icographic 11
1976 Icographic
TABLE OF CONTENTS
2 Divergent and convergent tendencies of the Latin and Cyrillic (Russian) alphabet Albert Kapr
The author thinks it likely that there will be a gradual, step-by-step development of a phonetic system of writing which will encompass ever more languages. He traces the joint ancestry of both the Latin and Cyrillic alphabets and the debt that both owe to the early Greek alphabet.
9 Probing pictures for a lingua franca J B Deregowski
The author, a lecturer in psychology, discusses the commonly held notion that pictures might provide a lingua franca, free of all cultural and ethnic boundaries and equally comprehensible to all men. He suggests that such an idea is erroneous and that evidence from travellers, anthropologists and psychologists contradicts the layman's view. It would seem that members of many cultural groups find interpretation of pictures difficult.
10 Posters for Peace by Israeli design students Yarom Vardimon
The author briefly describes a poster project which he initiated at the Bezalel Academy in Jerusalem for final year graphic design students, on the theme "Israel wants Peace." He shows a selection of the work which they produced and each student contributes an explanatory note concerning the thinking that led to the solutions they offered to this difficult communication problem.
14 First steps on a thousand mile journey—part 2 Patrick Wallis Burke
Many layman think that the Chinese write in pictures and that their writing system is unphonetic. In his second article, the author explains how the Chinese phonetic system works and goes on to describe the special characters known as 'specifiers' or 'radicals.' He gives some examples of ways in which the radicals can bt: combined to give new meanings, and uses them to demonstrate how metaphors for human experience seem to have a universal quality.
22 The inadequacies of the Roman alphabet and proposed phonetic alphabet with concept-related phonograms Anthony J Rozak
The author describes a phonetic alphabet that he has designed, and the various factors that he took into account when devising it. Like Bernard Shaw, he believes that only by abandoning the Roman alphabet can one devise a sensible working tool for rendering the sound patterns of English and other languages. His 40 character alphabet provides cues for learners to conceptualise the varying functions of the individual letters. These he bases upon our present understanding of human speech production. He believes that his system is faster to write, comparatively easy to learn, and capable of better word-pattern recognition than the Roman alphabet. His ideas make a useful addition to the debate concern ing the improvement of English orthography.
27 Book review Peter Kneebone
Handbook of Pictorial Symbols: 3,250 examples from international sources. Rudolf Modley (with the assistance of William R Myers)
28 Comenius and visual education Jan Rajlich
The author contributes a short article concerning the life and work of the remarkable 17th century Czech teacher, philosopher and cleric, Jan Amos Komensky, or Comenius, as he was known in Latin. He was an undoubted pioneer in the field of pictorial education and many of his ideas about the processes of education still seem radical more than three hundred years after his death.