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determinative
Symbol in a logogram indicating meaning
EntityQ1201172
Also known as taxogram · semagram
- Subclass of
Overview
On other databases
5 identifiers linking determinative across the web's reference databases
Symbol in a logogram indicating meaning
Also known as taxogram · semagram
5 identifiers linking determinative across the web's reference databases
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · Read full article · Text CC BY-SA 4.0
A determinative, also known as a taxogram or semagram, is an ideogram used to mark semantic categories of words in logographic scripts which helps to disambiguate interpretation. They have no direct counterpart in spoken language, though they may derive historically from glyphs for real words, and functionally they resemble classifiers in East Asian and sign languages. For example, Egyptian hieroglyphic determinatives include symbols for divinities, people, parts of the body, animals, plants, and books or abstract ideas, which helped in reading but were not pronounced.