Complex network perspective on graphic form system of Hanzi.

Saved in:

Bibliographic Details
Title:	Complex network perspective on graphic form system of Hanzi.
Authors:	Hu, Jiajia¹, Wang, Ning¹
Source:	Literary & Linguistic Computing. Dec2013, Vol. 28 Issue 4, p660-667. 8p. 3 Diagrams, 3 Charts, 2 Graphs.
Subjects:	Chinese writing, Phonetics, Communication network analysis, Graph theory, Morphemics
Abstract:	According to Saussure (Saussure and Harris, 2001), there are two systems of writing. Phonetic systems try to respond to the succession of sounds that make up a word, based on the irreducible elements used in speaking. In an ideographic system, each word is represented by a single sign that is unrelated to the sounds of the word itself, but expresses the idea which the word represents. The classic example of an ideographic writing system is Chinese. There is a common misunderstanding that treats each Chinese character as a separate sign. Hanzi (the system of Chinese Characters) serves as a kind of common information carrier created and shared by the whole Chinese society, and as such it is obviously neither disorderly nor unsystematic. On the contrary, there must be some intrinsic laws that make Hanzi the most mature ideographic system in the world. As Complex Network analysis has become an effective tool to analyze complex systems, this article aims to use some of these methods to identify such intrinsic laws of the Hanzi system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
	Copyright of Literary & Linguistic Computing is the property of Oxford University Press / USA and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database:	Engineering Source

Description
Abstract:	According to Saussure (Saussure and Harris, 2001), there are two systems of writing. Phonetic systems try to respond to the succession of sounds that make up a word, based on the irreducible elements used in speaking. In an ideographic system, each word is represented by a single sign that is unrelated to the sounds of the word itself, but expresses the idea which the word represents. The classic example of an ideographic writing system is Chinese. There is a common misunderstanding that treats each Chinese character as a separate sign. Hanzi (the system of Chinese Characters) serves as a kind of common information carrier created and shared by the whole Chinese society, and as such it is obviously neither disorderly nor unsystematic. On the contrary, there must be some intrinsic laws that make Hanzi the most mature ideographic system in the world. As Complex Network analysis has become an effective tool to analyze complex systems, this article aims to use some of these methods to identify such intrinsic laws of the Hanzi system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
ISSN:	02681145