Proceedings of the SCRIPTA 2011: Writings and Cognition

Table of contents :
• Scripta 2011 Front

• Tokens in China, Europe and Africa
Denise SCHMANDT-BESSERAT

• Khitan: Understanding the language behind the scripts
Juha A. JANHUNEN

• Categorization of meaning in the Chinese ideographic characters
Jungsam YUM

• Hieroglyphic writing in ancient Egypt and its cognitive involvement
Pascal VERNUS

• A proposal for a Hunminjeongeum-based writing system for Aymara
SeungJae LEE, Juwon KIM, Sangchul PARK, Hui JIN, Chang Min KIM

• Tongguk chŏngun and the phonological system of Middle Korean
Rei FUKUI

• The rebirth of Hangeul
KIM Young-wook

Citation preview

Proceedings of the SCRIPTA 2011 Writings and Cognition

Date:

October 7~9, 2011

Venue: Sinyang Humanities Hall, Seoul National University, KOREA

Copyright © The Hunmin jeongeum Society

Published in 2011

c/o Dept. of Linguistics, Seoul National University

1 Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul, 151-745, Korea Tel. +82-2-880-6167, 6168 Fax. +82-2-882-2451 e-mail: [email protected]

Proceedings of the SCRIPTA 2011 Date: October 7~9, 2011 Venue: Sinyang Humanities Hall, Seoul National University, KOREA

Contents Program ························································································································································· iii Welcome address ······················································································ Doo Hyun PAEK········ v Congratulatory Address ···················································································LEE Ki-nam······· vii Tokens in China, Europe and Africa ······································································· Denise SCHMANDT-BESSERAT ··········· 1 Discussion ···················································································· Seung Il KANG ········ 15 Khitan: Understanding the language behind the scripts ······························································································· Juha A. JANHUNEN ········ 19 Discussion ·················································································· LEE Seong Gyu ·········· 49 Categorization of meaning in the Chinese ideographic characters ··············································································································Jungsam YUM ········ 51

Discussion ··················································································Olivia MILBURN ······ 69 Hieroglyphic writing in ancient Egypt and its cognitive involvement ···························································································· Pascal VERNUS ········ 73 Discussion ················································································ Sung Hwan YOO····· 111 A proposal for a Hunminjeongeum-based writing system for Aymara ······························································································································································ SeungJae LEE, Juwon KIM, Sangchul PARK, Hui JIN, Chang Min KIM····································································································· 115 Discussion ·················································································· Seong Kyu KIM······ 143

Tongguk chŏngun and the phonological system of Middle Korean

······························································································································· Rei FUKUI ····· 147 Discussion ····························································································CHA Ikjong ····· 163 The rebirth of Hangeul ········································································································ KIM Young-wook ····· 167 Discussion ··············································································· KIM Sang-Tae ············ 179

Program October 7, Friday 18:00-20:00 Welcoming reception (Hoam Faculty House)

October 8, Saturday 09:00-09:30 Registration & opening ceremony (Sinyang Humanities Hall) Moderator: PARK See-Gyoon (Kunsan Nat’l Univ.) Welcome address: PAEK Doo Hyun (President, the Hunmin jeongeum Society) Congratulatory address: LEE Ki-nam (Chairman of the board, the Hunmin jeongeum Society) Session 1 Moderator: PARK See-Gyoon (Kunsan Nat’l Univ.)

09:30-10:15 Tokens in China, Europe and Africa: Denise SCHMANDTBESSERAT (University of Texas at Austin) [Discussant: KANG Seung Il (HannamUniv.)] 10:15-10:30 Coffee break Moderator: MOK Jungsoo (Univ. of Seoul)

10:30-11:15 Khitan: Understanding the language behind the scripts: Juha A. JANHUNEN (University of Helsinki)

[Discussant: LEE Seong Gyu (Dankook Univ.)] 11:15-12:00 Categorization of meaning in the Chinese ideographic characters: YUM Jungsam (Seoul Nat’l Univ.) [Discussant: Olivia MILBURN (Seoul Nat’l Univ.)] 12:00-14:00 Lunch (Jahayeon)

Proceedings of the SCRIPTA 2011, Seoul, Oct. 7~9, 2011

Session 2 Moderator: Marc DUVAL (Seoul Nat’l Univ.) 14:00-14:45 Hieroglyphic writing in ancient Egypt and its cognitive involvement: Pascal VERNUS (École Pratique des Hautes Études) [Discussant:

YOO Sung Hwan (Brown Univ.)]

14:45-15:30 A proposal for a Hunminjeongeum-based writing system for Aymara: LEE SeungJae, KIM Juwon, PARK Sangchul, JIN Hui, KIM Chang Min (Seoul Nat’l Univ.) [Discussant: KIM Seong Kyu (Seoul Nat’l Univ.)] 15:30-15:45 Coffee Break Moderator: JUN Youngchul (Seoul Nat’l Univ.) 15:45-16:30 Tongguk chŏngun and the phonological system of Middle Korean: Rei FUKUI (University of Tokyo)

[Discussant: CHA Ikjong (Seoul Nat’l Univ.)] 16:30-17:15 The rebirth of Hangeul: KIM Young-wook (Univ. of Seoul) [Discussant: KIM Sang-Tae (Cheongju University)] 18:00-20:00 Reception (Sodam Maru)

October 9, Sunday: Academic tour of National Museum of Korea (Ancient writings and thereafter)

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Welcome address

Doo Hyun PAEK (President, The Hunmin jeongeum Society)

Ladies and gentlemen, and eminent scholars from all over the world, thank you very much for attending this conference. I would like to express my sincere gratitude for your participation as both presenters and discussants. I am especially honored to have many leading international scholars in the field of linguistics at this conference to discuss various aspects of the alphabetic systems of the world.

It is my sincere pleasure to host the Third International Conference with the same theme of “Writings and Civilizations” as in 2010. Today, the 9th of October, is the very day for commemorating the creation of Hangeul. It is particularly meaningful for the Hunmin jeongeum Society to hold this international conference on this day. To briefly report on the history of the Hunmin jeongeum Society, it was founded in 2007 to investigate various writing systems of the world, including Hangeul. The first international conference hosted by this

Society was held on October 9th of 2008. Scripta vol. 2 was issued in September 2010 as a result of that first international conference. It is our hope that this publication will develop to become one of the major journals

Proceedings of the SCRIPTA 2011, Seoul, Oct. 7~9, 2011

dealing with the writing systems of the world. I believe that today’s third international conference will produce even more significant achievements. In addition, this Society has made strenuous efforts to preserve the endangered languages for the sake of language diversity. This Society has drawn worldwide attention by having Hangeul adopted as a way of recording Tsia-tsia, a language spoken by a minority tribe living on Buton island in Indonesia. In 2011 this Society is working on how to transcribe the native Aymara language of Bolivia employing the Hangeul alphabet. Today I am grateful to all of you for your participation. I am particularly grateful for those scholars who have come from overseas as well as from this country to present your papers. I am also thankful to those scholars who have willingly agreed to serve as discussants. I am confident that the discussions in this conference will prepare the way for further in-depth investigations of the alphabetic systems of the

world, hence obtaining a more insightful understanding of writing systems. The presentations and discussions throughout this conference will certainly lead to successful and meaningful results. Thank you very much.

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Congratulatory Address

LEE Ki-nam Chairman of the board, the Hunmin jeongeum Society

Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, I want to say congratulations on having the third international symposium. I stand up before this distinguished guests today to speak briefly about the accomplishments to date and purposes of establishment of Hunmin jeongeum Society, as my term as chairperson of the organization expires today. Hunmin jeongeum Society, an incorporated association was founded in 2007. Its founding purposes include the first task of publishing an

international journal on script and secondly sharing alphabets using Jeongeum with people without their own written languages. My role is to financially support the society so it will develop

continuously. And it has been through Wonam Foundation, an incorporated foundation which I organized and named after pseudonym of my late father. In the meantime, SCRIPTA vol. 3 was issued and international academic conference that was hosted every two years is now being held annually. Then, i) script was shared with CiaCia people, who had no written

language, which resides in Buton island, Indonesia, ii) script for Aymara

Proceedings of the SCRIPTA 2011, Seoul, Oct. 7~9, 2011

people in Bolivia, a South American country was made, and iii) preparation is on the way to provide written alphabets to a minority group of Zimbabwe in SE Africa. Today, scholars of Hunminjeongum Society Indonesia are joining us now. Looking back on 9th of last month, CiaCia people declared the day as ‘Baubau Hangul Day’ in commemoration of having their own script.

Hunmin jeongeum Society, using Hunmin jeongeum, creative invention of King Sejong the Great is dedicating its efforts for humankind as well as for study. I would like to ask your active participation and encouragement for the society’s further development. Thank you very much and God bless you.

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Tokens in China, Europe and Africa – The significance

Denise SCHMANDT-BESSERAT The University of Texas at Austin, USA

This paper deals with the fact that tokens, familiar in the prehistoric Near East, are also recovered in excavations in China, Europe and Africa and 1

most recently in Mesoamerica.

2

Tokens were small clay artifacts in

geometric shapes that were used as counters to keep track of goods before writing. I list below a selection of sites that yield tokens outside the Near

Denise Schmandt-Besserat, Before Writing, University of Texas Press, Austin 1992; “Tokens and Writing: The Cognitive Development,” Scripta, Vol. 1, 2009, P.145-154; “The Token System of the Ancient Near East: its role in Counting, Writing, the Economy and Cognition,” in Iain Morley and Colin Renfrew, The Archaeology of Measurement, Cambridge University Press, 2010, P. 27-34. 2 Linda R. Manzanilla, “Corporate Life in Apartment and Barrio Compounds at Teotihuacan, Central Mesxico,” In Linda R. Manzanilla and Claude Chapdelaine, Domestic Life in Prehispanic Capitals, Memoirs of the Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 2009, P. 30, Fig. 2.8. (21-42). 1

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East and consider what can be learned from the new data on the universality of the art of counting with geometric counters.

China Tokens were recovered in recent Chinese excavations in the present-day Anhui province of the People’s Republic. The artifacts belong to the Neolithic Shuangdun Culture that flourished about 5500 BC. The types 3

most frequently used were cones, spheres and disks. Further Neolithic 4

Chinese sites yielding tokens are Qianshan Xuejiagang, also in the Anhui province, Lintong Jiangzhai in the Shanxi province, and Tianmen Dengjiawan in the Hubei province.

5

Europe In Eastern Europe, assemblages of Neolithic tokens from Slovenia have been the subject of a careful study by Michael Budja. Further west, tokens 6

dated to early fourth millennium BC in the shapes of cones and spheres were identified in Italy at Capo Alfiere, Calabria. Still further evidence 7

3

4

5

6 7

Kan Xu Hang, Zhou Qun and Xu Da Li, eds., Bengbu Shuangdun – A Report on the Neolithic Site, Vols. 1-2, Anhui Provincial Institute of Antiquity and Archaeology, Bengbu Museum, Science Press, Beijing 2008. Kan Xu Hang, Zhou Qun and Xu Da Li, eds., Bengbu Shuangdun – A Report on the Neolithic Site, Vol. 2, Anhui Provincial Institute of Antiquity and Archaeology, Bengbu Museum, Science Press, Beijing 2008 P. 130: 1-12; 133: 1-4 and 132: 1-12. Yan Zhi and Park Zaifu, “Ancient Counting tools from Excavations – From Shang Zhai and other Cultures” in Wang Yuxin, et allii, eds., Beijing and Chinese Civilization, Social Science Archive Publisher, Beijing 2006. I am grateful to, Professor Huang Yaping, Ocean University of China, for this reference, and to Professor Zhang He, for the translation. Michael Budja, “Clay Tokens – Accounting before Writing in Eurasia,” Documenta Praehistorica vol. XXV, 1998, P. 219-235. Jon Morter, “Four pieces of clay: ’tokens’ from Capo Alfiere, Calabria.” Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology, Vol. 7.1, 1994, p. 115-123.

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Tokens in China, Europe and Africa

from Vivara, Italy, in the first half of the second millennium is especially interesting because of a particular way to create subtypes by dividing disks into halves and quarters.

Africa Tokens are present in Egypt, but rare. As was customary for the early 8

Egyptian excavation reports, only the stone specimens were published at Abydos, namely 49 spheres. Further south, in Khartoum, in the Sudan, A. 9

J. Arkell reported two types of Neolithic tokens: spheres and disks with a number of subtypes bearing markings.

10

Ten of the 26 spheres reported

display deep grooves. Disks feature incised lines on their face or around the edge. Jebel Moya, also in the Sudan,

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yielded small cones and disks

with various markings, as well as disks, parabollae and long shapes cut from potsherds dated from the Meroitic period at the end of the 1st millennium BC.

12

Mesoamerica The Teotihuacan collection consists of small cones and cylinders modeled by hand,

13

and 550 disks made from potsherds or mica. The disks were

Denise Schmandt-Besserat, “An Early Recording System in Egypt and the Ancient Near East,” in Denise Schmandt-Besserat, ed., Immortal Egypt. Undena Publications, Malibu, California 1978, p. 5-12. 9 Walter B. Emery, Great Tombs of the First Dynasty, Vol. II, Egypt Exploration Society, Oxford University Press, 1954, P. 56-59. 10 A. J. Arkell, Early Khartoum, Oxford University Press, 1949, P. 79 ff. 11 Frank Addison, Jebel Moya, vol. 1, Oxford University Press 1949, p. 214, 227, 241, 242 and Vol. 2, Plate CV: 11-13; CXIV: 6-11. 12 M. Pitts, “Jebel Moya Revisited: a settlement of the 5th Millennium BC in the Sudan,” Antiquity.ac.uk/Ant/065/0262/Ant0650262.pdf (January 9, 2011). 13 Linda R. Manzanilla, “Corporate Life in Apartment and Barrio Compounds at Teotihuacan, Central Mesxico,” In Linda R. Manzanilla and Claude Chapdelaine, 8

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either whole, or cut into halves, quarters or thirds. Further substantial tokens assemblages were excavated at Teopancazco, where 12 % of the 530 disks were cut in halves, and at Xalasco, where 42% of the 303 disks were cut into quarters. The date of these tokens is 1-500 AD when Teotihuacan was a vast multiethnic metropolis in Central Mexico.

The Three Token Groups The presence of tokens in Shuangdun, western China, is not so surprising because, as shown in Jeitun

14

and Anau,

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Central Asia produced in the 7th

Milennium BC sizeable assemblages of tokens including cones, spheres, discs, and biconoids. The Shuangdun tokens can therefore be considered as the extension of the Central Asian prehistoric accounting system, which itself was indebted to Mesopotamia or Persia. If, as is the present consensus, agriculture was brought to Europe from the Near East, it is plausible to consider that the practice of counting with tokens traveled from East to West as part and parcel of the Neolithic tool kit.

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Finally, it is more

difficult, but still conceivable to argue, that the idea of clay counters was passed on from the Levant to Egypt and from there to Khartoum in the

Sudan. In this perspective, the ancient Near East, including Syria, Anatolia, Mesopotamia and Persia, may be considered as the core region that initiated a system of counting and accounting with tokens, while China Domestic Life in Prehispanic Capitals, Memoirs of the Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 2009, P. 30, Fig. 2.8. (21-42). 14 V.M. Masson and V. I. Sarianidi, Central Asia, Praeger Publishers, New York, 1972, P. 35. 15 Raphael Pumpelly, Explorations in Turkestan, Prehistoric Civilizations of Anau, Carnegie Institution, Washington, D.C., 1908, P. 167-168, figs. 395 and 396; Denise Schmandt-Besserat, Before Writing, Vol. 2, The University of Texas Press, Austin, Texas 1992, p. 28-31. 16 Bleda S. During, The Prehistory of Asia Minor, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2010.

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Tokens in China, Europe and Africa

and Europe were peripheral, with Egypt and Central Africa more tenuously so. Of course, neither the much later Meroitic tokens of Jebel Moya nor those of second millennium Vivara or of distant Teotihuacan can in any way be related to the core region or its periphery. They have, therefore, to be considered as a third group that I will refer to as “distant.”

Similarities The Chinese, European, and African tokens from Khartoum share material, forms and size with their Near Eastern prototypes. Most importantly, they were based on the same symbolism, and served a similar economic function. It is not surprising that clay was the material chosen the world over to manufacture counters because, thanks to its remarkable quality of plasticity, it can easily be modeled, with the bare hand, in an infinite number of discreet shapes that are easy to recognize, identify, remember, and replicate. Cones, spheres, and disks are the most ubiquitous shapes showing a shared predilection for geometric shapes. In China and Europe the tokens are plain, i.e. mainly devoid of markings, which make them

unequivocally similar to the Neolithic and Chalcolithic Near Eastern assemblages of 7500 -3500 BC, with the only difference that several forms such as cylinders, tetrahedrons and ovoids seem absent in the periphery. From the origin, the Near Eastern tokens served to keep track of amounts of goods in the early agricultural communities. For instance, the earliest examples of 7500 BC were recovered in level III of the site of Mureybet in Syria, which marked the transition to agriculture. Tokens occur in the sixth millennium BC in China and in the fifth and fourth millennium in Europe and Africa, where they also coincided with the

beginning of agriculture. The need for counting and record keeping -5-

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therefore may be attributed to farming, and in particular to the economy of redistribution typical of the early agricultural settlements. It is important to understand that counting - the ability to determine the number of items in a collection – changed the economy. Counting and counters gave power to impose contributions and enforce their delivery. In

other words, they gave control over the production and exchange of real goods. As I have discussed elsewhere, it is likely that the Near Eastern prehistoric tokens served for the administration of goods collected from communities on the occasion of seasonal festivals.

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The created surplus of

staple goods, such as grain and animal on the hoof, was the fulcrum of the redistribution economy and tokens played a key role in its administration. It is remarkable that, within and without the Near East, the tokens

were based on the same fundamental principle. Namely, the counters stood for real goods and by doing so abstracted commodities from reality. The heaviest and bulkiest loads of grain, or the most unruly animals, could easily be counted with the miniature counters. Moreover, the tokens made it possible to count goods, whether in the field or harvested, whether stored or promised. Collectively, the Neolithic communities of the core and periphery solved the same concern by the same symbolic means. It is even more intriguing that geometric shapes were always selected to symbolize the merchandise. To each token shape was assigned a discreet meaning: in the Near East, a cone was a small measure of grain, and a sphere stood for a large measure of grain. In fact, it is likely that, when there was borrowing, the tokens were adopted wholesale, keeping the

17

Denise Schmandt-Besserat, “Feasting in the Ancient Near East,” in Michael Dietler and Brian Hayden, Feasts, Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, 2001, P. 391403

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same meaning attached to the same form. The similarity in the use of symbolism and the overall propensity for geometric shapes may point to a common human innate cognitive capacity. It is also significant that, wherever they were adopted, the tokens were

based on a same archaic technique of counting. As it is well documented by the numbers of counters held in the Near Eastern envelopes, the tokens were used in one-to-one correspondence. Six small measures of grain were shown with six cones, and ten small measures of grain with ten cones. Furthermore, tokens in multiple shapes are characteristic of a method of counting referred to as concrete counting. Concrete counting is characterized by using special number words, or special counters, to compute each particular category of items. For instance, small measures of

grain could only be counted with cones and vice versa spheres could only be used to tally large measures of grain. Accordingly, the ubiquity of

tokens demonstrates that concrete counting was the norm in many cultures. In other words, numeracy seems to have evolved similarly in many parts of the world, with a stage of archaic counting, such as concrete counting, preceding the acquisition of abstract numbers. The tokens from the Near East and the peripheral regions have an unmistakable family resemblance in material, manufacture and size. They

were used consistently for the same purpose, which is to be expected since they stem from the same origin. In comparison the distant group has a distinctly different feel. These tokens are larger, bulkier, and less carefully manufactured. The repertory of shapes is limited to cones, cylinders and mostly disks except at Jebel Moya where the collection has a rich number of original shapes never seen elsewhere. Both Vivara and Teotohuacan (of course independently) create disk subtypes by cutting them in halves,

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thirds, quarters, which never happens in the core and periphery. Finally, some of the Teotihuacan tokens are cut in mica. Surprisingly the tokens from the third, distant group, share some of the main features of the original Near Eastern tokens. All were mostly

made of clay; they symbolized units of goods with geometric shape (Linda Manzanilla interprets the disks and their various subtypes as different quantities of tortillas); they served for concrete counting and accounting in one-to-one correspondence. The fact that many cultures, far or near, and in diverse time periods could readily borrow from one another, or invent independently, a similar system of counters of geometric shapes to refer to specific quantities of merchandise may point to a commonality of cognitive aptitudes in the preliterate world.

Differences The Near Eastern token assemblages distinguish themselves from all the others by being larger, and most importantly, by evolving from plain to

complex forms. Where the excavators were vigilant, tokens were recovered by the hundreds in Mesopotamia and Persia. For instance, the site of Jarmo, Iraq, produced 1153 spheres, 206 disks and 106 cones. In comparison, the tokens in the distant group collections are also quite numerous, but those of the periphery are fewer. The most significant difference between the tokens within and without the Near East is the fact that the former evolved, but the Chinese, European, African and Mesoamerican tokens did not. In Mesopotamia, after a period of about four thousand years when tokens showed little or no change, abruptly about 3300BC, the assemblage of the city of Uruk

became very complex. It featured some seven additional types of tokens, -8-

Tokens in China, Europe and Africa

among which such new forms as triangles, quadrangles and parabollae, but also some more naturalistic shapes such as miniature heads of animals, vessels and tools. These main types were further differentiated into some 300 subtypes by the addition of lines or dots. The phenomenon of complex tokens extended beyond the metropolis to all the cities under Uruk’s sway. Namely, the exact same types and subtypes of complex tokens have been

recovered in Tello in Iraq; Susa and Chogha Mish in Iran and; Habuba Kabira and Jebel Aruda in Syria. No such complex assemblage is known outside the Uruk realm. The multiplication of token shapes occurred simultaneously with the rise of the Uruk city state, which implies that the state administration was strengthened in order to control the production and movement of a larger variety of goods with greater specificity. This further underscores that, in the Near East, the need for counting and accounting went hand in hand with the growth of formal leadership.

Tokens and Writing The evolution from plain to complex tokens in Uruk is important because it started the series of events that led to the invention of writing. First, the Uruk accountants invented envelopes in the shape of hollow clay balls to hold together tokens representing debts. The second step was to mark, on the outside of the envelopes, the shape of the tokens held inside. This was done by impressing the tokens in the soft clay of the surface of the envelope. These impressions indicated the shapes or types of the tokens held inside the envelopes, while their number was shown in one-to-one

correspondence. The hollow envelopes holding tokens did not have a long duration, but the markings made by impressing tokens on their face -9-

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survived. With a third invention, they were imprinted on solid lumps of clay – tablets. In time the impressed markings were complemented by more legible signs, still in the form of tokens, but traced with a stylus. Fourth, the final momentous invention was to confer a phonetic value to signs. The phonograms were no longer in the shape of tokens. The new signs were incised sketches of things easy to draw that stood for the sound

of the word they evoked. The drawing of a man stood for the sound “lu” and that of the mouth for “ka,” that were the sounds of the words for “man” and “mouth” in the Sumerian language. The phonograms were invented for composing individuals’ names. These were written like a rebus, for example, the modern name “Lucas,” could have been written with the two signs mentioned above “lu - ka.” These archaic tablets are considered the origin of the cuneiform script. Like the phenomenon of complex tokens, the metamorphosis of tokens

into impressed markings, and the change from envelopes to tablets, occurred only in sites yielding a typical Uruk administrative assemblage that included special cylinder seals picturing the Uruk high priest, referred

to as En, typical pottery bowls and jars, and a monumental architecture decorated with cone mosaics. The invention of writing can undoubtedly be attributed to the Uruk administration and probably to a single accountant, whose name has forever disappeared from human memory. Things happened differently in China where forty five round clay

envelopes, 4-6 cm in diameter, holding from one to seven small clay spheres inside were excavated at the site of Anhui Qianshan Xuejiagang and 60 more at Lintong Jiangzhai, in the Shanxi province.

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The

excavators report that many of the envelopes are marked with small holes and linear impressions but do not specify whether the number of markings

18

Yan Zhi and Park Zaifu, “Ancient Counting tools from Excavations – From Shang Zhai and other Cultures” in Wang Yuxin, et allii, eds., Beijing and Chinese Civilization, Social Science Archive Publisher, Beijing 2006.

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Tokens in China, Europe and Africa

is related to the number of spheres inside. The resemblance of these artifacts with those from the Near East is remarkable, but the fact that the objects were found in graves, suggests a function different from those of Uruk. The Chinese envelopes with or without markings eventually disappeared without ever leading to any further development. In particular, the shapes and patterns of the large collection of pottery markings, for which the Neolithic Shuangdun culture is famous, show no likeness with the form of the contemporaneous tokens or their markings.

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Furthermore,

since the pottery markings of Shuangdun are not considered to be a script, the Chinese tokens can in no way be regarded as an antecedent of writing in China. The hollow clay envelopes used to hold tokens, that led to a dead end in China, but sparked off writing at Uruk, may be the best illustration of the serendipity that presided over the invention of writing. Uruk invented writing and, by doing so, smote the first breach into the prehistoric Near Eastern token system. The new technology was in total contrast to the simple geometric counters. The token system had spread so swiftly and easily from culture to culture that in 7500 BC they were used in Tell Mureybet in Syria, as well as at Tepe Asiab in Persia, at the other end of the Fertile Crescent, The same clay counters remained for millennia a common feature in villages and towns of the entire Near East and beyond. In fact the 1500 BC Nuzi envelope filled with counters is prime evidence

that, in the Near East, tokens served the illiterate long into historical times. Instead, writing proved hard to learn because it required a special eyehand coordination to trace the signs; the two-dimensional script, which could not be manipulated by hand, was far more abstract and thus more difficult to use. Consequently, for several centuries writing remained

19

Kan Xu Hang, Zhou Qun and Xu Da Li, eds., Bengbu Shuangdun – A Report on the Neolithic Site, Vols. 1-2, Anhui Provincial Institute of Antiquity and Archaeology, Bengbu Museum, Science Press, Beijing 2008.

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confined to the administration of the Uruk city state, where only a score of Mesopotamian accountants could master it. Once writing became phonetic it became language and culture specific. Whereas tokens had united a vast number of cultures, writing became a great divide.

Conclusion The tokens were counters. They were tools of the mind, and as such, can shed light on the cognitive skills of preliterate humans.

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The similarity of

all the known assemblages of tokens of several continents and throughout time suggests that the simple system of counters matched some fundamental aptitudes of the human mind. Among the common diagnostic traits features the predilection for small three dimensional artifacts that can be manipulated with the fingers; the propensity to select geometric

shapes to facilitate memory; the method of one-to-one correspondence to perform additions and subtractions; finally, concrete counting, which allows one to count one item at a time. Today’s abacus, the ultimate heir of the tokens, which still helps children all over the world to master the art

of counting, testifies that the tokens tapped into some fundamental universal cognitive predispositions of the human mind.

Abstract: Over the last decades, excavators in various parts of the world, in particular China, Europe and Africa, have reported finding clay tokens similar to the Near Eastern counters, forerunners of the cuneiform script. In this paper I

20

Lambros Malafouris, ”Grasping the concept of number: How did the sapient mind move beyond approximation,” in Iain Morley and Colin Renfrew, The Archaeology of Measurement, Cambridge University Press, 2010, P. 35-42.

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Tokens in China, Europe and Africa will argue that the ubiquity of geometric counters for counting in one-to-one correspondence highlights 1) a fundamental aptitude of the human mind; 2) the unique contribution of the Mesopotamian Uruk state administration that developed the system into writing. Key Words: Tokens, Counters, Uruk, Shuangdun Culture,Teotihuacan.

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Discussion: Tokens in China, Europe and Africa

Seung Il KANG Hannam University, KOREA

It was in 2002 that I first came across Professor Schmandt-Besserat’s book How Writing Came About. At that time, I was a first year graduate student, who just came to the United States, and was struggling with the inundation of books and articles to read. Though not an Assyriologist myself, I was forced to take a mandatory course titled “Mesopotamian History Seminar” with Professor Jerry Cooper at the Johns Hopkins University. Some 100

page excerpt from How Writing Came About (its scholarly version is her two-volume work Before Writing) was included in the reading material for the course. I was not sure whether Professor Cooper had received a copyright agreement from Professor Schmandt-Besserat for distributing a part of her book to the students, but it was not my concern. My first impression was: “Denise Schmandt-Besserat? Gosh, it’s a long name. I will be having trouble to remember her name when preparing for the final exam.” But I never expected to meet her in person here in Korea, and to be a discussant of her paper at that.

It is a great honor and pleasure for me to be here today with such an eminent scholar as Professor Schmandt-Besserat, who is a world-renowned expert on ancient tokens and the origins of writing. Though I do not recall

Proceedings of the SCRIPTA 2011, Seoul, Oct. 7~9, 2011

much of her argument in How Writing Came About, I still remember that her theory that writing was developed from accounting system based on clay tokens dumbfounded me; with no previous knowledge of Sumerian writing system, I had this vague idea that writing might have been invented for religious purpose or for literature.

In this paper “Tokens in China, Europe and Africa – the Significance,”

Professor Schmandt-Besserat examines various types of tokens found throughout the world. She classifies them into three groups: (1) core – the ancient Near East, (2) peripheral – China and Europe (including Egypt and Central Africa) and (3) distant – Mesoamerica. She finds similarities among these tokens from various continents of the world in their geometric shapes and symbolism. She ascribes the similar features to “a commonality of cognitive aptitudes in the preliterate world.” In the meantime, there are differences: the tokens in the ancient Near East evolved from plain to

complex tokens to record a variety of manufactured goods as the city state of Uruk grew in size, whereas tokens in other places did not. She finally argues that the tokens in Mesopotamia eventually developed into Sumerian writing. Now, Professor Schmandt-Besserat, could you please be kind enough to answer the following questions, so we can fully appreciate the significance of your research? 1. The archaeological context in which artifacts are found is crucial to understand how they were used and what they represented. Please explain the archaeological context of the clay tokens. 2. What are various types of counters or record keeping devices other than clay tokens that were used in preliterate cultures? 3. How many tokens have been discovered in Mesopotamia, and how do you identify the products or goods each token represents? Do you - 16 -

Discussion: Tokens in China, Europe and Africa

find any rules governing which tokens label which goods (e.g., resemblance)? Or were most of the token shapes arbitrarily chosen or created? 4. Your theory that Mesopotamian tokens were the precursor to the Sumerian script is now widely accepted. Do you believe that the tokens

account for the origins of all Sumerian signs? Some of the Sumerian signs were apparently direct heirs of tokens; but it appears that a lot of signs have no counterpart of tokens. And if this is the case, it may be seen as a weakness of your theory. It seems that you provide a partial answer to this question by stating, “the final momentous invention was to confer a phonetic value to signs. The phonograms were no longer in the shape of tokens. The new signs were incised sketches of things easy to draw that stood for the sound of the word they evoked.” Yet, one might ask whether this process of conferring a phonetic value to these newly created signs is to be seen as a continuation of the development from tokens, or an independent development of a writing principle accomplished without recourse to the token system. 5. In this paper, you show that the token system evolved into the invention of writing in Mesopotamia, but this was not the case in China. What factors do you think contributed to the difference? 6. Some people believe that Chinese writing may have been influenced or inspired by the Sumerian writing system through cultural diffusion. We would appreciate your comments on this.

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Khitan: Understanding the language behind the scripts

Juha A. JANHUNEN University of Helsinki, FINLAND

In the global context of ancient scripts and their decipherment it is not widely known that some of the last great challenges posed by unknown systems of writing are those connected with the scripts of peripheral mediaeval China. Three non-Chinese ethnic groups—the Khitan, the Jurchen, and the Tangut, corresponding to the “alien” dynasties of Liao 遼 (907-

1125), Jin 金 (1115-1234), and Xixia 西夏 (1038-1227), respectively— created scripts and literary languages of their own. After centuries of oblivion, samples of these scripts emerged in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and became objects of intensive study. Even so, we cannot say that any of these scripts has been fully deciphered. The problems vary from script to script, however, and they are also connected with the level of knowledge we have of the underlying languages—Khitan, Jurchen, and

Proceedings of the SCRIPTA 2011, Seoul, Oct. 7~9, 2011

Tangut. It happens that of the three languages, only Jurchen survived till later times, becoming the direct ancestor of Manchu, while both Khitan and Tangut became extinct soon after the fall of the political states that had used them as their dynastic languages.1

1. The Khitan Scripts As far as Khitan is concerned, the situation is complicated by the circumstance that it was written in two different scripts, today known as

the Khitan Large Script (大文 Dawen) and the Khitan Small Script (小文 Xiaowen). Like the Tangut Script and the Jurchen Script, the two Khitan scripts have a Chinese “appearance”, meaning that they are composed of the same type of primary and secondary elements (strokes, characters), presupposing the same type of writing instruments (brush, ink), as the Chinese script. We may therefore identify all these scripts as “Sinitic” or “Sinoform” in the typological and aesthetic sense. None of them is, however, identical with the Chinese script, and only two scripts, the Khitan Large Script and the Jurchen Script, are materially “related” to the Chinese

script, meaning that they may be viewed as ancient regional derivatives of the latter, a situation which also allows them to be identified as “Sinographic” writing systems, and their characters as “Sinograms”. The Khitan Small Script and the Tangut Script, on the other hand, have no material relationship with the Chinese script, which suggests that their origination may have involved a factor of conscious “invention”.2

1

2

For a more comprehensive survey of the chronological context of the scripts of mediaeval peripheral China, cf. Janhunen (1994). The present paper will not deal in any more detail with the Tangut script. However, from the point of view of graphemic analysis, this script offers a particularly difficult challenge, since nothing is known of the principles of how it was designed. For this reason, the assumptions conventionally made about the identity of the Tangut

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Khitan: Understanding the language behind the scripts

We know today that the Khitan Large Script and the Jurchen Script are very closely related with each other, both probably representing a continuation of a local Manchurian variety of the Chinese script. It is possible, though not verified, that this same variety, or an earlier form of it, was used already before the Liao-Jin period in other political contexts,

including, perhaps, Beiwei 北魏 (386-534) and/or Balhae 渤海 (698-926). It is notable that the Khitan Large Script incorporates many Chinese characters, especially simple ones, in unchanged form, while in the Jurchen Script such characters are normally distinguished from their Chinese counterparts by using diacritics. We also know that both the Khitan and the Jurchen used this script as a mixed logo-syllabic system, with some characters functioning as logograms (with Khitan and Jurchen pronunciations) and others as syllabograms (for fixed sequences of sounds, not necessarily corresponding to phonetic syllables). In general, the

number of separate characters in the Khitan Large and Jurchen Scripts is considerably smaller than in the Chinese script, and the forms of the characters are less complicated, with no functionally relevant “radical” components. Unfortunately, the Khitan Large Script is still very imperfectly deciphered, with only a small proportion of the characters identified with meanings (logograms) and/or sounds (syllabograms). One important direction of research that has not yet been properly initiated is the

systematic comparison of the Khitan Large Script characters with those of the Jurchen Script. Due to the fact that the Jurchen Script survived relatively long (till the 16th century) and was used to write a well-known language (Jurchen-Manchu), our knowledge of the Jurchen Script is rather close to “decipherment” in the sense that most of its elements have a

language are also detached from the graphic reality and cannot be considered as confirmed, as was already pointed out by Kwanten (1984, 1988).

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Proceedings of the SCRIPTA 2011, Seoul, Oct. 7~9, 2011

known linguistic correlate, even if there still remain many open questions.3 On the other hand, the corpus of the Khitan Large Script is much more extensive, and in a much better state of preservation, than that of the Jurchen Script. Therefore, the Khitan Large Script is potentially a crucial source of information also for Jurchen studies. At the present stage, however, its potential cannot yet be exploited.

This leaves us only the Khitan Small Script corpus as the most important currently available direct source on the Khitan language. Since several decades, it has been known that this is a basically syllabic script, using a limited number of graphically simple syllabic signs (syllabograms), known as the Khitan Small Script “characters”. What makes the graphic image visually complicated is the convention of accumulating the syllabic signs into “blocks” corresponding to linguistic words, a convention which, incidentally, has a close analogy in the Korean Hangeul.4 Since a Khitan

word (with derivational and inflectional suffixes) can consist of up to eight

“syllables”, a block can have a graphic appearance (stroke composition) even more complex than a Chinese character—a circumstance that caused confusion during the early stages of Khitan studies, when it was not yet clear how the “Small” and “Large” scripts should be properly distinguished.5 The decipherment of the Khitan Small Script has involved both slow progress and rapid steps foreword starting with the early 1920s. 6 A 3

4

5

6

The principal works on the Jurchen Script are Grube (1896), Kiyose (1978), Kane (1989), Jin Qicong (1984), and Pevnov (2004). Of these, only Kane comments also on the Khitan Large Script. The difference between the two scripts is, of course, that the blocks in Hangeul are composed of phonograms. It is not known whether the Khitan Small Script can have inspired the creators of the Hangeul, for ultimately the blocks in both the Khitan Small Script and the Hangeul must have been modelled along the principle of Chinese characters. The distinction between the two Khitan scripts was first correctly made and communicated internationally by Toyoda (1964). Most research on the Khitan Small Script has mainly been communicated in scattered papers and a few monographs in Chinese. An important critical summary of all this work was made available for the international readership by Kane (2009).

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Khitan: Understanding the language behind the scripts

definitive breakthrough, which for the first time yielded concrete “readings” of Khitan words, was achieved by a team active in China in the ’70s and ’80s.7 Since then, the most important development has been the rapid increase of the corpus, conditioned by the discovery of new texts. The currently known corpus comprises 34 published and a few unpublished

epigraphic texts plus a diffuse selection of minor materials. The standard of “publication” varies, however, and not all texts have been made available in a form that can be used for textological and linguistic analysis. Even so, and in spite of the fact that the epigraphic texts tend to be stereotypic in form and content, the corpus is large enough to allow relatively detailed conclusions to be made about the Khitan language and the properties of the Small Script. The phonetic value of the Khitan Small Script syllabic signs varies from one segment (consonant or vowel) to sequences of up to three

segments. Some characters seem to be used also for longer words as what may be actual logograms. There are, of course, also undeciphered characters. Of the currently known 459 different characters, “only” 314 have been deciphered in one way or another.8 These include, however, a large proportion of the most frequent characters, while many of the undeciphered items are rare and may even involve mistakes. This means that even if the decipherment is not fully completed, it is already possible to render long sequences of continuous Khitan text a more or less

consistent phonetic and/or semantic interpretation, with only occasional lacunae. In this situation, attention may gradually be turned away from the script to the language behind the script.

7

8

Qinggeertai & Liu Fengzhu & Chen Naixiong & Yu Baolin & and Xing Fuli (1985). For a more detailed history of Khitan Small Script studies, see Wu Yingzhe & Janhunen (2010: 20-25). An up-to-date list of the Khitan Small Script characters is given in Wu Yingzhe & Janhunen (2010: 259-272, cf. also the discussion ibid. 35-48).

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2. The Khitan language The Khitan, or Qidan 契丹, were the dominant ethnic group in the Liaoxi 遼西 region in the period between the Beiwei and the historical Mongols. The Khitan survived as an ethnic group after the rise of the Jurchen, and written documents in the Khitan language continued to be produced almost till the end of the Jin period. It is well known from Chinese historical sources that Khitan was a distinct language, spoken by virtually all ethnic Khitan, a population whose size may have reached a million people during the height of the Liao dynasty. Khitan was not the only language spoken in the Liao state, however, for other languages, including Chinese and Jurchen, were also widely used especially in the areas conquered by the Khitan during the process of state formation. It is less clear how uniform Khitan was internally. The Khitan were composed of tribes, some of which played a more important political role in the Liao state than others, and it is quite possible that there were tribal forms of speech that deviated from the mainstream language.9

Apart from texts in the two Khitan scripts, there are two other types of

sources on the Khitan language. These are, first, the occasional samples of Khitan, mainly lexical items, but also phrases and poems, preserved in Chinese transcription and glossing, and, second, the Khitan loanwords transmitted into neighbouring languages, especially Jurchen. As far as can be seen, these sources represent a language identical with that of the Khitan text corpus. The Chinese data are, however, often frustratingly difficult to interpret with any certainty due to the chronological, phonological, and semantic inaccuracies as well as outright errors contained in them.

10

Loanword research could potentially yield much more

On the tribes, as well as on the general social history and historical demography of the Khitan, see Wittfogel & Fêng (1949). 10 Recent studies of Khitan words in Chinese sources include Sun Bojun & Nie Hongyin (2008) and Talpe (2010). The only linguistically competent work on the subject is 9

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Khitan: Understanding the language behind the scripts

informative results, for it may be taken for certain that Jurchen, as a subordinate language of the Liao state, received a considerable number of Khitan loanwords.11 It is also likely that the two languages were typologically similar, which means that we may occasionally use information from Jurchen to approach the structure of Khitan.

The fact that Khitan is, or was, typologically speaking, an “Altaic”

language, was known already before the original sources in the language could be “read”.12 This is now confirmed by the actual “readings” of the Khitan Small Script texts. We know, for instance, that Khitan had an elaborate system of nominal and verbal inflectional suffixes, most of which can be phonologically approximated.13 The syntax and morphosyntax, including the basic word order (SOV) and the various types of subordinated (converbial) and embedded (participial) sentence constructions, is also in full accordance with that attested in the other historical and modern “Altaic” languages in the region, including both Jurchen-Manchu and Mongolian. There are, however,

some unexpected features, notably traces of grammatical gender (marked masculine vs. unmarked or generic feminine), a category not typical of “Altaic” typology though, incidentally, present in Middle Mongol.14 It used to be more difficult to determine what genetic group (language family) Khitan represents. “Altaic” typology as such does not indicate whether a language is Turkic, Mongolic, Tungusic, or something else. In the

11

12

13

14

Shimunek (2007). Selected details are also discussed by Vovin (2003) and Róna-Tas (2004). Some pioneering work on the lexical parallels between Khitan and Jurchen has been carried out by Kane (2006). A “grammar” and collection of Khitan Small Script “texts” in digital form was compiled by a Russian team in the 1960s and ’70s, cf. Starikov & al. (1970), Arapov (1982). So far the only systematic grammatical sketch of Khitan has been compiled by Kane (2009: 131-166), who also gives a vocabulary of 354 items (ibid. 83-130). The role of grammatical gender in Khitan is still far from completely understood. Work on this issue has been carried out by Wu Yingzhe (2005, 2007). In spite of its importance, the issue of grammatical gender is largely unstudied in Middle Mongol, cf. Rybatzki (2003: 75).

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past, when work on Khitan was solely based on the Chinese transcriptions and glosses of Khitan words, it was common to try to identify these words item by item with the different historical and extant “Altaic” languages. The result was ambiguous, since Khitan turned out to contain lexical items that could be identified variously with either Mongolic or Turkic, or also Tungusic.15 In

many cases, parallel identifications were possible, leading to speculations that Khitan might be an “intermediate” idiom between, say, Turkic and Mongolic,

or Mongolic and Tungusic. The problem here was that inherited elements were not properly distinguished from borrowed ones. A more reliable method is to operate with genetically diagnostic words, such as items of basic vocabulary, which are likely to have been inherited rather than borrowed. With this method, it was initially possible to identify the language of the Tabghach, or Tuoba 拓跋, the leading ethnic group of the Beiwei state, as basically “Mongolic”. Since the Tabghach were the political

and, quite possibly, the linguistic ancestors of the Khitan, the Mongolic identification of Khitan gained ground.

16

This identification is now

definitively confirmed by the information from the Khitan Small Script texts, which show beyond doubt that Khitan was a language whose basic vocabulary and grammatical resources were related to those attested in the Mongolic languages. It is important to note that this conclusion is exclusive, in the sense that Khitan is not an “intermediate” language and cannot share elements, except borrowings, with other “Altaic” languages than Mongolic.17

The term “Mongolic” needs, however, modification when used about

Khitan. All other extant and historical Mongolic languages represent a single genetic node, corresponding to the language of the historical 15

16

17

Menges (1968) made an effort to identify Tungusic elements in Khitan, though we know today that most of his identifications are wrong. He had to admit himself that the material was not conclusive for the determination of the genetic position of Khitan. The Mongolic identification of the Tabghach language was made by Ligeti (1971). A similar identification for Khitan is implied by Doerfer (1992, 1993). Suggestions that violate this principle are occasionally encountered in the works of Khitan specialists not sufficiently familiar with comparative linguistics.

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Khitan: Understanding the language behind the scripts

Mongols, and linguistically identifiable as Proto-Mongolic. Khitan did not descend from Proto-Mongolic but was, rather, a sister language of the latter. In other words, Proto-Mongolic and Khitan represented two branches of an even older protolanguage, a certain stage of Pre-ProtoMongolic which could also be termed “Khitano-Mongolic”. Khitan itself

may also have had sister languages belonging to the same branch, which, in that case, should be termed Khitanic. Technically, the most suitable term to describe the position of Khitan (and Khitanic) with regard to ProtoMongolic is to identify the former as Para-Mongolic, implying that it is a question of a genetically related, but collateral, branch of the much better known Mongolic language family.18

3. The position of Khitan The availability of direct information on Para-Mongolic in the form of Khitan Small Script texts opens up extremely important new perspectives for studies on the history of the Mongolic language family. Working with the actual Mongolic languages alone, we used to have three kinds of diachronic information: first, the comparative evidence provided by the

extant Mongolic languages; second, the information contained in the historical forms of Mongolic, especially Written Mongol and Middle Mongol; and third, the potential conclusions that can be made from the comparative and historical data by the method of internal reconstruction. Only the last type of information allows us to approach the period preceding Proto-Mongolic, which itself is of a rather shallow depth corresponding to no more that 800-900 years.

18

The term Para-Mongolic was introduced by Janhunen (1995, 2003) and has since found some support in specialist literature, cf. e.g. Kane (2009: x).

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The question is how far backwards the Khitan data allow us to go in the history of Mongolic. This, on the other hand, depends, on how different Khitan was as compared with Proto-Mongolic. Before the decipherment of the Khitan Small Script there was an opinion that Khitan may have been closely related to Proto-Mongolic, so closely that it was thought that Khitan could

perhaps be “read” in terms of the lexical and grammatical information we have from Middle Mongol. Today we know that this is not so: Khitan is, in fact, a language rather distantly related to the Proto-Mongolic branch. To get an idea of how distant the relationship could be we may think of the neighbouring Tungusic language family, in which the southern branch, corresponding to Jurchen-Manchu (Jurchenic), is in many ways strikingly different from the northern branch, corresponding to Ewenki-Ewen (Ewenic).19 Assuming that the difference between Para-Mongolic and ProtoMongolic was of the same chronological scope as that between the southern and northern branches of Tungusic, the breakup of the original protolanguage (Proto-Khitano-Mongolic) would have taken place at least several centuries before the emergence of Khitan as a written language. The last possible historical context for the still uniform protolanguage would seem to have been the empire of the Xianbei 鮮卑 (93-234), though the breakup may, of course, have taken place even earlier. A practical consequence of the chronological difference is that Khitan texts, which with one notable exception are not bilingual, are difficult to understand even if the script is no longer a major problem. It is not without reason

that the situation has been compared with that of Etruscan: a known script but an unknown language.20

19

20

The Tungusic family also has two transitional (or mixed) branches. For a more detailed taxonomy of Tungusic, cf. Janhunen (2011). The Etruscan parallel is mentioned by Kane (2009: x), who also discusses the general challenge posed by languages that can be read without being understood. On the unique bilingual Khitan text, cf. most recently Vovin (2000).

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Khitan: Understanding the language behind the scripts

Fortunately, however, Khitan—unlike Etruscan—is not completely unknown, for it is still related to the Proto-Mongolic branch, although the relationship is so distant that it does not substantially facilitate the understanding of Khitan texts. The genetic connection is nevertheless evident from the existence of cognate words and shared morphological elements present in both Khitan and Proto-Mongolic. It is very likely that the number of cognates will continue to grow as more linguistic work is done on the Khitan Small Script texts. We should, however, not be too optimistic about the size of the comparative corpus. The total number of Khitan lexical items that can be assessed both phonetically and semantically today is still less than 500, and many of these items do not belong to the basic vocabulary; moreover, they also comprise a number of Chinese borrowings. As it is, the number of currently known certain or plausible cognates

between Khitan and Proto-Mongolic is at the range of a few dozen, that is, about ten per cent of the total known Khitan lexicon.21 The only way to assess the taxonomic status of Khitan with regard to Proto-Mongolic is to analyze this corpus with the methods of comparative linguistics. It is particularly illustrative to see in what respects Khitan, as compared with Proto-Mongolic, is archaic and in what respects it is innovative. Since Khitan became a written language some 200 years before Middle Mongol, one would expect that it might be in some respects more archaic. The

picture is not equivocal, however, for in other respects Khitan is surprisingly “modern”, often anticipating innovations that took place in the Proto-Mongolic branch only after the breakup of the latter. This is compatible with the picture provided by the Tungusic family, in which Jurchen-Manchu may also be seen as a particularly innovative branch as

21

Many of the cognates have been identified over the years by Chinese scholars and are listed by Kane (2009), though his database involves mistakes and omissions.

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compared with Ewenki-Ewen. Moreover, some of the innovations present in Khitan are likely to have been shared with Jurchen on an areal basis. At this point a word of caution concerning the notation is in place. The language behind the Khitan Small Script can be approached in terms of a Romanized approximation of its phonetic structure. The Romanization

is, however, not an exact reconstruction of the segmental properties of the language. This situation is due to two circumstances: on the one hand, we simply do not know the exact segmental counterparts of many Khitan Small Script characters, although we can “approximate” them; on the other, we have to consider the fact that the orthography of Khitan is not always consistent with the actual sequences of sounds. In order to show the difference between orthography and sounds, it is useful to let the Romanizations be accompanied by a more phonemically accurate “reading” (marked †), which, in turn, should be distinguished from reconstructions (marked *).22

4. Lexical properties As all Khitan texts of any significant length are memorial in character, containing epitaphs, eulogies, lamentations, and/or historical records, the lexicon used in them is thematically and functionally restricted. This gives the decipherer the advantage of having many parallel repetitions with minor variations, as in genealogical lists, which, in turn, allows the identification of certain crucial lexical items and phrases to be multiply verified. The obvious disadvantage is that large sections of the lexicon 22

The current system of Romanization for Khitan was introduced by Kane (2008, 2009) and developed further by Wu Yingzhe & Janhunen (2010). The phonetic reliability of the Romanized shapes varies, and not all Romanizations may be regarded as fully verified. In the present paper, the Khitan items are quoted both in the original script (linearized) and in Romanization, with a phonetic approximation given when relevant or possible.

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Khitan: Understanding the language behind the scripts

never occur in the texts, or occur so rarely that identification is impossible. A potentially important source of lexicon is supplied by the poems which often complement epitaphic texts, but the problem here is that poetic expressions are virtually hopeless to assess without a parallel version in a known language.

In the following, a few lexical spheres relevant to comparative

linguistics are examined in some more detail: Pronouns. For genetic comparisons, personal pronouns would be an

ideal source of diagnostic information. Unfortunately, first and second

person pronouns do not seem to be attested in the extant Khitan corpus. A possible third person pronoun is  hó, but this item has no known cognate in Proto-Mongolic. The proximal demonstrative is, however, fully comparable with Proto-Mongolic data. The Khitan shape is  e ‘this’ :  t ‘these’, suggesting the readings †e : plural †e-d, which correspond to ProtoMongolic *e-n=e : plural *e-d=e. As may be seen, the Khitan shapes look like more simple and, hence, archaic, as they lack the stem extension -n and the postclitic element =e, as attested in the Proto-Mongolic cognates.23

On the Mongolic side, the proximal pronoun has the oblique stem *e-

xü/n- > *üün-, which has been compared with the possibly pronominal Khitan monosyllable  ún †un. This comparison remains unverified, but it would seem to correlate with Khitan  ún.e †une ‘now’, which formally corresponds to the Proto-Mongolic locative case form *e-xü/n-e ‘upon this’, a case form also attested in *e-d/ü-x-e ‘now’ (> Modern Mongolian odoo). The demonstratives are, however, not necessarily among the most stable elements of a language, which is why there is no need to expect a full correspondence between Khitan and Proto-Mongolic. It is therefore not

23

All Khitan data are quoted from Kane (2009) and Wu Yingzhe & Janhunen (2010). On the demonstrative pronouns, cf. also Wu Yingzhe (2009, 2011).

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surprising that the Khitan distal pronoun is  qi ‘that’ : plural  qi.t, suggesting an item totally different from Mongolic *te-.24 Numerals. One of the most simple demonstrations of the relationship between Khitan and Mongolic is offered by the basic numerals. Most numeral roots in Khitan can be written in two ways: either by a single character, often for cardinals, or in terms of a sequence of characters, often for ordinals. In both cases, it is a question of syllabic signs with a phonetic value, though some of the single characters for numerals still lack a phonetic approximation. From the combined information of the two types of spelling we can establish the following basic numeral stems: 2  ci.ur- †jur-, 3  hu.ur- †hur-, 4  t.ur- †dur-, 5  tau †tau, 7  da2.lo- †dal-. The similarity to Mongolic 2 *jir- (or *jïr-),25 3 *gur-, 4 *dör-,

5 *tab-, 7 *dal- is unmistakable, and it would be impossible to explain the situation by assuming borrowing. The higher numerals for the powers of ten 100  jau, 1000  ming, 10 000  tum also have Mongolic cognates: *jaxu-, *mingga-, and *tüme-, though they are less diagnostic, since they would have been more liable to be borrowed.

We also know the approximate phonetic shape of the Khitan numeral

stem 9  is †is-. This item is often compared with the Modern Mongolian numeral 9 is ~ yis. This comparison is wrong, however, for the Mongolian item derives from *yer-sü/n (as also in 90 *yer-e/n), an innovation of the 24

25

In this case, the discrepancy has also been explained by drawing the Romanization of the Khitan character into question. Most recently, Wu Yingzhe (2011: 00-00) has suggested the Romanization te, congruent with Mongolic *te, though mun, which would correspond to Mongolic *mön ‘this’, has also been proposed. Unfortunately, such reinterpretations are not compatible with the evidence supporting the Romanization qi, as established on the basis of another (ethnonymic) attestation by Kane (2009: 73), cf. also Wu Yingzhe & Janhunen (2010: 65-66). Since the Proto-Mongolic reconstructions are, in principle, well known, the present paper will not discuss them in the detail. It may nevertheless be noted that the numeral root for 2 is harmonically ambiguous: palatal vocalism is suggested by *jitüxer ‘second (wife)’ and possibly *jirin ‘two (females)’, while velar vocalism is suggested by *jïr-a/n ‘sixty’ (2x3x10).

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Proto-Mongolic lineage, as is also confirmed by data from the “teens” in Jurchen-Manchu.26 Another innovation in Mongolic is the numeral 6 *jirgu-xa/n (2x3), which must have replaced the original numeral likely to hide behind the Khitan character  SIX. Judging by the corresponding “teen” in Jurchen-Manchu, the Khitan item may have been †nil-, but this shape cannot yet be confirmed by the Khitan Small Script.

It may be noted further that the Khitan basic numerals seem to lack the stem extension *-pA/n > *-bA/n ~ *-xA/n, as present in the Mongolic items for the first decade 3 *gur-ba/n, 4 *dör-be/n, 7 *dal.u-xa/n, and others. This element might, then, represent an innovation specific to the Proto-Mongolic lineage, though it is also possible that the Khitan numeral system was secondarily simplified; in fact, we do not know what the exact shapes of the Khitan numerals were in absolute cardinal use. On the other hand, the Khitan numerals 2 †jur-, 3 †hur-, 4 †dur- contain the segment *r,

which most probably is a derivative element. This element is also present in Mongolic, meaning that it must represent an innovation common to both the Proto-Mongolic and the Para-Mongolic lineage.27

Terms for the four seasons. Among the surprises offered by the comparative material are the terms for the four seasons, which are virtually identical in Khitan (†) and Proto-Mongolic (*):  heu.úr †haur = *kabur ‘spring’,   ju3.un †jun = *jun ‘summer’,  n.am.úr †namur = *namur ‘autumn’,

26

27

On the teens in Jurchen-Manchu, cf. Janhunen (1993). Athough these items were certainly borrowed from a Mongolic language, we do not know whether the borrowing happened before or after the split of the Proto-Mongolic and ParaMongolic lineages. The structure of the teens in Jurchen-Manchu differs from that attested in the language of the Khitan texts. Using the method of internal reconstruction, the *r in 3 *gur- may be compared with the *t present in Mongolic 30 *guc-i/n < *gut-ï/n, though the background of this correspondence is unknown. The case of 4 *dör- : 40 *döcin may be more complicated since this basic digit is also attested in some Mongolic languages (Shirongolic) as *der-, while the corresponding decade is present, as a loanword, in Tungusic in the unexpected shape (*)deki(n), cf. Doerfer (1985: 78-79).

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  u.ul †uul = *öbül ‘winter’. Since the possibility of a wholesale borrowing is extremely unlikely, it must be a question of cognates. Moreover, the Khitan items, when not fully identical with their ProtoMongolic counterparts, show a somewhat greater degree of phonological innovation. This would seem to confirm that Khitan was generally more innovative, or also more “worn”, than Proto-Mongolic.

The terms for the four seasons also provide an important clue to understanding the innovations shared by Proto-Mongolic and ParaMongolic. The medial nasal *m in *namur ‘autumn’ must represent the same segment as the medial obstruent *b in *kabur ‘spring’. In other words, it is a question of a suffix, possibly reconstructable as Pre-Proto-Mongolic *-pUr, which is represented as *-mUr after a syllable with an nasal onset, and as *-bUr elsewhere. Possibly, the element *(-)bül in *öbül ‘winter’ is also relevant in this context. In any case, the change *p > *m, which may

be seen as a case of progressive distant assimilation, is likely to have taken place in the common protolanguage of Proto-Mongolic and ParaMongolic.28 Kinship terms. In view of the numerals and the terms for the four seasons it is curious that there is no overall correspondence in the realm of kinship terminology. Several Khitan kinship terms, including  ai ‘father’,  ia ‘elder brother’, and  au ‘elder sister’, have no obvious cognates on the Mongolic side. In other cases the correspondences are uncertain:  mo ‘woman, mother, wife’ (plural  mo.t) and  bu ‘grandfather’ (in   bu ai id.) have been compared with Mongolic *eme ‘woman’ resp. *ebü-gen

28

The reconstruction of the original consonant behind the variation *b ~ *m is not a trivial task, of course, and it is possible that *b would be a better choice than *p. In other items, the variation also involves *x, as in the numerals, in which *m is present in Mongolic 8 *nai-ma/n. For the time being we do not know what the phonetic shape of the corresponding Khitan numeral was.

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‘old man’, but the issue cannot be considered as fully concluded.29 The comparison between  

b.qo ‘child’ (plural   

b.hu.án) and

Mongolic *baga ‘small’ > ‘child’ is also problematic. There are, however, also good and non-trivial correspondences. These include  na.ha †naha (plural  na.ha.án.er) ‘maternal uncle’ =

*naga-cu id.,  k.iú ~  x.iú †keu ‘younger sister’ = *keü ‘child’, and very probably  deu †deu (genitive  deu.un) ‘younger brother’ = *de(x)ü id.30 In two items, Khitan would seem to have a monosyllabic root (CV) where Mongolic has a bisyllable, apparently a derivative:  ku †ku ‘person’ (genitive  ku.û.un) = *kü-xün id.,31  n.o †no ‘spouse’ = *nö-kür id., ‘friend’. In the item  n.ai.ci †naiji ‘friend’ = *nai-ji id. both branches have a derivative; the root *nai ‘friendship’ is preserved in Mongolic, and it is also attested in other derivatives like *nai-r ‘concord, festivity’. Root structure. Khitan seems to have been characterized by the same type of basic phonotactic restrictions as the other “Altaic” languages, including both Jurchen and Proto-Mongolic. This means, among other things, that there were no syllable-initial or syllable-final consonant clusters. Most lexical

items

are

bisyllabic

((C)V(C)CV(C)),

but

there

are

also

conspicuously many monosyllables. Among the latter, those ending in a consonant ((C)VC) can have direct cognates in Mongolic, as in the case of

29

30

31

Wu Yingzhe (2009) argues, certainly correctly, that in some cases a Khitan character can imply a “hidden” initial vowel. If the Khitan phonemic shapes were something like †eme resp. †ebu the cognateship with Mongolic would be in no doubt. The only problem in the item for ‘younger brother’ is that the Romanization of the character is not verified by independent information. The genitive form confirms, however, that the underlying syllable ended in †u, suggesting that the Romanization is correct. Mongolic *küxün has the variant *kümün (as in Written Mongol and Oirat), suggesting that the original shape was *kü-pün (with early dialectal nasalization of the medial consonant).

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 go.er ‘tent’ > ‘household’ = *ger.32 Khitan has, however, also many monosyllabic vowel stems ((C)V), a type absent in Proto-Mongolic (except in pronouns). In the comparative context it seems that the monosyllabic vowel stems in Khitan are an archaic trait eliminated on the Mongolic side by way of secondary suffixation, as in the above-mentioned items †ku

‘person’, †no ‘spouse’.

Importantly, the method of internal reconstruction allows monosyllabic vowel stems to be established also for a very early stage of the Mongolic lineage, as in the collective nouns formed by *-d (for countables) and *-s (for liquifiables). Only one of these is so far identified in the Khitan Small Script database:  ci.i.is †cis ‘blood’ > ‘blood relative’ = *ci-s-ü/n ‘blood’, presupposing the monosyllabic root *ci. As may be seen, this item shows the collective suffix *-s also in Khitan, suggesting that this group of nouns was formed already in the common protolanguage of the ProtoMongolic and Para-Mongolic lineages.33

5. Diachronic phonology No systematic picture of Khitan phonology is yet possible to draw. We cannot, for instance, reconstruct the exact configuration of the systems of vowels and consonants. This is due to the nature of the script, which involves multiple cases of both under- and over-differentiation, as well as a considerable amount of orthographical variation. We also have to reckon

32

33

The exact “reading” of the Khitan word is difficult to reconstruct. The comparative evidence would suggest the shape †ger, but the orthographical image is exceptional and might imply something more complex, especially as far as the vowel quality is concerned. On the Pre-Proto-Mongolic collectives in *-d resp. *-s, cf. Janhunen (1996: 210-215). On the Mongolic side, these nouns are always expanded by the element *-U/n. It may be noted that the item for ‘blood’ is also the base for the Khitan term for ‘filial piety’, see Kane (2004), Shimunek (2007: 71).

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Khitan: Understanding the language behind the scripts

with the possibility that Khitan changed in the course of time: the currently available corpus of Khitan Small Script texts covers a period of over a hundred years (1053-1175), while some of the orthographical conventions are likely to date from the time when the script was created (924925). In general, work on the Khitan phonological system is closely connected with the reconstruction of Liao Chinese, a little known form of speech, transitional between local Late Middle Chinese and Early Mandarin.34 On the other hand, Khitan phonology is likely to share many features with Jurchen on an areal basis. In the following some general points of relevance in the diachronic context are discussed in comparison with the Proto-Mongolic lineage: Vowel Rotation. As a working hypothesis it is reasonable to assume that Khitan originally had a vowel system similar to Pre-Proto-Mongolic. This system would have comprised 8 vowels, divided into 4 back (*a *o *u *ï) and 4 front (*e *ö *ü *i), as well as 4 lower (*a *e *o *ö) and 4 higher (*ï *i *u *ü) vowels. A similar system, with minor modifications, may be reconstructed for Proto-Turkic, Proto-Tungusic, and even Proto-Koreanic.

All over the region, the system has, however, undergone a process of vowel rotation, in which the original front vowels have been raised and velarized, while the original back vowels have been lowered and, in some languages, pharyngealized. A typical example of the effect of vowel rotation is the development of the pair *u - *ü = phonetically [u - y] to o - u = [o - u], as observed in languages such as Manchu, Dagur, and Korean.35 Vowel rotation in Northeast Asia is a relatively recent phenomenon, not yet observable with certainty in Proto-Mongolic. It is, therefore, important to note that it seems to have been present in Khitan. Although

34

35

On Liao Chinese, cf. Kane (2009: 227-264). Tentative outlines on Khitan phonology are given by Shimunek (2007: 38-52) and Takeuchi (2007). For a general discussion of the areal and typological background of vowel rotation in the languages of Northeast Asia, cf. Janhunen (1981).

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the vowel letters contained in the Romanizations should not be taken at face value, there are examples suggesting the developments *ü > †u and *u > †o, as in  uni †uni ‘ox’ = *üni-xe/n ‘cow’,  on- †on- ‘to ride’ = *unu- id. The ultimate impact of vowel rotation is the reduction of the paradigm towards a simple five-vowel system (a e i o u).36 We do not know

whether Khitan had reached this stage, but there are indications of, at least, a neutralization between *ö and *ü, cf.  s.uni ‘night’ = *söni id. On the other hand, there is also evidence of a more general neutralization of rounded vowels, cf. e.g. the numerals 3  hu.ur- †hur- = *gur- vs, 4   t.ur- †dur- = *dör-.37

Preservation of *p. Another widespread areal feature in Northeast Asia concerns the original strong (voiceless/aspirated) labial stop (*p), which has been variously spirantized (> f), velarized (> x), pharyngealized (> h), or lost (> Ø) in almost all languages and language families of the region, including Turkic, Mongolic, Tungusic, and even Japonic.38 While vowel rotation seems to have proceeded from east to west, the spirantization of the strong labial stop moved in the opposite direction,

being most ancient in the west (Turkic) and most recent in the east (Tungusic and Japonic). There is only one language family of the “Altaic” sphere, Koreanic, in which this phenomenon is totally absent.39

36

37

38

39

The system can be secondarily increased by the introduction of a new set of palatal vowels, as has happened in Korean, as well as in several varieties of Mongolic. In numerals we have, of course, to consider also the possibility of analogical levelling between neighbouring items. The phenomenon is also attested in a few Uralic languages. Starting with Pelliot (1925), particular attention in comparative Altaic studies has been paid to the hstage, though the implications of the issue have not always been correctly understood. Another language family in which the phenomenon is not attested is Amuric, today represented by the single language (isolate) of Ghilyak (Nivkh), but earlier distributed more widely in Manchuria, including, quite possibly, the northern neighbourhood of Korean.

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Khitan: Understanding the language behind the scripts

Importantly, the strong labial stop is also preserved in Khitan. The same seems to have been the situation in early Jurchen, while spirantization (> f) took place in later Jurchen, as attested in Manchu. The status of Khitan in this respect was known already from the lexical data preserved in Chinese rendering, as in 頗 †po =  po ‘time’ = Pre-ProtoMongolic *pon (= Jurchen †po) > Proto-Mongolic *xon > Modern

Mongolian on ‘year’.40 Today, we have a few more examples, including   p.ar †par(a) ‘people’ = *para > *xara/n : (plural) *xara-d > ar(a)d id.,  p.ul.uh †pulu(-h) ‘intercalary month’ < ‘more’ = *püle-xü ‘more, extra’, as well as  p.úr.s †pur(e)s ‘descendants’ = (plural) *püre-s ‘seeds’. Spirantization of *k. Very much like the strong labial stop *p, the corresponding velar stop *k has also tended to undergo spirantization (> x) and pharyngealization (> h), more rarely loss (> Ø), in the languages of Northeast Asia. This tendency is typically older and/or more prominent in those languages that preserve, or have until recently preserved, *p intact. Therefore, we find the development *k > h as a relatively early

phenomenon in languages like Korean and Jurchen-Manchu,41 while in the

Proto-Mongolic lineage (as well as in Turkic) it is much later. Depending on the language, the development may have contextual restrictions; it is particularly common that it is present only before original back vowels. In Khitan, we have, in fact, examples of preserved *k before original front vowels, as in  ku †ku ‘person’ (genitive  ku.û.un) = *kü-xün 40

41

On this item, cf. Kane (2009: 68, 122-123). The Jurchen word is, of course, a borrowing from some early Mongolic form of speech. It may be noted that the Khitan “reading” is †po, while Mongolic and Jurchen suggest the presence of a final nasal, i.e. *pon. There are also other cases in which Khitan and the Proto-Mongolic lineage differ in the use of the final nasal *n in nominals. The reasons underlying these differences are not known. The spirantization of *k in Jurchen-Manchu has been the object of some dispute. However, the development seems to have been regular in initial position, as maintained by Näher (1999); for a different explanation, cf. Vovin (1997).

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Proceedings of the SCRIPTA 2011, Seoul, Oct. 7~9, 2011

id. The variation in  k.iú ~  x.iú †keu ‘younger sister’ = *keü ‘child’ might suggest that there was a tendency to spirantize *k also in this position, another possible example being  x.ui.ri ‘to arrive’, which may or may not correspond to Proto-Mongolic *kür- id.42 Before original back vowels, spirantization is confirmed by  heu.úr †haur = *kabur

‘spring’. Again, caution should be exercised with regard to the letters used in the Romanization (), the exact phonetic values and phonemic relationships of which are not known. It may be noted that, at least at the level of Romanization, a spirantized velar in Khitan can also correspond to the Mongolic weak velar stop *g, as in 3  hu.ur- †hur- = *gur-.

Vowel contraction. The Proto-Mongolic lineage had a medial velo-laryngeal spirant *x [h], which is represented as a segment in Written Mongol, but which has been lost in all extant Mongolic languages, and even in Middle Mongol, with vowel contraction (long vowels and diphthongs) as a result. The segment itself was of a heterogeneous origin and may in some cases even have been “original”.43 The issue is complicated by the possibility that there may also have existed “original” diphthongs (like *ai *au),

though the comparative material does not allow them to be distinguished reliably from sequences with a medial *x (like *axi *axu).

Proto-Mongolic *x is, in any case, normally represented as zero in what may probably be understood as diphthongs in Khitan, as in 100  jau †jau = *jaxu/n. However, the segmental counterpart of Proto-Mongolic *b also seems to be lost in Khitan when followed by a rounded vowel, as in 5  tau †tau = *tabu/n,  heu.úr †haur = *kabur ‘spring’. The fact that there is no medial consonant in these cases is confirmed by the use of the characters  jau and

42

43

This correspondence would be valid if the Khitan item is to be read †hur-, but the peculiar orthographical image may actually point to a different shape. In any case, there must have been a difference with regard to the numeral 3 †hur-. On *x in Mongolic, cf. Janhunen (1999). In earlier research, this segment was often confused with *g, with which it is graphically indinguishable in Written Mongol.

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Khitan: Understanding the language behind the scripts

 tau for the Chinese term   jau.tau †jautau ‘punitive commissioner’ = 招討 *jawtaw (zhaotao). The use of the character  tau in the word  tau.li.a ‘hare’ = *taula-i id. is also significant, though the phonological background of this “rebus” remains unclear.44 The fate of *x in monophthongoid contexts in Khitan is less clear,

which is why comparisons like  ún †un = ?*e-xü/n- are uncertain. A possible example would be offered by  qa ‘emperor’, but this item is ambiguous, since it could correspond to either *ka.n ‘prince’ or *kaxa.n ‘emperor’ on the Mongolic side. The genitive  qa.ha.án ‘of the emperor’ is also enigmatic since it seems to contain a medial *g, as in  na.ha †naha ‘maternal uncle’ = *naga-cu id. It is possible that the actual Khitan readings should be †kaga : †kaga-n, in which case the Khitan word would correspond to Turkic *kaga.n, rather than to Mongolic *kaxa.n. Altogether, this is a word that seems to involve an unknown network of borrowings. Vowel elision. The loss of vowels in non-initial syllables is a trivial process observed in many languages. The phenomenon may concern all short (single) vowels, or only those in certain positions, or those with certain

qualities. In Northeast Asia, an early vowel elision may be established for several language families, including Turkic and Koreanic, while other families, including Mongolic and Tungusic, show a less systematic, or at least chronologically later, tendency to lose vowels.45 A special feature of 44

45

The issue depends on what part of the Proto-Mongolic numeral Khitan †tau corresponds to: only to the root *tab, or to the entire bisyllabic sequence *tabu. The word *taulai, on the other hand, is one of the items containing an “original” diphthong with no medial consonant in Written Mongol, a situation further complicated by the fact that the Turkic counterpart *tabïsh-gan has a medial *b. However this may be, the connection between ‘five’ and ‘hare’ was among the strongest pieces of evidence in favour of the Mongolic identification of Khitan during the early phases of the decipherment of the Khitan Small Script, cf. e.g. Kara (1975: 165-166). The diachronic fact of vowel elision in a language can be easily established and demonstrated by external comparisons with other languages with preserved vowels. In Turkic and Korean, for instance, the phenomenon is confirmed by comparisons

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Proceedings of the SCRIPTA 2011, Seoul, Oct. 7~9, 2011

Jurchen-Manchu (and certain forms of Mongolic) is the loss of vowels in open second syllables (the so-called “Mittelsilbenschwund”). In Khitan, the nature of the script makes it often difficult to verify the presence or absence of vowels in all positions, including even wordinitially. Many Khitan characters, irrespective of what Romanizational shape is used for them, refer basically to a consonantal core, which may be

preceded (VC) and/or followed (CV) by a vowel. Items such as  b.as ‘again, also’ = *basa id. and  p.ar ‘people’ = *para- id. may, therefore, well have contained a final vowel in Khitan. On the other hand, the presence of a vowel letter in the Romanization does not necessarily mean that there was a segmental vowel in the Khitan word. We cannot, therefore, be certain that items such as, for instance,  i.ri ‘name’ = *nere id. (with a secondary initial nasal) and  m.ri ‘horse’ = *mori/n id. ended in a vowel. Even so, the circumstance that final vowels are retained in Jurchen-

Manchu suggests that Khitan most probably also retained them. This is, incidentally, also suggested by the fact that certain suffixes ending in a vowel (-CV) have positionally alternating variants, although it is not necessarily a question of regular vowel harmony.46 It is also important to note that the counterparts of Mongolic long vowel elements (diphthongs and contracted vowels) are in Khitan rendered by using additional vowel letters, as in  t.qo.a ‘chicken’ = *takï-xa id.,  mu.ho.o ’snake’ = *moga-i id., and also  tau.li.a ‘hare’ = *taula-i id. For the time

being we cannot reconstruct the Khitan shapes of such items with any certainty, but the orthography suggests that they may have involved complex vowel elements (diphthongs or long vowels) also in Khitan.

46

such as Turkic *er ‘man’ = Mongolic *ere, Korean kom ‘bear’ = Japanese kuma. Another language that has lost vowels is Ghilyak, as may be seen from examples such as Ghilyak camng ‘shaman’ = Manchu saman. Note that all these examples involve areal contacts (loanwords), rather than cases of genetic relationship. An example is offered by the dative case ending, Romanized as -de ~ -do ~ -du, cf. Kane (2009: 136-138). The nature of “vowel harmony” in Khitan is still an open issue.

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Khitan: Understanding the language behind the scripts

* It has to be stressed that only a small selection of diagnostic lexical and phonological properties of Khitan has been discussed above. Much more remains to be said, and even more remains to discovered. What is, however, certain is that the material is consistent with the status of Khitan as a Para-Mongolic language. The distance between Khitan and ProtoMongolic is clearly large enough to have made immediate communication

between the two speech communities impossible. At the same, the

similarities are conspicuous enough to have been evident even for the naïve speaker. The real situation may have been modified by the presence of intermediate idioms of which we have no direct information. As far as the position of Khitan on the archaic—innovative scale is concerned, the situation is ambiguous. Even so, at least phonologically, Khitan may be characterized as an innovative language, which in most respects had evolved more rapidly than the lineage leading to Proto-Mongolic. Many areal innovations reached Khitan earlier than the Proto-Mongolic lineage. The

reasons for the different speed of evolution must be searched in the

geographical, demographical and political situation. In the centuries preceding the Liao period, Khitan had become the language of a rapidly growing and highly mobile population which, moreover, contacted on a wide scale with a variety of other speech communities. For the Proto-Mongolic lineage, such a period of intensive growth and contacts was yet to come.

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Khitan: Understanding the language behind the scripts —–(2006), Khitan and Jurchen, pp. 121-132 in: Alessandra Pozzi & Juha Janhunen & Michael Weiers (eds.), Tumen Jalafun Jecen Akū: Manchu Studies

in Honour of Giovanni Stary, Tunguso-Sibirica 20. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz

Verlag.

—–(2008), A Transcription System for Texts in the Qidan Small Script, Handout presented at: International Conference on Qidan, Tangut, Jurchen and

Mongolian Historical Documents 遼夏金元歷史文獻國際研討會 Liao Xia Jin Yuan Lishi Wenxian Guoji Yantaohui (Beijing, 2008.11.3-5).

—–(2009), The Kitan Language and Script, Handbook of Oriental Studies VIII, 19. Brill: Leiden & Boston.

Kara, György (1975) Apropos de l’inscription khitane de 1150, Annales Universitatis Scientiarum Budapestinensis, Sectio Linguistica 6: 163-167.

Kiyose, Gisaburo N. (1977), A Study of the Jurchen Language and Script: Reconstruction and Decipherment. Kyoto: Hôritsubunka-sha.

Kwanten, Luc (1984), The Phonological Hypothesis of the Hsi Hsia (Tangut) Language, T’oung Pao 70: 159-184.

—–(1988), The Structure of the Tangut (Hsi Hsia) Characters, Journal of Asian and African Studies 36: 69-105.

Ligeti, Louis (1970), Le tabghatch, un dialecte de la language sien-pi, pp. 265-308 in: Mongolian Studies, Louis Ligeti (ed.), Bibliotheca Orientalis Hungarica 14. Budapest.

Menges, Karl H. (1968), Tungusen und Ljao, Abhandlungen für die Kunde des Morgenlandes 38,1. Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner GmbH.

Näher, Carsten (1999), Der urtungusische stimmlose velare Plosiv im Mandschu, Journal de la Société Finno-Ougrienne 88: 113-130.

Pelliot, Paul (1925), Les mots à h initiale, aujourd’hui amuie, dans le mongol des XIIIe et XIVe siècles, Journal Asiatique 206: 193-263.

Pevnov, A. M. (2004), Chtenie chzhurchzhen’skix pis’men. Sankt-Peterburg: Rossiiskaia Akademiia Nauk, Institut lingvisticheskix issledovanii & “Nauka”.

Qinggeertai 清格爾泰 & Liu Fengzhu 劉鳳翥 & Chen Naixiong 陳乃雄 & Yu Baolin 于寶林 & and Xing Fuli 邢復禮 (1985), Qidan Xiaozi Yanjiu 契丹小字 研究. Beijing 北京: Zhongguo Shehui Kexue Chubanshe 中國社會科學出版社.

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Proceedings of the SCRIPTA 2011, Seoul, Oct. 7~9, 2011 Róna-Tas, András (2004), A Khitan Word for Marmot, Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 57: 27-29.

Rybatzki, Volker (2003), Middle Mongol, pp. 57-82 in: The Mongolic Languages, Juha Janhunen (ed.), Routledge Language Family Series 5. Routledge: London & New York.

Shimunek, Andrew A. (2007), Towards a Reconstruction of the Kitan Language, with Notes on Northern Late Middle Chinese Phonology, MA Thesis, Indiana University, Department of Linguistics & Department of Central Eurasian Studies.

Starikov, V. S. & M. Arapov & A. Karapet’ianc & Z. Malinovskaia & M. Probst

(1970), Materialy po deshifrovke kidan’skogo pis’ma 1-2. Moskva: Akademiia

Nauk SSSR.

Sun Bojun 孙伯君 & Nie Hongyin 聶鴻音 (2008), Qidanyu Yanjiu 契丹語研究,

Zhongguo Shehui Kexueyuan Wenku Wenxue Yuyan Yanjiu Xilie 中國科學

院文庫文學語言研究系列. Beijing 北京.

Takeuchi Yasunori 武內康則 (2007), Kittan Shouji de Hyouki Sareta Kanjion kara

Mita Kittango On’in Taikei no Kenkyuu 契丹小字で表記された漢字音から見た

契 丹 語 音 韻 体 系 の 研 究, MA Thesis. Kyoto University: Kyouto Daigaku

Daigakuin Bungaku Kenkyuuka 京都大學大學院文學研究科.

Talpe, Lode (2010), Some Qidan Words in Chinese Poems, Central Asiatic Journal 54: 79-91.

Toyoda Gorō (1964), An Analysis of the Major Ch’i-tan Characters, Memoirs of the Research Department of the Toyo Bunko 23: 119-135.

Vovin, Alexander (1997) Voiceless velars in Manchu, Journal de la Société FinnoOugrienne 87: 263-280.

—–(2000), A Modest Proposal on the Decipherment of the Khitan-Chinese Bilingual Text of the 1134 (the Langjun Inscription), Paper presented at the

43rd Annual Meeting of the Permanent International Altaistic Conference (Chateau Pietersheim, Belgium, September 3-8, 2000).

—–(2003), Once Again on Khitan Words in Chinese-Khitan Mixed Verses, Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 56: 237-244.

Wittfogel, Karl A. & Fêng Chia-shêng (1949), History of Chinese Society: Liao (907-

1125), Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, New Series 36.

Philadelphia.

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Khitan: Understanding the language behind the scripts Wu Yingzhe 吳英喆 (2005), Qidan Xiaozi «xing» de yufa fanchou chutan 契丹小字

“性” 的語法範疇初探, Nei Menggu Daxue Xuebao (Zhexue Shehui Kexueban) 內

蒙古大學學報 (哲學社會科學版) 2005, 3: 25-28.

—–(2007), Qidanyu Jingci Yufa Fanchou Yanjiu 契丹 語 静 詞 語 法範疇研究 [Re-

search on the grammatical categories of the noun in the Khitan language].

Huhe-haote 呼和浩特: Nei Menggu Daxue Chubanshe 內蒙古大学出版社.

—–(2009), A Brief Discussion on the Vowel Attachment in the Khitan Small Script, Voprosy filologiï, Seriia “Uralo-altaiskie issledovaniia” 1: 26-30.

—–(2011), Deciphering Some Demonstrative Pronouns in Khitan Small Script, Altai Hakpo 00: 000-000 (forthcoming).

—– & Juha Janhunen (2010), New Materials on the Khitan Small Script: A Critical

Edition of Xiao Dilu and Yelü Xiangwen, Corpus Scriptorum Chitanorum 1, The Languages of Asia Series. Folkestone, Kent: Global Oriental.

Abstract: Khitan was the dynastic language of the Liao empire in Manchuria and Northern China (907-1115). Although today extinct, samples of Khitan are preserved in two native scripts, known as the Khitan Large Script and the Khitan Small Script. Both scripts may be classified as “Sinitic” or “Sinoform” in the typological sense, though only the Large Script has a direct connection with the Chinese script. Recent progress in the decipherment of, in particular, the Khitan Small Script allows the lexicon and grammar of the Khitan language to be assessed in much more detail than before. Khitan may be defined as a Para-Mongolic language, meaning that it represents a branch related to, but collateral with, the extant and historically known Mongolic languages. The present paper examines the genetic position of the Khitan language with regard to Mongolic with the help of the methods of comparative linguistics, as applied to the deciphered Khitan language material. Keywords: Sinitic scripts, Khitan Small Script, Khitan language, ParaMongolic, reconstruction, decipherment

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Discussion: Khitan: Understanding the language behind the scripts

LEE Seong Gyu

Dankook University, KOREA

1. General Review Professor Janhunen of the University of Helsinki is both a well-known

Altaicist and also a leading scholar in the research of Manchu and Mongolian. The paper presented at this conference relates to his previous research on the tribes and peoples of the Manchu region. In particular

Janhunen recently attempts extensive analysis of not only the languages themselves but also their relationship with history, culture and folk customs.

By attempting the phonological analysis of Khitan, his work can be

seen as very original. One reason for this being that the number of scholars referencing the phonology of Khitan in detail is very small. Also, another

characteristic of the work is that Prof. Janhunen has described Khitan as being located beside Mongolian and not as its direct ancestor as many

scholars have before. More specifically he would like to place Khitan on a separate branch of Altaic having equal standing with Turkic and Mongolic.

On the other hand, the Khitan small script has not yet been completely

deciphered and many difficulties persist in the research. The need to

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supplement the research to overcome these difficulties with pieces of literature and annotations written in Chinese is a splendid opinion.

2. Discussion The presenter would like to locate Khitan not as a direct ancestor of Mongolian but rather as a distinct language. However many of the vocabulary items cannot be freed from the Mongolic category. Is this an inability to establish certainly the characteristics differentiating Khitan from Mongolic?

In the research of Sun Bojun 孫伯君 and NIE Hong-yin 聶鴻音 (2008)

the authors restored some 300 Khitan words written with Chinese

characters through the phonology of Middle Old Chinese and compared them with Altaic languages. In this research considerable reconstruction of

Khitan's vowels and consonants has been made. Do you have any intention to use this research in the future?

If one compares Khitan written in Chinese with Korean, the majority

of vocabulary as seen below can be linked to Korean (Yi Seongkyu 2010, 2011). Will you do research comparing Korean to Khitan in the future? (阿斯 / *as / 아사(달), 孤穩 / *güγön / 곱, 捏咿唲 / *neri / 날, 女古 / *nürgü/ 누른, 于越 / *üγö/ 우거, 樺 / *qa / 활, 討 / *taw / 다섯, 陶里 / *toil / 토끼, 爪 / *jo / 온, 阿主 / *ajü / 아주(머니), 暴里 / *böri / 부리, 墮 瑰 / *dögü / 문(가야어), 剋 / *ga / 벼슬 이름(帥). 彌里 / *miri / 모라(牟羅).

If we look at the recent trend in Khitan research, very detailed analyses of

the pronunciation of the Chinese characters used to write Khitan are taking place (Wu Yingzhe 吳英喆, Jiruhe 吉如何), but judging from this why is no detailed phonological research about Khitan vocabulary being done?

It is known that Prof. Janhunen has a wide understanding of Manchu-

Tungus. To what degree are Khitan and the Manchu-tungusic languages related?

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Categorization of meaning in the Chinese ideographic characters

Jungsam YUM Seoul National University, KOREA

1. Matteo Ricci ‘Table of the Categorization of All Things 物宗類圖’ 2. Chinese classification based on Figure: Xingxiang 形象 3. History of classification in China: from Confucius 4. Relation between language and ethics - Language 言 and letter 文, Ritual 禮 and culture 文

5. Ritual music 禮樂 and Cultured expression 文理: Xunzi 荀子 6. Classification by Xiangxing 象形: Jicizhuan 繫辭傳 in Book of Changes 7. Establishment of classification theory in Shuowenjiezi 說文解字 8. Examples of classifying in Chinese ideographic characters

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1

In The True Meaning of the Lord of Heaven, Matteo Ricci criticized the Chinese scholars for thinking that ‘all things in Heaven and Earth are made from the same energy’. It is true that the Chinese scholars had the conviction as follows: All things in Heaven and Earth share the same energy. Though all things in Heaven and Earth share the same energy, each of them can be classified according to its own shape and figure. The body, taken as an example, is only a shell, as has inner and outer side,

which is made from the energy of yin and yang in Heaven and Earth. Briefly, the one (same) energy makes all things, but they take various forms (shapes), by which we can make classification and identification. So if only we look at the shape, we can tell which class a thing belongs to. In contrast, the western scholars classify things not by its shape, but by its nature. Ricci said: To distinguish by the difference in their shapes is to classify the things not according to its own nature, but to its shape (figure), because the shape is not the thing’s own nature. So the distinction in the shapes is different from the distinction in the natures. According to Ricci,

on the contrary that the Chinese scholars classify the things according to the appearance (shape), the western scholars do it in more detailed way. At last, Ricci made up a ‘table of the all things’ published in the chapter 4 of The True Meaning. This table, based on the ‘substantia’ and the ‘accidens’ of Aristotle, shows that the true categorization of the western scholars is made on the basis of the nature, not of the shape. Through the discussion on the nature and shape, Ricci aims to solve the profound religious problem encountered in missionary efforts in China. He attempted to prove the existence of God as the Creator of all things and

to attribute to human being the superior status over all other creatures.

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Categorization of meaning in the Chinese ideographic characters

Roughly speaking, the Lord and the human being don’t belong to ‘all things created’. Ricci tries to prove the existence and superiority on the basis of the Aristotle’s logic, as medieval doctors did. For this purpose, it must be introduced to chinese scholar the western logics base on Aristotle, so that the Aristotle’s Category is translated into chinese by the Jesuits missionaries under the title of Minglitan 名 理 探 . As a result, Ricci’s criticism leaded his colleagues and descendants to introduce the western logics to China. So examining the classification is needed to bring lights on the introduction of western philosophy.

2

Once the western classification and categorization is introduced in The True Meaning of the Lord of Heaven, the Chinese traditional way of classification is neglected by reason that it separates all things only on the grounds of shapes. Generally speaking, however, there are two aspects in classifying things. The one is the epistemology, concerning the recognition of the similarity and difference between things. The other is the linguistics,

concerning the way of expression of what one perceives and understands. It is true that these two aspects present various ways of categorization in various cultures. But the Chinese traditional categorization has been overwhelmed by the Western tradition based on the Aristotelian logics and epistemology, since Matteo Ricci’s remark (since Matteo Ricci noticed, remarked). And Ricci’s understanding has never been put into question To examine Ricci’s understanding, as a preliminaries, it is needed to know how the chinese make their own classifying tools, how much their view of

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the world is influenced by the classification, and how the classification is expressed in the chinese character and language.

3

The Chinese traditional classification resulted from the social and political solutions in a certain historical situation. In Age of Spring and Autumns, Confucius says: above all, names must be rectified, in order that the society moves from the chaotic situation where son kills father and subject kills

lord, to the stable state where violence is not used unjustly. Since Confucius attribute ethical (moral) importance to names, the Chinese traditional expression and classification is based on the morality. “If names are not rectified, then words are not appropriate. If words are not appropriate, then deeds are not accomplished. If deeds are not accomplished, then the rites and music do not flourish. If rites and music do not flourish, the punishments do not hit the mark. If punishments do not hit the mark, then the people have nowhere to put hand or foot.”1 Following Confucius, among names, words, rites and music, punishments, and people’s stability arise close relationships.

Especially Xunzi 荀子 refines the relationship between the names and the rites and music. According to Xunzi’s saying, it is the rites and music that makes the people know the reasoning of classifying the names and the way of living harmoniously together. Being asked what the rites and music originate from, Xunzi says; the quarrel will be inevitable, if the people,

1

≪論語ㆍ子路≫: “子路曰, 衛君待子而爲政, 子將奚先. 子曰, 必也正名乎!……名不正 則言不順, 言不順則事不成, 事不成則禮樂不興, 禮樂不興則刑罰不中, 刑罰不中則民 無所措手足.”

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who have desires (who desire something), are banned without knowing the limitation and classification. They established the regulations contained within ritual and moral principles in order to apportion things. 2 The distinction between nobility and baseness (貴賤), old and young (長幼), poverty and wealth ( 貧富), and insignificance and importance (輕重)

represent the classification by names according to the ritual and moral principles. In the late Warring States age, Xunzi’s thoughts based on the rites and music becomes the basic theory of classification. All the writings dealing with the category (classification), from Yueji ( 樂 記 ) in Liji ( 禮 記 ),

Dongzhongxu (董仲舒)’s Chunqiufanlu (春秋繁露) and Lishu (禮書) in Shiji ( 史 記 ), to Liyuezhi ( 禮 樂 志 ) in Hanshu ( 漢 書 ), succeed the Xunzi’s classification based on the rites and music. And again it gives the basis for Jicizhuan (繫辭傳) in Book of Changes (易), and, at last, reveals the diverse

and concrete classification in the form of ideographic characters in Shuowenjiezi (說文解字).

4

In the tradition of categorizing the ideographic character, Confucius is important, because he is the first master who contrast the Wen (文) with Yan (言) to define the relationship between words and moral. Confucius’ 2

≪荀子ㆍ禮論≫: “禮起於何也? 曰, 人生而有欲, 欲而不得, 則不能無求. 求而無度量 分界, 則不能不爭. 爭則亂, 亂則窮. 先王惡其亂也, 故制禮義以分之, 以養人之欲, 給 人之求. 使欲必不窮於物, 物必不屈於欲. 兩者相持而長, 是禮之所起也. 故禮者養也. 芻豢稻梁, 五味調香, 所以養口也. 椒蘭芬苾, 所以養鼻也. 雕琢刻鏤, 黼黻文章, 所以 養目也. 鐘鼓管磬, 琴瑟竽笙, 所以養耳也. 疏房檖貌, 越席床笫几筵, 所以養體也. 故 禮者養也. 君子旣得其養, 又好其別. 曷謂別? 曰, 貴賤有等, 長幼有差, 貧富輕重皆有 稱者也.”

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saying “Clever words upset virtue”3 means that the eloquence is not a good gift for building excellent character. And in saying that Clever words and a plausible appearance have seldom turned out to be humane, he affirms that the clever words cannot coexist the benevolence (Ren, 仁).4 Contrary to the words, Confucius emphasize on the ‘letters’ (文). He notes

the relationship between letters (refinement, culture) and the quality (substance) ; the former means the ability to express one’s thought, the latter means the character (nature) giving the moral personality (morality). Even he says “Only if refinement (letters) and substance (quality) are properly blended, does one become a gentleman.”5 Particularly, he goes so far as to extend the meaning of ‘letters’ containing the efforts to learn, or learning. So for Confucius’ thoughts, the letters mean the efforts to learn based on the morality. Throughout the pages of Lunyu (論語), we can easily find the usage of the word ‘letters’ (Wen 文), which means not only

the expression of the morality, but the way of learning and building the morality. For example, Zigong asked why they called Kong Wen Zi ‘cultured’ (Wen 文). The Master said: ‘He was diligent and fond of learning, and he was not ashamed to ask questions of those beneath him. That is why they called him cultured. (Wen 文)’6 The conception of letters is transformed into the ethical (moral) attitude and the effort of learning, and even more noticeable is that the conception itself becomes the object to learn. The word ‘letters’ designates

the records of the great dominants with morality in ancient times. So Confucius referred frequently to Wen ‘文’ as an object to learn. “The gentleman, with his wide-ranging studies in culture restrained by the

3 4 5 6

≪論語ㆍ衛靈公≫: “巧言亂德” ≪論語ㆍ陽貨≫: “巧言令色, 鮮矣仁.” ≪論語ㆍ雍也≫: “文質彬彬, 然後君子.” ≪論語ㆍ公冶長≫: “子曰, 敏而好學, 不恥下問, 是以謂之文也.”

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Categorization of meaning in the Chinese ideographic characters

requirements of ritual, surely cannot rebel against this, can he?”7 Through these sayings we understand the relation between ritual (禮) and culture (文).

5

The rites and letters of Confucius evolve into the ritual and music and the letters and principle of Xunzi. Xunzi says; it is inevitable that man is born with desires, so the desires must be brought up and trained by the moral principle. In a word, the moral principle means rearing and training. From this definition of the moral principle, Xunzi extends his reasoning to the idea of the ritual and moral principle and the form and reason. He says; “acting in accordance with ritual and moral principles and observing good form and reason are how to nurture his emotions.”8 And “when form and principle are emphasized and emotions and offerings are treated perfunctorily, there is the greatest elaboration of ritual.” 9 The human desire and emotion will be expressed with no suppression, but with harmony, when the ritual and moral principle (禮義) and the culture and reason (文理) are spread out all over the society and willingly accepted by each man. And it will be successful when all things are sorted and classified in the right places. Xunzi regards the culture and reason as the criteria for the classification in the right places. In Lilun 禮論, he gives the example of the

7 8 9

≪論語ㆍ雍也≫: “子曰, 君子博學於文, 約之以禮, 亦可以不畔矣夫.” ≪荀子ㆍ禮論≫: “禮者, 養也, …… 孰知夫禮義文理之所以養情也.” ≪荀子ㆍ禮論≫: “文理繁, 情用省, 是禮之隆也……文理情用相爲內外表裏, 並行而襍, 是禮之中流也.”

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classification and distinction of the things. “Heaven and Earth are conjoined, the sun and moon shine brightly, the four seasons observe their natural precedence, the stars and planets move in ranks, the rivers and streams flow, and the myriad things prosper. Through them, love and hate are tempered, and joy and anger made to fit the occasion.”10 “Root and branch accord with one another, end and beginning are fitting and proper, one to the other.”11 As a consequence of their perfected form there are the various distinctions made by ritual principles, and as a consequence of their perfect discernment there are explanations provided for everything. The Criteria for the distinctions is based on the dualism like Heaven and Earth, or Yin and Yang, sun and moon, land and sky, love and hate, and joy and anger. But these divided two things are conjoined within the culture and reason. Division or discernment within the culture and reason is the one side of Xunzi’s thought on the moral and music. Music is the other side

(the counterpart of the culture and reason). Music also tempers and trains the desire and emotion, so as to conform to the moral principle. And eventually, human beings live together in the harmonious society. Therefore he says, “Music embodies harmonies that can never be altered, just as ritual embodies principles of natural order that can never be changed. Music joins together what is common to all, ritual separates what is different”.12 Judging from Xunzi’s dualism, that is the moral principle and the music (judging from Xunzi’s above phrase, it is supposed that the distinction and harmony was the Chinese traditional classification

10

11 12

≪荀子ㆍ禮論≫: “天地以合, 日月以明, 四時以序, 星辰以行, 江河以流, 萬物以昌, 好惡以節, 喜怒以當.” ≪荀子ㆍ禮論≫: “本末相順, 終始相應, 至文以有別, 至察以有說.” ≪荀子ㆍ樂論≫: “樂也者, 和之不可變者也. 禮也者, 理之不可易者也. 樂合同, 禮別 異.”

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6

For Xunzi, the ritual is related to the distinction and the music to harmony. These notions are reproduced repeatedly by the Chinese scholars. Among those notions, the music is very peculiar because it is expressed in sound and disappeared in the air. So the music gradually have been losing importance. On the contrary, the ritual principles have more strict relations to the culture. These notions in the Yuelun of Xunzi is succeeded

in the Yueji of Liji, where the moral principle controlling the human desires and emotion is proposed to be the basis for the moral and music theory. Xunzi imposed ritual morality on the concept of Wen 文. He says, “Ritual principles admire forms” 13 In Yueji (樂記) of Liji (禮記), ritual morality is emphasized as well. “The ancient sage kings, in their institution of ceremonies and music, did not seek how fully they could satisfy the desires of the appetite and of the ears and eyes, but they intended to teach the people to regulate their likings and dislikings, and to bring them back to the normal course of humanity.”14

The pages to define the ritual in Lishu of Shiji also quotes exactly the phrases in Lilun of Xunzi as follows; “Thus, the meaning of ritual is to nurture. When the gentleman has been nurtured by these things, he will also be fond of ritual distinctions. What we call distinctions mean the

13

14

≪荀子ㆍ勸學≫: “學惡乎始? 惡乎終? 曰, 其數則始乎誦經, 終乎讀禮. 其義則始乎爲 士, 終乎爲聖人. 眞積力久則入. 學至乎沒而後止也. 故學數有終, 若其義則不可須臾 舍也. 爲之人也, 舍之禽獸也. 故書者, 政事之紀也, 詩者, 中聲之所止也, 禮者, 法之 大兮, 類之綱紀也. 故學至乎禮而止矣. 夫是之謂道德之極. 禮之敬文也, 樂之中和也, 詩書之博也, 春秋之微也, 在天地之間者畢矣.” ≪禮記ㆍ樂記≫: “是故先王之制禮樂也, 非以極口腹耳目之欲也, 將以敎民平好惡, 而 反人道之正也.”

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gradation of rank according to nobility or baseness, disparities between the privileges of old and young, and modes of identification to match these with poverty or wealth, insignificance or importance.”15 And other phrases and words coincide with those of Lilun, such as the harmony of ritual principles and emotions16, Heaven and Earth, Sun and Moon, Four Seasons, Star and planet, rivers and streams etc.17

And, at last, the ritual principle establishes more close relationships with classification, being applied to the distinction between heavenly signs and earthly things. All things can be represented by assembling and separating these signs (象) and things (形). And this representation system eventually makes important role to establish the system of Chinese characters. We can find in Yueji of Liji the first step of these successive extensions of implication. “There are heaven above and earth below, and between them are distributed all the various beings with their different

(natures and qualities): in accordance with this proceeded the framing of ceremonies.…… (The relation) between ruler and minister was determined from a consideration of heaven (conceived of as) honourable, and earth

(conceived of as) mean. The positions of noble and mean were fixed with a reference to the heights and depths displayed by the surface (of the earth). The regularity with which movement and repose follow each other (in the course of nature) led to the consideration of affairs as small and great. The different quarters (of the heavens) are grouped together, and the things (of the earth) are distinguished by their separate characteristics; and this gave

rise to (the conception of) natures and their attributes and functions. In

15

16

17

≪史記ㆍ禮書≫:“故禮者養也. 君子既得其養, 又好其辨也. 所謂辨者, 貴賤有等, 長少 有差, 貧富輕重, 皆有稱也. 故天子大路越席, 所以養體也.” ≪史記ㆍ禮書≫: “文貌繁, 情欲省, 禮之隆也. 文貌省, 情欲繁, 禮之殺也. 文貌情欲 相為内外表裏, 並行而雜, 禮之中流也.” ≪史記ㆍ禮書≫:“…至備, 情文倶盡. 其次, 情文代勝. 其下, 復情以歸太一. 天地以合, 日月以明, 四時以序, 星辰以行, 江河以流, 萬物以昌, 好惡以節, 喜怒以當.……”

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Categorization of meaning in the Chinese ideographic characters

heaven there are formed its visible signs, and earth produces its (endless variety of) things; and thus it was that ceremonies were framed after the distinctions between heaven and earth.”18

7

And it repeats again in Chunqiufanlu (春秋繁露) of Dongzhongxu (董仲舒) ; “It is by the name that we can discern all things.” And even says “Only when a thing gets its name, it is said to be exist (born). And the sage gives the name on the basis of the figure (?).”19 And the statements in Jicizhan

繫辭傳 show the delicate transformation, or extension, of the meaning from letters (culture) to the figure. “Heaven is lofty and honourable; earth is low. (Their symbols), Qian and Kun, (with their respective meanings), were determined (in accordance with this). Things low and high appear displayed in a similar relation. The (upper and lower trigrams, and the relative position of individual lines, as) noble and mean, had their places assigned accordingly. Movement and rest are the regular qualities (of their respective subjects). Hence comes the

definite distinction (of the several lines) as the strong and the weak. (Affairs) are arranged together according to their tendencies, and things

18

19

≪禮記ㆍ樂記≫: “天高地下, 萬物散殊, 而禮制行矣. ……天尊地卑, 君臣定矣. 卑高 已陳, 貴賤位矣. 動靜有常, 小大殊矣. 方以類聚, 物以羣分, 則性命不同矣. 在天成象, 在地成形. 如此則禮者, 天地之別也.” ≪春秋繁露ㆍ天地陰陽≫: “名者, 所以別物也. 親者重, 疏者輕, 尊者文, 卑者質, 近 者詳, 遠者略, 文辭不隱情, 明情不遺文, 人心從之而不逆, 古今通貫而不亂, 名之義 也. 男女猶道也. 人生別言禮義, 名號之由人事起也. 不順天道, 謂之不義, 察天人之 分, 觀道命之異, 可以知禮之說矣. 見善者不能無好, 見不善者不能無惡, 好惡去就, 不能堅守, 人道者, 人之所由樂而不亂, 複而不厭者, 萬物載名而生, 聖人因其象而命 之. 然而可易也, 皆有義從也, 故正名以名義也.……”

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Proceedings of the SCRIPTA 2011, Seoul, Oct. 7~9, 2011

are divided according to their classes. Hence were produced (the interpretations in the Yi, concerning) what is good [or lucky] and evil [or unlucky]. In the heavens there are the (different) figures there completed, and on the earth there are the (different) bodies there formed. (Corresponding to them) were the changes and transformations exhibited (in the Yi).” 20 “(The sege), in accordance with (the Yi), looking up, contemplates the brilliant phenomena of the heavens, and, looking down, examines the definite arrangements of the earth.”21 The phrase “Affairs are arranged together according to their tendencies, and things are divided according to their classes.” is the repetition of the same phrase in Yueji 樂 記. Let’s try to arrange together and divide the terms used in the above passage. (Using the terms in the above passage, we can give the example of arranging together and dividing. In the above passage, there are many two

opposite things such as Heaven and earth, high and low, noble and mean, movement and rest, strong and weak, which represent the division. But we can arrange together in the same class the former words such as Heaven, high, noble, movement etc. and in the other class the latter words such as Earth, low, mean, rest, etc. And furthermore, we can subdivide or arrange together in comparatively restricted classes the similar words, like highheaven, low- earth, high- noble, low- mean, strong movement, weak rest, etc.

As the above example, the basic distinction lies between the figure in

Heaven and the body in Earth, and, next, Dividing or arranging figure and body make new figures and bodies. And, next again, these new figures and bodies subdivided or arranged together again, and then, new figures and 20

21

≪易ㆍ繫辭傳≫: “天尊地卑, 乾坤定矣. 卑高以陳, 貴賤位矣. 動靜有常, 剛柔斷矣. 方以類聚, 物以羣分, 吉凶生矣. 在天成象, 在地成形, 變化見矣.” ≪易ㆍ繫辭傳≫: “仰以觀於天文, 俯以察於地理”

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Categorization of meaning in the Chinese ideographic characters

bodies are made. These endless processes will make myriads of names, and give them to each thing. So all things are born with their names, which are already classified (divided or arranged together). In this context, the passage below in Jicizhan 繫 辭 傳 can be understood. “Hence to speak of the emblematic figures: (The sage) was

able to survey all the complex phenomena under the sky. He then considered in his mind how they could be figured, and (by means of the diagrams) represented their material forms and their character. Hence those (diagrams) are denominated Semblances.”22 Finally, Xushen makes a great step forward in transition from figure to character. Before Xushen, of course, there are also the writings containing the relationship between the figure and the classification. For example, the two passages below show that there is no difference between Jicizhuan and Xushen’ view on the figure and the classification.

“Anciently, when Poxi had come to the rule of all under heaven,

looking up, he contemplated the brilliant forms exhibited in the sky, and looking down he surveyed the patterns shown on the earth. He contemplated the ornamental appearances of birds and beasts and the (different) suitabilities of the soil. Near at hand, in his own person, he found things for consideration, and the same at a distance, in things in general. On this he devised the eight tirgrams, to show fully the attributes of the sprit-like and intelligent (operations working secretly), and to classify the qualities of the myriads of things.”23

“Anciently, when Poxi had come to the rule of all under heaven, looking up, he contemplated the brilliant forms exhibited in the sky, and looking down 22

23

≪易ㆍ繫辭傳≫: “是故夫象, 聖人有以見天下之賾, 而擬諸其形容, 象其物宜, 是故謂 之象.” ≪易ㆍ繫辭傳≫: “古者包犧氏之王天下也, 仰則觀象於天, 俯則觀法於地, 觀鳥獸之文 與地之宜, 近取諸身, 遠取諸物, 於是始作八卦, 以通神明之德, 以類萬物之情.”

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Proceedings of the SCRIPTA 2011, Seoul, Oct. 7~9, 2011 he surveyed the patterns shown on the earth. He contemplated the ornamental appearances of birds and beasts and the (different) suitabilities of the soil. Near at hand, in his own person, he found things for consideration, and the same at a distance, in things in general. On this he devised the eight tirgrams, to show fully the attributes of the sprit-like and intelligent (operations working secretly), and to classify the qualities of the myriads of things. At this time eight trigrams of Yi were invented in order to bestow right figure 象.”24

Xushen intends that the figures, eventually the characters, are originated in the eight trigrams, which, in turn, are originated in the classification based on the ritual (moral) principles and the culture. “Cangjie 倉頡, looking at the footprints of the birds and the beasts, notices that the footprints can be distinguished by the different patterns.” 25 At that time he invents the

character classification. Originally he takes the figures according to the classification of the things, and calls them ‘culture (letter)’ (文)26 In sum, “the letter is the root of the figure.”27 After 5-6 centuries from the Confucius, Xushen says “What we call the character (文字) gives the ground for study canons and good politics (王道 政治). With the characters, the ascendants hand down the knowledge to the descendants. So we say that only if basic principles are established, the Way (道) can be given.” 28 In Shuowenjiezi, Xushen regards the Chinese

character as the method to represent all things, based on the classification. His idea of connecting the characters to classification is derived from

24

25 26 27 28

≪說文解字ㆍ敍≫“古者庖犧氏之王天下也. 仰則觀象於天, 俯則觀法於地. 視鳥獸之 文與地之宜. 近取諸身, 遠取諸物, 於是始作易八卦, 以垂憲象.” ≪說文解字ㆍ敍≫“黃帝之史倉頡, 見鳥獸蹏迒之迹, 知分理之可相別異也. 初造書契.” ≪說文解字ㆍ敍≫“倉頡之初作書, 蓋依類象形, 故謂之文.” ≪說文解字ㆍ敍≫“文者, 物象之本.” ≪說文解字ㆍ敍≫: “盖文字者, 經藝之本, 王政之始. 前人所以垂後, 後人所以識古. 故曰本立而道生.”

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Categorization of meaning in the Chinese ideographic characters

Xunzi’s classification based on the ritual principle and music, and the notion of figure in Yueji of Liji 禮記 and Jicizhuan 繫辭傳. For Xushen, the characters contain all things without exception.

8

Through the meaning of form (shape/figure) shown in the Book of Changes, Xushen wanted to tell us that divided patterns in things are expressed by ideographic characters. He said in Shuowenjiezi as following: “I begin with

one (yi) in establishing the radicals. Affairs are arranged together

according to their tendencies, and things are divided according to their classes. Same items are joined together, and similar principles are consistently connected. They are mixed together, but never go over the other side. They are linked based on ideographic forms. We can research the source of all things by the detailed explanations on them. I finish with hai, so as that we can understand the changes and realize the profoundity.”29 Therefore, all characters in Shuowenjiezi fourteen chapters are arranged in good order from the yi to the hai, mainly according to the

shape of characters. Ideographic characters and classification of things are combined theoretically in Shuowenjiezi, so that they are arranged by the classification of meaning in ideographic characters. These are the examples shown in Shuowenjiezi. Xushen’s achievement is that he attempted to show the close relationship among the elements in terms of their shape and meaning. After fixing the shape and meaning of characters that represent the 29

≪說文解字ㆍ敍≫“其建首也. 立一爲耑, 方以類聚, 物以羣分. 同條牽屬, 共理相貫. 襍而不越, 據形系聯, 引而申之, 以究萬原. 畢終於亥, 知化窮冥.”

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Proceedings of the SCRIPTA 2011, Seoul, Oct. 7~9, 2011

semantic elements according to the classification, he created a network of significance that ties into the characters’ form. Xushen classified 540 semantic elements (so called radicals) in total, starting with ‘ 一 ’ and ending with ‘亥[hài]’, and as he identified the shapes that represent the meaning of semantic elements at large, he analyzed those semantic

elements primarily as ideographs. Then, he laid out the 540 semantic elements so as to show the continuity and relationship of shapes and meaning of the elements. The following is a list of the seal script radicals included in Book One of the Shuowenjiezi. This sample reveals how the

similarities of strokes overlap each other and how they are related in form.

is followed by follows

which adds a short stroke above

and includes three vertical strokes draped under the shape of

then consists of three horizontal strokes.

stroke penetrating the center of which comes after

, repeats

is followed by follows. follows

.

.

succeeds , while

.

is next with a vertical

comes next in relation to

twice.

.

,

is linked to and comes after

.

is the vertical stroke penetrating , and

duplicates

repeats

.

twice.

, which it

relates to and

above and below.

In addition, if we translate the radicals in the Shuowenjiezi, Book One, as listed above, in regular script, they include the words such as 一 (one), 上 (up), 示 (to show), 三 (three), 王 (king), 玉 (jade), 珏 beads), 气 (energy), 士 (scholar), 丨 penetrate), 屮 plant), 艸 (grass), 蓐 (straw

mat), and 茻 (overgrown) these words seem to share a single continuous context in meaning as well. Elaboration of this continuity is as follows. ‘一’ is the beginning of writing and is a radical that reveals the

principle of the universe. This principle starts from the heavens that lie ‘up’

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Categorization of meaning in the Chinese ideographic characters

(上) above. The heavenly bodies such as the sun, the moon and the stars ‘show’ (示) the workings of the skies and of the world. These workings are also expressed as the number ‘three’ (三), which signifies the three critical elements in the world, that is, the heaven, the earth, and the man. The ‘king’ (王) is one who rules through the three, bearing the ‘jade’ (玉) as the

most important ornament symbolizing his rule. ‘Energies’ (气) abound in the skies, and the ‘scholar’ (士) is the person enlightened in the movement of all energies in heaven and earth. This scholar contemplates at the center of the universe that ‘penetrates’ ( 丨 through heaven and earth. The energies of heaven and earth are channeled through the ground and into life, and the first character that shows this phenomenon is the character ‘ 屮 ’which symbolizes grass. This character then becomes ‘ 艸 ’ which

signifies the increase of grass. A place made of grass is called ‘straw mat’ (蓐), and being surrounded by many plants is described as ‘overgrown’ (茻). Such semantic continuity can be found in not only in Book One but also in the fourteen volumes of the Shuowenjiezi, up to the last radical ‘亥’.

001

002

003

004

005

010

011

012

013

014

006

007

008

009

Book Two of the Shuowenjiezi starts with xiao, which means small. After xial there comes ba that means division.

015

016

017

018

019

023

024

025

026

027

031

032

033

034

035

020 028 036

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021 029 037

022 030 038

Proceedings of the SCRIPTA 2011, Seoul, Oct. 7~9, 2011 039

040

041

042

043

044

In Book Fourteen of the Shuowenjiezi the radicals are arranged as follows: 490

491

498

499

506

507

514

515

492 500 508 516

493 501 509 517

522

523

524

525

530

531

532

533

538

539

540

494 502

495 503

510 518

519

526 534

511

527 535

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496 504 512 520 528 536

497 505 513 521 529 537

Discussion: Categorization of Meaning in the Chinese Ideographic Characters

Olivia MILBURN Seoul National University, KOREA

I would like to begin by thanking Professor Yum for her fascinating paper. As the translator into Korean of Duan Yucai’s 段玉裁 (1735-1815) Commentary on the Shuowen jiezi or “Graphs Explained and Characters Elucidated” (Shuowen jiezi zhu 說文解字注), a text originally compiled by Xu Shen 許

慎 in around 100 BCE, Professor Yum is ideally placed to discuss the

influence of this crucial early dictionary and its subsequent scholarship in the history of Chinese thought. There are a number of points that occurred to me particularly when reading this paper. Professor Yum discusses here the important concept in Confucian philosophy of the “Rectification of Names” or zhengming 正名, a concept which although now generally regarded as a cornerstone of Confucianism was originally associated with Legalist philosophy, indicative of the assimilative nature of early Chinese thought. This concept remains particularly significant for the modern world. Although traditionally described in terms of using ritual and music versus punishments in order to maintain social order, the idea that the correct names have to be used for

Proceedings of the SCRIPTA 2011, Seoul, Oct. 7~9, 2011

individual situations is an interesting prospect at a time when so many things have been obfuscated by the terminology generated through political correctness. A key concept discussed in this paper is that of wen 文, a word of considerable importance in the history of Chinese thought. The complexity

of different meanings attached to this character serve to indicate something of its significance within the context of Chinese culture. Confucius in particular stressed the use of this character to mean “culture” in his comments which demonstrate a considerable distrust of rhetorical skill, which he seems to have regarded as intrinsically deceitful. The meanings of this term when it was employed by Confucius are very different from earlier usage of this character, where (as analyzed in a recent paper by Lothar von Falkenhausen) it seems to have simply an epithet used to refer to deceased ancestors. It is only in the late Spring and

Autumn period that this character seems to have acquired other connotations such as “pattern” or indeed the meaning attached to it by Confucius: “culture.” In pre-imperial times, a number of philosophers seem to have devoted considerable amounts of their time to considering the characteristics of a cultured society, and the ways in which to achieve social harmony. Professor Yum in her paper has particularly focused on the work of Xunzi 荀子, who laid unusual stress upon the importance of music, arguing that a

harmonious society can be created by the performance of refined and elegant music which does not excite the listener too much. However, as pointed out in this paper, the precepts laid down by Xunzi were rarely

taken up by later philosophers, who seem to have been deterred by the difficulty of quantifying the influence of music on human behavior. In the circumstances, given the problems of demonstrating any definite instances of social control achieved by aural means, they seem to have turned to

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Discussion: Categorization of meaning in the Chinese ideographic characters

more readily understandable forms of social contract, such as the Rites (li 禮). The terms of the debate introduced by the Xunzi raise an interesting question- given that ancient Chinese philosophers seem to have shown great concern over the effect of stimulus to the eyes, ears and indeed mouth, why did they not also express interest in the possibility of improving social harmony through scent?

When Xu Shen came to write his dictionary in around 100 BCE, he was engaged in a unique endeavor and in proceeding to categorize the characters included in his dictionary in a methodical and systematic way, he deserves nothing but praise. Furthermore, in terms of the knowledge of the day concerning the derivation and development of individual characters, the Shuowen jiezi is a highly impressive work of scholarship. However, having finished the paper with a discussion of this important early dictionary, I have one further question. How does what Matteo Ricci and the other missionary scholars attempted to do in terms of developing Aristotelian schematization in China relate to Xu Shen’s classification?

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Hieroglyphic writing in ancient Egypt and its cognitive involvement

Pascal VERNUS École Pratique des Hautes Études, FRANCE

1. The hieroglyphic writing was used during three millenia and half, in the Nile Valley, the first manifestations dating around 3250 B. C., the last one during the first half of the fifth Century A. C. So, not only has it been coextensive with the Pharaonic State (from 3000 to 331 B.C.), but also it has survived its disappearance due to the Alexander’s conquest, since it was still used during the Ptolemaic Period and the Roman Period. Its death is directly connected with the promotion of Christian religion as state religion and the consequent prohibition of paganism believes. Indeed,

hieroglyphic writing being tightly bound with traditional Egyptian religion, the proscription of the former elicited the vanishing of the latter. The hieroglyphic writing implements some remarkable cognitive processes that can be highlighted through the description of its main hallmarks.

Proceedings of the SCRIPTA 2011, Seoul, Oct. 7~9, 2011

For a clear description of the hieroglyphic writing we should carefully distinguish the way it is materialized (§§2-2.2.3) from the system it involves (§§3-3.3.1).

2. Materiality of the hieroglyphic writing The hieroglyphic writing has a basic property: the «figurativity». This is not so much common in the world written cultures (Mayas; Harapeans; Hittite hieroglyphs; Phaistos disk and some other mediterranean scripts

until now undeciphered), even though it may have been present at the origin, and then lost; such is the case of Chinese script. «Figurativity» should be distinguished from «iconicity» which has a by far more wide meaning. Hieroglyphs signs are figurative because they represent elements of the pharaonic world according to the same principles that work for full-fledged pictures. For instance, let us look at this inscription:

FIGURE 1 One needs not to be a brilliant Egypologist to recognize, even roughly:

: a lady wearing a diadem.

: a human face.

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Hieroglyphic writing in ancient Egypt and its cognitive involvement : a human foot with base of the leg.

: an human mouth. : an elephant.

: a ram. : a quail chick. : a vulture on a basket. ,

: a flowering reed.

: a rush with shoots. : a hill-country. : a hill-slope. : rippling water. 2.1 The close relationship between hieroglyph sign and picture is clearly illustrated by scenes showing how the same reality may be represented both as a picture and as a writing sign. For instance, the following scene depicts craftsmen making stone vessels.

FIGURE 2

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Proceedings of the SCRIPTA 2011, Seoul, Oct. 7~9, 2011

Among the different stone vessels, a jug with handle is represented first above, in a row of ready made vessels, while under in the main representation, another jug with handle is being bored with a drill by the craftsman at right. Above this craftsman, there is a column of hieroglyphic inscription, meaning «This jug is very good.».

Among the hieroglyphs used in this inscription, one should notice the sign , which is now shown painted in red for sake of clarity:

It represents the same jug with handle that we have seen to be depicted twice. So, in this scene, the same object is both: • represented as a full-fledged element of a picture. • represented as a full-fledged element of writing.

2.2 Now, when it is clear that a hieroglyph is basically an image, it should differentiate from a mere image to function as a sign of writing in an inscription. This differentiation arises from three main specific constraints:

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Hieroglyphic writing in ancient Egypt and its cognitive involvement • Calibration (2.2.1). • Investment of space (2.2.2.). • Orientation (2.2.3).

2.2.1 Calibration The respective dimensions of the hieroglyphic signs are not proportional to the respective dimensions of their «referents», that is to say the reality they represent. Looking back at the former inscription (FIGURE 1), we can observe that the hieroglyph representing a quail chick space as the hieroglyph representing an elephant

fills the same !

Without this kind of calibration, too much space would have been wasted, due to the great difference of size of the realities depicted as hieroglyphic signs. 2.2.2 Space investment In our writings, the signs follow each other in a straight row. It works differently as regards the Egyptian hieroglyphs. There is a strong trend towards arranging them so as to make them fill the space devoted to the inscription with two main concerns: • A concern to reduce the blank to what is necessary to distinguish one hierogyph from the other; this arises from a search for density. • A concern to allow a regular lay out: this arises from a search for

harmony.

The space of the inscription is divided in spatial invisible square or rectangular unities, for which the Egyptologists have coined the term «cadrat». According to its morphology, a sign may occupy a whole «cadrat»,

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Proceedings of the SCRIPTA 2011, Seoul, Oct. 7~9, 2011

or some division of the cadrat, may be a vertical half, may be an horizontal half, may be a vertical third, may be an horizontal, may be a quarter; etc. For instance, the geographical name for «Egypt» may be written This graphy actually encompasses four signs:

,

,

,

.

. Far from

being displayed in a straight row, they are arranged within a «cadrat», so as to leave the minimum blank space. As a further illustration, compare an inscription in which the hieroglyphs are laid out so as to show density and harmony:

FIGURE 3 with what it would have looked if the hieroglyphs would have been simply arranged in a single line, each one following the other:

2.2.3 Orientation A large number of hieroglyphic signs have an unsymmetrical morphology. That means that they have one prevailing orientation. This is particularly conspicuous for the signs that are pictures of animates. For instances, the prevailing orientation of the sign

is marked by the direction he faces,

in this case the left.

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Hieroglyphic writing in ancient Egypt and its cognitive involvement

Asymmetrical sign cannot be displayed regardless of their prevailing orientation. In an inscription, as a rule, they have to look towards the beginning of the inscription, that is to say the direction of reading goes backwards to them. So, drawing

as such, that is to say looking leftwards, implies

that the inscription starts on left side. Conversely, writing it

, that is to

say looking rightwards, implies that the inscription starts on right side. This is true for all asymmetrical sign. Returning back to the inscriptions displayed on FIGURE 1, we can observe that the same sign, a flowering reed, appears in two different orientation, respectively

and

. The

reason is that in the part of the inscriptions in which it shows the rightwards orientation

, the text reads from right to left. Conversely, in

the part of the inscriptions in which it shows the leftwards orientation

,

the text reads from left to right. 2.2.3.1 Hieroglyphic inscriptions may be laid out in horizontal lines or in vertical columns (always downwards). The basic direction of reading is leftward, as shown by mundane and everyday «tachygraphies» on manuscripts, but on monuments and on objects, an inscription reading rightward is equally possible. So, hieroglyphic inscriptions can be laid out in four main directions a) rightwards in horizontal lines; b) leftwards in horizontal lines; c) downwards and rightwards in vertical columns: d) downwards and leftwards in vertical columns.

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Proceedings of the SCRIPTA 2011, Seoul, Oct. 7~9, 2011

The following figure illustrates how the same text can be laid out in the four directions. The simple arrows,  or , indicate the orientation of asymmetrical signs and the starting point of the inscription. The double arrows  or , and  indicate the directions of reading. - A. Horizontal lines, starting left, reading rightwards (): (1) (2)

- B. Horizontal lines, starting right, reading leftwards (): (1) (2)

- C. Vertical columns, starting left, reading downwards and rightwards (): (1)

(2)

- D. Vertical columns, starting right, reading downwards and leftwards (): (2)

(1)

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Hieroglyphic writing in ancient Egypt and its cognitive involvement

We should note that in certain restricted circumstances under certain semiotic necessities, the direction of reading may be forewards to the orientation of asymmetrical hiéroglyphs; this is called «retrograd orientation». An example is displayed below (§7.2, caption pertaining to the god Dedun).

3. The hieroglyphic system For coding the language products, the hieroglyphic system uses both the ideographic strategy and the phonetic strategy. Thus, it involves signs that function as ideograms (§ 3.1), and signs that function as phonograms

(§3.2). Moreover, to them, it adds signs that function as classifiers, the socalled «determinatives» (§3.3). 3.1 Ideograms Certain hieroglyphs can function as ideograms, that is to say, they may be used to write a word, or a notion susceptible to be actualized in different words built on the same root, or even built on different roots with the same meaning. Since a hieroglyph is an image (§2), when it is used as an ideogram, a relationship obtains between what it represents and what it means. 3.1.1 This relationship may be direct. Examples: - The hieroglyph representing an ear

writes the Egyptian word for «ear»,

msDr (read mesdjer). - The hieroglyph representing a cat mjw (read mejew).

writes the Egyptian word for «cat»,

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Proceedings of the SCRIPTA 2011, Seoul, Oct. 7~9, 2011 - The hieroglyph representing a lotus flower

writes the Egyptian word

for «lotus flower», sSn (read seshen). - The hieroglyph representing an obelisk «obelisk», txn (read tekhen).

writes the Egyptian word for

3.1.2 The relationship between what represents a hieroglyph and what it means when functioning as an ideogram may be less direct. It may be metonymic or metaphoric, it may rely on cultural specificity, it may involve an artificial combination of images. - An ideogram can mean not the being or the object it depicts, but the action implied.

, the sign showing a crocodile with curve tail functions as an

ideogram to write the Egyptian word for «pull together», sAq (red s’aq). But the sign showing a crocodile with straight tail

functions as an

ideogram to write the Egyptian words meaning «crocodile», for instance msH (read meseh). - The hieroglyph representing a scribe’s outfit

writes the Egyptian

word for «write» zS (zesh). - The hieroglyph representing a sail swollen with wind

writes the

Egyptian words for «wind», for instance TAw (read tch’aw). - The hieroglyph representing a ship with sail swollen with wind

writes the Egyptian word for «sailing upstream, southward», xnt (read khent); in Egypt, the north wind is prevailing, while the Nile flows northward.

Some ideogram may involve a higher degree of artificiality in combining two or more images:

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Hieroglyphic writing in ancient Egypt and its cognitive involvement - The hieroglyph representing a cow suckling a calf

writes the

Egyptian word «show solicitude», Ams (read ’ames). - The hieroglyph representing a man with a pouring water vessel above him writes the Egyptian word for «be pure», wab (read w‘ab). - A variant is still more artificial combined with a foot

: it represents a pouring water vessel

, here functioning as phonogram for b (see § 3.2.1),

the last consonant of wab (w‘ab). - A particular case of ideography is the duplication of an ideogram to express the dual, and the triplication of an ideogram to express the plural. For instance:

«god», nTr (read netcher);

(read netcherwey);

«the two gods», nTr.wy

«the gods», nTr.w (read netcherew).

3.2 Phonograms Contrary to a common but superficial idea, the hieroglyphic system is phonetic in a rather large proportion. Hence, a lot of hieroglyphs function as phonograms. They convey a sound or a set of sounds, and not a meaning. There is no more relationship between what they mean and what they represent. Their phonetic values are based on the principle of rebus. For instance, the hieroglyph

represents a tongue. Besides its ideographic

use for writing the Egyptian word for «tongue», ns (read nes), it may be used also, not to mean «tongue», but merely to convey the two consonants involved in the Egyptian word for «tongue», that is to say n and s.

In a way partly illustrated in Hebrew and in Arabic scripts, the Egyptian

system writes only the consonant, leaving to the reader the charge of figuring out the vowels thanks to his knowledge of Egyptian language. This is made possible by the very structure of Egyptian lexicon, notions being

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conveyed by abstract consonantal roots (one, two, three, sometimes four consonants), while the vocalization helps to discriminate the different words through which a root can be actualized. 3.2.1 The phonograms may write one consonant or more, up to four consonants. «Quadriliteral» phonograms combine four consonants; ex.: combines the cononants m+a+b+A. «Triliteral» phonograms combine three consonants; ex.:

combines the

cononants s+n+D. «Biliteral» phonograms combine two consonants; ex:

consonants m+t.

combines the

«Uniliteral» phonograms represent only one consonant; they are called more commonly «alphabetic» signs; ex.

, dealt with above (§2.2.3), writes the

consonant j or the consonant’. Each of the twenty four (or twenty five) consonants of the Egyptian phonetic system may be written by an alphabetic sign, except – in older times at least – the consonant l. They may be classified on a chart showing Egyptian alphabet.

3.3 Determinatives A lot of hieroglyphs – roughly about one hundred and twenty at classical periods – can function as classifiers. The Egyptologists prefer to speak of «determinatives». When functioning as a determinative, a sign is put at the end of a word, after the ideogram, and/or the phonograms. Deprived of any phonetic value, it indicates the semantic class to which the word belongs. We show in the following a score of determinatives and the semantic classes they mark.

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Hieroglyphic writing in ancient Egypt and its cognitive involvement

• The name of a god, or, more generally, a word pertaining to a divine notion or to a highly respectable notion can be determined by

, or by

. Examples:

«Amon».

The hieroglyph

functions as a determinative indicating the belonging

to the class of gods of the Egyptian name jmn, the consonantal structure of which, is written with the alphabetic sign phonogram

j, and with the biliteral

mn, with a redundant alphabetic sign n

.

«lord».

The hieroglyph

functions as a determinative indicating the belonging to

the class of gods of the Egyptian word nb, the consonantal structure of which is written by a biliteral phonogram

.

• A human name, a human category, and anything pertaining to ego can be determined by

-

. Examples:

«priest (pure one)».

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The hieroglyph

functions as a determinative indicating the belonging

to the class of human of the Egyptian word wab, which, is written by an ideogram (see §3.1.2).

«I (personal pronoun)».

The hieroglyph

functions as a determinative indicating the belonging

to the class of ego of the Egyptian pronoun jnk, the consonantal structure of which is written by two phonograms, a biliteral phonogram redundant alphabetic sign

jn, and a

k.

• a word involving an action or a state of the mouth can be determined by

. Example:

«starve».

The hieroglyph

functions as a determinative indicating the belonging

to the class of state involving the mouth of the Egyptian word Hqr (read heqer), the consonantal structure of which is written by three alphabetic signs,

H,

q, and

r.

• a word involving an action of the legs or a motion can be determined by

. Example:

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Hieroglyphic writing in ancient Egypt and its cognitive involvement «enter».

functions as a determinative indicating the belonging

The hieroglyph

to the class of motion of the Egyptian word aq (read ‘aq), the consonantal

structure of which is written by two phonograms, a biliteral phonogram aq, and a redundant alphabetic sign

q.

• a word involving the notion of small or the notion of evil can be determined by

(sparrow, a small bird and an evil bird for the peasant’s

harvest). Example:

«evil».

The hieroglyph

functions as a determinative indicating the belonging

to the class of evil notion of the Egyptian word Dw (read djew), the consonantal structure of which is written by two phonograms, a biliteral phonogram

Dw, and a redundant alphabetic sign

• A word designating a building can be determined by

w.

. Example:

«door».

The hieroglyph

functions as a determinative indicating the belonging

to the class of building of the Egyptian word sbA (read seb’a), the

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consonantal structure of which is written by a triliteral phonogram and three redundant alphabetic signs,

s,

b, and

sbA,

A.

• a word involving the notion of tree or wood (as material) can be determined by

. Example:

«a kind of tree».

The hieroglyph

functions as a determinative indicating the belonging

to the class of wood of the Egyptian word awn.t (read ‘awenet), the consonantal structure of which is written by an alphabetic sign wn, with a redundant alphabetic sign

biliteral phonogram and a last alphabetic sign

‘, a n,

t, to write the feminine suffix.

• a word involving the notion of writing, or involving abstract notions can be determined by

. Example:

«plan, decision».

The hieroglyph

functions as a determinative indicating the belonging

to the class of abstract notions of the Egyptian word sxr (read sekher), the

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Hieroglyphic writing in ancient Egypt and its cognitive involvement

consonantal structure of which is written by three alphabetic signs, x, and

s,

r.

3.3.1 A word can receive more than one determinative to specify its semantic class. Example:

«embalmer».

The consonant structure of the word wt (read wet) is written by two alphabetic signs

w, and

t. It can have three determinatives,

,

indicating its belonging to the class of bodily morbid growths and state; , indicating its belonging to the class of hand activity, and

indicating its belonging to the class of human category.

,

3.3.2 A determinative has a demarcative effect. It helps to distinguish the lexical units in a text in which there is no separation between words, and no punctuation. A determinative has also a discriminative effect. It helps to distinguish between two homophone words. For instance, the Egyptian word

wn, «hurry» and

wn, «fault», show the same

consonantal structure, written by the phonogram redundant alphabetic sign

w+n, with a

n. They are distinguished by the difference

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of the determinatives, in one case

(motion), in the other

(notion of evil), see above (§ 3.3).

4. Functioning of the system The respective uses of these three categories of signs – ideograms, phonograms, and determinatives – are based on principles and customs

prone to vary according to the period and also according to the type of document (religious, mundane, manuscripts, monuments, etc.). Purely ideographic graphies (§ 4.1) coexist with purely phonetic graphies (§4.2) and with graphies combining ideograms and phonograms (§4.3). 4.1 Words that can be written with an ideogram are not so numerous as one might expect a priori. They belong to the basic lexicon: names of gods, parts of the body, usual objects and realities of the everyday life. When an ideogram writes a name, it is often marked by a stroke.

Examples:

Hr (read her), «face» hor), «Horus».

or

(with determinative) Hr (read

xAs.t (read khaset), «foreign country»; note that

functions as a redundant alphabetic sign, writing the feminine suffix t.

4.2 A lot of words are written with phonograms, most often followed by determinative(s). Examples:

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Hieroglyphic writing in ancient Egypt and its cognitive involvement

Hqr (read heqer), «starve» (see §3.3). sxr (read sekher), «plan, decision» (see §3.3). awn.t (read ‘awenet), «a kind of tree» (see §3.3).

mtr.t (read meter.t), «midday»;

biliteral phonogram t; alphabetic sign

writing m+t, with a redundant alphabetic sign the second suffix t;

r;

functions as a full alphabetic sign, writing the feminine determinative indicating the belonging of the word to the

notion of time.

Some phonograms can be redundant, making explicit a consonant already written by another phonogram: «slaughterer».

mHwnw (read mehewnew),

, biliteral phonogram writing mH;

phonogram writing w+n, with a redundant alphabetic sign

biliteral n;

biliteral phonogram writing n+w, the n being one more time redundant; , determinative indicating the belonging of the word to the class of

actions of knife. 4.3

Mixed graphies, combining ideograms with redundant phonograms, possibly followed by determinative(s). Examples:

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xAs.t (read kh’aset), «foreign country, desert»; the biliteral phonogram xA, and the «alphabetic» signs

s, and

t, make explicit the phonetic

. Compare with the purely ideographic

structure of the ideogram

graphy of the same word, quoted on § 4.1. -

Snw.t, «granary»: the biliteral phonogram

biliteral phonogram

nw (writing the semi-consonant w while making

explicit the second consonant n of of the ideogram

Sn, and the

Sn) make explicit the phonetic structure

.

4.4 The system opens a lot of possibilities for coding of the language data through the script. For instance, the name of the sun god Re, may be written: - With an ideogram; as regards the god Re, a set of hieroglyphs can fulfil this function:

;

;

;

;

.

- With an ideogram marked as such by a stroke: - With an ideogram followed by a determinative:

. ;

.

- With an ideogram marked as such by a stroke and followed by a determinative: ;

.

- With two phonograms writing its consonant structure, the alphabetic signs r, and

‘, followed by a determinative:

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.

Hieroglyphic writing in ancient Egypt and its cognitive involvement - With an ideogram of which the phonetic structure is made explicit by two alphabetic signs:

.

- With an ideogram of which the phonetic structure is made explicit by two alphabetic signs, and followed by a determinative:

.

It should be stressed that this inventory is far from being complete. 4.4.1 However, numerous as may be the possibilities, generally speaking, the graphies remained relatively constant on the whole, at least during the older age of the pharaonic civilisation. Admittedly, there was no fixed orthographic norm, such as the orthographic norms ruling European scripts.

But overwhelming trends, uses, customs maintain a certain regularity at least within a period and within a category of document.

Now, it should be stressed that the door remained always open to choice a less common graphy, an uncommon graphy, sometimes even an original graphy when the scribe felt motivated to do so.

5. Exploiting the particular properties of hieroglyphic writing Sketchy as it may be, this preceding description shows how complex was the hieroglyphic writing. How complex, and also how cumbersome to be implemented, how long and uneasy to be written out! Nevertheless, it has been used during three millennia and half. Thus, were the ancient Egyptians unable to simplify it? Certainly not. They had mastered methods

of writing without ideograms (§5.1) and manner of diminishing the difficulty bound to the figurativity of hieroglyphs (§5.2).

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5.1 We have seen that the hieroglyphic system was not only in great part phonetic, but also involved alphabetic signs, that is to say signs coding the language at the level of the mere phoneme. Thus, Egyptian language could have been written with twenty four or twenty five consonantal signs; in

addition, semi-consonantal signs could have been used to indicate long vowels in the manner of matres lectionis of Semitic scripts. Moreover, there existed a special subsystem, commonly but not very accurately called «group writing», that was used to write either foreign words or purely Egyptian words felt as restricted to the vernacular and foreign to the written language. This subsystem combining signs and groups of signs conveying syllables either with fixed or with non fixed vocalism show that the ancient Egyptians were perfectly able of writing without ideograms, even though determinatives could be – not should be – implemented. 5.2 As regard the figurativity of the script, which is obviously an obstacle against fluent writing, they had created «tachygraphies» (from Greek words meaning «quick writing out»), that is to say, cursive ways of drawing not only each hieroglyph but also group of hieroglyphs; they are called «hieratic» and «demotic» scripts. 5.3 Thus, why ancient Egyptian did not simplify this very cumbersome and uneasy hieroglyphic writing while they had a full ability of doing so? The

reason is that this difficulty is the reverse of extraordinary semiotic capacities that can be dealt with under three main headings:

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Hieroglyphic writing in ancient Egypt and its cognitive involvement Capacity of fitting to an object or a monument (§ 6). Capacity of integrating to an adjacent representation (§7). Capacity of coding language data while, in the same time, opening a specific space of expression (§8).

6. Capacity of fitting to an object or a monument Hieroglyphic writing is basically a monumental writing, taking «monumental» as pertaining to a monument but also, more generally, to any object. Indeed, inscriptions, far from using a monument as a mere surface of display, can be written out so as to be in harmony with its specific structure. For instance, let us have a look to this entrance leading to an adjacent room in an Egyptian temple.

FIGURE 5

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Proceedings of the SCRIPTA 2011, Seoul, Oct. 7~9, 2011

From architectonic point of view, a door is organized in two symmetrical parts, delimitated by a central vertical axis. Thanks to its properties as regard direction (§ 2.2.3.1), the hieroglyphic writing can be laid out so as to respect the architectonic hallmarks of the door.

On each half of the lintel there are three lines of inscriptions that mirror each other.

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Hieroglyphic writing in ancient Egypt and its cognitive involvement

On the left part, the three lines of inscriptions read from right to left, starting from three

signs which materialize the middle axis. The

asymmetrical hieroglyphs, for instance

,

,

,

,

, etc.,

are facing right. On the right part, the three lines of inscriptions read from left to right, starting from three

signs which materialize the middle axis. The

asymmetrical hieroglyphs, for instance are facing left.

,

,

,

,

, etc.,

A similar observation can be made for the jambs of the door. They both contain the same inscription in one column, but with opposite direction. On the left jamb, the asymmetrical hieroglyphs face right, that is to say towards the middle axis; see, for instance

,

,

,

.

On the right jamb, the asymmetrical hieroglyphs face left, that is to say towards the middle axis; see, for instance ,

,

,

.

Thus, by implementing the capacity of hieroglyphic writing to read in four directions, in horizontal lines, in vertical columns, from right to left and from left to right, the inscriptions are adapted to the structure of the monument on which they have been inscribed. Such a symbiotic adjustment would be impossible when one uses our modern writings.

7. Capacity of integrating into a representation Not only is hieroglyphic writing basically a monumental script, but also, it is a script prone to interplay with representation.

We have seen that hieroglyphs were originally pictures to which were

allotted the status of element of writing under certain constraints (§2.1 and

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2.2). Now, it may happen that a hieroglyph could turn back to its origin as a picture.

7.1 A good illustration is afforded by hieroglyphs frozen as full-fledged emblem and then integrated into a representation. For instance, the biliteral phonogram

s.t. was often used to write the phonetic structure

of Isis ’ name, in graphy such as mark of the feminine, and

;

t is an alphabetic redundant

one of the determinatives indicating the

class of goddesses. The phonogram

became a self content emblem of

the goddess Isis, part of her representation, independently of any text.

FIGURE 7

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Hieroglyphic writing in ancient Egypt and its cognitive involvement

Moreover, not only the phonogram

alone, but the graphy

as a

whole shares the same destiny and became a variant of the emblem of the older and simpler

.

7.2 Thanks to its multiple directions, a hieroglyphic inscription is closely bound to the representation to which it functions as a caption. As a rule, the signs should face in the same direction as the figure to which it refers. Let us have a look to this scene showing the pharaoh, on the left, being led by a god who turns his face towards him to a third god on the right.

FIGURE 8 The caption pertaining to the pharaoh is written out in four columns above him. It reads leftwards since the asymmetrical hieroglyphs – for instance ,

and

face right, that is to say in the same direction as the

picture of the pharaoh.

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FIGURE 9 Conversely, in the caption pertaining to the first god, whose name is Dedun, and written out in two columns above him, the asymmetrical hieroglyphs – for instance

,

,

– face left, that is to say in

the same direction as the picture of the god. However, reading goes from right to left, that is to say, the second column on right (1) is to be read before the column on left (2).

«(1) Dedun, who is at the head of Nubia, the great god, lord of sky (2), may he give all life, prosperity, energy, all joy when he acts.». This is an example of retrograde direction: it is used here to fit to the particular position of the god: he is walking rightwards, but turning his head leftwards. As regard the caption pertaining to Khnum, the second god, who is

ram headed, the situation is simpler. It is written in four column in front of him and above him, reading from left to right, since the asymmetrical hieroglyphs face left, as does the god; see for instance etc.

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,

,

,

,

Hieroglyphic writing in ancient Egypt and its cognitive involvement

«Words spoken by Khnum who-overpowers-the-bows at the gateways of the foreign countries in welcoming our son, belonging to our body, Thutmose. Come to us to the great mansion etc.» 7.3 Something more. A hieroglyph can be promoted to the status of a picture while at the same time, functioning as an element of the inscription. We have seen that to function as a sign of writing, a picture underwent the constraint of calibration (§2.2.1). Now it happens that a hieroglyph can be released from this constraint so as to assume in the same context both the function of a writing sign and the function of an image. Let us consider the following inscription.

FIGURE 10

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It reads, in vertical column, downwards, from right to left:

dwA nTrw nb(.w) jmyw p.t «Adoring all the gods who are in the sky».

Now, two hieroglyphs have been enlarged: • The hieroglyph

, an ideogram writing the word dwA «adore», the

consonantal structure of which is made explicit by the triliteral phonogram • The hieroglyph

.

, a phonogram writing the word nb(.w) «all».

So, they create the picture of a man in posture of adoration, kneeling on , a track of land encircled by water (in the Egyptian manner of rendering). 7.4 Sometimes, in this double function, a picture writing sign may be part of a representation that itself has its own self content caption in hieroglyphs. Let us consider these two columns from a royal monumental inscription of Ramses II.

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Hieroglyphic writing in ancient Egypt and its cognitive involvement

FIGURE 11

FIGURE 12 The first column (1), on left, reads downwards and leftwards, since the asymmetrical signs face the right:

sA ra ramssw-mr(y)-jmn «The son of Re, Ramses, beloved of Amun.»

The second column (2), on right, reads downwards and rightwards, since the asymmetrical signs face the left mr(y)-wsjr narrf, «beloved of Osiris-Narref». Narref is an epithet of Osiris, whose name is written by an ideogram sont requis d?ompresseur QuickTime?et pour visionner TIFFun cette (LZW) image.

representing the god

.

First level

sont requis d?ompresseur QuickTime?et pour visionner TIFFun cette (LZW) image.

and

function as full-fledged writing signs, the first as an

ideogram for sA «son», the second as an ideogram for wsjr «Osiris».

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Second Level While functioning as writing signs, they also function as part of a selfcontent representation showing the god Osiris presenting life (

) and

prosperity ( ) to the nose of the «son (of Re)», one of the names of the pharaoh. Third level This representation has become enough autonomous to have its own caption, which reads in a column (3), downwards and rightwards, since the asymmetrical hieroglyphs Osiris:

and

face the left, as does the god

r Sr.t=k «to your nose».

7.5 In the previous instances, we have seen hieroglyphs functioning as a picture. Now, we are going to see how an element from a picture can function as a sign in an inscription adjacent to the picture. Let us consider again the scene from the wall of a temple of Nubia that has been shown previously (§ 7.2; FIGURE 8).

The ram headed god Khnum welcomes the pharaoh, led to him by the anthropomorphic god Dedun. Khnum is depicted making the traditional gesture of welcome, in Egyptian nyny: his hands are open, palms upwards, water flowing from them as indicated by the zig-zag, conventionally representing water by evoking its ripple.

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Hieroglyphic writing in ancient Egypt and its cognitive involvement

FIGURE 13 The words spoken by Khnum are inscribed in the columns starting in front of him: «Words spoken by Khnum who-overpowers-the-bows at the gateways of the foreign countries in welcoming our son, belonging to our body, Thutmose...»

In this inscription, the consonant of possessive suffix n in sA=n «our son» is not written out by a hieroglyphic sign. In stead of

, we have

,

the space between the two signs being filled by the right hand of Khnum with zigzag indicating water in the palm. It is precisely this zigzag which plays the role of the missing alphabetic sign

, n. This has been made possible

because this sign is originally an image representing rippling water.

8. Capacity of adding extra information while coding linguistic data One of the main interests of the hieroglyphic writing lies in its highlighting a basic property with is more or less shared by any script: that is the capacity of using its physical appearance as a medium through which it can express specific meanings meanwhile conveying purely linguistic data. This capacity is implemented in the hieroglyphic at an utmost degree thanks to three features with which we have dealt.

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- The multiplicity of direction. - The figurativity: hieroglyphs are basically images. - The coding resources: the combination of ideograms, phonograms and determinatives leaves open many variations in the graphies.

8.1 Playing on the multiplicity of the possible directions of reading can impart some particular effects. One of them is what is called by Egyptologists «honorific anticipation». For instance, let us consider the common expression

Hw.t-nTr (read hewt-netcher), which means «mansion of

the god, temple». From a linguistic point of view, it is a nominal phrase, composed of two elements, in first place, the element Hw.t «mansion», functioning as a regens of a genitive relationship, in second place, the element nTr «god» which is the rectum. Now, it is written with the element nTr, «god» (see § 3.12) preceding the element

contrary to the linguistic order.

Hw.t, «mansion»,

Through such anticipation, the script expresses an idea which is not conveyed by the language, that is to say the fact that nTr «god» belongs to beings and notions that deserve a special honorific treatment. 8.2 Another type of purely graphic meaning. In an inscription, the reversal of an asymmetrical sign as regard the general direction of reading can convey

a specific meaning. For instance, in an inscription reading from left to right, asymmetrical signs are compelled to face left (§2.2.3). Now in the following passage

, the first hieroglyph

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functioning as an ideogram

Hieroglyphic writing in ancient Egypt and its cognitive involvement

for Hr «Horus», has been reversed. It faces right while it should have faced left (*

), like the following hieroglyph

, an ideogram for stX «Seth».

This is not a mistake, but a way of expressing by purely graphic means the

verb «say». The fact that the hieroglyph for Horus faces the hieroglyph for Seth indicates that Horus is talking to Seth. 8.3 Generally speaking, a determinative by the mere fact of its indicating a class to which the word belongs brings some extra information in supplement of what is brought by purely linguistic means. Moreover, a sophisticated and skilful use of determinatives can enlarge the reach of such extra information. Example: The Egyptian word mnmn.t (read menment) «herd» is usually written , which may be explained in the following way: • twice the biliteral phonogram

mn, with an alphabetic sign

n

making explicit its second consonant. • An alphabetic sign • Two determinatives:

for t, feminine and collective ending. , class of cattle, and

, class of plurality.

Now, other set of determinatives can be used, when one intends to give more precision. For instance, in the following graphy:

,

there are three determinatives. The number «three» conveys the notion of plurality, while the different signs indicate that the herd was composed of

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cows (determinative

), asses (determinative

), and goats (determinative

). 8.4 Specifically graphic meanings can arise not only from the determinatives, but also, from the choice of the elements implemented in the graphy of a word. Two examples are given (8.4.1 and 8.4.2). 8.4.1 The word HH (read heh) «eternity» is usually written two alphabetical signs

. Explanation:

H for the consonant structure; the determinative

indicates the belonging of the word to the class of notion of time; its position between the two

and not after, as one would expect for a

determinative, is already a graphical device.

Now, besides this usual graphy, there exist more sophisticated ones, such as the following: The unusual phonetic value H has been attributed to the two hieroglyphs

, which represent a mountain. On the one hand,

writes

HH «eternity», with two alphabetic signs and a determinative. But, on the

other hand, the graphy as a whole is a picture showing the travel of the sun between the two mountains – the oriental mountain and the occidental mountain – that delimit the Egyptian horizon in the valley. This travel of the sun is repeated everyday, hopefully forever, and constitutes thus an illustration of the abstract notion of eternity.

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Hieroglyphic writing in ancient Egypt and its cognitive involvement

8.4.2 Ptah is a high figure of the Egyptian pantheon; a strong tradition considers him as a god who created the world though rising the earth above the primordial flood. The name of god Ptah is usually written out with three phonograms:

; commonly used as a standard phonogram for p. ; commonly used as a standard phonogram for t. ; commonly used as a standard phonogram for H.

This basic phonetic writing may be completed with a such as

, member

of the class of divine beings (§3.3). Besides, his name may be written with ideograms as

,

, by reference to his images (compare §4.4).

One can choice a more sophisticated writings such as

. Explanation:

, hieroglyph representing the sky vault; can function as an ideogram writing the word p.t «sky». Under acrophonic process, it can be used as a phonogram for the consonant p. , a track of land; can function as an ideogram writing the word tA

«earth». Under acrophonic process, it can be used as a phonogram for the consonant t.

, man with raised arms to show exultations; can function as an ideogram writing the word Haj «rejoice». Under acrophonic process it can be used as a phonogram for the consonant H.

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Here, being used as phonograms, these three signs are arranged so as to draw a kind of picture

that both:

• writes the consonants of the name of Ptah. • evokes one of the main achievements of the god, his having lifted up the sky so that it became separated from the earth.

9 Such exploitations of the properties of the hieroglyphic system are known

during the whole pharaonic period. However, they underwent a dramatic development during the Greco-roman period, that is to say when Egypt was under the rule of foreign powers. To maintain its identity threatened by this new environment, the pharaonic culture took a hard line on what was its major expression, the hieroglyphic writing. Its possibilities were systematically investigated. At stake, nothing less than the knowledge of the world. For ancient Egyptians, as many other people, thought that the words that named the element of the world and that the pictures that represented them conveyed something of their essences. Since hieroglyph

writing combines in a symbiotic manner sounds and representations,

exploiting the large range of its graphic capacities was a way of flushing out and highlighting the countless correspondences that unite between them the elements of the world. The priests who were still mastering hieroglyphs in the temples were fully aware that the «sacred philology» they were doing aimed at improving endlessly the understanding of the world.

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Discussion: Hieroglyphic writing in ancient Egypt and its cognitive involvement

Sung Hwan YOO Brown University, U.S.A.

Professor Pascal Vernus’ paper explores the cognitive nature of the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic writing system. It begins with the “figurativity” or the pictographic nature of Egyptian hieroglyphs. Then it points out that these hieroglyphic signs can be used as “full-fledged elements of writing” under the principles of (1) calibration; (2) spatial arrangement; and (3) orientation (2.2.1-2.2.3). With hieroglyphic signs as a central element of a writing system, the

paper’s focus is given to the two distinct types (or better: functions) of hieroglyphs – that is, ideograms and phonograms. Ideograms directly refer to the concept of words but sometimes they can depict only parts of concept in a metonymic or metaphoric manner, as mentioned with detailed examples in the paper (3.1.2). Given that the ancient Egyptian lexicon allows notions to be conveyed by skeletal consonantal roots, hieroglyphs are also used as phonograms that directly represent the sound patterns of words based on the rebus writing.

Proceedings of the SCRIPTA 2011, Seoul, Oct. 7~9, 2011

In ancient Egyptian, words spelled with phonograms usually have an ideogram added at the end and this ideogram serves as a determinative – or a semantic classifier whose role is to resolve ambiguity between words written alike (“discriminative effect”) and make it easier to separate words in the text (“demarcative effect”: see 3.3.2).

All hieroglyphs have the potential to be used in each of the three

different functions mentioned above. This results in the uniqueness of the ancient Egyptian writing system that is rarely found in any other civilization. The potential further leads to an integral use of hieroglyphs in visual representations throughout the history of ancient Egypt. Regarding that uniliteral phonograms are found in their writing system we can assume that ancient Egyptians could have simplified their writing system to make it look more like an “alphabetic system.” Apparently, some attempts were made by ancient Egyptians to simplify the

writing system, as we can see in the so-called, the “group writing.” In addition, the existence of cursive styles of writing, such as “hieratic” and “demotic,” indicates their efforts to facilitate more fluent writing. Nonetheless, it seems that ancient Egyptians consistently and faithfully stood by their ostensibly cumbersome writing system. Why? Professor Vernus answers this question with “extraordinary semiotic capacities” that the ancient Egyptian writing system possessed. They are: capacity of fitting to an object or a monument (6); capacity of integrating to an adjacent representation (7); and capacity of adding supra-information while coding linguistic data (8).

The “capacity of fitting to an object or a monument” refers to the ability of hieroglyphic signs to be used in harmony with their architectural settings (see also 2.2.3.1). The “capacity of integrating to an adjacent representation”

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Discussion: Hieroglyphic writing in ancient Egypt and its cognitive involvement

is about their ability to interact with neighboring visual representations based on their dual properties of picture and sign (see also 2.1 and 2.2: for the integration see 7.1; for the caption see 7.2; for the ingenious exploitation of the dual properties and multilayered interactions between hieroglyphic signs see 7.3-7.5).

Finally, the “capacity of adding supra-information while coding

linguistic data” deals with the established visual arrangements of hieroglyphic signs to deliver intended messages that cannot be expressed purely by linguistic means (for the “honorific transposition” see 8.1; for the intentional graphic arrangement to convey a specific meaning see 8.2; for the specific use of determinatives see 8.3; for the cryptic writing see 8.4). For this, ancient Egyptians dexterously employed the aforementioned features of hieroglyphic signs, which include (1) multiplicity of direction; (2) figurativity; and (3) various codifying devices stemming from the unique writing system of the ancient Egyptian language.

In sum, ancient Egyptians did not discard their complicated writing system because they believed that it was the perfect system for them to express the essence of the entire cosmos. Professor Vernus imparts his insightful observation about the ancient Egyptian writing system and the reason behind its longevity throughout pharaonic times. The ancient Egyptian writing system is not simply a way of coding linguistic data; rather it represents a highly visual and highly intuitive communication

method that can deliver multilayered messages to educated readers (or viewers?). Moreover, his observation reminds us of the purpose of Egyptian monuments and other representational items. They are not intended to be viewed or admired by “art lovers.” Their first and foremost purpose is to be functional, conveying highly codified messages through interactions of visual representations and hieroglyphic signs (that can double as an image) for eternity.

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Question: When we see different writings of some words (for instance, the word kheper meaning “to come to existence” or “to evolve”), we find that a hieroglyphic sign that is used as a phonogram (along with phonetic complements) in one writing can show up as a determinative in another. Would you explain the underlying principle (if there is any) regarding this phenomenon?

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A proposal for a Hunminjeongeum-based writing system for Aymara

SeungJae LEE*, Juwon KIM*, Sangchul PARK**, Hui JIN**, Chang Min KIM*

1. Introduction This paper seeks to analyze the phonological system of Aymara, a language widely used in Bolivia, and to propose an appropriate writing system for it.

Taking four Bolivians, Omar Ramirez Nina (male, 28 years old), Rodolfo Quispe Alabe (male, 31), Estela Sabia Velasquez Rosso (female, 32), and Rithlena Choque Gutierrez (female, 24)1 as our consultants, we conducted linguistic surveys of five hours each on March 30, 2011.2 At present, 810 basic words have been phonetically transcribed.3 * Professor at Seoul National University, ** Doctorate student at Seoul National University. 1 The listed were short-term Bolivian visitors to Korea through the invitation of KOICA. We would like to express our gratitude to them and the people at KOICA. Omar and Rodolfo are speakers of Aymara, and Estela and Rithlena speak Quechua. 2 This language survey was led by Chang Min Kim, head of SNU's Center for Latin American Studies, and Juwon Kim, SeungJae Lee, Sangchul Park, and Hui Jin were participants. The survey questionnaire was based on Choi et al (2011), Linguistic Questionnaire for Investigation of Altaic Languages, developed by Juwon Kim and others. Due to time limitations, only the items of highest priority (level 1) were surveyed. The

Proceedings of the SCRIPTA 2011, Seoul, Oct. 7~9, 2011

It is on the basis of these transcriptions that we have been able to analyze the phonological system of Aymara. Though it may not be perfect, the data being so scarce, we attempted a thorough analysis with the help of data from the UCLA Phonetics lab4, the Websters online dictionary5, and the research on Aymara conducted by Hardman (2001).

Based on this analysis, we aim to propose a writing system and

orthography well adapted to the Aymara language. A writing system should be easy to learn and effectual in use. The formation of the letters should be scientific and reasonable. As is widely known, Hunmin jeongeum (hereon abbreviated to HMJE) is an excellent example of a scientific and reasonable writing system, and it is these traits that we wish to extend and apply to a ‘HMJE-based writing system’ for Aymara. This system differs in quite a few details from HMJE, such as its shapes and layout, but the basis is the same.

It must be stressed first and foremost that the HMJE-based writing

system for Aymara is only for the Bolivians, not Koreans, for whom HMJE was originally developed. If the Aymara speakers of Bolivia are to adopt this writing system it must be well suited to the Aymara phonological system. For example, in Aymara there is a phonological contrast between

3

4 5

questionnaire was translated into Spanish by Chang Min Kim. From this translated survey were gathered 810 basic word items, 83 grammatical items, and 84 basic conversation items. For recording we used the Sound device 722 model, and Praat for phonetic analysis. From April 2011, SeungJae Lee, Sangchul Park, and Hui Jin met to listen and phonetically transcribe the gathered data together. This collaboration was to ensure there are as few errors as possible in the transcription process. Refer to the appendix ‘Illustrations of HMJE-based Transcriptions of Aymara.’ From considerations of space we have only listed around 100 items from the larger pool of analyzed data. See the website, http://www.phonetics.ucla.edu. See the website, http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/browse/Aymara.

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A proposal for a Hunminjeongeum-based writing system for Aymara

/l/ and /r/,6 which calls for two different letterforms. The single “ㄹ” of the Korean system does not suffice to differentiate between the two sounds. Therefore “ㄹ” could represent the sound /l/, and for /r/ we must devise a new letterform, “⊐”, which did not previously exist in HMJE. Also, Korean speakers are more familiar with writing in syllabic clusters, but considering the phonology of Aymara a linear orthography is more appropriate.

Although the HMJE-based writing system of Aymara takes HMJE as its starting point, such adaptations and changes are necessary in order to absorb the linguistic characteristics of the Aymara language. To effectively reflect the phonological system and morphological properties of Aymara and to provide for the convenience of the speakers of Aymara in Bolivia, these were our primary considerations in the selection and development of this writing system.

2. Vowels 2.1. Vowels and long vowels Aymara has five vowels, /a/, /i/, /u/, /e/, /o/. The basic vowels are /a/, /i/,

and /u/, while /e/ and /o/ usually appear only when the uvular consonants /q/, /q’/, /qh/ are in close proximity. With this fact in mind, the Webster dictionary for Aymara did not include “e” and “o” in their Roman alphabet transcriptions. However, it is phonologically unsound to limit the vowels of Aymara to just /a/, /i/, and /u/, as /e/ and /o/ occasionally appear even where there are no uvular consonants (/q/, /q’/, /qh/) nearby.

6

/r/ is a voiced alveolar flap, which is notably absent from word-initial position. However, in agreement with the analysis of Hardman (2001:16) we considered it a distinctive phoneme.

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Below are some instances of /e/ and /o/ that appear without the presence of a uvular consonant. (1) Instances of [e] [elxan'lapi] (146. paper), [uni'seɾi] (184. enemy), [kuse'ʃiɲa] (247. brain), [uniseɾi] (596. bad)7 (2) Instances of [o] [a'ɾoma] (61. evening), [noa'ʃiɲa] (180. war), [qo'noɲa] (282. chair), [qʼoloqʼolo] (379. fungus)

It is true that such examples are not numerous. Therefore we are faced with two options, that of limiting the vowel phonemes to three (/a/, /i/, /u/), and including /e/ and /o/ to make five. In this proposal we include five vowels, as it is better to have more possibilities open when creating a new writing system. Letterforms standing for /e/ and /o/ can first be devised, and then if they are found to be unnecessary, one can always eliminate their use. The vowel /a/ is represented with “ㆍ”, /u/ with “−”, and /i/ with “❘”.

The most common phoneme in Aymara being /a/8, it was assigned the

simplest form, a dot “ㆍ”. Korean speakers call “ㆍ” the ‘arae-a (low /a/) ’, so this assignation seems quite natural. The second most frequently used vowel in Aymara is /i/, which was assigned the single vertical line “❘”. This also took the Korean “ㅣ” into consideration. The next most frequent vowel is /u/, which was assigned the horizontal single line “−”. In HMJE

7

8

The phonetic transcription is based on the IPA. The numbers in parentheses are the numbers given to the items in the questionnaire. For an analysis of phoneme frequency in Aymara, see Hardman (2001:23-24).

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A proposal for a Hunminjeongeum-based writing system for Aymara

“ㅡ” stands for the unrounded high back vowel /ɯ/, but as Aymara does not have this phoneme the letterform can be assigned without confusion. The vowel letters “ㆍ, −, ❘ ” are taken directly from the Three Germinants of Heaven, Earth and Man (天地人) of HMJE, called the Basic Letters (初出字). In this paper they will be referred to as the basic letters.

The basic letters are all formed by one stroke, without bent edges. Keeping the same in common, the vowel /e/ was assigned “\”, and the vowel /o/ was assigned “/”. These forms are taken from the right and left edges of the triangular vowel chart ▽ , respectively. Thus reflecting in the letterforms the location of /e/ and /o/ on the vowel chart, it becomes easier to remember the correlation of the letter and the actual vowel. (3) Vowel letters /i/❘

− /u/

/i/ →❘ /u/ → −

/e/ \

/ /o/

/a/ → ㆍ /e/ → \

ㆍ/a/

/o/ → /

Aymara has long vowels /a:/, /u:/, /i:/ as well (Hardman 2001:20). For them are assigned “··”, “=”, “󰍓” respectively. Since long vowels can be analyzed phonologically as a doubling of the length of vowels, the basic letters have been duplicated to create letterforms for long vowels. According to this formation, /e:/ and /o:/ are given the forms “⑊” and “󰁚”. (4) Long vowel letters /a:/ → ··

/u:/ → =

/e:/ → ⑊

/o:/ → 󰁚

/i:/ → 󰍓

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2.2. Diphthongs Aymara has two semivowels, /j/ and /w/. In phonetic value /j/, /w/ are not very different from /i/, /u/. With this in mind they are initially accorded the forms “❘” for /i/ and “−” for /u/. However, unlike the vowels /i/ and /u/, /j/ and /w/ cannot stand alone. When this is applied to the letterforms themselves, one can distinguish between full vowels and semivowels. Here we propose a method of appropriately utilizing the existing forms “❘” and “−” instead of creating new letters. For example, take the diphthong /ja/ and the two consecutive vowels /ia/. As /ia/ denotes a successional series of /i/ and /a/, /ia/ can be written as “|·” without confusion, but how must one write down the diphthong /ja/? A diphthong, phonologically defined, is a complex vowel in which a glide is parasitically attached to an adjacent vowel. This fact can be applied to the letterforms so that the vertical line “❘” is attached to

another vowel. For example, for /ja/ one can vertically combine “❘”, which has the phonetic value of /i/, and “ · ”, which has the value of /a/, to form “!”. If /ja/ is written as “!” through vertical composition and /ia/ is written as “|·” in left-right succession, /ja/ and /ia/ will be naturally distinguished in form. If this method is selected, glides need not be given separate letterforms, and reflecting the subordination of glides in the letterforms themselves will strengthen the correlation between phonology and orthography. Thus the principle will be that “diphthong letterforms are created through a vertical combination of the basic letters.”

The Aymara language has not only diphthongs but also triphthongs. A triphthong refers to a vowel with a glide both before and after, examples of which include /waj/ (7 occurrences). Rising diphthongs with initial /j/ include /ja/ (52 occurrences), /ju/ (7), /jo/ (6), and falling diphthongs with /j/ include /aj/ (60 occurrences), /uj/ (9), /oj/ (1). Rising diphthongs

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A proposal for a Hunminjeongeum-based writing system for Aymara

with initial /w/ include /wa/ (60 occurrences), /wi/ (12),9 and falling diphthongs include /aw/ (18 occurrences), /iw/ (15). Forms created for these sounds according to the vertical combination rule would result in the following: (5) Vertical combinations of “ ❘ ” and “−” applied to diphthongs/ triphthongs /ja/ → !

/ju/ → ⊥

/jo/ → ⩗

/aj/ → ¡

/uj/ →

/oj/ → ⩘

/wa/ → ⨪

/wi/ →

/aw/ → ∸

/iw/ → ⊥

/waj/ → ⨪|, -¡

If diphthongs are given letterforms according to (5), the diphthong /aj/ and the consecutive vowels /ai/ are written respectively as “¡” and “·|”, making them automatically discernible. In the same way, the diphthong /aw/ and consecutive /au/ are written as “∸” and “·-”, and are easy to tell apart. Through the vertical combination rule it also becomes possible to reflect in the letterforms the properties of a diphthong, that of being a simultaneous unit made from two vowels. The properties of two

consecutive vowels, being a succession of two complete vowel units, are also reflected in the form. Considering this, the forms suggested in (5) are useful for a closer connection between phonology and orthography. However, upon closer inspection some forms suggested in (5) seem to disagree with the rule of vertical composition. The forms for the diphthongs /jo/ and /oj/, namely “⩗” and “⩘”, seem to be examples of leftright succession. This is merely a limitation of computer font input. If the 9

In the currently collected data, there are no occurrences of the diphthongs /ji/, /je/, /wu/, /wo/, /ij/, /ej/, /uw/, /ew/, /ow/. It has not yet been ascertained whether these blanks are systematic gaps or accidental gaps.

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vertical and diagonal strokes could be adjusted to meet in the center, as to create forms such as “∤” or “イ”, the principle could be recognized. It is needless to say that if a writing system is selected for Aymara, new fonts must be created including all of these letterforms. 10 In the current computer environment it is difficult to appropriately combine the three

forms relating to /waj/, “−”, “ · ”, “❘”, in a vertical manner. With new fonts this problem can also be taken care of. For example, replacing the second stroke of the Korean “ㅠ” with a dot to create “￣ ㆎ” could result in an appropriate depiction of the triphthong /waj/. Thus with the creation of new fonts, the principle of vertical combination for diphthongs and triphthongs can be observed. There remains an issue to be solved in the suggestions of (5). /ju/ and /iw/ are assigned the identical form of “⊥”, and /uj/ and /wi/ are both assigned “ ”. This makes it difficult to show which of the two vowel

sounds is the nucleus vowel. To solve this problem, /ju/ could be written as “󰠻”, and /iw/ as “󰡆”. According to this principle, /uj/ would be “󰠵” and /wi/ would be “󰠵”. This means that when the nucleus vowel is /u/, it will be stressed with “󰠧” instead of “−”, and when it is /i/ it will be stressed with “󰡉” instead of “ | ”. A revised suggestion reflecting the above discussion is as follows: (6) Revised diphthongs/triphthongs /ja/ → !

/ju/ → 󰠻

/jo/ → ⩗ (∤)

/aj/ → ¡

/uj/ → 󰠵

/oj/ → ⩘ (イ)

/wa/ → ⨪

/wi/ → 󰡀

/aw/ → ∸

/iw/ → 󰡆

/waj/ → ￣ ㆎ

10

Furthermore, new character codes must be allotted.

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A proposal for a Hunminjeongeum-based writing system for Aymara

These letterforms have as their premise that /ju/ and /iw/ are phonologically distinctive. If they are not, it is better to write both /ju/ and /iw/ as the “ ⊥ ” of (5). Accordingly, if /uj/ and /wi/ are not phonologically distinct, only one letterform “ ” will be necessary. With the revised list in (6), we encounter yet another problem. A

transcription for a word such as [kaju] (224. foot) allows two different versions, “ㄱ· 󰠻” and “ㄱ¡−”. Considering that among syllable types, CV is the most stable, it could be suggested that “ㄱ· 󰠻” is the more appropriate transcription. However, in Aymara there is a very high number of occurrences for /aj/, with the glide following after. In our data there are only 7 instances of /ju/, but 60 instances of /aj/. This suggests that in Aymara, off-glides, with the glide following after, are to be given precedence over on-glides, with the glide preceding. In sum, [kaju] may be better transcribed as “ㄱ¡−” rather than “ㄱ· 󰠻”.

Aymara, like Korean, is an agglutinative language, with various

grammatical morphemes being added successively to the root. In such a case, a writing system that is in accord with the results of morphological analysis can be said to be much more effective. (7) An illustration of on-glides and off-glides in grammatical morphemes 1. Suti.ya.wi.n.ka.s.k.i.wa

‘She is at the baptism’

name>VCAUS>N in>V CONT ASP 3p ss 2. suti.ya.wi.n.k.iri

(Hardman 2001:69)

‘the person at the baptism’

name>VCAUS>N in>V>NAGEN

(Hardman 2001:70)

Hardman (2001) denoted morpheme boundaries with “.”. In this analysis, the {ya} 11 of (7) corresponds to the grammatical morpheme for Verb causative, and {wi} to the morpheme for ‘Noun in’ (locative case). If these

11

Corresponds to the diphthong [ja] in IPA notation.

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Proceedings of the SCRIPTA 2011, Seoul, Oct. 7~9, 2011

two come in immediate succession, such as in (7), a Romanization would result in the transcription “-jawi-”. However, in such a transcription one cannot visually identify whether “w” is an on-glide or an off-glide. In the HMJE-based system, however, one can clearly show the status of the glide in /-jawi-/ through the transcription “!”. In other words, the verb causative morpheme /ja/ is transcribed as “!” and the locative morpheme /wi/ as

“󰡀”, visually conveying that “w” belongs to the second morpheme. Furthermore, when succeeding a vowel-final root, {ja} and {wi} can be visually disconnected from the root through the fixed forms of “!” and “󰡀”. In other words, morphological analysis can be applied directly to the writing system. Unlike Romanization, the proposed writing system can demonstrate syllable boundaries and morpheme boundaries clearly in the written form itself. In this respect, the proposed writing system is a much more accurate and diversified one.

In conclusion, the vowels /a/, /u/, /i/ are written as “ · ”, “−”, “❘”

respectively, applying the three Germinants of HMJE, and the vowels /e/ and /o/ are assigned the reverse diagonal line “\” and diagonal line “/” respectively, reflecting the shape of the triangular vowel chart ▽. These vowel forms are either one stroke or a single dot, the simplest forms possible. No new letterforms are created for diphthongs, but the forms “❘” and “-” are reapplied, “❘” for the glide /j/ and “−” for /w/. Glides have the trait of attaching to the immediately preceding or succeeding vowel, and this property can be demonstrated through the vertical combination of

vowel letterforms. According to this principle, Aymara glides can be written as suggested in (6), and on-glides and off-glides can be distinguished visually. The Roman alphabet system does not allow for these distinctions.

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A proposal for a Hunminjeongeum-based writing system for Aymara

3. Consonants 3.1. Places of articulation The consonants of Aymara can be grouped into five places of articulation, namely the bilabial /p/, alveolar /t/, palatal /tʃ/, velar /k/, and uvular /q/. This does not line up with the five places of articulation in HMJE, 牙舌脣 齒喉 (molar, tongue, lip, tooth, throat). Aymara distinguishes between the places of articulation of /k/ and

/q/, but Korean speakers cannot tell this apart, as Korean does not have

the uvular consonant /q/. Aymara has the uvular /q/, but no throat sound (喉音).12 Since the uvular consonant /q/ of Aymara and the glottal sound of HMJE are exclusive in distribution, one can stand in for the other. Accordingly, the bilabial /p/ of Aymara can be written as “ㅂ”, the alveolar /t/ as “ㄷ”, the palatal /tʃ/ as “ㅈ”, the velar /k/ as “ㄱ”, and the uvular /q/ as “ㅇ”. (8) Basic consonant letters Place of articulation

bilabial

alveolar

palatal

velar

uvular

Basic consonant

p

t

tʃ

k

q

Letter assigned

ㅂ

ㄷ

ㅈ

ㄱ

ㅇ

/p/, /t/, /k/, and /q/ in Aymara are stops, and sound to the Korean speaker like /ㅃ/, /ㄸ/, /ㄲ/, and /ㄲ/. However, to reflect this impression in the writing system and assigning “ㅃ”, “ㄸ”, “ㄲ”, “ㄲ” to /p/, /t/, /k/,

12

The /h/ sound of Aymara can be seen as a glottal sound, but it is difficult to limit the place of articulation for /h/ to a single region, as is the Korean phoneme /ㅎ/. Here, according to pattern congruity in phonological systems, /h/ has been classified as a uvular sound.

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/q/ is not a wise choice. /k/ and /q/ are distinctive phonemes, and following Korean speakers’ auditory impressions of them would break down the one-on-one correspondence between phoneme and letter. Moreover, as /p/, /t/, /k/, /q/ are frequently occurring basic consonants, it is better to assign them letterforms with less strokes, “ㅂ”, “ㄷ”, “ㄱ”, “ㅇ”. /tʃ/ in Aymara is a palatal affricate, and sounds like “ㅉ” to the Korean speaker. However, along the same lines, it is assigned the letterform “ㅈ”. Although the phoneme /q/, which has no corresponding phoneme in Korean, sounds to Korean speakers like the “ㄲ” of Korean, it clearly has a different place of articulation. It may seem strange to use “ㅇ” for the uvular /q/, as in Korean the same letter has no phonetic value in syllable onset position and stands for /ŋ/ in the coda. Although there are differences in pronunciation, /q/ is assigned “ㅇ”, as the Aymara speakers

who will newly learn this writing system will have no trouble with this application.

There are three consonants in Aymara that palatalized from an initially alveolar position and took on the status of autonomous phonemes: /ɲ/, /ʎ/, /ʃ/. The vowels /i/ and /j/ have the phonological ability to change alveolars into palatals. As /i/ and /j/ were previously assigned the form “❘”, the palatals /ɲ/, /ʎ/, /ʃ/ can well be written as “”, “”, “”, with the vowel form “❘” implied with the lower stroke. “”, “”, “”

can be seen as a short vertical line combined with “ㄴ”, “ㄹ”, “ㅅ” respectively.13 Transcribing palatals in this fashion, all phonemes with the feature [+palatal] will have a consistent letterform at its end, reinforcing the correlation between the phoneme and the written form.

13

The last stroke of “ㅈ” can also be interpreted in this manner. It is advisable to take this into consideration when creating fonts for Aymara.

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A proposal for a Hunminjeongeum-based writing system for Aymara

3.2. Manner of articulation The basic consonants in (8) are all voiceless unaspirated sounds. Aymara is similar to Korean in that there are no voiced consonant phonemes. There are two other types of stops, articulated in the same places but in a different manner. One is the ejective consonant,14 and the other is the

aspirated consonant, with a release of air like the Korean sounds “ㅍ, ㅌ, ㅊ, ㅋ”. Ejectives are not familiar to the Korean speaker but the aspirated consonant is. The ejective consonants /p’/, /t’/, /tʃ’/, /k’/, /q’/ are articulated with a closed glottis, creating a plosive sound with the air inside the oral cavity. It is an IPA convention to add the diacritic mark “ ’ ” to the upper right side of the consonant, but here in the HMJE-based system it will be added to the left side, like “’ㅂ”. This is to easily distinguish the diacritic from the vowel letter “ · ” or the diphthong forms “¡”, et cetera. With the use of this diacritic, the trouble of creating five new consonant forms can be avoided. (9) Ejective consonant letters Place of articulation

bilabial

alveolar

palatal

velar

uvular

Ejective

p’

t’

tʃ’

k’

q’

Letter assigned

’ㅂ

’ㄷ

’ㅈ

’ㄱ

’ㅇ

The aspirated consonants /ph/, /th/, /tʃh/, /kh/ can be written using the Korean letterforms “ㅍ, ㅌ, ㅊ, ㅋ”. A problem arises with the uvular aspirated consonant /qh/. As the forms “ㅍ, ㅌ, ㅊ, ㅋ” are created by adding a stroke to the basic letters, the form “Ɵ” can be devised for /qh/. “Ɵ” adds a horizontal stroke to the basic letter “ㅇ”.

14

According to Hardman (2001:13), these were said to be ‘glottalized’ consonants. However, a phonetic analysis shows that they are ‘ejective’ consonants.

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Proceedings of the SCRIPTA 2011, Seoul, Oct. 7~9, 2011 (10) Aspirated consonant letters Place of articulation

bilabial

alveolar

palatal

velar

uvular

Aspirated consonant

ph

th

tʃh

kh

qh

Letter assigned

ㅍ

ㅌ

ㅊ

ㅋ

Ɵ

There are three fricatives in Aymara: /s/, /x/, /h/. They are assigned the letters “ㅅ”, “ㆆ”, “ㅎ” respectively. The letter “ㆅ” of HMJE has similar phonetic qualities with /x/, but aiming for a letterform with fewer numbers of strokes, we have selected the form “ㆆ” for /x/.

The /s/ in Aymara tends to become palatalized to /ʃ/ around /i/ or

/j/. Since this sound has a high possibility of being an autonomous phoneme15, it is necessary to distinguish between /s/ and /ʃ/. /s/ is “ㅅ”, and /ʃ/ can be written as the aforementioned letterform “”. The fricative /h/ in Aymara also tends to palatalize and be pronounced as [ç] around /i/ or /j/, but as this sound is only an allophone, it has not been necessary to give it a separate letterform. /h/ is sometimes pronounced as [ɸ] before /u/, but this also is an allophone. The velar fricative /x/ in Aymara has

many variations, and are sometimes pronounced as [ɣ], [g], [ɢ], [X], or [ʀ]. Further study is required to check the distinctions between these sounds, but one must first note that there are no voiced consonants in the Aymara consonant system. With this in mind, at this point we leave these sounds under one phoneme, /x/. (11) Fricative consonant letters Place of articulation

15

bilabial

alveolar

palatal

velar

uvular

Fricative

s

ʃ

x

h

Letter assigned

ㅅ



ㆆ

ㅎ

In Hardman (2001:22), /ʃ/ was not considered a phoneme.

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A proposal for a Hunminjeongeum-based writing system for Aymara

There are two nasals in Aymara: /m/ and /n/. Phonetically one can find [ŋ], but only before velar consonants and uvular consonants. Therefore [ŋ] can be treated as an allophone of /n/. To /m/ and /n/ are assigned the letterforms “ㅁ” and “ㄴ.” In Aymara, the palatalized form of /n/, /ɲ/, is an autonomous phoneme. As mentioned above, there is no separate

letterform assigned to /ɲ/, but a short vertical line is to be added below “ㄴ” to make “　”. (12) Nasal consonant letters Place of articulation

bilabial

alveolar

palatal

Nasal

m

n

ɲ

Letter assigned

ㅁ

ㄴ



velar

uvular

There are two liquids in Aymara: /r/ and /l/. /r/ is commonly realized as a flapped [ɾ], and /l/ is realized as a lateral [l]. As /r/ and /l/ are differentiated in English, so it is with Aymara. Since there is only one letter, “ㄹ”, for liquids in HMJE, a second letterform must be made. The existent

form “ᄛ” could be considered, but it has too many strokes and may be

confused with the palatalized lateral “”. The form “ㄹ” could be assigned to /r/ and “ᄙ” to /l/, but the latter still has too many strokes to be useful. Therefore /l/ is assigned “ㄹ”, and to /r/ is assigned “⊐”, omitting the last “ㄴ”-shaped stroke of “ㄹ”. The /r/ in Aymara does not palatalized, but /l/ often palatalizes into /ʎ/. As this /ʎ/ is an autonomous phoneme, it is also assigned the letterform “”. As discussed before, the short stroke below “ㄹ” serves to show that “” too is a palatal sound. (13) Liquid consonant letters Place of articulation

bilabial

alveolar

palatal

Flapped / Lateral

r/l

ʎ

Letter assigned

⊐ /ㄹ



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velar

uvular

Proceedings of the SCRIPTA 2011, Seoul, Oct. 7~9, 2011

The aforementioned consonants shown in one graph is as follows. If we take /ʃ/ to be an autonomous phoneme, Aymara has 25 consonants in total. The Aymara language, though having a small number of vowels, has a relatively large number of consonants. (14) Full consonant letter chart Manner \ Place

bilabial

alveolar

palatal

velar

Uvular

Basic letter

p→ ㅂ

t→ ㄷ

tʃ → ㅈ

k→ ㄱ

q→ ㅇ

Ejective

p’ → ’ㅂ

t’ → ’ㄷ

tʃ’→ ’ㅈ

k’ → ’ㄱ

q’ → ’ㅇ

Aspirated

ph → ㅍ

th → ㅌ

tʃh → ㅊ

kh → ㅋ

qh → Ɵ

s→ ㅅ

ʃ→

x→ ㆆ

h→ ㅎ

n→ ㄴ

ɲ→

Fricative Nasal

m→ ㅁ

Liquid

l→ ㄹ r→⊐

ʎ→

4. Letter combination It is the case in many writing systems that letters are written from top to bottom, left to right. The HMJE-based system for Aymara also follows this order. There are at least two ways to write letters in combination, that of writing vertically from top to bottom and horizontally from left to right. Only the latter will be used in this writing system, as it is currently the most common and well suited to today's computer-based digital environment. The HMJE-based writing system for Aymara takes desyllabified, in-line writing as the base. In Korean the letters are grouped together by syllables,

so that at first sight it looks as if there are more than a thousand

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A proposal for a Hunminjeongeum-based writing system for Aymara

letterforms. One of the pros of desyllabified writing would be to avoid this kind of misunderstanding. Especially if a new writing system is to be introduced to Aymara speakers, it must be simple and easy to learn in order to be effective. The choice is appropriate not only with regard to the digital

environment, but also for demonstrating the morphological characteristics

of the Aymara language. As seen in (7) above, single consonants such as {n}, {s} and {k} can function as morphemes in themselves, and if these were to be written in syllabified groups, the morphological analysis would be completely ignored in the writing. Such a writing system would not be effective. (15) Examples of single-consonant morphemes in Aymara 1. awki.p

tayka.p

Father 3POS

mother 3POS

jiw.x.ipan

manq’a.ɲ.

thaqa.s.iri.w

die ASP SUB eat >N ZERO hunt

RFLX

GOAL ss (Hardman 2001:67)

2. uta.t.x qhipa.r

jiw.xa.spa.w

that of ss back → die ASP 3>3D ss

s.i.wa say 3>3S ss (Hardman 2001:68)

As shown in (15), the consonants /p/, /x/, /ɲ/, /s/, /w/, /t/, /r/16 each function as different morphemes in Aymara. If such morphemes were to be written combined with adjacent vowels, it will be more difficult to take in the meaning. As morphemes are the smallest units bearing meaning, it is important to accord them a level of visual independence. Desyllabified and written consecutively, these consonants can have an independent standing that well reflects the morphological characteristics of Aymara.

16

/w/ is also in this list. The /w/ in (15) is a kind of sentence suffix, making it a kind of morpheme. In the HMJE-based system, such occurrences of /w/ identified as a morpheme will be separately written as “−”.

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Proceedings of the SCRIPTA 2011, Seoul, Oct. 7~9, 2011

Desyllabified writing does not imply, of course, that Aymara phonology does not recognize syllables, which they do. Take ['maɾka] (014. stream) for example. A speaker of Korean would syllabify this into three syllables, and transcribe it as ['maɾɯka]. However, the correct Aymara pronunciation is ['maɾka], with two syllables. The fact can be demonstrated with the application of the stress rule. Aymara speakers who also speak Spanish are affected by the stress rules of Spanish so that they tend to stress the penultimate syllable of a word. In the case of this word, the stress comes on the [a] of [ma], not on the [ɯ] of a syllable [ɾɯ]. This demonstrates that Aymara speakers treat this word as having two syllables. Korean speakers tend to transcribe this word as having three syllables, which is completely at odds with Aymara speakers' intuition regarding syllabic units. The reason for the Korean speaker's confusion is that [ɾ] is released even before the consonant [k]. All Aymara consonants are thus

released, even when preceding other consonants or a pause. To effectually demonstrate this in the writing system, the desyllabified method is much more appropriate than the syllabified. If written in syllabic clusters, with the coda situated in the underpinning position, the existing Korean readers will doubtlessly take the consonant to be an unreleased one. In the HMJE-based writing system for Aymara, there is barely any need for combination rules. Phoneme letters need only be written left to right in order of pronunciation. The only required rule, as mentioned above, is that the letters denoting diphthongs and triphthongs should be

written from top to bottom, as they are formed by a vertical combination of the basic letters. This is to say that diphthongs and triphthongs are written as one byte. Therefore, the letter units that must be included in a font for the HMJE-based system for Aymara are 5 vowels, 11 diphthongs and triphthongs, 25 consonants, making 41 in total. Even with the addition

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A proposal for a Hunminjeongeum-based writing system for Aymara

of punctuation marks peculiar to Aymara, this will call for less than 50 letterforms.

5. Conclusion When searching for a new writing system, it is necessary to consider what kind of system is more competent. To be a competent writing system one must be easy to learn and effectual in use. What are the specific qualities of such a system?

First, the shapes must be simple and the number of strokes few.17 In

this light, Chinese characters are rather difficult to learn. Writing systems with a small number of strokes, and with more straight lines than curved, are easier to learn and use. Below is a comparison of Aymara words written in Hangeul, the Roman alphabet, and the HMJE-based system, demonstrating the relative complexity of each.18 (16) Comparison of writing systems

17

18

A: Aymara pronunciation: [hatʃapampa] (008. field)

[tuŋka] (506. ten)

B: Hangeul transcription :

하자밤바

둥가

C: Romanization:

hacapampa

tunka

D: HMJE-based:

ㅎ·ㅈ·ㅂ·ㅁㅂ·

ㄷ−ㄴㄱ ·

The theme of a symposium on writing systems (Venice University, Sept. 11-12, 2011) organized by Professor Aldo Tollini (Department of East Asian and North African Studies, Ca’Foscari University of Venice) is “Rationalizing Script: the simplification of characters and of writing systems”. This title well reflects the contemporary interest in the simplification of letters and writing systems. A fuller comparison of Hangeul, the Roman alphabet, and the suggested HMJEbased writing system can be made through ‘Illustrations of HMJE-based Transcriptions of Aymara’, provided as an appendix. A slight modification of the IPA transcriptions given there yields the Romanized transcriptions.

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Proceedings of the SCRIPTA 2011, Seoul, Oct. 7~9, 2011

If the words [hatʃapampa] and [tuŋka] were to be written in Hangeul by a speaker of Korean, it would be “하자밤바” and “둥가”, as in (16B). Would this be as easy to learn as the Romanized trascriptions in (16C), “hacapampa” and “tunka”? The Hangeul transcription would have more strokes, and also requires additional training for writing in syllabic clusters, such as “밤” or “둥”. Considering this, the current Hangeul system is difficult for non-Korean speakers to learn. If, however, one chooses to write with the HMJE-based system for Aymara as in (16D), “ㅎ·ㅈ·ㅂ·ㅁㅂ·” and “ㄷ−ㄴㄱ · ”, not only are there a smaller number of strokes, but also a simpler style. Having a small number of strokes and being easy to learn and use, the HMJE-based writing system is competent. In addition, the HMJE-based system has more straight lines than the Roman alphabet, making it simpler and easier to learn, even for children. Second, the letterforms must be closely related to each other. In the

case of the Roman alphabet, the letters “k” and “g” both stand for velar stops, but there is nothing in the shapes of the letterforms themselves to show the phonological similarities between the two. On the other hand, the forms “ㄱ” and “ㅋ” of both the Hangeul system and the HMJE-based system, the basic velar stop and the aspirated stop respectively, directly show their phonological relationship. This is the characteristic that distinguishes Hunmin jeongeum from other writing systems in the history of letters. Hunmin jeongeum is often praised for reflecting the shapes of the articulatory organs in the forms of its initial consonants, but the rules

for adding strokes and combining letterforms must be accorded higher credit, as they are the principles that allow the letters to be closely related to each other. The HMJE-based writing system for Aymara faithfully follows this example. In the consonant letters, such as “ㄷ : ㅌ”, the rule of adding strokes is applied, and in diphthongs, such as “!” (/ja/), “ ” (/uj/), the rule of combining letterforms is applied. Also, in the case of the

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A proposal for a Hunminjeongeum-based writing system for Aymara

letterforms for uvular consonants, they are all given a circle as their common base, as can be found in

“ㅇ, ’ㅇ, Ɵ, ㅎ”. In this manner, the

HMJE-based writing system for Aymara is one that closely ties its letterforms together, making it easier to learn and remember. Third, the letters must be easily distinguishable to the eye. Sanskrit is

an example of a writing system that, although it is phonological, is too

complicated in form to distinguish letters easily. In comparison, the Roman alphabet or the Korean Hangeul system has forms that are visually distinct. If Hangeul were to be written in a desyllabified manner the distinctions would become easier, since Hangeul is composed mainly of highly contrasting horizontal and vertical strokes, whereas Roman letters have more curves than straight lines, creating less contrast. If someone unfamiliar with Hangeul were to compare the Hangeul transcriptions in (16B) and the HMJE-based (16D), one would probably find the latter to be more visually

recognizable. In fact, in Hangeul there sometimes is confusion between such forms as “둥” and “등”, “홀” and “흘”, etc. With the elimination of such problems, the HMJE-based system for Aymara has even more advantages. Fourth, the phonological and morphological characteristics of the language in question must be well demonstrated in the writing system. Writing systems that can show syllable and morpheme boundaries are superior to those that cannot. Morphemes and words can be grasped much more quickly through the former type, and semantic confusion can be avoided in advance. Since the HMJE-based system can clearly show to which syllable an intervocalic glide belongs, it has an advantage over the Roman alphabet. Also, it can independently show morphemes made up of a single consonant, making it more effectual than the Korean Hangeul. The HMJE-based writing system for Aymara is founded upon the phonological and morphological characteristics of Aymara. There is still

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Proceedings of the SCRIPTA 2011, Seoul, Oct. 7~9, 2011

work to do, such as checking if diphthongs /wi/ and /uj/ are distinct phonemes, and a closer examination of the velar fricatives. However, it can be assured that the system currently includes all phonemes of Aymara, and considerations have been taken for the single-consonant morphemes that are a characteristic of Aymara. Moreover, the HMJE-based system is well suited to the present-day environment of computers and digital media.

Promising to improve upon it in the future, we set forth the HMJE-based system described above as a tentative plan. Through the process of creating this proposal, we have again had the chance to marvel at the scientific and well-reasoned nature of Hunmin jeongeum. Although we have tried to preserve the virtues of Hunmin jeongeum, we have been obliged to make many changes according to the phonological or morphological properties of Aymara. These changes are in accord with the following statement: The HMJE-based writing system for Aymara is a writing system of the Bolivians, to be used by the Bolivians, and for the Bolivians.

References Choi, Munjeong et al. (2011), Linguistic Questionnaire for Investigation of Altaic Languages, Seoul: Thaehaksa.

Hardman, M.J. (2001), Aymara, Lincom Europa.

Webster's Online Dictionary (http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/browse/Aymara) UCLA Phonetics Lab (http://www.phonetics.ucla.edu)

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A proposal for a Hunminjeongeum-based writing system for Aymara

Illustrations of Huminjeungeum-based Transcriptions of Aymara

1. Due to lack of space, only around 100 items are listed from a larger pool of analyzed data. 2. The numbers are item numbers in the Altaic language questionnaire. 3. When a single word is pronounced in more than one way, both pronunciations have been transcribed. 4. When transcriptions differ among transcribers, both transcriptions have been given. 5. Uncertain transcriptions have been marked in red.

6. When two or more HMJE-based transcriptions are possible, both have been given. 7. For convenience, [tʃ] has been replaced with [ʦ]. No. IPA

Hangeul

HMJE-based

Spanish

English

Korean

001 'inti

인디

|ㄴㄷ|

sol

sun

해(태양)

003 'waɾa

와라

⨪⊐·

estrella

star

별

008 haʦa'pampa

하자밤바

ㅎ·ㅈ·ㅂ·ㅁㅂ·

campo

field

밭/들

009 'ʦʼaʎa~'ʦʼaʎʎa ’자

’ㅈ··

arena

sand

모래

013 ha'wiɾa

ㅎ· 󰡀 ⊐·

río

river

강

’주뉴르가 ’ㅈ−−⊐ㄱ·ㄹ·

hielo

ice

얼음

018 'uma

우마

−ㅁ·

agua

water

물

021 'nina~'ninna

니나~닌나

ㄴ|ㄴ·

fuego

fire

불

017

ʦʼuɲuɾ'kala~ ʦʼuɲuɾɯ'kala

하위라

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Proceedings of the SCRIPTA 2011, Seoul, Oct. 7~9, 2011 022

'kala~[qala]

가~

ㄱ·ㄹ·~ㅇ·ㄹ·

piedra

stone

돌

023 haʦa'maɾɯka

하자마르가

ㅎ·ㅈ·ㅁ·⊐ㄱ·

país

country

나라

029 'haʎu

하

ㅎ·−

lluvia

rain

비

031 'kʰunu

쿠누

ㅋ−ㄴ−

nieve

snow

눈 (雪)

040 'kuɾmi

구꾸르미

ㄱ−⊐ㅁ|

arcoiris

rainbow

무지개

046 'maɾa

마라

ㅁ·⊐·

año

year

해/년

054 'pʰaxsi

파시

ㅍ·ㆆㅅ|

mes

month

달/월

055 (ma)'uɾu

우루

(ㅁ·)-⊐-

día

day

날 (日)

카루르 카루루

ㅋ·⊐-⊐-

mañana

tomorrow

내일

061 a'ɾoma

아로마

·⊐/ㅁ·

evening

저녁

076 'hake~'haqe

하게~하

ㅎ·ㄱ\~ㅎ·ㅇ\

persona

person

사람

078 'suti

수디

ㅅ-ㄷ|

nombre

name

이름

080 'ʦaʦa

자자

ㅈ·ㅈ·

hombre

man

남자

081 'waɾɯmi

와르미

⨪⊐ㅁ|

mujer

woman

여자

083 aʦa'ʦila

아자찌

·ㅈ·ㅈ|ㄹ·

abuelo

grandfather 할아버지

084 a'wiʦu

아위주

· 󰡀 ㅈ-

abuela

grandmother 할머니

088 'tata

다다

ㄷ·ㄷ·

padre

father

아버지

089 'mama

마마

ㅁ·ㅁ·

madre

mother

어머니

093 'ɸuʦa~'hujʦa

후자~후이자 ㅎ-ㅈ·~ㅎ󰠵 ㅈ·

hija

daughter

딸

094 'hila

히

ㅎ|ㄹ·

hermano

096 ku'ʎaka

구가

ㄱ-·ㄱ·

hermana

101 'alʦi

알지

·ㄹㅈ|

127 ojxawa'tiɾi

오이와디리 ⩘ㆆ·⨪ㄷ|⊐|

058

(Hardman:16)

kʰa'ɾuɾɯ~ kʰa'ɾuɾu

noche

/tarde

141 'ʔoɾɯke~'qolqe 르게~ ㅇ/ㄹㄱ\~ㅇ/ㄹㅇ\

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older

brother older

형

sister

누나

nieto

grandson

손자

ovejero

shepherd

양치기

money

돈/화폐

dinero

/billete

A proposal for a Hunminjeongeum-based writing system for Aymara 143 a'laɲa

아냐

·ㄹ··

comprar

buy

사다

144 al'haɲa

알하냐

·ㄹㅎ··

vender

sell

팔다

엘비~ 벨가니비

\ㄹㆆ·ㄴㄹ·ㅂ|~ ㅂ\ㄹㄱ·ㄴ|ㄹ·ㅂ|

papel

paper

종이

153 tʰo'goɲa

토고냐

ㅌ/ㆆ/·

danza

dance

춤

157 qeʎe'qata

다

ㅇ\\ㅇ·ㄷ·

letra

letter

글자

180 noa'ʃiɲa

노아시냐

ㄴ/·|·

guerra

war

전쟁

184 uni'seɾi

우니세리

-ㄴ|ㅅ\⊐|

enemigo enemy

적

200 'pʼeqe

’베

’ㅂ\ㅇ\

cabeza

head

머리

202 'paɾa

바라

ㅂ·⊐·

la frente

forehead

이마

아한누~ 아누

·ㅎ·ㄴㄴ-~ ·ㆆ·ㄴㄴ-

cara

face

얼굴

나사

ㄴ·ㅅ·

nariz

nose

코

라~ 하라

ㄹ·ㆆ·⊐·~ ㄹ·ㅎ·⊐·

lengua

tongue

혀

216 'kuŋka

궁가

ㄱ-ㄴㄱ·

cuello

neck

목

220 pu'ɾaqa

부라

ㅂ-⊐·ㅇ·

vientre

belly

배 (腹)

암바라~ 암바라나가

·ㅁㅂ·⊐·~ ·ㅁㅂ·⊐·ㄴ·ㄱ·

manos

hand

손

224 'kaju

가유

ㄱ· 󰠻 ~ ㄱ¡-

pies

foot

발

225 lu'kʰana

카나

ㄹ-ㅋ·ㄴ·

dedo

finger

손가락

226 'siʎu

시

ㅅ|-

uña

fingernail

손톱

236 pu'ɾaka

부라가

ㅂ-⊐·ㄱ·

estómago stomach

위

243 'wila

위

󰡀ㄹ·

sangre

blood

피

247 kuse'ʃiɲa

구세시냐

ㄱ-ㅅ\|·

cerebro

brain

뇌

255 'ʦʰokʰa

초카

ㅊ/ㅋ·

pis

urine

오줌

256 'tʰusa

투사

ㅌ-ㅅ·

saliva

saliva

침 (唾)

노냐~ 고노냐

ㅇ/ㄴ/·~ ㄱ/ㄴ/·

silla

chair

의자

헤’

ㅎ\’ㅇ\

humo

smoke

연기

146

203

elxan'lapi~

belkani'lapi

a'hannu~ a'xannu

206 'nasa 210

223

282

'laxaɾa~ 'lahaɾa

am'paɾa / ampaɾa'naka

qo'noɲa~ ko'noɲa

311 heqʼe

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Proceedings of the SCRIPTA 2011, Seoul, Oct. 7~9, 2011 314 isi

이시

|ㅅ|

ropa

clothing

옷

망크냐~ 망크냐

ㅁ·ㄴㅋ·~ ㅁ·ㄴ Ɵ·

comer

eat

먹다

356 tʼantʼu

’단’두

’ㄷ·ㄴ’ㄷ-

pan

bread

빵

357 ajʦa

아이자

¡ㅈ·

carne

meat

고기

’가우나~ ’아우나

’ㄱ∸ㄴ·~ ’ㅇ∸ㄴ·

huevo

egg

알/달걀

370 haju

하유

ㅎ· 󰠻~ㅎ¡-

sal

salt

소금

379 qʼoloqʼolo

’오’오

’ㅇ/ㄹ/’ㅇ/ㄹ/

hongo

424 waka (nomas)

와가

⨪ㄱ·

427 kʰuʦʰi

쿠치

429 pʰisi

345

359

maŋkʰɲa~ maŋqʰɲa

kʼawna~ qʼawna

Fungus/

mushroom

버섯

vaca

ox

소

ㅋ-ㅊ|

cerdo

pig

돼지

피시

ㅍ|ㅅ|

gato

cat

고양이

435 wahaɾa

와하라

⨪ㅎ·⊐·

cuerno

horn

뿔

436 lipʼiʦi

’비지

ㄹ|’ㅂ|ㅈ|

pelaje

fur/coat

털 (동물의+)

437 waʎpa

왈바

⨪ㅂ·

gallina

chicken

닭

438 hamaʦʼi

하마지

ㅎ·ㅁ·’ㅈ|

pájaro

bird

새

440 mamani

마마니

ㅁ·ㅁ·ㄴ|

halcón

falcon

매

442 ʦʰexa~ʦʰeqʰa

체~체

ㅊ\ㆆ·~ㅊ\Ɵ ·

alas

wing

날개

444 ʦaʎwa

짜

ㅈ·⨪

pescado

fish

물고기

446 kʼiʃimiɾa

’기시미라

’ㄱ||ㅁ|⊐·

hormiga

ant

개미

448 asiɾu

아시루

·ㅅ|⊐-

vibora

snake

뱀

450 qoqa



ㅇ/ㅇ·

árbol

tree

나무

456 qoɾa

라

ㅇ/⊐·

pasto

grass

풀

465 lapʰi

피

ㄹ·ㅍ|

hoja

leaf

잎

467 qoɾi

리

ㅇ/⊐|

oro

gold

금

468 qolqe



ㅇ/ㄹㅇ\

plata

silver

은

inside

안 (집+에)

outside

밖 (집+에)

475 maŋkʰa~maŋqʰa 망카~망

ㅁ·ㄴㅋ·~ㅁ·ㄴ Ɵ · dentro

476 aŋqa

·ㄴㅇ·

앙

fuera

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A proposal for a Hunminjeongeum-based writing system for Aymara 481 pata

바다

ㅂ·ㄷ·

484 kupi

구비

ㄱ-ㅂ|

497 maja

마야

ㅁ¡·ㅁ·!

498 paja

바야

499 kimsa 500 puʃi

above

위 (집+)

to the right

오른쪽으로

uno

one

일 (一)

ㅂ¡·ㅂ·!

dos

two

이 (二)

김사

ㄱ|ㅁㅅ·

tres

three

삼

부시

ㅂ-|

cuatro

four

사

페스~ 베스

ㅍ\ㅅㅇ·~ ㅂ\ㅅㅇ·

cinco

five

오

502 soxta

소다

ㅅ/ㆆㄷ·

seis

six

육

503 paqalqo

바

ㅂ·ㅇ·ㄹㅇ/

siete

seven

칠

504 kimsaqalqo

김사

ㄱ|ㅁㅅ·ㅇ·ㄹㅇ/

ocho

eight

팔 (八)

505 jatuŋka

야둥가

!ㄷ-ㄴㄱ·

nueve

nine

구

506 tuŋka

둥가

ㄷ-ㄴㄱ·

diez

ten

십

둥가 김사니

ㄷ-ㄴㄱ· ㄱ|ㅁㅅ·ㄴ|

trece

thirteen

십삼

둥가 페스니

ㄷ-ㄴㄱ· ㅍ\ㅅㅇ·ㄴ|

quince

fifteen

십오

509 patuŋka

바둥가

ㅂ· ㄷ-ㄴㄱ·

veinte

twenty

이십

510 kimsatuŋka

김사둥가

ㄱ|ㅁㅅ·ㄷ-ㄴㄱ·

trinta

thirty

삼십

511 puʃituʃka

부시두시가

ㅂ-|ㄷ-ㄴㄱ·

cuatrenta forty

501

507 508

512

pʰesqa~ pesqa

tuŋka kimsani tuŋka pʰesqani

arriba hacia la

derecha

ㅍ\ㅅㅇ· ㄷ-ㄴㄱ· pʰesqa tuŋka~ 페스둥가~ ~ cincuenta fifty 페스가둥가 pʰeskatuŋka ㅍ\ㅅㄱ· ㄷ-ㄴㄱ·

513 soxtatuŋka

사십 오십

소다둥가

ㅅ/ㆆㄷ· ㄷ-ㄴㄱ· sesenta

sixty

육십

paqalʔtuŋka~

바둥가~ 바갈둥가

ㅂ·ㅇ·ㄹㄷ-ㄴㄱ·~ setenta ㅂ·ㅇ·ㄹㅇㄷ-ㄴㄱ·

seventy

칠십

kimsaqalʔ

김사 둥가

ㄱ|ㅁㅅ·ㅇ·ㄹ ㄷ-ㄴㄱ·

ochenta

eighty

팔십

517 pataka

바다가

ㅂ·ㄷ·ㄱ·

cien

hundred

백

518 waɾaŋqa

와랑

⨪⊐·ㄴㅇ·

mil

thousand

천 (千)

514 515

paqalqtuŋka tuŋka

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Proceedings of the SCRIPTA 2011, Seoul, Oct. 7~9, 2011 519

tuŋka

둥가 와랑 ㄷ-ㄴㄱ· ⨪⊐·ㄴㅇ· diez mil

ten thousand 만

우사~ 오사

ㅇ∸ㅇ·ㅅ·~ ㅇ·/ㅇ·ㅅ·

cuantos

how many

몇 개

521 ’qaoqa

’오

’ㅇ·/ㅇ·

cuanto

how much

얼마

542 naja

나야

ㄴ·!ㄴ¡·

yo

I

나

556 kuna

구나

ㄱ-ㄴ·

cómo

how

어떻게

557 kawki

가우기

ㄱ∸ㄱ|

dónde

where

어디

568 hiʃkʼa

히시’가

ㅎ|’ㄱ·

pequeño small

작다

630 ʎaki

기

·ㄱ|

triste

sad

슬프다

635 kikpaʦa

기그바자

ㄱ|ㄱㅂ·ㅈ·

igual

same

같다

520

waɾaŋqa Qawqasa~ qaoqasa

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Discussion: A proposal for a Hunminjeongeumbased writing system for Aymara

Seong Kyu KIM Seoul National University, KOREA

In the paper “A proposal for a HMJE-based writing system for Aymara” presented by Professor Lee, a new writing system for Aymara is proposed. The authors must have poured enormous effort into this presentation given that a meticulous linguistic analysis is essential to developing a writing system for a language without any orthography and the resultant orthographic output should become easily available for the general public.

In this commentary I would like to ask some questions to the authors.

These comments may be controversial. However, they are intended to stimulate wider discussion at the symposium and afterwards. ① Your proposal states that the Aymara vowels /a/, /u/, /i/ should be represented with the Korean letters ‘ㆍ, ㅡ, ㅣ’ which are symbolic of ‘heaven, earth, and man’ in HMJE. It has some meaningful implications for preserving HMJE's basic orthographic principles. However, I remain skeptical

Proceedings of the SCRIPTA 2011, Seoul, Oct. 7~9, 2011

about its ongoing applicability to the current era. In particular, the Korean letter ‘ㆍ’ representative of the Aymara vowel /a/ stands in an unfavorable position to be used in small type or in handwriting. Above all, the letter ‘ㆍ’ poses serious problems because it is indiscernible from a ‘period’ used at the end of a sentence. Of course, it might be

easily legible if it is printed in large type just like the records of the 15th century. But, such a simple dot won’t be easily discernible if it follows a contemporary printing method, and it is hard to clearly write the letter ‘ㆍ’ in pen. That’s probably why the Korean letter ‘ㆍ’ (dot) was later replaced with ‘ᆞ’ (short stroke) in xylographic books. ② Your proposal suggests the assignation of diagonal strokes ‘/’ and ‘∖’ to Aymara vowels /e/ and /o/. But, diagonal strokes may be indiscernible from vertical stroke of ‘ㅣ(/i/)’ in

handwriting. Moreover, I don't agree with you that these diagonal strokes can be easily memorized just because their formation is taken from the triangular vowel chart. The vowel chart itself is too hard to be understood by the general public. ③ Notably, your proposal excludes the letter ‘ㅇ’— an ‘alif’ denoting a syllable beginning with a vowel, thereby inventing new letters for diphthongs or triphthongs. But, the application of the letter ‘ㅇ’ needs to be actively considered as a representation of a syllable beginning with a vowel. If so, it won’t be necessary to devise unique letters for diphthongs. It might be seemingly difficult to teach the use of the letter ‘ㅇ’ as an alif at the beginning of a syllable. Actually, however, this is not entirely true, considering that contemporary Korean

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Discussion: A proposal for a Hunminjeongeum-based writing system for Aymara

people can use the letter ‘ㅇ’ regardless of their knowledge level. ④ In case the proposed writing system entails numerous unique

symbols irrelevant to HMJE or Hangeul, it will be hard to say that it is actually grounded upon HMJE (or Hangeul). I think it is necessary to clarify once more whether the proposed orthographic development aims to simply produce a new writing system for the Aymara language or to create it based on HMJE. And I want to know your proposal’s distinctive advantage compared with the existing Yapita’s alphabet or Aymara Official Alphabet or Unified Alphabet introduced by the Peruvian government in 1985.

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Proceedings of the SCRIPTA 2011, Seoul, Oct. 7~9, 2011

Aymara Phonemic Alphabet/ Juan de Dios Yapita Moya (1968) Consonant phonemes: Bilabial

Alveolar

Palatal

Velar

Postvelar

Simple

p

t

ch

k

q

Aspirated

p"

t"

ch"

k"

q"

Glottalized

p'

t'

ch'

k'

q'

j

x

Occlusives/Affricates

Continuants Fricative

s

Laterals

l

ll

n

ñ

Nasals

m

Glides

w

y

Trill

r

Vowel Phonemes: i

a

u

Vowel length: ¨

Aymara Official Alphabet or Unified Alphabet introduced by the Peruvian government

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Tongguk chŏngun and the phonological system of Middle Korean

Rei FUKUI The University of Tokyo, JAPAN

1. Introduction It is well known that the invention of the Korean alphabet, Hunmin chŏngŭm, was accompanied by the reformation of the system of SinoKorean. Needless to say, Sino-Korean morphemes form an important part of the Korean lexicon in the 15th century as it is in Modern Korean. But it was sometimes difficult to find a regular correspondence between the pronunciations of traditional Sino-Korean and the classical or any other varieties of Chinese, so that the inventor of the new alphabet made great effort to “correct” the pronunciations of Chinese characters systematically. According to Kōno (1940/1979: 191, 1959/1979: 274), this task was initially started as the translation of ‘Yùnhuì (韻會)’ in 1444. Although this ‘translation’ was never completed, the task was carried on by some

Proceedings of the SCRIPTA 2011, Seoul, Oct. 7~9, 2011

members of the Chiphyŏnjŏn and resulted in the compilation of Tongguk chŏngun in 14471. The phonological system of Tongguk chŏngun can be summarized as consisting of 23 initials, 91 rhymes and 4 tones, and it has been pointed out that the classification and arrangement of the character was deeply influenced by ‘Yùnhuì’. And it has been also pointed out that its

phonological framework exactly followed the phonological system of native Korean language described and explained in the Hunmin chŏngŭm haerye, so that some authors even believe that the new alphabet was primarily devised in order to transcribe Sino-Korean correctly. The purpose of the present paper is to discuss the relationship between the system of Tongguk chŏngun and the Middle Korean phonological system. Although there have been many studies on the system of Tongguk chŏngun itself, questions still remain as to how it was accommodated into the

phonological system of Middle Korean.

2. On the artificialness and reality of Tongguk chŏngun When we talk about Tongguk chŏngun, it is almost always the case that its pronunciations are artificial in that they were nothing but a theoretical reconstruction from Chinese rhyme dictionaries, having nothing to do with the actual, i.e. traditional Sino-Korean pronunciations. Also, their phonetic shapes are sometimes regarded as artificial, because they sometimes show such combinations of sounds that were not used for native Korean words.

1

Other authors do not necessarily agree with this view. Some authors (Kang (2000) and Endo (2010), for example) seem to believe that the translation of ‘Yùnhuì’ and the compilation of Tongguk chŏngun was the same thing or directly linked.

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Discussion: Tongguk chŏngun and the phonological system of Middle Korean

These two usages of artificialness are abundant in the literature. For example, Kōno (1968/1979: 329) states as follows: “In this way the sounds of Tongguk chŏngun look apparently systematic but this is the result of an artificial arrangement, making it much less useful as a rhyme dictionary.” (translation mine)

Lee and Ramsey (2011: 126) also states: “The character readings in the Tongguk chŏngun dictionary of 1447 were certainly artificial.”

Because of such artificialness, the character readings of Tongguk chŏngun have been regarded as far less important than the traditional SinoKorean readings. The author of the present paper agrees with these opinions regarding the historical study of Sino-Korean.

However I would like to point out that it is equally important to

realize that the Tongguk chŏngun readings were actually pronounced and expected to be learned by everyone who would like to study the newly created alphabet. This learning must have been practical, rather than theoretical, because the alphabet and the reformed system of Sino-Korean were intended not only for learned people but also for ordinary people. This aspect will be hereafter referred to as the reality of Tongguk chŏngun. Recently I have reported an interesting case in which the reality of the system of Tongguk chŏngun became more tangible than before (Fukui 2010a, 2010b). During the same period when King Sejong was trying to make a

new system of alphabet, he was also engaged in devising a new system of musical notation and composed a few pieces of music. One piece of such music, called Ch’ihwapyŏng (致和平), used Yongbi ŏch’ŏn ka as its text and was recorded in the Sejong Sillok using the new system of musical notation he devised. And by comparing the tones recorded in the text of Yongbi

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Proceedings of the SCRIPTA 2011, Seoul, Oct. 7~9, 2011

ŏch’ŏn ka and the melodies of the musical score of Ch’ihwapyŏng, it was found that the tones were regularly reflected in the melodies of it. As is well known, Sino-Korean words used in the text of Yongbi ŏch’ŏn ka appear without sound notations unlike other documents of the same period so that we can only guess at the exact reading of these words. In answering this question, Lee (1962) has concluded that they must have been read by

Tongguk chŏngun, not by the traditional Sino-Korean based on some phonetic evidence. I have reconfirmed this by showing that the melodies associated with these words show regular correspondences with the tones of Tongguk chŏngun rather than traditional Sino-Korean. The point is that this music was not only written but played, using the reformed system of Tongguk chŏngun. Also, the extensive use of tone marks indicating different meanings for the same character found in Yongbi ŏch’ŏn ka can be taken as evidence that they were seriously trying to read documents written in Chinese by using Tongguk chŏngun, as will be discussed in the section 5 of this paper.

3. Problems in the consonant system 3.1 The ending -rq As is well known, the endings of the Chinese entering tones -p, -t, -k appear as -p, -r, -k in the traditional Sino-Korean. In Tongguk chŏngun, the ending r was rendered as -rq and this has been often regarded as an example of the artificialness of Tongguk chŏngun. The aim of this section is to discuss how the ending -rq was actually pronounced. First, when a character having this ending was uttered in isolation, it must have been pronounced as [...lʔ] in principle. But this is

apparently an unnatural pronunciation because there are no words ending

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Discussion: Tongguk chŏngun and the phonological system of Middle Korean

in a glottal stop in the native vocabulary of Korean so that we are not sure whether such a pronunciation was easy for an average learner at that time. Secondly, when a Sino-Korean morpheme ending in -rq is followed by another Sino-Korean morpheme, the situation is quite different. If the following consonant is a plain obstruent, it seems obvious that the syllable

final glottal stop q makes the following consonant a reinforced one, as it is always the case with the words having a Sino-Korean morpheme ending in -r followed by another Sino-Korean morpheme beginning with either /t/, /s/ or /c/ in Modern Korean. For example, just like the word ‘決斷’ (kyertan 결단, ‘decision’) is pronounced as ‘kyerttan 결딴’ in Modern Korean, the equivalent Middle Korean form of the word ‘kyuyerqtwan 돤’ in the Tongguk chŏngun reading must have been pronounced as ‘kyuyerttwan  똰’. (We will discuss the equivalence of ‘-rq t’- and ‘-r tt-’ in a more general form in the next section.) The only difference between the modern version of the reinforcement of plain obstruents following a syllable final -r and that of Tongguk chŏngun is that the application of this rule is confined to the three consonants mentioned above in the former case while it is expanded to include all plain obstruents in the case of the latter. Although we are not sure about the origin of the modern version of the reinforcement rule, it seems fairly easy for an average learner of Tongguk chŏngun at that time to get used to this kind of reinforcement for all plain obstruents because the rule ‘-rq C- = -r CC-’, where C stands for a plain

obstruent, is so widespread in the phonology of Middle Korean as will be discussed in the next section. Finally, there is one more thing that should be taken into account when we consider about the ending -rq in Tongguk chŏngun. This particular combination of consonants found in -rq was by no means novel in the phonology of Middle Korean, since -rq was used very frequently as a form of transcribing prospective modifiers. And the above mentioned formula

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Proceedings of the SCRIPTA 2011, Seoul, Oct. 7~9, 2011

applies in this case too, so that we have two kinds of transcriptions for exactly the same expression as shown in the following pair of examples: 佛道 求 사미 (月釋 18:60a) ppurqttow kkuw-hʌ-rq sarʌm-i

“The one who seeks Buddha’s way ...”

佛道 求 싸미 (法華 1:242a) ppurqttow kkuw-hʌ-r ssarʌm-i

(ditto)

It is also interesting to note that when this ending is followed by a consonant other than a plain obstruent, or a vowel, it was written either as -rq or simply -r, suggesting that in such an environment, where the reinforcement was impossible, the glottal stop q had no effect on the following consonant. In such a case the transcription -r seems adequate and -rq was nothing but a redundant transcription. And in my opinion the

same thing can apply in the case of the ending -rq in Tongguk chŏngun, that is to say, it seems possible that the glottal stop q had its effect only when followed by a plain obstruent. Of course it cannot be denied that those who wished to pronounce literally could do so, it seems also likely that a simpler way of pronunciation was available for ordinary people. 3.2 Transcriptions for ‘wholly muddy’ sounds One of the characteristics of the Tongguk chŏngun initial consonants is the use of geminate consonants for the ‘wholly muddy’ (全 濁) sounds of Classical Chinese, as shown in the following table. ᄁ kk 虯 (群)

ᄄ tt 覃 (定)

ᄈ pp 歩 (並)

ᄊ ss 邪 (邪)

ᄍ cc 慈 (従)

ᅘ hh 洪 (匣)

There have been various views regarding how these geminate consonants were pronounced but now most researchers seem to agree that

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Discussion: Tongguk chŏngun and the phonological system of Middle Korean

these notations represent ‘reinforced’ consonants, which are frequently found as an initial consonant in Modern Korean except for hh. However, in Middle Korean, only ss and hh appeared word-initially and all others could not appear word-initially and used only marginally, as shown in the following table. ᄁ kk

-ㄹ까 (-rkka), -ㄹ꼬 (-rkko) interrogative ending

ᄄ tt

-ㄹ따 (-rtta) interrogative ending (for 2nd person)

ᄈ pp

빠 (hʌrppa < hʌrq + pa) ‘the place to do ...’ (Mencius ŏnhae 4:10a)

ᄊ ss

쓰- (ssɨ-) ‘to write’, - (ssʌ-) ‘to be worth’; -ㄹ (-rssʌi) ‘because’

ᄍ cc

살찌- (sarcci-) ‘wrinkle’，눈 (nunccʌzʌ) ‘the pupil of the eye’ (Nŭngŏm kyŏng ŏnhae 2:109a)

ᅘ hh

- (hhye-) ‘to pull’

As can be seen in the above examples, kk and tt mainly appear as part of a grammatical morpheme, and cc appears only as the result of compounding. In the case of pp, its examples are even more restricted and found only in the syntactic construction such as the prospective modifier -rq plus a noun beginning with p. This type of gemination occurred frequently when this ending was followed by a noun beginning with a plain obstruent so that it was often the case that two ways of transcription coexisted for the same expression, one retaining q and the other omitting q, using a geminate instead. This can be summarized in the following way: -rq k- = -r kk-, -rq t = -r tt-, -rq p- = -r pp-, -rq s- = -r ss-, -rq c- = -r cc-

It is interesting to note in passing that we can find two ways of analysis for transcribing the reinforced consonants in Modern Korean: Some authors transcribe such consonants using a glottal element, and others represent them as geminates. Therefore the above formula shows

that the people engaged in the invention of the new alphabet made

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Proceedings of the SCRIPTA 2011, Seoul, Oct. 7~9, 2011

phonetic observation and phonological analysis in much the same way as modern linguists. To sum up the observation made so far, geminate consonants do occur in the native language of Korean but their distribution is so limited that four out of the six geminate consonants do not appear word-initially.

Returning to the original topic, the use of geminates for the ‘wholly muddy’ sounds was made possible in the following way: First, the phonetic material was already available within the native language. Secondly, constraints on the possible position of sounds within a word

were

changed so that they could appear in other positions. 3.3 Other consonants The same principle discussed in the last section applies in several other

cases. For example, the glottal stop q was also used as an initial consonant corresponding to the Classical Chinese initial yǐng (影) in Tongguk chŏngun, and this can be explained in the following way: the sound in question existed in the phonological system of Middle Korean, and its possible position within a word was changed so as to be able to appear wordinitially. Another case of seemingly artificial sound is the use of ᄝ(w) for the vocalic ending of certain groups of characters, and this too can be explained as the result of the transposition of an already existing phoneme w.

4. Problems in the vowel system The vowel system of Tongguk chŏngun lies basically within the framework of the one described in the Hunmin chŏngŭm haerye. But if we consider the

vowel system of native Korean words, two cases, namely ᆑ yuye and ᆒ

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Discussion: Tongguk chŏngun and the phonological system of Middle Korean

yuyei, seem exceptional in that no such combinations of vowels are found in the native vocabulary. These two vowels are made up by combining the vowels yu, ye, and yu, ye, i, respectively, so that they are literally transcribed as yuye and yuyei, but it is obvious that these are not disyllabic. Since the first element yu was treated as a single vowel in Hunmin chŏngŭm

haerye, it can be regarded as a single medial sound contrasting with y and w. And it can be easily shown that the group of characters having yu as its medial sound corresponds to the ones called ‘cuōkǒuhū’ (撮口呼) in terms of the Chinese phonology. It is possible to assume that these two vowels

have a rounded palatal approximant (semivowel) ɥ in front of the main vowel, as shown in the following table. y

ㅕ: ye [jə]

ㅖ: yei [jəi] or [jei]

w

ㅝ: we [wə]

ㅞ: wei [wəi]

ɥ

ᆑ: ɥe [ɥə]

ᆒ: ɥei [ɥəi] or [ɥei]

If we look at the two vowels in question in this way, we can have a

systematic and phonetically plausible three-way contrast among the medial sounds. But one question arises in this analysis: we usually don’t mention the existence of the sound ɥ in the phonological inventory, or even in the description of allophones, in Middle Korean. If so, this sound makes a counter-example to the hypothesis raised in the last few sections that the system of Tongguk chŏngun uses only those sounds that are already existing in the native Korean vocabulary. However, in fact one of the seemingly exceptional vowels, yuyei (or ɥei) is found in the readings of certain groups of traditional Sino-Korean. The

following examples, mainly taken from Itō (2007) with a few more examples added by the author, all have the same reading chyuyei in the traditional Sino-Korean system.

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Proceedings of the SCRIPTA 2011, Seoul, Oct. 7~9, 2011 TrSK

ModSK

gloss

sources

毳

c yuyei

c ui

‘down’

(Chinŏn kwon’gong 20a)

贅

chyuyei

chwei

‘wen’

(Hunmong chahoe 2:16b)

嘴

c yuyei

c ui

‘bill, beak’

(Hunmong chahoe 3:3b)

箠

c yuyei

cu

‘whip’

(Hunmong chahoe 2:13b)

捶

c yuyei

cu

‘thrash’

(Hunmong chahoe 3:13a)

惴

c yuyei

c wei

‘to fear’

(Pŏnyŏk sohak, Sohak ŏnhae)

揣

c yuyei

c wei

‘to estimate’

(Sinjŭng yuhap)

悴

c yuyei

c wei

‘to be haggard’ (Hunmong chahoe 2:16a)

萃

c yuyei

c wei

‘to collect’

h

h h h h h h h

h

h h h h h h h

(Pŏnyŏk sohak, Sohak ŏnhae, Yuhap)

(TrSK: traditional Sino-Korean reading, ModSK: Modern Sino-Korean reading)

As is shown in this table, many of the characters having this reading appear in Hunmong chahoe (1527). However, it is also important to note that they are not confined to dictionaries of Chinese characters. We can

also find them in the literature concerning Buddhism such as Chinŏn kwon’gong (1496) and Confucianism such as Pŏnyŏk sohak (1518) and Sohak ŏnhae (1588) so that we can conclude that the syllable chyuyei found in the above mentioned characters was generally used, and were by no means peculiar to dictionaries. By confirming the existence of the vowel yuyei (and therefore the existence of the sound ɥ) in the traditional system of Middle Korean, it is now possible to maintain the claim that the system of Tongguk chŏngun

used only such phonetic material that was already there in the traditional system. But several questions still remain: why the occurrence of the vowel yuyei is confined to a particular syllable chyuyei? Are there any other cases including the sound ɥ? For now I have no answer to the first question. As to the second question, there are several interesting examples both in modern speech and in historical data that might be related to the seeming isolated sound.

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Discussion: Tongguk chŏngun and the phonological system of Middle Korean

First, let us take a look at the following pronunciation found in modern colloquial speech of Seoul speakers. (a) 위: wi [wi] ‘the stomach’ (b) 귀: kwi [kɥi] ‘the ear’, 뒤: twi [tɥi] ‘back’, 쉬다: swita [ʃɥida] ‘to rest’, 쥐: cwi [tʃɥi] ‘a rat, a mouse’

The vowel ᅱ wi is pronounced as [wi] when there is no initial consonant but is pronounced as [ɥi] when preceded by an initial consonant. However, this [ɥ] has apparently nothing to do with the one we observed in certain group of Sino-Korean readings, since this vowel was a diphthong like [ui] at that time. Secondly, in Middle Korean as well as in Early Modern Korean there existed a syllable structure Cyui, where C stands for any consonant, which later merged with the syllable Cui and disappeared. Although there are

virtually no examples of a single morpheme containing the syllable *Cyui in the native vocabulary, examples of morphologically or syntactically constructed syllables of this type can be easily made by adding the nominative case marker -i or copula -i- to syllables of the type Cyu which are very frequent in Sino-Korean morphemes. To my knowledge, the following is the sole example containing the syllable  syui in the native Korean vocabulary. 여(LR) yesyuin: ‘sixty’

cf. 쉰(R) suin: ‘fifty’

It is interesting to note in passing that this word, meaning ‘sixty’, is apparently a compound of yer ‘ten’ and suin ‘fifty’ but the second morpheme syuin is different from suin. There can be two explanations for this: one is that the original shape of the morpheme is preserved in the compound, and another is that the initial consonant of the second syllable

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Proceedings of the SCRIPTA 2011, Seoul, Oct. 7~9, 2011

became palatalized because of the assimilation to the first syllable consisting of only front vowels.2 No matter how rare the occurrence of the syllable Cyui as part of a genuine native morpheme, such a syllable structure can in fact be seen frequently in some traditional Sino-Korean morphemes and in the syntactic

construction explained above. And it seems natural to assume that the vowel u, preceded and followed by a close front vowel (or semivowel) in the above syllable structure, was assimilated to the surrounding vowels and pronounced something like [Cyi], where [y] is the IPA symbol for a high front rounded vowel. Since this [y] is a full vowel version of the semivowel [ɥ], the apparently isolated occurrence of the latter is somewhat ameliorated if these two sounds are grouped together.

5. Tonal system of Tongguk chŏngun The tonal system of Tongguk chŏngun was basically the same as that of the Classical Chinese, i.e. the four tones of Chinese were mechanically applied to each character in Tongguk chŏngun. The phonetic realization of each of the four tones must have been the same as the explanation found in the Hunmin chŏngŭm ŏnhae. The level tone must have been a low pitch, the departing tone a high pitch, and the rising tone beginning with a low pitch and ending in a high pitch, as were the cases of the pitch contours of native Korean words. It is important to note that tones must have been remembered and correctly pronounced for each character even in the case of reading a

2

This in fact requires a further explanation. The vowel e was normally pronounced as a central vowel [ə] in Middle Korean but it must have a front allophone [e] in the sequence ye.

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document entirely written in Chinese. This is the reason why small circles, indicating the four tones, were laboriously transcribed in the texts of Hunmin chŏngŭm haerye (1446), Yongbi ŏch’ŏn ka (1447) and Pŏphwa kyŏng ŏnhae (1463).3 The purpose of these small circles, or tone marks, was to distinguish different meanings of a character: for example, the tone of the character ‘爲’ is level tone when it is used with the meaning of ‘to do,

become’, and departing tone when used with the meaning of ‘for the sake of’. In this case the level tone is regarded as basic so that it is unmarked and the departing tone is marked by a small circle, and such a character is called phaŭmja (破音字). Although it was possible to have different tones according to the meanings of a character within the traditional Sino-Korean, tones assigned to each Sino-Korean morpheme were sometimes different from those of Classical Chinese so that it seems difficult to make a systematic way of differentiating tones in the framework of the traditional Sino-Korean

system. Therefore those who tried to reform the system of Sino-Korean so systematically were obliged to make explicit rules on phaŭmja. To my knowledge, the first scholar who explicitly stated that the application of such tone marks had close relationship with Tongguk chŏngun was the late Professor Ahn Pyong Hi. He successfully demonstrated that the tone marked as departing tone in Hunmin chŏngŭm haerye and Yongbi ŏch’ŏn ka for the character ‘爲’ appears as rising tone in

the later literature published at the end of the 15th century which

abandoned the system of Tongguk chŏngun and adopted the actual, i.e. traditional Sino-Korean readings.

3

The reason why small circles were applied only in Pŏphwa kyŏng ŏnhae among other sutras translated at that time is still unclear. Also, the date of publication is more than 15 years later than the other two documents so that the reason for marking tones in Pŏphwa kyŏng ŏnhae might have been different from the other two.

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Proceedings of the SCRIPTA 2011, Seoul, Oct. 7~9, 2011 In Yukcho pŏppodan kyŏng ŏnhae and Sisik kwŏn’gong, which abandoned the system of Tongguk chŏngun and adopted actual Sino-Korean readings, marked the character by two dots, i.e. rising tone. ...... Therefore, we can know that the system of Tongguk chŏngun lies behind the Yongbi ŏch’ŏn ka and Hunmin chŏngŭm haerye. (Ahn 1986/1992:191-192, translation mine)

The logic behind this is as follows: as I stated above, the character ‘爲’ was marked by an departing tone when used with the meaning of ‘for the sake of ’ in Tongguk chŏngun but it had rising tone in the traditional Sino-

Korean system so that the very fact that it was marked as departing tone indicates that the character should have to be read by the reformed system of Sino-Korean. Finally, I would like to point out that the practice of indicating phaŭmja was in fact sometimes difficult especially at the earliest stage of the Tongguk chŏngun, as can be seen by the confusion of tones assigned to the character ‘將’ in the Sŏkpo sangjŏl (1447) and ‘將’, ‘爲’ in the music Ch’ihwapyŏng (see Fukui (2010a) for more detail).

6. Conclusion The relationship between the phonological system of Tongguk chŏngun and that of native Korean, including traditional Sino-Korean, can be summarized as follows:

The phonetic material used in the system of Tongguk chŏngun was by no means foreign or artificial to the ears of the speakers of Middle Korean. It consisted of only those sounds that can appear in some position in a word in the actual pronunciation of Middle Korean. But the constraints on the occurrence of the sounds in question were tolerated so that they could appear in positions that were otherwise impossible.

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Discussion: Tongguk chŏngun and the phonological system of Middle Korean

To put it differently, seemingly artificial sounds of Tongguk chŏngun were located somewhere at the periphery of the core of the Middle Korean phonological system, not outside of it. Whether the above mentioned principle was practical or not for an average learner of the newly created alphabet is an open question; it is certain that such a principle existed and this can be taken as a part of the linguistic background of the people

engaged in the invention of the new alphabet and the reformation of SinoKorean system. Lastly, the following passage in the Hunmin chŏngŭm haerye can be interpreted as a kind of remedy for the above principle: 初聲之ㆆ與ㅇ相似, 於諺可以通用也. (合字解) “The initials q and G are alike, and interchangeable in vernacular writings.” (translation mine)

Although the context of this statement is confined to ‘vernacular writings’, it is meaningless to consider those written only in native Korean

or traditional Sino-Korean, since no distinction between q and G (or zero) is found syllable-initially. So the intended context of this statement should be those written in native Korean together with Sino-Korean words written or pronounced according to the Tongguk chŏngun. If we understand the context of the above statement in this way, it can be taken as a remedy for those who have difficulties in following every detail of the system of Tongguk chŏngun.

References Ahn, Pyong Hi. (1986) Hunmin chŏngŭm haeryebon-ŭi pokwŏn-e tae-hayŏ. In Kugŏ-sa sin yŏn’gu. Seoul: Tower Press.

Ahn, Pyong Hi. (1992) Kugŏ-sa charyo yŏn’gu. Seoul: Munhak kwa chisŏngsa.

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Proceedings of the SCRIPTA 2011, Seoul, Oct. 7~9, 2011 Endo, Mitsuaki (2010) Sai secin ‘Inkai gyokuhen’ ni cuite. Yŏkhakkwa yŏkhaksŏ 1:87-112. Suwŏn: Yŏkhaksŏhakhoe.

Fukui, Rei (2010a) Chihwapyŏngbo-e panyŏng-toen Chungseŏ sŏngjo-e tae-hayŏ. Kugŏhak 57: 107-130. Kugŏ hakhoe.

Fukui, Rei (2010b) Ciwaheihu ni han’eisita cyuusei kankokugo seicyō no akusentoron-teki kaisyaku. Tōkyō daigaku gengogaku ronsyū 29: 3-16. Department of linguistics, The University of Tokyo.

Itō, Chiyuki (1999) Cyūki cyoosengono kanjigo akusento taikei. Gengo Kenyū 116: 97-143.

Itō, Chiyuki (2007) Cyōsen kanjion kenkyū. Tokyo: Kyūko syoin. Kang, Sinhang (2000) Hanguk-ŭi Unsŏ. Seoul: T’aehaksa.

Kōno, Rokurō (1940) ‘Tōgoku seiin’ to ‘Kōbuseiin yakkun’ ni cuite. Tōyō gakuhō 27-4. Included in Kōno (1979).

Kōno, Rokurō (1959) Hutatabi ‘Tōgoku seiin’ ni cuite. Cyōsen gakuhō 14. Included in Kōno (1979).

Kōno, Rokurō (1968) Cyōsen Kanjion no Kenkyū. Tenri: Tenri-jihōsya. Included in Kōno (1979).

Kōno, Rokurō (1979) Kōno Rokurō Cyosakusyū 2. Tokyo: Heibonsya.

Lee, Ki-Moon (1962) Yongbi ŏch’ŏn ka Kukmun kasa-ŭi che-munje. Asea yŏn’gu 51: 87-131. Asea munje yŏn’guso, Korea University.

Lee, Ki-Moon and S. Robert Ramsey (2011) A History of the Korean Language. Cambridge University Press.

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Discussion: Tongguk Chŏngun and the phonological system of Middle Korean

CHA Ikjong Seoul National University, KOREA

For 2 score years or so, the artificiality of Tongguk chŏngun has seemed to leave no room of doubt. Tongguk chŏngun was considered to be just an adaptation or theoretical reconstruction of Gujin yunhui juyao (古今韻會擧 要), without any reality or practicality in the 15th century. As is well known, however, studies on different proposition have been continually performed. Kang (2000) and Cho (2011) would be referred to as one of the most important studies which address the independence of Tongguk chŏngun. They provided materials that can help to confirm that the phonological system of Tongguk chŏngun shows little correspondence to that of Gujin yunhui juyao. While it’s initial system shows a strong influence from Chinese readings, it’s rhyme system, rather, has been found to be edited on the basis of the actual Sino-Korean pronunciation. This article by professor Fukui would add to the important and meaningful literature on this issue. Although this article generally agrees on the artificiality, it also gives an insightful interpretation with detailed analysis on the reality of Tongguk chŏngun.

Proceedings of the SCRIPTA 2011, Seoul, Oct. 7~9, 2011

1) This article asserts that Tongguk chŏngun readings were actually pronounced and learned by King Sejong’s people. The author’s previous work (Fukui 2010) on Ch’ihwapyŏng (music note) and Yongbi ŏchŏn ka (text) are referred to as evidence. I fully agree with the author, and would like to further remind that Chosŏn wangjo sillkok (朝鮮王朝實錄)

provides some records telling that Tongguk chŏngun was taken as an examination textbook from the period of King Sejong to that of Sejo. 2) The phonetic materials, seemingly artificial shapes or such as ‘ㆆ’ (‘wholly clear’ laryngeal or q as transcribed in this article), wholly muddy (各字竝書 or geminates as called by the author) ‘ㅱ’, ‘ㆋ’, and ‘ㆊ’, came rather from the actual pronunciation of Middle Korean. So it is not the case that the phonological system of Tongguk chŏngun located outside of the native Korean. Rather does it locate somewhere at the periphery of the Middle Korean. Detailed argument and elaborate interpretation make this article worth of strong note. I cannot but confess I learned much from the author. But on minor details or peripheral topics to the main theme, I must say I would like to ask a few questions. 1) ‘ㅱ’, (light lip sounds ‘ㅁ’, 脣輕音 miŭm) is simply interpreted here as the phoneme w that already existed in the native Middle Korean. Although the phoneme w was actually existed in the native Middle

Korean, it would have not been the same as ‘ㅱ’. Surely the graph ‘ㅱ’ must have been designed to represent the Chinese finals of 2 Rhyme groups, i.e. Xiao she (效攝) and Liu she (流攝). In the Middle Korean, final sounds w or u of Chinese readings of characters such as ‘鳩’ (), ‘高’ () were not pronounced because of phonological constraints on syllabic structure in the 15th century. No

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Discussion: Tongguk chŏngun and the phonological system of Middle Korean

falling diphthongs having w existed in Middle Korean. So ‘鳩’ () and ‘高’ () would have been pronounced just [구] and [고] respectfully. 2) ‘ㆆ’, in syllable ending position, seems to have a deep relevance with ‘reinforcing’ phenomena. Its functional role is thought to be glottalization. But whether it could have had a phonemic position or just a phonetic feature, is still need to be solved.

3) ‘ㆋ, ㆊ’ are very unique and interesting, as no such combinations of vowels are found in the native Middle Korean. It is well known that these vowel combinations strictly correspond to Xie she (蟹攝) hekou (合口) Grade III & IV, i.e., cuōkŏuhū (撮口呼) in Chinese Rhyming tables. This article goes further to suggest that these vowels could possibly exist in the native Middle Korean. Examples of ‘毳 贅, etc. (chyuyei, )’ can be accepted as strong evidences. As the author himself concedes, it is interesting that this syllabic

structure is found only with the initial of ch (ㅊ). On the contrary, Tongguk chŏngun has almost all initials but labial obstruents and liquid (ㄹ). Further investigation is needed to explain this difference in distribution. But evidences from modern Korean monophthongs such as ‘귀[ky], 쥐[cy]’ doesn’t seem to support the explanation.

References Cho, Unsung (2011) Tongguk Chŏngun Yŏngu, PhD. Dissertation, Seoul: Yonsei University,

Kang, Sinhang (2000) Hanguk-ŭi Unsŏ, Seoul: T’aehaksa.

Fukui, Rei (2010) Chihwapyŏngbo-e panyŏng-toen Chungse sŏngjo-e tae-hayŏ, Kugŏhak 57: 107-130, Kugŏ hakhoe.

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The rebirth of Hangeul

KIM Young-wook University of Seoul, KOREA

1. Introduction Japan has the most complex character systems in the world. Hiragana, katakana, kanji are using together in Japanese. Kanji is hard to read because it has its own kundoku (訓讀, interpretative reading) which is different from Chinese pronunciation. Most of the Japanese kanji are

imported from China, some via Korea, so their pronunciations are different according to the periods they were imported. By contrast, Korean has the simplest letters in the world. Hangeul is easy to read, only 24 letters and its pronunciation also one to one correspondence. Except for a handful of elderly Koreans, every Korean enjoys Hangeul in one’s daily life. It is so easy that even the children before entering elementary school, they have already learned. The letters invented by Sejong the Great were at first named ‘Hunminjeongeum

(訓民正音, standard pronunciations for teaching people)’ and it worked as

Eonmun (諺文, private characters), not as Gungmun (國文, official characters)

Proceedings of the SCRIPTA 2011, Seoul, Oct. 7~9, 2011

at those days. As you know, Kanji was the official character in Korea until the year of 1894. Though Hangeul was invented in 1444, Kanji was still commonly used as the official character during 450 years. So the aspect of Korean’s daily life of using letters did not much differ from those of Japanese. Korean the

same as Japanese, had very complex writing systems including Kanji, Idu (吏讀, simplified Kanji for writing Korean), Gugyeol (口訣, letters for notating the grammatical morphemes of Korean), etc. In 1894, Prime Minister Kim Hong-jip suggested the reform on Hangeul as Gungmun. And king Gojong accepted it, and thereafter, Hangeul became the official letters of Korean. I will call the moment, ‘Rebirth of Hangeul’.

2. Duality of Hangeul Korean have dual attitude toward Hangeul. One is that Korean take pride in Hangeul, the other is that Hangeul is thought to be still unfinished letters and not refined one comparing with Kanji. If Hangeul had been the official letters of Korea at the time of the invention, it could have been

continuously refined for more than 600 years, the result of it Hangeul might have been orthodox. But in reality, Hangeul did not acquire the official position of the country until the year of 1894, the periods are too short for Hangeul to be orthodox just over 100 years since then. Nevertheless Korean love Hangeul very much. Hangeul is considered to be the greatest cultural heritages in Korea. And the day when Sejong the inventor of Hangeul first officially announced it to his people, Korean made it as a national anniversary, as you know, Hangeul day. Kana has long tradition. It was invented more than 500 years ahead of

Hangeul. But there is no national anniversary to celebrate for the invention

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The rebirth of Hangeul

in Japan. In so far as I know, there is no country in the world except Korea to celebrate the invention of its own ethnic letters. Koreans are so proud of Hangeul, some Korean tried to expel Kanji which was continuously used more than 2,000 years. In fact, more than half of the total lists of Korean vocabulary are kanji words (漢字語, words

originated from Chinese). It is hard to understand Kanji words if he does not know the basic Kanji actually used in Korea now. But the purists tried to expel Kanji with a reason that it was imported from China. Before the year of 1894, there was no one who insisted to expel Kanji from Korea. Japanese are different from Korean in that point. Although two peoples are the same culture of Kanji, they did not try to expel Kanji, rather, they tried to read Kanji their own way and insistently tried to think it as their own characters. What is the reason of the difference between two peoples? Recently,

an ethnic society in Indonesia used Hangeul as the letters for notating their

language. As soon as the news arrived in Korea, the Koreans expressed their interest in it and all supported it. All the media sent their compliments to the people who contributed to the spread of Hangeul. The politicians, whether they are the ruling party or the opposition, all praised them, so called ‘Hangeul nationalism’ in Korea is still alive. Koreans think Hangeul as the symbol of Korea. In contrast to that kind of nationalism, Korean also have negative

attitude to Hangeul. For example, in a class room at the university, most Korean professors write on their classroom board with English alphabet or Kanji rather than Hangeul to convey their ideas to the students. They think that Hangeul is not enough for teaching the abstract concepts or academic terminologies. And Korean doubt the established Hangeul orthography and sometimes they try to resist it. For example, one of Korean’s favorite Chinese dish is ‘jajangmyeon (noodles with bean sauce)’. According to the Hangeul - 169 -

Proceedings of the SCRIPTA 2011, Seoul, Oct. 7~9, 2011

orthography, ‘자장면/jajangmyeon’ was right, 짜장면/jjajangmyeon was wrong. However, some writers and Chinese restaurant owners, many of the ordinary people resisted it. They insisted that 짜장면/jjajangmyeon should be right emotionally. At first, it was not accepted by the National Institute of Korean language where the orthography was established. But the

resistance continued during 25 years from 1986 to 2011. The resistance was stronger year after year until the authorities surrendered. At last, there are two standard forms ‘자장면/jajangmyeon’ and ‘짜장면/jjajangmyeon’ for the same Chinese dish in Korea! I think that it is unnatural that someone does not like a notation for a word, personally or emotionally, and so he tries to reform it. In so far as I know, changing the orthography because of that kind of emotional reason is hardly accepted by the authorities, for example, in case of English or Japanese. Why do Koreans distrust the established Hangeul orthography? I will find the answer from the historical event in 1894, the rebirth of Hangeul.

3. From Eonmun to Gungmun Because of a political event, Eonmun turned into Gungmun. Hangeul was not the official letter until Kim Hong-jip the prime minister suggested the reform named Hongbeom 14 articles (洪範 14 條, Great Standards 14 articles) and king Gojong accepted it. In the Annals of Gojong, we can find the record at the day of November 21, 1894 according to the lunar calendar1. Among the articles, the 14th article was related with Gungmun, the Hangeul first policy. January 5, 1895, in Annals of Gojong, we can see

1

⋯ ⋯第十四條 法律勅令總以國文爲本漢文附譯或混用漢文⋯ ⋯ (高宗實錄 卷 32, 65p)

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The rebirth of Hangeul

many sentences written by mixed style, Hangeul and Kanji2. The events recorded here was that the king and his crown prince, his important government officials went together to Jongmyo (宗廟, a great shrine of Joseon Dynasty), the king declared Independence of Joseon (朝鮮, a dynasty of Korea), he also announced Hongbeom 14 articles to his people

at that place. The first article of it was to break the relationship between Joseon and Qing (淸, a dynasty of China).3 As you know, the relationship between Joseon and Qing is a kind of political issue. On the surface, it seems not to be connected with Hangeul first policy, writing and reading with Hangeul is basically educational and cultural issue. However, it is hard to say that the Hangeul policy had no relation with any political issue of those days. If you look at the record in the Annals, you can understand that it was deeply related with the liquidation of China culture heritages. At those days, Joseon was rapidly changing and the political situations in Joseon also unstable, the Sino-

Japanese war (淸日戰爭, 1894~5) in Korea peninsular. If Hangeul first policy was purely educational issue without any political intention, King Gojong would not announce it to the people at the time. Hangeul must have been recognized as a political issue by the reformers including Kim Hong-jip the prime minister. They predicted that Japan would be the winner of the Sino-Japanese war, and after the war, Japan would force Joseon to remove the influence of Qing. And the prime

minister was a pro-Japanese, he willingly accepted Japanese culture which had been deeply influenced by European culture. And he thought Hangeul was good for translating Japanese books where included European culture rather than Kanji.

2 3

“ ⋯ ⋯ 十二月十二日에我聖上陛下게셔我國家의獨立自主의基業으로宗廟에誓告하시며 ⋯ ⋯訛言煽動하는國賊이有하거든共攻하기를跂望하노라 (高宗實錄 卷 33, 1p) ⋯ ⋯洪範 一 割斷附依淸國慮念 確建自主獨立基礎⋯ ⋯ (高宗實錄 卷 32, 69p)

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As you know, Kanji was first class but Hangeul was secondary in Joseon society until 1894. The society was based on Sadae (事大, a basic relationship between countries established by Mencius, a sage of ancient China) ideology so they respected Kanji in which the words of the sages. So to speak, Kanji reflected China’s advanced culture. Because of Sadae

ideology, the ruling class of the Joseon Dynasty had no idea of repelling Kanji. But in 1894, King Gojong declared Hangeul first policy, as you know, the famous phrase, “Hangeul first and Kanji second (國文爲本漢文附譯// gungmunyibon-hanmunbuyeok)”. What is the reason of the declaration? I think there are two reasons. One is external, the other is internal. The one is the policy of liquidating China from Korea initiated by the Japanese who defeated China. The other is the policy of enlightening Korea people initiated by the reformers including Kim Hong-jip who might be influenced

by Fukuzawa Yukichi (福澤諭吉, a sage of Japan who established the theory of ‘From Asia to Europe (脫亞入口/tal-a-ip-gu)’).

4. The rebirth of Hangeul I think that the main reason of the rebirth of Hangeul was not Korean’s nationalism but the force of Japanese. The late 19th century, the ruling class of Joseon was divided into two parts. One was the conservatives (守舊黨/sugudang, party for old orders), another was the reformers (維新黨/yusindang, party for new orders). But these two parties did not have any color of nationalism4. The conservatives were pro-Chinese and the reformers pro-Japanese.

4

“ ⋯ ⋯ 朝鮮維新黨亂作 初朝鮮自立約通商後 國中新進輕躁喜事 號維新黨 目政府爲守 舊黨 相水火 維新黨首金玉均洪英植朴泳孝徐光範徐載弼 謀殺執政代之 五人常游日 本 暱日人 至是倚爲外援⋯ ⋯ (淸史稿, 朝鮮列傳)”

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The rebirth of Hangeul

Kim, the prime minister suggested the Hangeul first article, the king willingly accepted it because Japanese forces were his side. The Japanese political ambitions in Korea were involved with the article. As you know, the first step of Japanese’s Korean annexation policy was to liquidate Chinese shadow from Korea peninsula. According to the treaty of

Shimonoseki in 1895, China had to admit independence of Korea. As Japan

won the war with China, the Japanese had the force to dominate Korea politically. But they had no ability to dominate Korean mentally. The Japanese wanted to annex Korea not only politically but also mentally. So they thought that it was important to get rid of the traditional ideas from Korean. For thousands of years, Kanji existed everywhere in Korea, the old scriptures, in books, records of Korean history, etc., and all of them were basically pro-Chinese. There seemed to be no room for the Japanese to dominate the Korean mentally if they did not deprive the people of Kanji.

5. Modern textbooks written by Hangeul According to the Japanese points of view, it seemed to be the sources of spreading China-centric ideology that the traditional schools, for example, Seodang (書堂, school for children) and the systems of recruiting civil servants, Gwageo (科擧, test for civil servants), etc. They wanted to eliminate the traditional schools and the traditional systems. Instead of it, Japanese modernized educational systems were introduced into Korea and they had to infuse the modern Europe-centric ideas into the new generations. East Asian should learn Western civilization, as Fukuzawa Yukichi’s motto represented it5.

5

From Asia to Europe (脫亞入口/tal·a·ip·gu, a movement for learning European civilization)

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As a result, modernized educational systems were started. The reforms were co-work of the reformers and the Japanese. Though Korea’s educational reforms did have the idea of independence, the main motivation of it was a strong intention of Japan to rule out China from Korea. By restructuring the content and curriculum of the China-centric traditional systems, they tried to change Korean. While Hangeul as well as education reform began to start, China was losing its influence in the peninsula gradually. Sejong the Great is the Korean nation’s hero who the Koreans are most proud of. The statue of him is located in the middle of Gwanghwamun (光 化門, door for enlightening people) plaza to be honor of inventing Hangeul. However, he was not the most honorable person in all the Korean people until the rebirth of Hangeul in 1894. Before the year, the ideal leader of Joseon society was not king Sejong but the legendary Emperors of ancient China named ‘yosun (堯舜, two leaders yo, sun who governed morally their country)’. Yosun was depicted greater than Sejong by any textbooks or sacred books written in Kanji. However, the situation was dramatically changed after the year. We can find the evidences in the textbooks written by Hangeul published at those days which sponsored by the Japanese. We can notice the change in a glance over a textbook named ‘Gungmin sohak dokbon’ (國民小學讀本, public elementary school reader) published in 1895. “ ⋯ ⋯ 支那의堯舜禹湯이아모리聖人이라도我世宗大王의聖神하신德을엇지當 하리오⋯ ⋯ (國民小學讀本)” ⋯ ⋯ Though China’s Yo Sun Wu Tang are sages, they are not superior to Sejong the Great in virtue of moral excellence ⋯ ⋯ (Gungmin sohak dokbon).

The politics of Yosun was deeply located in the hearts of Koreans’ as the ideal of politics what it should be. It worked continually during thousands - 174 -

The rebirth of Hangeul

of years. But the belief cracked gradually after the educational reform since 1894. The China-centric contents disappeared in the textbooks written by Hangeul at the time. It was in Japan on behalf of the vacuum. For example, the pictures for praising Japanese illustrated in a textbook named ‘Simsang sohak’ (尋常小學, reader for elementary school students) published by Japanese in 1896. One

is a picture of the Japanese colonies near Seoul’s Namsan6, another is a picture that Japanese soldiers are fighting bravely with their national flag7.

6. Hangeul and Nationalism The textbooks were not the only reason of wide spreading of Hangeul at those days. There was another important reason why Hangeul was rapidly distributed among the Korean people. As soon as the king declared Hangeul first policy, many scholars of Joseon accepted it and they began to use Hangeul voluntarily in their books. We can find the evidence from the famous book named Seoyugyeonmun (西遊見聞, book of travel in Europe, published in 1895) written by Yu Gil-jun which was the first book

written with a mixed style, so called Gukhanmun Honyongche (國漢文混用 體, a writing style mixed with Hangeul and Kanji)8. Yu was the first writer who wrote his book with that style at those days. He wrote the book for the purpose of introducing European civilization into Korean. He was also the reformer, pro-Japanese. When he stayed in Japan the year of 1881, he contacted with Japanese intellectual Fukuzawa (福澤諭吉) who could have made the impact on him about the motivation for such a style.

6 7 8

尋常小學 3 卷 30 張. 尋常小學 2 卷 1 張. “⋯ ⋯一은語意의平順홈을取하야文字를畧解하는者라도易知하기爲홈이오, 二는余가 書를讀홈이小하야 作文하는法에未熟한故로記寫의便宜홈을爲홈이오, 三은我邦七書 諺解의法을大略效則하야詳明홈을爲홈이라 (西遊見聞, 1895)”

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And another motivation for it was as shown in his book to keep up with the tradition of Eonhae (諺解, translation sacred books written with Chinese into Korean language) which began to start as soon as Hangeul was invented. So there existed 450 years tradition of Eonhae in Joseon society, Hangeul and Kanji was mixed in the style, most of the cases, Kanji

for the lexical parts of sentences and Hangeul for the grammatical parts of sentences. But the style was not popular among the intellectuals of Joseon society until the book was published. Besides Yu, Ju Si-gyeong organized “Gungmun dongsikhoe (國文同式 會, society for Hangeul orthography)” in 1896. And the age of 22, he wrote his first paper “Gungmunnon (國文論, a theory for Gungmun)” in 18979. In the paper, he said that we, Korean, should follow the king’s Hangeul first policy to be strong enough for Korean’s independence from European imperialism. He was a proponent of Hangeul nationalism. He was an editor

of the Independence newspaper which is written by Hangeul only, besides the English editions. The unification of language notation was current issue for editing newspapers, but he thought further. He believed that it was one of best way of Independence Korea.

7. Conclusion Korea and Japan belong to the same area of Kanji culture. The two countries have their own letters. However, the difference between the two countries is bigger than it seems to be. Korean rejected Kanji but Japanese

9

“⋯ ⋯큰 聖人께서 만드신 글자는 배우기가 쉽고 쓰기도 쉬우니 이 글자들로 모든 일을 記錄하고 사람마다 젊었을 때 餘暇를 얻어 實相事業에 有益한 學問을 익혀 각기 할 만한 職業을 지켜서 우리나라 獨立에 기둥과 柱礎가 되어 우리 大君主陛 下께서 남의 나라 임군과 같이 튼튼하시게 保護하여 드리며 또 우리나라의 富强 한 威嚴과 文明한 名譽가 世界에 빛나게 하는 것이 마땅하도다. (獨立新聞, 1897, 李賢熙 譯)”

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did not, Korean has the simplest character in the world, Japanese the most complex. Why are they different from each other? Hangul was invented in 1444, but Korean could not fully enjoy the simplicity of the letters until 450 years passed since then. Korean used Kanji, Idu (吏讀, simplified Kanji for writing Korean) with Hangeul by their ways of long tradition, their official

character was Kanji, partly Idu, Hangeul was personal. As you know, Kanji was hard to learn so Korean had difficulties in communicating with each other. The year 1894, this situation was dramatically changed. At the moment, I would call it “Rebirth of Hangeul”. Since then, Hangeul met the new horizons. Standard notation movement was initiated by Sir. Ju (周時 經 先生/ Ju Si-gyeong seonsaeng) in 1896. Koreans had started to reject Kanji since 1894, king Sejong was looked up as Sejong the Great. Hangeul nationalism also sprouted thereafter, scientific researches on Hangeul

began thereafter.

However, the change in 1894 was initiated by a foreign policy of Japanese who intended to annex Korea. The Hangeul first policy was suggested by Kim who was supported by Japanese. To remove Chinacentric ideas from Korean, Japanese supported it, the reforms of Korean’s traditional education systems and they induced to make Korean people reject Kanji, but Japanese never did. Now, as a result, Korean have the simplest writing system in the world, Japanese still use the most

complicated writing systems in the world. It is an irony of East Asian history.

References Kim, Young-wook (2007), Hangeul, Ludens./한글, 루덴스.

Ko, Young-keun (1983), Studies of Korean grammar, Tower press./국어문법의 연구, 탑출판사.

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Proceedings of the SCRIPTA 2011, Seoul, Oct. 7~9, 2011 Ko, Young-keun (1996), Finding the roots of Korean language culture, Hansin press./우리언어문화의 뿌리를 찾아서, 한신문화사.

Ko, Young-keun (1996), Literary movement and Modernization of Korean, Tower press./한국 어문운동과 근대화, 탑출판사.

Lee, Ki-moon (1970), The Gungmun studies during Gaehwa periods, Iljogak./ 개화기의 국문 연구, 일조각. Lee Wang Jik ed. (1935), The True Records of Gojong emperor, Tamgudang press./李王職 編 (1935), 高宗太皇帝實錄, 탐구당 영인본.

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Discussion: The rebirth of Hangeul

KIM, Sang-Tae Cheongju University, KOREA Over the years, Koreans had no letters to express their own feelings and attitudes. Only they had adopted Chinese letters since the three-dynasty era. Although the King Sejong invented the Korean alphabet which was an unique writing system in the world, most of the Koreans utilized the Chinese writing system to write the official documents. In the end of 19th century, Korean was established as an official language in this country. Hangeul deserves our admiration for the clarity and simplicity of the letters, in that Hangeul has an originality and scientific rule which we could not find in any other languages over the world, as well as easiness to read and write, especially comparing with Chinese and Japanese.

I think the aim of this study is to give the reader a logically, lucid,

unembellished account of the main historical events and backgrounds in the history of Korea, focusing on the important domestic and international political shifts in Korea in the late of 19th century. Therefore, the author makes an effort to make a clear why Korean was established as an official language in this country, providing us with the discerning analysis of historical materials. With regard to this, this study sheds new light on the moment which Hangeul became the official letters in the country, as ‘the rebirth of Hangeul’. In this study’s conclusion, the author also named this period as the new horizon of Hangeul.

Proceedings of the SCRIPTA 2011, Seoul, Oct. 7~9, 2011

The author’s ideas and views deserve our full attention. And this study takes also an important initial step in exploring the future of Hangeul in the Age of Information and Globalization. In this conference, I will ask the presenter two questions as an appointed panelist. One is an internal of this study. The other is an external.

First, I found the inexplicable part that was not fully explained in the end of chapter 2. In chapter 2, the Korean orthography was changed by reason of emotional motivation, illustrating the ‘jajangmyeon/jjajangmyeon’. And then the author says that “Why do Korean distrust the established Hangeul orthography? I will find the answer from the historical event in 1894.” Unfortunately, this study leaves unanswered the question “Why do Koreans distrust the established Hangeul orthography? I will find the answer from the historical event in 1894.” I think the reader is still left to wonder about this sentence.

Second, mentioned in this study, whereas Chinese letters had long been used in this country, it is very short period that Korean has been adopted as an official language. In the coming days, it is our duty to preserve, refine, and develop our writing system, which is to say, Hangeul. Within the context of modern times, the status of Hangeul has been rapidly changed. In the Age of Globalization, whereas the foreigners of learning Korean have rapidly increased with the tendency of Hallyu (Korean

Culture), the consciousness of importance of mother language has been diminished in domestic because the importance of foreign language, especially English and Chinese. Also, within the Information society, Hangeul becomes a very important tool to convey our thoughts and to communicate with other people in the cyber world. I think that there remains a range of problems to become a genuinely rebirth of Hangeul in modern world. Clearly, more research is needed to illuminate the originality of Hangeul, and to develop and refine the letters - 180 -

Discussion: The rebirth of Hangeul

in the coming generation. Which subject or method do you think about further research on Hangeul?

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