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Origin and Development of Chinese W riting
Kuang Yu Chen, Ph.D.
Lecture 9
1) The civilization of ancient Egypt lasted for more than 5,000 years. Climatic and
environmental conditions have preserved a wealth of material evidence. The three main study
sources for Egyptology are the monuments, objects, and artifacts from archaeologica l sites,
and the literature. Before hieroglyphs were correctly deciphered in the nineteenth century AD,
t r a v e l e r s a n d h i s t o r i a n s o f t h e c l a s s i c a l , A r a b , a n d m e d i e v a l p e r i o d s we r e u n a b l e t o f u l l y
understand the significance of the monuments and archaeologic al data. They reached ludicrous
conclusions about the meaning and use of monuments such as the pyramids, and the
interpretation of religious and funerary beliefs. However, following the decipherment of
h i e r o g l y p h s , i t b e c a m e e v i d e n t t h a t s o m e k n o wl e d g e h a d b e e n p a s s e d o n t h r o u g h H e b r e w a n d
Greek literature and that Egypt was the source of many beliefs and customs that came to form
the basis of "W estern civilization."
2) Ancient Egyptian civilization covers a period from c.3100 BC to the conquest of Egypt by
A l e xa n d e r t h e G r e a t i n 3 3 2 B C . T h e D y n a s t i c P e r i o d s t a r t e d i n 3 1 0 0 B C ; i n t h e P r e - d y n a s t i c
Period (c.5000-c.3100 BC), early communities made the first advances in technology, arts and
crafts, politics, and religion and laid the basis for later developmen ts. After Alexander the
Great (a Macedonian king) conquered Egypt in 332 B C and subsequently died in Babylon,
E g y p t w a s r u l e d b y a l i n e o f M a c e d o n i a n G r e e k s w h o d e s c e n d e d f r o m A l e xa n d e r ' s g e n e r a l
Ptolemy (King Ptolemy I). Cleopatra VII, the last ruler of t his dynasty, could not prevent Rome
from absorbing Egypt as part of its empire in 30 BC. Egypt passed under the control of
Constantinople (Byzantium) in the fourth century AD when the Roman Empire was divided into
two sectons. One significant development i n Roman Egypt was the arrival and spread of
C h r i s t i a n i t y , wh i c h b e c a m e t h e o f f i c i a l s t a t e r e l i g i o n . T h i s wa s r e p l a c e d b y I s l a m w h e n t h e
Arabs conquered Egypt in the seventh century AD.
3) The basis of any modern chronology of Egypt remains the work of Maneth o (c.282 BC), an
Egyptian priest who wrote a chronicle of Egyptian kings covering c.3100 to 343 BC. He divided
t h i s k i n g l i s t i n t o t h i r t y d y n a s t i e s ; h i s t o r i a n s s t i l l r e t a i n t h e s e a n d h a v e a d d e d a n e xt r a o n e .
They group these thirty-one dynasties into major periods: Archaic Period (Dynasties 1 and 2);
Old Kingdom (Dynasties 3 -6); First Intermediate Period (Dynasties 7 -11); Middle Kingdom
(Dynasty 12); Second Intermediate Period (Dynasties 13 -17); New Kingdom (Dynasties 18-20);
Third Intermediate Period (Dynasties 21-26); Late Period (Dynasties 27-31). There is no clear
d e f i n i t i o n o f a " d y n a s t y " n o r a n y e x p l a n a t i o n o f wh y t h e k i n g l i s t wa s t h u s d i v i d e d i n t o t h e s e
d y n a s t i e s . S o m e d y n a s t i e s i n c l u d e r u l e r s w h o w e r e r e l a t e d b y f a m i l y t i e s a n d , i f t h e r e we r e n o
d i r e c t d e s c e n d a n t s o r a n o t h e r g r o u p s e i z e d p o we r , t h e n t h e d y n a s t y c h a n g e d . I n o t h e r c a s e s
o n e f a m i l y s p a n n e d m o r e t h a n o n e d y n a s t y , a n d t h e r e wa s a n a p p a r e n t l y s m o o t h a n d a m i c a b l e
transfer of power from one line to the next.
4) The earliest script used for writing the language, known today as "Egyptian hieroglyphs" or
" h i e r o g l y p h s , " wa s i n u s e b e f o r e 3 1 0 0 B C . H i e r o g l y p h s ( wh i c h l i t e r a l l y m e a n s " s a c r e d
carvings") were developed from pictures of objects or things (pictographs), and they always
retained their pictorial form. In fact, the ancient Egyptians never developed a truly alphabetic
s y s t e m i n wh i c h e a c h s y m b o l , s i g n , o r l e t t e r r e p r e s e n t e d a s i m p l e s o u n d i n t h e l a n g u a g e . B y
c . 3 1 0 0 B C , h o w e v e r , a n d p e r h a p s e a r l i e r , t h e r e wa s a l r e a d y i n u s e a f u l l y c o m p r e h e n s i v e
l a n g u a g e s y s t e m e xp r e s s e d i n t h e w r i t t e n f o r m wi t h i t s o w n s y n t a x, g r a m m a r , a n d v o c a b u l a r y .
H i e r o g l y p h s c o n t i n u e d t o b e u s e d , s i m u l t a n e o u s wi t h o t h e r wr i t i n g s y s t e m s , f o r i n s c r i p t i o n s o n
p a p y r u s , wo o d , a n d s t o n e f o r o v e r 3 , 0 0 0 y e a r s , o f t e n e m p l o y e d f o r f o r m a l o r r e l i g i o u s
purposes. The classical stage of the language, known today as "Middle Egyptian," developed
d u r i n g t h e M i d d l e K i n g d o m ( c . 1 9 0 0 B C ) w h e n s o m e o f t h e f i n e s t l i t e r a r y t e x t s we r e c o m p o s e d .
Modern students of Egyptian hieroglyphs are introdu ced to the language and script by learning
M i d d l e E g y p t i a n . T h e l a s t k n o wn h i e r o g l y p h i c i n s c r i p t i o n ( A D 3 9 4 ) i n E g y p t s u r v i v e s o n o n e o f
the monuments originally constructed on the island of Philae and now rebuilt on the
neighboring island of Agilkia.
5) PICTOGRAPHS: The Egyptian system grew out of pictographs —simple drawings of objects
that prehistoric peoples knew and saw around them, which they used as symbols to represent
t h e wo r d s f o r t h e o b j e c t s i n t h e i r p a r t i c u l a r l a n g u a g e . S u c h p i c t o g r a p h s wo u l d a l s o b e v i s u a l l y
recognizable to people who had a different language (for example, people with different
l a n g u a g e s wo u l d a l l r e c o g n i z e t h a t a p i c t o g r a p h o f a m a n r e p r e s e n t e d a m a n ) , b u t t h e y w o u l d
not be able to identify from the pictograph the correct word for "man" in another language.
Although pictographs can convey the meaning of concrete objects (house, man, fish, to eat),
they cannot express more abstract ideas (emotions, thoughts, beliefs) nor tenses of a verb and
nuances of the language.
6) PHONOGRAMS AND IDEOGRAMS: To expand and develop their abilit y to write their
language the Egyptians, at an early stage, introduced a system that combined phonograms and
ideograms. Phonograms are "sound signs" and represent the individual sounds which make up
t h e wo r d s i n a l a n g u a g e . I n e f f e c t t h e y " s p e l l o u t " e a c h w o r d . T h e i m p o r t a n t d i f f e r e n c e b e t w e e n
phonograms and pictographs is that, whereas pictographs can be recognized and understood
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by people
represent
know that
to convey
Origin and Development of Chinese W riting
Kuang Yu Chen, Ph.D.
who speak different languages, phonograms (although they can be pictorial in form)
sound values in a particular language and can only be understood by people who
language. For example, in hieroglyphs one use of the phonogram depicting an owl is
the sound "m."
There are three types of phonograms in hieroglyphs: uniliteral or alphabetic signs, where one
hieroglyph (picture) represents a single consonant or sound value; biliteral signs, where one
h i e r o g l y p h r e p r e s e n t s t w o c o n s o n a n t s ; a n d t r i l i t e r a l s i g n s , wh e r e o n e h i e r o g l y p h r e p r e s e n t
t h r e e c o n s o n a n t s . T h e r e a r e t we n t y - f o u r h i e r o g l y p h i c s i g n s i n t h e E g y p t i a n a l p h a b e t a n d t h e s e
a r e t h e p h o n o g r a m s m o s t c o m m o n l y u s e d . B u t s i n c e t h e r e wa s n e v e r a p u r e l y a l p h a b e t i c
system, these signs were placed alongside other phonograms (biliterals and triliterals) and
ideograms.
6) Although hieroglyphs continued in use for the whole of Egyptian history, two cursive scripts
( h i e r a t i c a n d d e m o t i c ) we r e d e v e l o p e d f r o m t h e h i e r o g l y p h i c s i g n s t o p r o v i d e i n c r e a s e d s p e e d
i n wr i t i n g , p a r t i c u l a r l y f o r b u s i n e s s a n d l i t e r a r y t e xt s . H i e r a t i c a p p e a r e d i n t h e e a r l i e s t
dynasties as a contemporary writing form in parallel use with hieroglyphs. It continued in use
u n t i l c . 8 0 0 B C wh e n i t w a s g r a d u a l l y r e p l a c e d f i r s t b y a n e w c u r s i v e s c r i p t ( " a b n o r m a l h i e r a t i c " )
in southern Egypt and then by demotic. Each hieratic character was a simplification of a
hieroglyphic sign, but it is possible to identify an early hieratic text from a later one because
the script developed over the centuries and is marked by chan ges in the way the signs were
written and grouped together. Both hieratic and hieroglyphs could be written either vertically or
h o r i z o n t a l l y . U n t i l t h e M i d d l e K i n g d o m i t wa s c o m m o n p l a c e t o a r r a n g e h i e r a t i c i n v e r t i c a l
c o l u m n s ; i t l a t e r b e c a m e c u s t o m a r y t o w r i t e i t h o r i z o n t a l l y . H i e r o g l y p h s c o u l d b e wr i t t e n f r o m
right to left or vice versa (the direction in which the hieroglyphs should be read is indicated by
the direction in which the pictographs of humans, animals, or birds face —if they face left the
inscription reads from left to right, and vice versa). In hieratic, however, the direction of
writingwas always from right to left.
W hereas hieroglyphs frequently fulfilled a monumental function and were carved on stone,
h i e r a t i c wa s w r i t t e n o n c h e a p e r m a t e r i a l s s u c h a s p a p y r u s , w o o d , l e a t h e r , o r o s t r a c a ( i n s c r i b e d
pottery sherds or stone flakes). From hieratic inscribed on papyrus, however, there developed
another script—cursive writing on stone —which appears on stelae left in the quarries by
m a s o n s a n d t r a v e l e r s . H i e r a t i c w a s u s e d f o r m a n y p u r p o s e s : T h e r e w e r e r e l i g i o u s t e xt s ( h e n c e
its name meaning "sacred writing"), magical texts, letters, administrative and legal documents
s u c h a s a c c o u n t s , wi l l s , r e p o r t s , a n d l i s t s , a s w e l l a s l i t e r a r y a n d s c i e n t i f i c t e xt s . I t wa s
r e g u l a r l y e m p l o y e d f o r w r i t i n g o n p a p y r u s wi t h a b r u s h ( m a d e f r o m a r e e d w i t h a f r a y e d t i p ) a n d
b l a c k o r r e d i n k ( w h i c h i n d i c a t e d wh e r e a n e w p a r a g r a p h b e g a n ) . U s e o f t h e b r u s h wa s
e v e n t u a l l y r e p l a c e d ( t h i r d c e n t u r y B C ) b y a s t y l u s ( a s h a r p e n e d r e e d wi t h a f i n e p o i n t ) , wh i c h
substantially changed the appearance of the signs.
From c.700 BC another cursive script was introduced. This was used for business, legal, and
literary documents for nearly 1,000 years, although hieratic was retained alongside it mainly
for religious texts, and hieroglyphs continued to be used for inscriptions on stone. This new
d e v e l o p m e n t i n t h e l a n g u a g e a n d w r i t i n g o f E g y p t i s k n o wn a s " d e m o t i c " ( " p o p u l a r w r i t i n g " ) , a
t e r m t h a t H e r o d o t u s f i r s t u s e d f o r i t . I t i n c o r p o r a t e d n e w a n d d i s t i n c t g r a m m a t i c a l f o r m s a s we l l
as a new vocabulary. Demotic was apparently derived from a type of Egyptian spoken originally
in the Delta, and although the earliest writings in this script are lost, it apparently spread
s o u t h w a r d wh e n t h e p r i n c e s o f S a i s ( a D e l t a t o w n ) c o n q u e r e d t h e r e s t o f E g y p t a n d e s t a b l i s h e d
Dynasty 26. Although demotic is derived from business hieratic and therefore ultimately from
hieroglyphs, it has many complications and is relatively difficult to read and transl ate.
7 ) C o p t i c : T h e f i n a l s t a g e o f t h e E g y p t i a n l a n g u a g c — k n o wn a s C o p t i c — d e v e l o p e d w h e n
Egyptbe came a Christian country. The Copts (Christian inhabitants of Egypt) retained their
language, which incorporated ancient Egyptian dialect and wrote it down in Gr eek alphabetic
c h a r a c t e r s wi t h t h e a d d i t i o n o f a f e w n e w s i g n s t a k e n f r o m d e m o t i c t o e x p r e s s E g y p t i a n s o u n d s
that did not occur in Greek. The use of Greek characters enabled writers to produce the full
pronunciation of the ancient Egyptian language, becaus e Greek had vowels, whereas the
Egyptian scripts expressed only the consonants. The ancient Egyptian language and scripts
had been replaced as the official language by Greek following the conquest of Egypt by
A l e xa n d e r G r e a t i n 3 3 2 B C a n d s u b s e q u e n t r u l e r s h i p b y P t o l e m i e s . G r e e k wa s n o w e m p l o y e d
for administrative purposes, although the native population continued to use their own
l a n g u a g e , a n d f o r m a l a n d r e l i g i o u s t e xt s w e r e s t i l l i n s c r i b e d h i e r o g l y p h s o n t e m p l e s a n d
e l s e wh e r e . C o p t i c p l a y e d a n i m p o r t a n t r o l e i n e a r l y C h r i s t i a n i t y i n E g y p t , a n d f r o m t h e t h i r d
century AD it became the medium for the translation of the books of the Old Testament and the
Gospels, and, during the third and four centuries,
F r o m : R o s a l i e D a v i d , H a n d b o o k t o l i f e i n a n c i e n t E g y p t , O xf o r d U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s , 1 9 9 8