1.2 The advantages of a symbolic system of communication

Question 1

Page 15
1-what’s the drawback of symbolic systems?

Answer 1

That you can’t guess the meaning of the words

Question 2

Activity 1.5
Page 15-16
The Sumerian writing system
6 points

Answer 2

1-It is the earliest known writing system
2-it’s a writing system that developed and changed over thousands of years 3200bc-1000bc
3-The earliest stage of the Sumerian writing system was primarily iconic. The word meanings for most of the signs can be guessed because they look like things they stand for
4-It’s almost impossible to understand the Sumerian writing system 2000 years later because how the symbols developed and became more abstract
5-The Sumerian is an Ideographic system. Ideographic systems are pictorial systems where each sign represents an idea.
6-Ideographic systems started with markings that iconically represented the things they stood for.

Question 3

What is an ideographic system?
2 points

Answer 3

1-The Sumerian is an Ideographic system. Ideographic systems are pictorial systems where each sign represents an idea.
2-Ideographic systems started with markings that iconically represented the things they stood for.

Question 4

What is a logographic system? 2 points

Answer 4

Refers to writing systems where each sign represents a word, e.g. Chinese characters
2-Chinese writing system initially developed in a similar way to Sumerian, starting with markings that iconically resembled the things they stood for. Over time, the symbols became increasingly abstract, and in modern Chinese some characters represent phonetic or linguistic units rather than ideas or things

Question 5

What is an alphabetical system 2 points

Answer 5

1-Refers to writing systems that form words by combining different letters together (e.g. English)
2-Letters are symbolic signs. They are also arbitrary because there is no particular reason for choosing a particular shape for a letter

Question 6

Syllabic system 3 points

Answer 6

1-Refers to writing systems in which words are formed by combining together different signs that represent syllables
2-e.g. Japanese uses a syllabic system called katakana to transcribe foreign words.
3-Syllabic characters are symbolic

Question 7

What are the main disadvantages of an idiographic language system and the advantages of an alphabetical system? 3 points

Answer 7

1- It requires a proficient writer to master many different signs, each representing a particular concept
2-It’s very productive, an almost limitless output is possible with very limited resources. It’s letters are very flexible and can be combined in many different ways to produce different meanings
3-All spoken languages could be described as symbolic in nature and are able to make an almost infinite number of meanings with a veery limited set of sounds.