Explorations in Bible lands during the 19th century - H. V. Hilprecht

DURING 19 CENTURY: HITTITES 773
made it possible to determine many other word-groups,
which occurring perhaps only once and in unfamiliar connections
could otherwise not have been recognized as
such.
Then it was easily seen that the same word in the
same case and always with the same meaning might still be
written differently. Particularly striking was the use of
two symbols which could be written or left out at pleasure
anywhere in the word, whether beginning, middle, or end.
Consideration
of the Egyptian hieroglyphic writing, where
in Egyptian words the vowels almost invariably are not
represented, while in foreign words they may be written or
not, at will, suggested at once that these two signs stand
for vowels. At all events it is improbable, a priori, that
spoken
writing.
consonants should have been left unrepresented in
But this arbitrariness in the representation of the vowels
is not the only cause of the variety of the word-figures.
One and the same word may be represented in each of the
following ways: i. By means of a single sign which stands
for that word and for no other. 2. By means of this sign
in company with other signs found also in the groups for
other words. 3. By means of these latter signs unaccompanied
by the first. The following scheme will explain the
statements made. Suppose K is the symbol with the meaning
" king ;
" a and b the other symbols. Then the word for
" king " may be written as follows : 1. K }
1. a-b, 3. K-a-b,
4. a-b-K, 5. a-K-b, 6. a-K, 7. K-b. A word may therefore
be represented : 1. ideographically, i. e., by means of a
sign standing for the idea expressed by the word, and for
this word itself; 2. phonetically, i. e., by means of the signs
representing sounds of this word and primarily for its
consonants
; 3. by a combination of the ideographic and phonetic
methods, in which the latter is to be held explanatory
of the former.