1836.] Oifd [Brinton. 



On. the Ikonomatic Method of Phonetic Writing, with Special 

 Reference to American Archaeology. By Daniel G. Brinton, 

 31. D. 



(Read before the American Philosopldcal Society, October 1, 1SSG.) 



All methods of recording ideas have been divided into two 

 classes, Thought Writing and Sound Writing. 



The first, simplest and oldest is Thought Writing. This 

 in turn is subdivided into two forms, Ikonographic and S} T m- 

 bolic Writing. The former is also known as Imitative, Repre- 

 sentative or Picture Writing. The object to be held in memory 

 is represented by its picture, drawn with such skill, or lack of 

 skill, as the writer may possess. In Symbolic Writing, a single 

 characteristic part or trait serves to represent the whole object; 

 thus, the track of an animal will stand for the animal itself; a 

 representation of the peculiar round impression of the wolf's 

 foot, or the three-lined track of the Wild turkey, being amply suf- 

 ficient to designate those creatures. Even the rudest savages 

 practice both these forms of writing, and make use of them to 

 scratch on rocks, and paint on bark and hides, the record of their 

 deeds. 



It will be observed that Thought Writing has no reference to 

 spoken language ; neither the picture of a wolf, nor the represen- 

 tation of his footprint, conveys the slightest notion of the sound 

 of the word wolf. How was the enormous leap made from the 

 thought to the sound, in other words, from an ideographic to a 

 phonetic method of writing? 



This question has received considerable attention from schol- 

 ars with reference to the development of the two most important 

 alphabets of the world, the Egyptian and the Chinese. Both 

 these began as simple picture writing, and both progressed to 

 almost complete phoneticism. In both cases, however, the earli- 

 est steps are lost, and can be retraced only by indications re- 

 maining alter a high degree of phonetic power had been reached. 

 On the other hand, in the Mexican and probably in the Maya 

 hieroglyphics, we find a method of writing which is intermediate 

 between the two great classes I have mentioned, and which illus- 

 trates in a striking manner the phases through which both the 



