gif The use of pictograms does not necessarily imply an organised spoken language though. Words are not needed if you recognise the picture.

 

The use of pictograms is limited as a means of conveying detailed information and to further represent ideas, or abstract concepts, ‘ideograms’ (the writing of ideas) were used.

 

wp4cd22d12.jpg wp7b065841.jpg The symbol used for the sun, a circle, could also represent heat or day and the symbol for the moon, a crescent, could also represent darkness or night.

 

These symbols would have been recognisable to someone if they were aware of the context in which they were used. However, with different cultures developing different writing systems it is possible that one symbol used by one group of people might not be recognised by another.

 

Some abstract concepts cannot be represented as a single picture and another method was used to represent these.

 

Called the ‘rebus device’ (From the Latin "rebus", meaning “things”), it used the combination of two pictures for their sound values alone and would suggest a well-developed spoken language. For instance, a picture of a bee and a leaf together form the word ‘belief’ (bee-leaf).

 

wpcdb27c3f_1b.jpg Forgive my corny attempts but I think you will begin to get the idea from the diagram above (click the image for a larger version). Neither part of the device applies directly to the meaning of the word implied (except, perhaps, for the image of an eye) but the meaning can be easily deduced from the sounds of the separate components. Try making up some of your own!