Heterogram ( classical compound: " different" + " written") is a term used mostly in the study of ancient texts for a special kind of a logogram consisting of the embedded written representation of a word in a foreign language, which does not have a spoken counterpart in the main (matrix) language of the text. In most cases, the matrix and embedded languages share the same script. While from the perspective of the embedded language the word may be written either phonetically (representing the sounds of the embedded language) or logographically, it is never a phonetic spelling from the point of view of the matrix language of the text, since there is no relationship between the symbols used and the underlying pronunciation of the word in the matrix language. In English, the written abbreviations '' e.g.'', '' i.e.'', and '' viz.'' are sometimes read respectively as "for example", "that is", and "namely". When read this way, the abbreviations for the Latin phrases ''exempli gratia'', ''id est'', and ''videlicet'' are being used logographically to indicate English phrases which are rough translations. Similarly, the

ampersand The ampersand, also known as the and sign, is the logogram , representing the conjunction "and". It originated as a ligature of the letters ''et''—Latin for "and". Etymology Traditionally in English, when spelling aloud, any letter that ...

⟨&⟩, originally a ligature for the Latin word '' et'', in many European languages stands logographically for the local word for "and" regardless of pronunciation. This can be contrasted with the older way of abbreviating '' et cetera''—'' &c.''—where ⟨&⟩ is used to represent ''et'' as a full loanword, not a heterogram. Heterograms are frequent in

cuneiform script Cuneiform is a logo-syllabic script that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Middle East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. It is named for the characteristic wedge-sha ...

s, such as the Akkadian cuneiform, which uses

Sumerian Sumerian or Sumerians may refer to: *Sumer, an ancient civilization **Sumerian language **Sumerian art **Sumerian architecture **Sumerian literature **Cuneiform script, used in Sumerian writing *Sumerian Records, an American record label based in ...

heterograms, or the Anatolian cuneiform, which uses both

and Akkadian heterograms. In Middle Iranian scripts derived from the Aramaic scripts (such as the Pahlavi scripts), all logograms are heterograms coming from Aramaic.Encyclopedia Iranica
Huswāreš
Sometimes such heterograms are referred to by terms identifying the source language such as " Sumerograms" or "Aramaeograms". Another example is kanji in Japanese, literally "

Sinogram Sinogram may refer to: * Sinograph, a Chinese character (''Hanzi''), especially when used in a different language * Radon transform In mathematics, the Radon transform is the integral transform which takes a function ''f'' defined on the plane ...

s" or "Han characters".

References

{{Reflist * Encyclopedia Iranica
Ideographic Writing
Communication design Graphic design Pictograms Writing systems Multilingualism

See also

References