История письма и чтения. Асафова Г.К. - 41 стр.

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But pictographic signs and logographic scripts with a limited, readily

learnable set of graphs are restricted to expressing a limited range of meanings.

Syllabaries are highly ambiguous and hence dependent on knowledge not only of

the script but also on the likely content of the message. Syllabaries therefore serve

a restricted set of functions, primarily personal correspondence. They are of limited

use in expressing novel meanings that could be read in the same way by all readers

of the script. Consonantal and alphabetic writing systems can express essentially

all the lexical and grammatical meanings in the language (but not the intonation)

and are thus highly suitable for the expression of original meanings. They

constitute an ideal medium for technical, legal, literary, and scientific texts that

must be read in the same way by readers dispersed in both time and space.

The ease of acquisition of a script is an important factor in determining

whether a script remains the possession of an elite or whether it can be

democratized, that is, turned into a possession of ordinary people. Syllabaries are

readily learned, but their residual ambiguity tends to restrict their uses. Alphabets

have been viewed by many historians as decisive in the democratization of writing;

alphabetic writing could become a possession of ordinary people and yet serve a

full range of functions. But even in a literate society, most readers learn to read

only a narrow range of written materials; specialized materials, such as those

pertaining to science or government, remain the domain of elites who have

acquired additional education.

The second factor determining the social breadth of the use of writing is the

range of functions that a script serves. The functions served are directly related to

the orthography. Early forms of writing served an extremely narrow range of

functions and were wholly unsuitable for others. While tokens served for simple

record keeping, and early Sumerian writing was useful for a range of

administrative purposes, a relatively complete script is required for writing

histories, edicts, treaties, and scientific and literary works that, to be useful, must

be read in the same way by all readers. Considerable scholarly controversy

surrounds the question of the role of the invention of more complete or explicit