Reflections on the Phenomenon of Complication Seen in Variant Characters of Dongba Script
This article examines the phenomenon of "complication" (fanhua, the addition of graphic elements) observed in variant characters (yiti zi) of Dongba script, the pictographic-ideographic writing system of the Naxi people, which predates oracle bone script. Dongba script contains numerous variant characters that preserve traces of diachronic development, offering valuable material for tracing the script's evolution. The author identifies the main pathways of complication as: adding phonetic components, adding semantic (ideographic) components, and adding indicative symbols. Rather than being meaningless embellishment, such complication typically strengthens a character's word-recording function by disambiguating visually similar forms and enhancing precision of meaning. Through detailed case analyses—covering examples like "mouth," "liver," "look," "hundred," "tree," "earth," "tongue," "ring," "lie down," and "rice"—the study demonstrates how added phonetic or semantic elements prevent confusion between similar-looking characters. The paper concludes that complication represents a significant and functional developmental trend within Dongba writing.
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