pictographic writing; hieroglyph
Tone colorsmāmámǎmàma
Meanings
1 sense · 4 examplesnoun
pictographic writing; hieroglyphic writing
technicalRefers to writing systems where characters are visual representations of physical objects. Distinguished from picture writing (图画文字) by having fixed pronunciations for each character. One of the Six Categories (六书) of Chinese character formation.
Hàn汉
zì字
qǐ起
yuán源
yú于
xiàng象
xíng形
wén文
zì字
。
Chinese characters originated from pictographic writing.
Gǔ古
āi埃
jí及
de的
xiàng象
xíng形
wén文
zì字
fēi非
cháng常
shén神
mì秘
。
The hieroglyphics of ancient Egypt are very mysterious.
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Xiàng象
xíng形
wén文
zì字
hé和
tú图
huà画
wén文
zì字
bù不
tóng同
，
měi每
gè个
zì字
dōu都
yǒu有
gù固
dìng定
de的
dú读
fǎ法
。
Pictographic writing is different from picture writing in that each character has a fixed pronunciation.
Jiǎ甲
gǔ骨
wén文
zhōng中
de的
"
rì日
"
hé和
"
yuè月
"
shì是
diǎn典
xíng型
de的
xiàng象
xíng形
wén文
zì字
。
The characters for "sun" and "moon" in oracle bone script are typical pictographs.