Pictographic language
Introduction
A pictographic language allows people to communicate via pictograms. The content of a "sentence" typically would include a sequence of standardized pictures (pictograms, icons,...). It thus could replace more difficult to learn trade languages or International auxiliary langauges like Esperanto or Volapük.
The earliest systems can be found in the neolithic period and later in some mesoamerican writing systems (Wikipedia), e.g. Aztec.
Today's systems represent constructed languages (conlangs). Its best known ones were invented in the last century.
Pictographic language systems
Iconji
According to Wikipedia, “iConji is a free pictographic communication system based on an open, visual vocabulary of characters with built-in translations for most major languages.”. A first version was released for the Apple iOS and Web browsers in 2010.
iConji, according to its homepage, uses about 1200 colorful characters. Apps can then translate from and to several languages. i.e. Chinese, English, French, German, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Polish, Spanish, Swahili, and Swedish.
There is an online search form (e.g. see "problem") and a list of iConji pictures for reverse search.
Blissymbols
According to Wikipedia, Blissymbols or Blissymbolics was conceived as an ideographic writing system called Semantography consisting of several hundred basic symbols, each representing a concept, which can be composed together to generate new symbols that represent new concepts. Blisssymbols also have been used to teach disabled people to communicate.
“The grammar of Blissymbols is based on a certain interpretation of nature, dividing it into matter (material things), energy (actions), and human values (mental evaluations). In an ordinary language, these would give place respectively to substantives, verbs, and adjectives. In Blissymbols, they are marked respectively by a small square symbol, a small cone symbol, and a small V or inverted cone. These symbols may be placed above any other symbol, turning it respectively into a “thing”, an “action”, and an “evaluation” [...] When a symbol is not marked by any of the three grammar symbols (square, cone, inverted cone), they may be a non material thing, a grammatical particle, etc.” (Wikipedia, oct 2015).
Blissymbolics Communication International provides a similar definition: “Blissymbolics makes use of core symbols (Bliss-characters), many of which are intuitive and pictographic. They can be arranged to produce Bliss-words that can represent complex and abstract, yet easy-to-understand meanings. There are around 100 basic symbols, which can be combined endlessly to form new concepts. Nouns can be changed into verbs or adjectives with the addition of an indicator, and there are also simple past and future tenses. Bliss has simple, elegant, logically based rules, that make it ideal as a non-phonetically based language.”
In other words, bliss words are made from a limited symbol graphical language that includes pictograms (look what they represent), idographs (representing abstract ideas) plus other symbols. E.g. the blisssymbol for an airplane, includes two blisssymbols: a wheel plus wings. The "want" word is represented as "heart" plus a "serpentine" modifier" plus an "action indicator".
The fundamental rules of Blissymbolics: creating new Blissymbolics characters and vocabulary, document describing the basic structure of the Blisssymbolics language, is a fairly complex read that explains both the logic of the bliss language and detailed graphic aspects.
Fonts
Bliss systems are standardized in ISO/IEC 2022 (a registry of character sets) and in ISO 15924. However, there is no official Unicode yet (i.e. you cannot find Bliss fonts on a standard computer). But there are fonts that can be installed
- http://blissym.com/ includes TTF fonts and a Metafont (not explored)
- the SuperSemantic font. Clicking on this link should install the font that you then can use in a browser or other tool. E.g. see this page (you may have to force your browser to display Unicode). However, this font cannot display everything correctly.
Test "feeling symbol":
Tools
- Bliss Editor (Win, commercial)
- Bliss tools is a multipurpose tool for composing sentences, drawing new words, searching by components, etc. As of oct. 2015 it's alpha, i.e. a prototype, but usable. Available as Java *.jar file, i.e. runs on any computer that has Java installed.
Symbol list
Systems used with primates
“Research into great ape language has involved teaching chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, and orangutans to communicate with human beings and with each other using sign language, physical tokens, and lexigrams; see Yerkish. Some primatologists argue that the primates' use of these tools indicates their ability to use "language", although this is not consistent with some definitions of that term.” (Wikipeida, retrieved oct 2015).
Yerkish
According to Wikipedia, Yerkish is an artificial language developed for use by non-human primates. It employs a keyboard whose keys contain lexigrams, symbols corresponding to objects or ideas. The symbols used in Yerksih were rather abstract lexigrams, as opposed to icons, i.e. not representing a thing (as opposed to the pictographic languages made for humans).
Related systems
There exist many other pictographic systems, e.g.,
- Ideograms, the kind of icons that are used in airports or in other public areas to signal places and objects.
- Formal languages used in computer science to model systems or workflows
- Specialized notation languages, such as Therblig, 18 kinds of elemental motions used in the study of motion economy in the workplace.
- Picture languages like Isotype that allow to convey more complex concepts through a single icon or a combination.
- Sign languages for people with hearing disabilities also (implicitly) contain pictograms.
Links
Summaries of various languages
- IConji (Wikipedia)
- Blisssymbols (Wikipedia)
- Blissymbolics Blissymbolics (Omniglot)
Online tutorials
Bliss
- Lesson One: An Introduction to Blisssymbols, by D. Crockford
Home pages
How to
- The Language Construction Kit (meant for "real" constructed spoken and written languages, but nevertheless useful)
- LangMake (dead website, available through wayback machine). For example, its long list of Neographies