The metonymic determinatives in Egyptian and Chinese writing

Abstract

A determinative, also known as a “classifier,” is an ideogram utilized within a phonogram-ideogram compound, a common feature in ideographic-phonographic writing systems. It functions as a semantic indicator for the hosting word. Both ancient Egyptian and Chinese scripts extensively employed metonymic determinatives, which indicate the meaning of their hosting words in a metonymic manner. This article compares the use of metonymic determinatives in these two scripts and summarizes five underlying metonymic models through the analysis of numerous examples. Additionally, the cultural influences affecting the selection of metonymic determinatives are explored.