szótagírás

Szótagírás, meaning syllabic writing, refers to a type of writing system where each symbol or character represents a syllable rather than a single sound (phoneme) or a whole word. In a syllabary, the basic unit of writing is a syllable, which typically consists of a vowel, or a consonant followed by a vowel. This contrasts with alphabetic systems, where symbols represent individual consonants and vowels, and abjads, where symbols primarily represent consonants.

The development of syllabic writing systems often occurs when a language has a relatively simple syllable structure, making it practical to create a distinct symbol for each common syllable. For example, if a language predominantly uses syllables like "ba," "be," "bi," "bo," "bu," and "ka," "ke," "ki," "ko," "ku," a syllabary would have dedicated characters for each of these.

Notable examples of syllabic writing systems include Japanese kana (hiragana and katakana), which are used alongside kanji (logograms derived from Chinese characters). The Cherokee syllabary, created by Sequoyah, is another famous example. Ancient Linear B, used for Mycenaean Greek, was also largely syllabic. Syllabaries can simplify learning to read and write for speakers of languages with regular syllable patterns, as the number of distinct symbols is manageable. However, they can become cumbersome if the language develops a wide variety of syllable structures.