Differences Between Chinese and Naxi Writing Systems and the Laws of Script Development
This article compares Chinese characters (Han characters, represented by oracle bone script) and the Naxi Dongba script, two non-cognate but both morpho-syllabic (logographic-phonetic) writing systems that occupy different stages of development. Using semantically equivalent character pairs, the authors compare the two scripts along three dimensions: methods of representing meaning (pictographic, indicative, associative, phono-semantic, and phonetic-loan forms), the correspondence between graphic symbols and linguistic units, and the physical/graphic form of the symbols. While Dongba script already exhibits the basic character-formation methods found in oracle bone script, it remains far more primitive, unstable, and inconsistent—showing frequent variation in recording methods, unstable phonetic-loan usage, and immature associative/phono-semantic constructions. This comparison reveals Dongba script's position in an earlier developmental stage relative to mature Chinese characters, offering broader insight into general laws governing script evolution and contributing to comparative grammatology theory.
This page publishes the bibliographic record and the project's summary. The scanned article text belongs to its publisher and is shown to readers under a research-use policy; it is not reproduced in this record.