Comparison Between The Phonograms Of Chinese Oracle Bone Writing And Those Of Egyptian Hieroglyphic

The dissertation, with the employment of the "Difference-seeking" method usually used in the comparative study of writing, makes a comparison between the phonograms of determinative-phonogram compound characters of oracle bone writing (OP in short) and the phonograms of Egyptian hieroglyphic (EP in short), and takes place at both the diachronic and the synchronic levels.At the synchronic level the dissertation depicts the different sound representations mode between the OP and the EP. Regarding the OP, the gross number is high, the frequency in character-formation low, and the accuracy of the sound representation low. As for the EP, the gross number is rather low, the frequency in character-formation high, and the accuracy of the sound representation high. The characteristics of the sound representation in the OP could be named the Phonetic Presentation Principle, while in the EP the Phonetic Marking Principle. These two concepts are the key to the better knowledge of the OP and the EP.At the diachronic level the origination mechanisms of the OP and of the EP are compared. The origin of the OP varies, comprising, for example, of both semantic compound and determinative-phonogram compound, adding a determinative to the phonetic loan character, adding phonogram to ideogram, and adopting the phonogram and determinative simultaneously. In addition, complex motives for character-formation are implicated in these different routes, which are the motives both for the semantic representation and the sound representation. In the meantime the preponderance of the motive for semantic representation influenced the mode of sound representation, and this is the direct reason for the Phonetic Presentation Principle in the OP. The origination of the EP is very simple, based only on the use of the Rebus Principle in word-denoting, and later of classification. The main motive for character-formation is purely the sound representation motive, without the interference of the semantic representation. As a result sound representation in the EP...