View source for Ideogram

{{Short description|Symbol that represents an idea or concept}}
{{about||the image generator|Ideogram (text-to-image model)|the sculpture by James Rosati|Ideogram (sculpture)}}
{{Use Oxford English|date=March 2024}}
{{Redirect2|Ideograph|Ideography|the rhetorical device|Ideograph (rhetoric)|ideographic dictionaries|Conceptual dictionary}}
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An '''ideogram''' or '''ideograph''' (from [[Ancient Greek|Greek]] {{tlit|grc|idéa}} 'idea' + {{tlit|grc|gráphō}} 'to write') is a [[symbol]] that is used within a given [[writing system]] to represent an [[idea]] or concept in a given language.<ref>{{cite dictionary |last=Hornby |first=Albert Sydney |title=Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Current English |editor-last=Cowie |editor-first=Anthony Paul |dictionary=Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary |date=1989 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0-19-431136-8 |page=616 |entry=ideograph}}</ref> (Ideograms are contrasted with [[phonogram (linguistics)|phonogram]]s, which indicate sounds of speech and thus are independent of any particular language.{{sfnp|Robertson|2004|pp=25–27, 38}}) Some ideograms are more arbitrary than others: some are only meaningful assuming preexisting familiarity with some convention; others more directly resemble their [[signified]]s. Ideograms that represent physical objects by visually illustrating them are called ''[[pictogram]]s''.{{sfnp|Robertson|2004|pp=25–27}}<ref name="EBpictography">{{Britannica|459568|pictography}}</ref>

* [[Numeral system|Numerals]] and [[List of mathematical symbols|mathematical symbols]] are ideograms, for example ⟨1⟩ 'one', ⟨2⟩ 'two', ⟨+⟩ 'plus', and ⟨=⟩ 'equals'.
* The [[ampersand]] ⟨&⟩ is used in many languages to represent the word ''and'', originally a stylized [[Ligature (writing)|ligature]] of the [[Latin]] word {{lang|la|et}}.
* Other typographical examples include ⟨§⟩ 'section', ⟨€⟩ 'euro', ⟨£⟩ 'pound sterling', and ⟨©⟩ 'copyright'.

== Terminology ==
{{Further|Pictogram|Logogram}}
=== Logograms ===
Ideograms are not to be equated with [[logogram]]s, which represent specific [[morpheme]]s in a language. In a broad sense, ideograms may form part of a writing system otherwise based on other principles, like the examples above in the [[phonetic]] English writing system—while also potentially representing the same idea across several languages, as they do not correspond to a specific spoken word. There may not always be a single way to read a given ideograph. While remaining logograms assigned to morphemes, specific [[Chinese characters]] like ⟨{{zhi|c=中}}⟩ 'middle' may be classified as ideographs in a narrower sense, given their origin and visual structure.

=== Pictograms and indicatives ===
''[[Pictogram]]s'', depending on the definition, are ideograms that represent an idea either through a direct [[iconicity|iconic]] resemblance to what is being referenced,{{sfnp|Robertson|2004|pp=25–27}} or otherwise more broadly visually represent or illustrate it.<ref name="EBpictography" /> In [[proto-writing]] systems, pictograms generally comprised most of the available symbols. Their use could also be extended via the [[rebus principle]]: for example, the pictorial [[Dongba symbols]] without [[Geba syllabary|Geba]] annotation cannot represent the [[Naxi language]], but are used as a [[mnemonic]] for the recitation of oral literature. Some systems also use ''indicatives'', which denote abstract concepts. Sometimes, the word ''ideogram'' is used to refer exclusively to indicatives, contrasting them with pictograms.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ramsey |first=S. Robert |author-link=S. Robert Ramsey |title=The Languages of China |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=1987 |isbn=978-0-691-01468-5 |page=266}}</ref>

[[File:Naxi manuscript (right) 2088.jpg|thumb|[[Dongba symbols]], used by the [[Nakhi people]] as a mnemonic in reciting oral literature]]
[[File:Comparative evolution of Cuneiform, Egyptian and Chinese characters.svg|thumb|Comparative evolution of cuneiform, Egyptian hieroglyphs, and Chinese characters]]

The word ''ideogram'' has historically often been used to describe [[Egyptian hieroglyphs]], [[Sumerian cuneiform]], and [[Chinese characters]]. However, these symbols represent semantic elements of a language, and not the underlying ideas directly—their use generally requires knowledge of a specific spoken language. Modern scholars refer to these symbols instead as ''[[logogram]]s'', and generally avoid calling them ''ideograms''. Most logograms include some representation of the pronunciation of the corresponding word in the language, often using the rebus principle. Later systems used selected symbols to represent the sounds of the language, such as the adaptation of the logogram for {{tlit|mul|ʾālep}} 'ox' as the letter [[aleph]] representing the initial [[glottal stop]]. However, some logograms still meaningfully depict the meaning of the morpheme they represent visually. Pictograms are shaped like the object that the word refers to, such as an icon of a bull denoting the Semitic word {{tlit|mul|ʾālep}} 'ox'. Other logograms may visually represent meaning via more abstract techniques.

Many [[Egyptian hieroglyphs]] and [[cuneiform writing|cuneiform graphs]] could be used either logographically or phonetically. For example, the Sumerian ''[[dingir]]'' {{angbr|{{script|Xsux|𒀭}}}} could represent the word {{tlit|sux|diĝir}} 'deity', the god [[An (mythology)|An]] or the word {{tlit|sux|an}} 'sky'.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Michalowski |first=Piotr |title=The Ancient Languages of Mesopotamia, Egypt and Aksum |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-521-68497-2 |editor-last=Woodard |editor-first=Roger D. |pages=6–46 |chapter=Sumerian}} p. 12.</ref> In Akkadian, the graph {{angbr|[[File:Assyrian cuneiform U1202D MesZL 10.svg|20px]]}} could represent the stem {{tlit|akk|il-}} 'deity', the word  {{tlit|akk|šamu}} 'sky', or the syllable {{tlit|akk|an}}.

While Chinese characters generally function as logograms, three of the six classes in the [[Liushu|traditional classification]] are ideographic (or ''semantographic'') in origin, as they have no phonetic component:
* Pictograms ({{zhi|c=象形}} {{tlit|zh|xiàngxíng}}) are generally among the oldest characters, with forms dating to the 12th&nbsp;century&nbsp;BC. Generally, with the evolution of the script, the forms of pictographs became less directly representational, to the extent that their referents are no longer plausible to intuit. Examples include {{angbr|{{zhi|c=田}}}} 'field', and {{angbr|{{zhi|心}}}} 'heart'.
* Indicatives ({{zhi|c=指事字}} {{tlit|zh|zhǐshìzì}}) like {{angbr|{{zhi|c=上}}}} 'up' and {{angbr|{{zhi|c=下}}}} 'down', or numerals like {{angbr|{{zhi|c=三}}}} 'three'.
* Ideographic compounds ({{zhi|c=会意字}} {{tlit|zh|huìyìzì}}) have a meaning synthesized from several other characters, such as {{angbr|{{zhi|c=明}}}} 'bright', a compound of {{angbr|{{zhi|c=日}}}} 'Sun' and {{angbr|{{zhi|c=月}}}} 'Moon', or {{angbr|{{zhi|c=休}}}} 'rest', composed of {{angbr|{{zhi|c=人}}}} 'person' and {{angbr|{{zhi|c=木}}}} 'tree'. As the understanding of [[Old Chinese phonology]] developed during the second half of the 20th century, many researchers became convinced that the etymology of most characters originally thought to be ideographic compounds actually included some phonetic component.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Boltz |first=William |title=The origin and early development of the Chinese writing system |publisher=American Oriental Society |year=1994 |isbn=978-0-940490-78-9 |pages=67–72, 149}}</ref>

Example of ideograms are the [[DOT pictograms]], a collection of 50 symbols developed during the 1970s by the [[American Institute of Graphic Arts]] at the request of the [[United States Department of Transportation]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Resources |url=https://www.aiga.org/resources/symbol-signs |access-date=2024-03-07 |publisher=American Institute of Graphic Arts}}</ref> Initially used to mark airports, the system gradually became more widespread.

=== Pure signs ===
{{Further|Symbol|Sign (semiotics)}}
Many ideograms only represent ideas by convention. For example, a red octagon only carries the meaning of 'stop' due to the public association and [[Reification (linguistics)|reification]] of that meaning over time. In the field of [[semiotics]], these are a type of pure ''[[sign (semiotics)|sign]]'', a term which also includes symbols using non-graphical media. Modern analysis of Chinese characters reveals that pure signs are as old as the system itself, with prominent examples including the numerals representing numbers larger than four, including {{angbr|{{zhi|c=五}}}} 'five', and {{angbr|{{zhi|c=八}}}} 'eight'. These do not indicate anything about the quantities they represent visually or phonetically, only conventionally.

== Types ==
=== Mathematical notation ===
{{Main|Mathematical notation}}
A mathematical symbol is a type of ideogram.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rotman |first=Brian |title=Mathematics as Sign: Writing, Imagining, Counting |publisher=Stanford University Press |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-8047-3684-8}}</ref>

== History ==
{{See also|History of writing}}
As true [[writing system]]s emerged from systems of pure ideograms, later societies with phonetic writing were often compelled by the intuitive connection between pictures, diagrams and [[logogram]]s—though ultimately ignorant of the latter's necessary phonetic dimension. Greek speakers began regularly visiting Egypt during the 7th century&nbsp;BC.{{sfnp|Westerfeld|2019|p=23}} [[Ancient Greek]] writers generally mistook the Egyptian writing system to be purely ideographic. According to tradition, the Greeks had acquired the ability to write, among other things, from the Egyptians through [[Pythagoras]] ({{circa|570|495&nbsp;BC}}), who had been directly taught their silent form of "symbolic teaching".{{sfnp|O'Neill|2016|pp=43–45}} Beginning with [[Plato]] (428–347&nbsp;BC), the conception of hieroglyphs as ideograms was rooted in a broader [[Philosophical language|philosophical]] conception of most language as an imperfect and obfuscatory image of reality. The [[views of Plato]] involved an [[ontologically]] separate [[world of forms]], but those of his student [[Aristotle]] (384–322&nbsp;BC) instead saw the forms as abstracts, identical in the mind of every person.{{sfnp|O'Neill|2016|pp=32–34}} For both, ideography was a more perfect representation of the forms possessed by the Egyptians. The Aristotelian framework would be the foundation for the conception of language in the Mediterranean world into the medieval era.{{sfnmp|Westerfeld|2019|1p=18|O'Neill|2016|2pp=18–20}}

According to the classical theory, because ideographs directly reflected the forms, they were the only "true language",{{sfnp|O'Neill|2016|pp=38–40}} and had the unique ability to communicate arcane wisdom to readers.{{sfnp|O'Neill|2016|pp=18–20, 32–34, 46–50}} The ability to read Egyptian hieroglyphs had been lost during late antiquity, in the context of the country's Hellenization and Christianization. However, the traditional notion that the latter trends compelled the abandonment of hieroglyphic writing has been rejected{{Why|date=October 2025}} by recent{{When|date=October 2025}} scholarship.{{sfnp|Westerfeld|2019|p=32}}<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Houston |first1=Stephen |last2=Baines |first2=John |last3=Cooper |first3=Jerrold |title=Last Writing: Script Obsolescence in Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Mesoamerica |journal=Comparative Studies in Society and History |publisher=Cambridge University Press |volume=45 |issue=3 |year=2003 |issn=0010-4175 |jstor=3879458 |pages=441–444 |doi=10.1017/S0010417503000227 }}</ref>

Europe only became fully acquainted with [[written Chinese]] near the end of the 16th century, and initially related the system to their existing framework of ideography as partially informed by Egyptian hieroglyphs.{{sfnp|O'Neill|2016|p=1}} Ultimately, [[Jean-François Champollion]]'s successful [[decipherment of ancient Egyptian scripts|decipherment of hieroglyphs]] in 1823 stemmed from an understanding that they did represent spoken [[Egyptian language]], as opposed to being purely ideographic. Champollion's insight in part stemmed from his familiarity with the work of French sinologist [[Jean-Pierre Abel-Rémusat]] regarding ''[[fanqie]]'', which demonstrated that Chinese characters were often used to write sounds, and not just ideas.{{sfnp|O'Neill|2016|pp=5–6}}

=== Proposed universal languages ===
{{See also|Pasigraphy}}
Inspired by these conceptions of ideography, several attempts have been made to design a universal written language—i.e., an ideography whose interpretations are accessible to all people with no regard to the languages they speak. An early proposal was made in 1668 by [[John Wilkins]] in ''[[An Essay Towards a Real Character, and a Philosophical Language]]''. More recently, [[Blissymbols]] was devised by [[Charles K. Bliss]] in 1949, and currently includes over 2,000 graphs.{{sfnp|Unger|2003|pp=13–16}}

== See also ==
{{col div|colwidth=30em}}
* [[Epigraphy]] – the study of inscriptions
* [[List of symbols]]
* [[List of writing systems]]
* [[Character (symbol)]]
* [[Emoji]]
* [[Heterogram (linguistics)]]
* [[Yerkish#Lexigram concept|Lexigrams]]
* [[Logotype]]
* [[Traffic sign]]
{{div col end}}

* [[Ideographic rune]]

== References ==
{{Commons category|Ideograms}}

=== Citations ===
{{Reflist|25em}}

=== Works cited ===
{{Refbegin|30em}}
* {{Cite book |last=Coulmas |first=Florian |title=Writing Systems: An Introduction to Their Linguistic Analysis |year=2003 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-78217-3}}
* {{Cite book |last=DeFrancis |first=John |author-link=John DeFrancis |title=The Chinese Language: Fact and Fantasy |title-link=The Chinese Language: Fact and Fantasy |publisher=University of Hawaiʻi Press |year=1986 |isbn=978-0-8248-1068-9 |location=Honolulu}}
* {{Cite book |last=Hannas |first=William C. |title=Asia's Orthographic Dilemma |publisher=University of Hawaiʻi Press |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-8248-1892-0 |location=Honolulu}}
* {{Cite book |last=Houston |first=Stephen D. |title=The First Writing: Script Invention as History and Process |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2004 |isbn=0-521-83861-4}}
** {{Harvc |c=The possibility and actuality of writing |last=Robertson |first=John S. |in=Houston |year=2004 |pages=16–38}}
* {{Cite book |last=Unger |first=James Marshall |author-link=J. Marshall Unger |title=Ideogram: Chinese Characters and the Myth of Disembodied Meaning |publisher=University of Hawaiʻi Press |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-8248-2656-7 |location=Honolulu}}
* {{Cite book |last=O'Neill |first=Timothy Michael |title=Ideography and Chinese Language Theory: A History |year=2016 |publisher=De Gruyter |isbn=978-3-11-045923-4 |language=en}}
* {{Cite book |last=Westerfeld |first=Jennifer Taylor |title=Egyptian Hieroglyphs in the Late Antique Imagination |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |year=2019 |isbn=978-0-8122-5157-9 |location=Philadelphia}}
{{Refend}}

== Further reading ==
* {{Cite book |last=DeFrancis |first=John |author-link=John DeFrancis |url=https://pinyin.info/readings/texts/ideographic_myth.html |title=The Chinese Language: Fact and Fantasy |publisher=University of Hawaiʻi Press |year=1984 |chapter=The Ideographic Myth |access-date=2024-02-29 |via=pinyin.info}}

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