Written phoenetic Language

[FTVS]

How did we develop symbols for specific sounds (which seems to me quite a leap from the hieorpgyphic form of written language)? Having devloped this system, how was it spread/imposed?

[xyzzyplugh]

to help with this answer, which I think is 'by common agreement' think about the alphabet and why, for instance the 'bee' sound should be denoted by a mark thus; 'B'. And why we have several alphabets, cyrillic etc. The fonetik 'language' is merely an extended alphabet. Does this answer your question FTVS or not?

[FTVS]

Thanks but not really! What I mean is this: Ancient Egypt/Mayan/Chinese all have alphabets that are basically hierogylphic and by this I mean pictures of the things that the words are. This seems to be a "natural" system of written language and one can easily understand how this developed. However the concept that a symbol ie B denotes the sound "bh" and A denoted "ah", T "te" and put them altogether and that means BAT is quite a leap when surely a hieroglyph of a bat would have made more sense to everyone. When did humans start doing that? It is clealry much more efficient but I can see early man saying "look guys, why can't I just draw a bat? What's all this fancy Bh Ah Te stuff?"

[xyzzyplugh]

because how do you draw, e.g. honesty, history, help, Hermann, humility, etc?

[FTVS]

yes but my question was who and when and spread it. And incidentally if you consider Chinese, chrecters for those themes are variations on others. eg I was once told thatthe chinese symbol for subservience (or something along those lines) is basically the one for woman.

[xyzzyplugh]

Well I just think a 'scholar' invented it and people thought 'great, what a good idea' and it was perpetuated by common agreement. Later, others took up the idea but developed their own variations similarly with Windows, Linux, etc. and hence different alphabets. Like Runes, was a basic alphabet, each a symbol within itself e.g.A for aurochs (ox), but able to symbolisze a sound as well. Here is a brilliant website all about it; http://www.geocities.com/futhark_runes/Origin_of_F
uthark_Runes.html which I'm sure you will appreciate more than my ramblings..