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ideographic

ideographic

1 9.9
A system that uses symbols to show ideas instead of sounds or letters
  • adjective
  • /ˌaɪdiəˈɡræfɪk/
  • Specialized
translation icon : ideográfico
  • Chinese characters are often ideographic, representing meanings or concepts rather than individual sounds.
  • ideographic script
  • ideographic characters

Examples

  • However, for other students, secondary interventions, which are not ideographic in nature, may not be sufficient.

    Academic text (1999)
  • The first version of Bamum contained more than 400 pictographic and ideographic characters.

    Academic text (2007)
  • The ideographic characters this name took are of great interest here.

    Academic text (2003)
  • However, there is the danger that highly ideographic factors may be influencing a student's behavior.

    Academic text (2014)
  • From this ideographic perspective, in the area of avoidance, three categories emerged: physical, verbal, and interaction.

    Academic text (2014)
  • Therefore, some characters strongly retain their pictographic roots, while most other characters are only partially ideographic.

    Academic text (2006)
  • "My first observation is that the Jaradan written language is ideographic, like the ancient High Vulcan texts or the traditional Japanese forms of Earth."

    Fiction book (1992)
  • The vast majority of characters, less frequently used, are a compound of an ideographic constituent and a phonographic constituent.

    Academic text (2006)
  • Juxtaposition of ideographic and pictographic radicals is a key aspect of the formation of Kanji.

    Academic text (2006)
  • Some are phonetic alphabets, in which letters or characters represent the sounds of a language, while others are ideographic, comprising abstract symbols that convey concepts, ideas, or things.

    Academic text (2007)

Synonyms

symbolic
vsideographic
158 4.3

A way of showing meaning using a color, object or action

refers specifically to symbols used as written signs for ideas not sounds
iconographic
vsideographic
  • Specialized
1 8.4

Uses pictures or symbols to show information

uses abstract symbols that stand for concepts rather than pictures
ideogrammatic
vsideographic
  • Specialized
9.9

Writing that uses signs to show ideas, like Chinese characters

is the same meaning but notes a different adjective form
iconographical
vsideographic
8.9

The meaning of pictures and symbols in art or media

concerns symbols as conceptual signs outside art interpretation

Antonyms

phonetic
  • Specialized
7 4.8

About speech sounds and how to show them in writing

Compounds

ideographic script
  • Specialized
9.9

Symbols that show ideas instead of words or sounds

Surface Forms

ideographic positive

Morphology

ideographic = ideograph (transparent) = ideograph + ic

Standard adjectival formation from the noun 'ideograph' using the productive suffix '-ic', yielding 'relating to ideographs'.

Etymology

Ideographic comes from idea 'idea' and graph 'to write', so it literally means 'writing ideas'. That's why ideographic symbols are pictures or signs that show an idea rather than a sound.