Phonographic writing systems

Abstract Graphemes in phonographic writing systems relate not only to one another but also to phonemes and syllables. This makes for a complex web of relations resulting in different types of iconicity. In imagic iconicity, the sign bears a visual resemblance to its object of reference; the example discussed here is Korean Han’gŭl, in which shapes of consonant graphemes resemble places of articulation. For diagrammaticity, a structural similarities or parallelisms are central; important examples in writing presented here include graphematic transparency (or bi-uniqueness), as well as the iconic potential of blank spaces to signal words. As the loosest type, metaphoricity is exemplified by the socio-semiotic potential of the appearance of typefaces as well as deviance from orthographic norms. Finally, an attempt is made to explain the emergence of iconicity in the visual modality of writing—and the subsequent decrease of pictography as its most salient type.