Logosyllabary

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A Logosyllabary is a type of writing system whose symbols (or graphemes) can function as either logograms or as phonetic syllables (syllabaries) or both. A third class of symbols called determinatives sometimes also occur; these are silent ideograms which clarify the meaning of words written out phonetically. Logosyllabaries may contain anywhere between several hundred and several thousand symbols.

[edit] Examples of logosyllabic systems

• Maya glyphs
• Chinese characters
• Egyptian hieroglyphs
• Cuneiform