Meaning of rebus principle | Babel Free

Definitions

The idea of using ideograms as phonograms representing the sounds of the words expressed by the original ideograms.

Examples

“The principle of phonetic transfer is often called the rebus principle. Although the rebus principle of word-sign substitution in situations where there are like sounds was discovered by many diverse civilizations it was not fully exploited by most.”

“The rebus principle appears in both the Egyptian hieroglyphic and in the Chinese writing systems.”

“Once the rebus principle is accepted by a language in its written form, it is a natural step for such symbols to come to represent the sounds of syllables.”

“With the rebus principle, sound could be made visible in a systematic way, and abstract concepts symbolized.”

“The rebus principle supplemented the logographic principle and allowed full writing systems to develop.”

CEFR level