hellog〜英語史ブログ / 2026-03-07

■ #6158. Powell による文字の分類 [grammatology][terminology][writing][alphabet][phoneme]

　上記は，Powell の文字論の本の扉に大きく図示されている "THE CATEGORIES OF WRITING" である．文字の分類の1つの考え方だ．この分類の解説は，p. 52 にまとめられている．

1 Semasiography: Writing in which the signs are not attached to necessary forms of speech. Sematograms, the elements of semasiography, may be arranged in any conventional way.
2 Lexigoraphy: Writing in which the signs are attached to necessary forms of speech. They are (usually) arranged in a linear sequence corresponding to sounds in speech. There are two divisions.
   (i) Logography: the signs represent words (but not sounds), significant segments of speech. A logography would be a system in which logograms, the elements of logography, predominate (sometimes logograms do not follow the same order as words in speech).
   (ii) Phonography: the signs represent sounds. Such sounds are ordinarily nonsignificant elements of speech. There are two kinds of phonographic systems.
     ・ Syllabography: the signs represent syllables, the smallest apprehensible elements of speech. A Syllabography would be a system in which syllabograms predominate.
     ・ Alphabetic writing: the signs represent elements of speech smaller than syllables, although such sounds do not exist in nature as separable elements of speech. In alphabetic writing letters predominate.

　最後のアルファベット（単音文字）の解説において「単音などという単位は自然には存在しないのだが」というくだりにハッとさせられた．「単音文字」というよりは「音素文字」と捉えたほうがよいのだろう．音素 (phoneme) は人間による抽象化の産物であり，それを文字に当てたというところに，アルファベットの最大の言語学的な意義と価値があるのだと思う．

　・ Powell, Barry B. Writing: Theory and History of the Technology of Civilization. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009.

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