Miscellanea Curiosa, Vol. 3 · Royal Society
ΛΟΥΚΙΟΥ ΑΥΡΗ[ΛΙ]ΟΥ ..... ΗΛΙΟΔΩΡΟΥ ΤΟΥ.
The third sort of Characters, is a decompounded sort being made up of two, three or more of those of the second kind, diminish'd proportionably in their size, either as to their length, or breadth, or both, from what they have in the same Writing when they are single and fill up the whole Letter square or Words square. For there being several of them to be crouded together within the same square, according as there are more in number, so they are always more squeezed together. In this decompound sort, there is a regular Order observed in the placing of the several Characters of the 2d sort; there being some that are always on the left side, some always on the right, some at the top, some at the bottom. Of which I doubt not but that they have a certain regular Method, which had we Dictionaries explained, would be easie enough to be discovered.
This method alone of crouding together all the Characters (how many soever go to make up the decompounded Character) into one square (which is of the same size for the most Simple and for the most Compound) seems to be the great singularity, by which the _Chinese_ Characters differ from those of all the rest of the World. And this I conceive has been the reason why all People, and possibly even the very _Chinese_ themselves have, and do believe it to be a real and not a literal Character: For if the primitive Language, or pronunciation of the Characters be lost (as I conceive it is) and that the disposition, order, method, texture, or manner of placing the more simple in the more compound Characters be also lost, forgotten, or not understood; then the whole Characters becomes a real and not a literal Character: And an immethodical one to such as want a method, that must be learned by rote, and depend wholly upon the strength of the Memory to retain it. But I conceive it might be at first either a literal Character, and so the whole square Character was composed of so many distinct Letters or Syllables, which composed the Word signified thereby; and so there might be a regular Order of placing these Letters in the Character, that is, that the whole square being divided into so many parts, there was a Rule which was the first, second, third and fourth place: so that there being placed in those the several Letters that made up the Word, according to the order they had in the Word, it was easie by that Rule to Decipher the said Character, and thence to find the Word and the Signification, as regularly as if the Letters had been written one after another, as most other literal Characters we know are at this Day written.
Or Secondly, it might be a real Character consisting of divers Marks or Letters, that expressed so many simple Notions, several of which joined together might make up the more compounded Characters, of which I have added some Examples in the Plate, which may be also made literal and pronounceable, tho' that consideration were not made use of, when they were first invented. What things I have observed in my _Chinese_ Books that seem to respect this Method, I will give more particulars of by the next opportunity, by Printing a Specimen of the Book _Ye-kim_ which explicated by these Notions will I conceive appear more intelligible, than by the Accounts we find given of it by the _Chinese_ Commentators, and those that have Translated them into _Latin_, who seem not to have understood the true design thereof: For both the _Chinese_ and _European_ Commentators assert it to be a Conjuring Book, or a Book to tell Fortunes by, and to be made use of by the _Chinese_ for that purpose; whereas by the small Specimen I have seen of it, I conceive it to contain the whole Ground, Rule or Grammar, of their Character, Language and Philosophy, and that by the understanding of it, the Foundation and Rule of their Language and Character may be without much difficulty Deciphered and Understood.
The present use of this Character, I conceive to be differing from what it was at first, both as to the position of Writing and Reading it, and as to the Expression and Pronunciation thereof. For the way of Writing and Reading it, I conceive might at first be exactly the same with that of the _Greeks_, _Romans_, _English_, and all other _European_ Nations, and also the _Æthiopick_ and _Coptick_. That is, they began at the top of the Page towards the left Hand, and so proceeded towards the right in the _Horizontal_ Line to the end of it, and then began at the left end of the next Line under the first and proceeded with that in the same manner, and so with the next under that and all the remaining. Continuing to Write the Words of the Line towards the right Hand, and the Lines of the Page one under another till the whole Discourse were compleated, joyning Leaf to Leaf one under another, after the same manner as the Rouls are at present Writ, and as the _Volumina_ were of the Ancients.
And to make the parts of the Volume to be the more easily to be come at, without the trouble of rolling and unrolling as the Ancient _Romans_ did, and we do with our Rouls, they contrived to fold them, like the folds of a Fan, forwards and backward: And so stitching them together, that the Written sides might lie outwards, and open freely one from another, and the fair sides might meet together, it came to make the present form of their Book, which being laid as we generally place our Books before us, they seem to begin at the top of the Page on the right Hand, and to proceed to the bottom, and then at the top of the next Line towards the left Hand, and descend as in the former; proceeding in this order with all the rest, which way must needs be very inconvenient for Writing, however they may use their Pencil differing from our Pen. Though there be a way of Writing from the top to the bottom of the Page, which is very convenient for Writing the _Syriack_, as also for Writing _Latin_, _English_, or _Greek_, where the Writing is to be used for cutting the Stamps of Wood, or graving of Copper Plates with the same Character for Printing, in which Cases the Letters must be written backwards.
Secondly, as to the Pronunciation of this Character, by the Court Language, or by any other now used, I conceive it to be wholly differing from that of a literal Character, that is from being pronounced or spoken according to the Marks or Figures thereof, whether they be simple or compounded, and made up of simple Characters (though there are some Instances of affinity in Characters and Words.) The reason of which differing pronunciation I conceive may have proceeded, partly from the loss of the primitive Language, for which it was made, partly from a most inconvenient affection of Monosyllabical Words in this Court Language, to help the Poverty of which, they are fain to make one Syllable to signifie many differing Notions, to do which they have introduced a kind of Musical toning or accenting of each of them, and not single but compound of two or three Tones to each signification of every one of these Monosyllables: Partly from the using of this way of Writing, by divers Nations of differing Languages, who minding only the Figure and Signification, read it into their own Mother Tongues, as we in _Europe_ do Arithmetical Figures: And partly, also from the omission of most Grammatical Distinctions, the same Character serving for Substantive and Adjective, Singular and Plural, in all Cases, (save only they have some Characters for Particles, as _of_ and _to_ in English) for the Verb in all Tenses, and Numbers, _&c._ for the abstract and the concrete Signification, and for divers Metaphorical; if at least the Interpretation I have met with in the Books I have perused be exact: Partly, also from the _Syntaxis_ of them, it being necessary to consider the whole Sentence, to discover which part of Speech each Character is of, in that Sentence, wherein the Order and Positions of the Characters to one another, for which they have Rules, hath its signification: And lastly, from the loss of the very Notion of a literal Character, whence for the expressing of proper Names, they are fain to make use of several Characters, whose Sounds or Words come nearest to the Sounds of the Syllables of that Name, as in the Plate _tam. jo, van_, for _Adam.
Jovan_. Now, though I conceive this Character is not effable properly as a literal Character by any of their present Languages: And though possibly it might be at first a real Character, that is each of them compounded of such Strokes or Marks as by their Figures, Positions and Numbers in the square, denoted the several Philosophical Ingredients, that made up the Notion of the whole Character, as the Book _Ye-Kim_ seems to shew by giving Rules as I conceive for the Order and Significancy of places in the Square, _&c._ Yet I think it not difficult to make it a Literal, or at least a Syllabical Character, and legible into a Language somewhat after the manner of the Universal Character I mentioned before. And tho' this would not be the primitive Language for which it was made, yet for the present uses of it (the chiefest of which is the assisting and refreshing the Memory, and helping the Imagination by proper Sounds) it might be as good: Wherein the single Characters might be Monosyllables and the compounded Dissyllables, Trissyllables, _&c._ According to the Numbers and Order of simple Characters in the square of the Compounded. And I am apt to think that the present pronunciation of Languages, as of _Hebrew_, _Syriack_, _Arabick_, _Greek_ and _Latin_, or any other Language that has been so long Written, may be as much differing from what it was 2000 Years since, as an Arbitrary one now invented, and grounded on the Letters, might possibly be.
And such an arbitrary Pronunciation if generally agreed upon might serve _as well_ for a help to learn the signification of Words, or _Word Combinations_ of Characters, as if we now knew the exact primitive Pronunciations, as critically as the _Masorethæ_ are said to have done that of the _Hebrew_; and possibly also a _much better_, for that by such a one a great many irregularities and difficulties of Pronunciation (which are to be found in all Languages now spoken) might be omitted, and the whole made exactly regular and easie, as might be shewn in the _Hebrew_ and _Greek_, and especially in the _Arabick_, whose difficulties are sufficiently manifested by _Alphabetum Arabicum_, Printed at _Rome_ 1592. Now as by such a Language the Character might be made effable without Musical Tones or difficult Aspirations, so had we Dictionaries of the signification of the Characters, we might as soon learn the _Chinese_ Characters, as we can _Latin_, or any other Language to be learn'd by Book, and not by speaking.
Ideas discussed in this chapter
Text from Project Gutenberg, public domain in the United States.