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Of Phonograms, Idiograms, and Logograms
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99.99% of people do not know that logo is an abbreviation.
Doug wrote: "99.99% of people do not know that logo is an abbreviation."Like "percent," which is shortened from "percentage."
And then there are acronyms that are now part of our everyday language, like the more recently coined "glitch" ("Gremlin Loose In Terminal: Call for Help")and "snafu" ("Situation Normal: All Fouled [another "F" word originally used here] Up").
You can Google (now also a verb)
You can Google (now also a verb) acronym dictionary for several reference sources to keep handy. There must also be something for signs and symbols. When I was working I had to make my own.
As Alice would say of the world through the Looking Glass, "curiouser and curiouser." I think that aptly applied to the English language.One of my colleagues is a recent immigrant from Albania, and he is most curious about the way we use the English language. Always asking me what I meant when I use a certain word he has not yet heard. His English is far better than my Albanian, of which he has only taught me one word (for "puppy" which we call my Albanian boss to tease him).
Phonograms, are the letters or combinations of letters that make sounds. They're the basis of most Western written langauges. Think "Hooked on Phonics" Written English (and most western languages) are based on phonograms.
Logograms are the symbols meant to convey a concept rather than a sound. e.g. The Deshret or Red Crown symbolized ruling lower Egypt to the early Egyptians. Written Chinese and Japanese and most Eastern languages are based on Logograms.
Idiograms are are something like Logograms but for more basic concepts e.g. A red circle with a line through it for NO!
Champillion was actually pretty lucky in his work on the Rosetta Stone in that he had several versions of the same text. His determining that ancient hieroglyphs were actually mostly phonograms was actually based on being able to "sound out" some of the royal names in their cartouches based on the greek versions of the names on the same stone.