Logograafiset

Logograafiset refers to a system of writing that uses logograms, which are symbols that represent entire words or morphemes. This is in contrast to alphabetic systems where symbols represent sounds, or syllabic systems where symbols represent syllables. Logographic systems are among the earliest forms of writing developed by humans. Examples include ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, early Chinese characters, and Mayan script.

In a logographic system, each character has a meaning and a pronunciation, though the pronunciation can sometimes vary between different languages or dialects using the same script. For instance, the Chinese character for "tree" (木) represents the concept of a tree and is pronounced differently in Mandarin, Cantonese, and other Chinese dialects. Similarly, the same character might be adopted into other East Asian writing systems like Japanese (kanji) and Korean (hanja), each with its own pronunciation and sometimes slightly altered meanings or uses.

The complexity of logographic systems often lies in the sheer number of characters required to represent a language adequately. While some logograms are pictographic (resembling the object they represent), many are abstract and have evolved over time. Learning a logographic script typically involves memorizing a large vocabulary of individual symbols. Despite this, logographic systems have proven remarkably enduring and continue to be used today, most notably in Chinese.