The Evolution of Naxi Dongba Script
This article traces how the Naxi Dongba pictographic script evolved as it spread from its point of origin in the Jinsha River bend, homeland of the Ruka Naxi, southward through Baidi and Lijiang and eventually to Weixi, where the phonetic Geba script was later created. Drawing on scripture materials, dictionaries, and fieldwork from Eya and Dazu villages compared against the Lijiang standard, the authors show that as the script diffused downstream, the number and content of scriptures multiplied, new characters were continually coined (for new objects, to replace phonetic loans, to sharpen meaning, and to record abstract and grammatical words), and recording density shifted from a sparse pictorial "shorthand" layout toward tighter, more linear text. They also analyze two structural trends, symbolization and corruption (讹变), arguing that writing convenience, declining semantic transparency, abstraction of thought, and the script's illustration-like layout jointly drove and constrained its slow evolution.
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