Definitions of terms (RE: [SLLING-L] use of sign language in Jordan)

Thu Sep 27 14:40:48 UTC 2007

Adam F. stated, 'I don't know what abjads, abugidas, and featural systems are, ...' so I'm inserting and attaching a list of definitions that I had compiled a few years ago when studying writing systems.  (A version is attached in case some of the characters do not print correctly in your e-mail program.  Of course, this won't guarantee that they'll show correctly in your computer's word processor, either!) The list is not necessarly complete as far as possible terms relating to writing are concerned, but it provides a good foundation for clarifying meanings in our discussions.   
Hope this helps!
Kathy  
Definitions of Some Terms from The  World’s Writing Systems

Edited by Peter T. Daniels and William Bright.  1996.  Oxford University Press.

abecedary
a text listing the characters of an abjad or alphabet in their traditional or standard order (even if that order does not begin with the equivalent of a and b)

abjad
a type of writing system that denotes only consonants

abugida
a type of writing system whose basic characters denote consonants followed by a particular vowel, and in which diacritics denote the other vowels

allograph
conditioned or free variant of a character, e.g., the distinctive forms of five Hebrew letters used at the end of a word (conditioned), the differing forms of a/a, g/g that can be intermixed in handwriting (free)

alphabet
a type of writing system that denotes consonants and vowels

alphasyllabary
a writing system in which vowels are denoted by subsidiary symbols not all of which occur in a linear order (with relation to the consonant symbols) that is congruent with their temporal order in speech

character
1.  general term for any self-contained element of a writing system;
2.  conventional term for a unit of the Chinese writing system in East Asian scripts 

consonant
a brief portion of an utterance in which obstruction to the air stream is created in the vocal tract; also, a character designating such a sound

cursive
flowing, showing the influence of the motion of the hand in writing, often with joined characters

diacritic
a mark added to a character to indicate a modified pronunciation (or sometimes to distinguish homophonous words)

digraph
a pair of letters denoting a single sound, e.g. ph, sh

ductus
an individual style of handwriting, characteristic of a small group of scribes or sometimes a single person

featural script
a type of writing system whose characters denote phonetic features

grammatogeny
the invention of a writing system

grapheme
term intended to designate a unit of a writing system, parallel to phoneme and morpheme, but in practice used as a synonym for letter, diacritic, character (2) or sign (2)

iconic
of a sign, bearing some nonconventional, visual relationship to what is referred to

letter
a self-contained unit of an abjad, alphabet, or abugida

ligature
a composite character in which the components are recognizable, e.g. Ï, {

logogram
a character that denotes the meaning but not the pronunciation of a morpheme

logosyllabary
a type of writing system whose characters denote morphemes, and a subset of whose characters can be used for their phonetic syllabic values without regard to their semantic values

morphophonemic
of orthography, spellings that remain constant when a morpheme undergoes changes in pronunciation (photograph, photography, photographic)

orthography
conventional spelling of texts, and the principles therefor

script
in this book, equivalent to writing system

sign
1.      a unit in a communicative system comprising a signifier (what carries the meaning) and a signified (what is meant); 
2.      conventional term for a self-contained unit of cuneiform script

signary
general term for a determined collection of characters (or signs), used to avoid specifying abjad, alphabet, etc.

writing system
a signary together with an associated orthography

SOME TYPES OF WRITING SYSTEMS

abjad:  A type of writing system that denotes only consonants

abugida:  A type of writing system whose basic characters denote consonants followed by a particular vowel, and in which diacritics denote the other vowels

alphabet:  A type of writing system that denotes consonants and vowels

alphasyllabary:  A writing system in which vowels are denoted by subsidiary symbols not all of which occur in a linear order (with relation to the consonant symbols) that is congruent with their temporal order in speech

featural script:  A type of writing system whose characters denote phonetic features

logosyllabary:  A type of writing system whose characters denote morphemes, and a subset of whose characters can be used for their phonetic syllabic values without regard to their semantic values

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