Note 657 — Chapter XVII · THE AZTEC PICTURE-WRITING.

In the Egyptian development, a pictured mouth first signified the word ro, then the syllable ro, and finally the letter or sound r, although it is doubtful if they made much use of the third stage, except in writing some foreign words. Many of the Chinese pictures are double, one being determinative of sound, the other of sense; as if in English we should express the sound pear by a picture of the fruit of that name, the fruit pear by the same picture accompanied by a tree, the word pare by the same picture and a knife, the word pair by the picture and two points, etc. Humboldt, Vues, tom. i., pp. 177-9; Tylor's Researches, pp. 98-101.