This chapter describes the history of writing, including theories of its origin and important principles of its development and diversification. It surveys and contrasts some of the major types of writing and writing systems from Sumerian to English.
这一章描述了写作的历史，包括写作起源的理论以及写作发展和多样化的重要原则。它调查和对比一些主要类型的写作和写作系统从苏美尔语到英语。

Throughout the world in prehistoric times people made pictures on stone, by carving and painting. Some of these pictures, especially on the walls of caves, have survived until today, and some of these are dated from 35,000 years ago. Reproduced as figure 21.1 is an example of cave painting from Altamira, Spain, estimated to date from about $15,000\mathrm{BC}$$15,000\mathrm{BC}$15,000BC15,000 \mathrm{BC}.
在世界各地的史前时代，人们通过雕刻和绘画在石头上作画。其中一些图片，特别是洞穴墙壁上的图片，一直保存到今天，其中一些可以追溯到35，000年前。图21 - 1是西班牙阿尔塔米拉洞穴壁画的一个例子，估计年代约为公元前0世纪。

But pictures are not writing. In writing, visual signs are in a regular relation to language, and persons who know a writing system will interpret its signs very similarly. Pictures may be in a more or less regular relation to reality but in no regular relation to language: one person will interpret a picture in certain words and another in others. Those who made prehistoric paintings probably hoped their work would be seen and understood, but in the absence of such a regular relationship with language, their thoughts in painting the pictures are unlikely to be reproduced in the minds of persons seeing the pictures later.
但图画不是文字。在书写中，视觉符号与语言有着规律的关系，了解一种书写系统的人会非常相似地解释它的符号。图片可能与现实或多或少有规律的关系，但与语言没有规律的关系：一个人会用某些词语解释一幅图片，而另一个人会用其他词语解释另一幅图片。史前绘画的人可能希望他们的作品能被人看到和理解，但由于缺乏与语言的这种常规关系，他们在绘画中的思想不太可能在后来看到这些图片的人的头脑中重现。
To regularly and reliably reproduce one’s ideas in the minds of others, later, writing would be needed, and writing evolved a little over 5,000 years ago, perhaps from pictures.
为了在他人的头脑中定期可靠地复制自己的想法，后来，需要书写，而书写在5,000多年前演变而来，可能是从图片中演变而来的。

Figure 21.1 Cave painting, Altamira, Spain, ca. 15,000 BC Source: Brevil and Obermaier 1935
图21 - 1西班牙阿尔塔米拉洞穴壁画资料来源：Brevil and Obermaier 1935

Human societies have almost certainly been using languages for at least 40,000 years (and much, much, longer, according to most opinions), but the earliest known writing dates from perhaps 3200 BC , or 5,200 years ago. This first writing is Sumerian, which was used in the kingdom of Sumer in the region of modern-day Iraq.
几乎可以肯定，人类社会使用语言的历史至少有4万年（根据大多数观点，时间要长得多），但已知最早的文字可能是公元前3200年，或5,200年前。第一种文字是苏美尔语，在今天伊拉克地区的苏美尔王国使用。
Sumerian writing was basically logographic. In logographic writing a sign or character of the writing system, a logogram, stands for a morpheme or simple word. Many of the earliest logograms of the earliest writing systems were picturelike, which is evidence that these writing systems evolved from pictures. Notice the picture-like qualities of the seven logograms of the four early logographic writing systems Sumerian, Egyptian, Hittite, and Chinese, shown in figure 21.2 (Carter and Schoville 1984, p. 3).
苏美尔人的文字基本上是用语标来书写的。在语标书写中，书写系统的符号或字符，即语标符号，代表词素或简单单词。最早的文字系统中的许多最早的语标都是图画状的，这证明了这些文字系统是从图画进化而来的。注意图21 - 2所示的四种早期语标书写系统（苏美尔语、埃及语、赫梯语和汉语）的七个语标图（Carter and Schoville，1984，p.3）。
Picture-like characters at the early stage of logographic writing are sometimes termed pictograms. At this early stage, it is likely that pictographic characters were often somewhat broad in interpretation. The Sumerian character based on the picture of a mouth, for example, could mean ‘mouth’, ‘tooth’, ‘speak’, or ‘word’ (Green 1989, p. 46). Pictographic characters with this quality are sometimes termed ideograms.
在语标书写的早期阶段，图画状的字符有时被称为象形文字。在这个早期阶段，象形文字在解释上可能有些宽泛。例如，苏美尔人的文字基于嘴的图画，可以表示“嘴”、“牙齿”、“说话”或“话语”（绿色，1989年，第46页）。具有这种性质的象形文字有时被称为表意文字。
Sumerian Egyptian Hittite Chinese
苏美尔人埃及人赫梯人汉语

Figure 21.2 Seven logograms of four early logographic writing systems Source: Carter and Schoville 1984
图21 - 2四种早期语标书写系统的七个语标（来源：Carter and Schoville 1984）

The earliest Egyptian writing is not quite as old as Sumerian, from perhaps 3000 Bc . It is possible that Egyptian writing was originally inspired by Sumerian, but underwent quite independent development. Probably a fully independent development was Chinese writing, from about 1200 BC , as probably also was Mayan writing, which arose in Mexico and Central America from about ad 250.
最早的埃及文字并不像苏美尔文字那么古老，大约是公元前3000年。埃及文字可能最初受到苏美尔人的启发，但经历了相当独立的发展。大约从公元前1200年开始，中国文字可能是一个完全独立的发展，大约从公元250年开始在墨西哥和中美洲出现的玛雅文字可能也是如此。

There is a theory (Schmandt-Besserat 1989) that writing does not originate directly from pictures, but from ‘tokens’ - small, variously shaped, clay objects. From about 8,000 years ago, the Sumerians and subsequent ancient peoples of Mesopotamia employed a method of inventory keeping which used small clay tokens to represent commodities, for example vases, and sheep. The tokens were distinct by shape and sometimes were carved, and were symbolic signs - not recognizably likenesses of the commodity they represented.
有一种理论（Schmandt-Besserat 1989）认为，文字并不直接来源于图片，而是来自“令牌”-小的，形状各异的粘土物体。从大约8,000年前开始，苏美尔人和后来的美索不达米亚的古代民族就采用了一种存货管理的方法，用小的粘土代币来代表商品，例如花瓶和羊。这些代币形状独特，有时是雕刻的，是象征性的符号--与它们所代表的商品不太相似。

Figure 21.3 Sumerian clay tablet (ca. 4000 BC ) with sheep sign and impressions Source: Schmandt-Besserat 1989
图21 - 3苏美尔人的泥板（约公元前4000年）带有羊标志和印记资料来源：Schmandt-Besserat 1989

Sometimes, probably for the purpose of recording transactions or to show specific ownership, the tokens were sealed in spherical clay envelopes. At a later period these clay envelopes were impressed with the shapes of the tokens they enclosed, presumably as a helpful redundancy or accuracy-check on their contents.
有时，可能是为了记录交易或显示具体的所有权，代币被密封在球形粘土信封中。后来，这些粘土信封上印上了它们所包含的代币的形状，大概是为了对它们的内容进行有用的冗余或准确性检查。
Then, over 5,000 years ago, before the appearance of Sumerian writing, the tokens were omitted altogether. Their shapes in the surface of the clay exenvelope, now just a tablet, had apparently been found simpler and even superior for the record-keeping purpose. As figure 21.3 is a picture of such a clay tablet, of six thousand years ago; the tablet has the Sumerian logogram for sheep $\oplus$$\oplus$o+\oplus, with five impressions next to it (Schmandt-Besserat 1989, p. 38). These shapes or impressions in clay may have evolved into characters of the Sumerian writing system.
然后，5,000多年前，在苏美尔文字出现之前，这些标记被完全省略了。他们的形状在粘土信封的表面，现在只是一个片剂，显然被发现更简单，甚至上级的记录保存的目的。图21.3是一张6000年前的泥板的图片，泥板上有苏美尔语的字母“羊”，旁边有5个印记（Schmandt-Besserat，1989，第38页）。这些粘土的形状或印记可能已经演变成苏美尔文字系统的字符。
This theory explains the steps from iconic representation - in this case not pictures but little sculptures - to logographic writing, an explanation in which each step was a reasonably small and perhaps inevitable one.
这一理论解释了从图像表征--这里不是图片，而是小雕塑--到语标文字的步骤，在这种解释中，每一步都是相当小的，也许是不可避免的。

Sumerian writing is known as cuneiform, for the wedge-shaped tool (Latin cuneus ‘wedge’) used to inscribe characters in wet clay. Curves and angles of the early pictographic signs were straightened and details were omitted in the evolution of these into cuneiform symbolic signs, as seen in the chart of figure 21.4, which shows such evolution in six cuneiform characters (Green 1989, p. 45).
苏美尔人的文字被称为楔形文字，因为楔形工具（拉丁文cuneus 'wedge'）用于在湿粘土上雕刻字符。早期象形符号的曲线和角度在演变成楔形符号的过程中被拉直，细节被省略，如图21.4的图表所示，该图表显示了六个楔形文字的演变（绿色1989年，第45页）。
＇hand＇  “手”

Figure 21．4 Evolution from icon to symbol of six Sumerian cuneiform characters， ca． 3200 to 800 BC
图21.4六个苏美尔楔形文字从图标到符号的演变公元前3200年至800年
Source：Reprinted from The Origins of Writing edited by Wayne M．Senner by permission of the Unurce：Reprintersity of Nebraska Press，copyright © by the University of Nebraska Press
资料来源：转载自韦恩M.塞纳编辑的《写作的起源》，经内布拉斯加大学出版社许可，版权所有
Univer

By gradual selective narrowing of meaning and stylizing and simplifying of form，the most useful and repetitious pictures，or token imprints，must have evolved interpretation as words，and eventually came to have full and fixed meanings as words．The result is writing－logographic writing．
通过逐渐选择性地缩小意义范围，使形式程式化和简单化，最有用和重复的图像，或象征性的印记，必然演变为文字的解释，并最终成为具有完整和固定意义的文字，其结果就是文字--语标文字。
Persons who consider this development an extraordinary human achievement， unlikely to have been duplicated at different times and places，tend to favor a Sumerian inspiration for all subsequent writing．Others，inclined to think that writing must have been a necessary and／or natural outcome of the human experi－ ence of language－use，picture－making，and socio－economic development，favor the likelihood of independent origins for Sumerian，Chinese，Egyptian，and other ancient writing systems．
有些人认为这种发展是人类非凡的成就，不太可能在不同的时间和地点被复制，倾向于支持苏美尔人对所有后续写作的灵感。其他人倾向于认为写作必须是人类语言使用，绘画和社会经济发展的必然和/或自然结果，支持苏美尔人，中国人，埃及人，和其他古老的书写系统
Mayan writing，which dates from about AD 250 in southern Mexico and Central America，presumably arose beyond the influence of the ancient Asian and Middle Eastern ancient writing systems－at least there is so far no convinc－ ing evidence of such influence．As Mayan and other ancient writing systems have become deciphered and better known，showing unique original forms but con－ siderable similarities of development with those of the ancient Middle East，the likelihood of the monogenesis of writing，a unique origin of writing subsequently copied elsewhere if in greatly transformed ways，seems less likely．
玛雅文字起源于公元250年左右的墨西哥南部和中美洲，据推测，它的出现超出了古代亚洲和中东古代文字系统的影响--至少到目前为止，还没有令人信服的证据表明这种影响。随着玛雅文字和其他古代文字系统被破译并广为人知，显示出独特的原始形式，但与古代中东的发展有相当大的相似性，文字的单一发生的可能性，一个独特的写作起源，随后复制到其他地方，如果在很大程度上改变的方式，似乎不太可能。

Figure 21．5 Evolution from icon to symbol of nine Chinese characters，ca． 1200 BC to AD 300
图21 - 5从图标到九个汉字符号的演变公元前1200年至公元300年
Source：Reprinted from The Origins of Writing edited by Wayne M．Senner by permission of the University of Nebraska Press，copyright © by the University of Nebraska Press
资料来源：转载自韦恩M.塞纳编辑的《写作的起源》，经内布拉斯加大学出版社许可，版权所有©内布拉斯加大学出版社

A largely logographic writing system in use today is Chinese，a direct descend－ ant of the ancient．Chinese logographic system the earliest traces of which date from about 3，200 years ago．In Chinese as in Sumerian，there was evolution from the iconic to the symbolic，as shown in figure 21．5，which shows this sort of change，over time，in nine Chinese characters．The first column of figure 21.5 presents pictures of which the characters of the third to fifth columns are thought to be simplifications（Keightley 1989，p．173）．
今天使用的一个主要的语标书写系统是汉语，它是古代语标的直接后裔。汉语语标系统最早的痕迹可以追溯到大约3,200年前。汉语和苏美尔语一样，从标志性的演变到象征性的，如图21.5所示，它显示了这种变化，随着时间的推移，图21.5的第一列显示的图片，第三至第五列的字符被认为是简化的（Keightley 1989，p.173）。

Numerals like 1 ＇one＇， 2 ＇two＇， 3 ＇three＇，and symbolic word substitutes like $\mathrm{\$}$$\mathrm{\$}$$\$＇dollar（s）＇，and $\sigma$$\sigma$sigma\sigma＇and＇are logograms，and are good illustrations of the use－ fulness of logograms，at least for very frequent meanings．Other mathematical logograms used around the world and found on a standard keyboard are \＃ ＇number＇，\％＇percent＇，＋＇plus＇，－＇minus＇，and＝＇equal（s）＇．
数字如1 'one'、2 'two'、3 'three'和符号词替代词如 $\mathrm{\$}$$\mathrm{\$}$$\$ 'dollar（s）'和 $\sigma$$\sigma$sigma\sigma 'and'都是语标符号，它们是语标符号的有用性的很好的例证，至少对于非常常见的含义是这样。世界各地使用的和标准键盘上使用的其他数学语标符号有\# 'number'、\ %'percent'、+'plus'、-'minus'和='equal（s）'。