What are symbol languages?

Symbol languages are attested languages that use written scripts to represent sounds, meanings, or a combination of both. They include:

1. Natural Symbol Languages (Written Systems for Natural Languages)

• Phonographic Writing Systems (Representing Sounds):
  • English: Written in the Latin alphabet, representing sounds in the English language.
  • Korean: Written in Hangul, a phonetic alphabet designed to represent the sounds of the Korean language.
  • Arabic: Written in the Arabic script, which primarily represents consonants, with optional diacritics for vowels.

• Ideographic or Logographic Writing Systems (Representing Meanings):
  • Chinese: Written in characters that primarily represent meanings (e.g., “山” means “mountain”).
  • Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs: A mix of logographic and phonetic elements.

2. Constructed Symbol Languages

• Esperanto: A constructed international auxiliary language with a phonetic writing system.
• Lojban: A constructed language designed to represent logical relationships, with a script derived from Latin.

3. Historical Symbol Languages

• Cuneiform: Used by ancient Sumerians, Akkadians, and others to record sounds and meanings.
• Linear B: A syllabic script used for writing Mycenaean Greek.