this post was submitted on 23 Jun 2026
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For example: 漢字 from both 日本語 (JP) and 中文 (ZH) are derivative from semantic concepts based on what they saw around them (when both languages were first created), kind of like this:

There's more examples of it I can come up with such as the following:

Also, both languages allow this writing orientation (R-L vertical):

I mean, they even have words that are "swapable" (mainly how characters are positioned but retain the same definition) as shown:

The thing is, both languages are logographic which allows for this form of conceptualization regarding vocabulary based on "shape":

That is in contrast with languages that use alphabets (as those are based on sound) while 日本語 (JP) and 中文 (ZH) are "pictorial" if that makes sense, meaning each character conveys a word or concept rather than a single letter that has no inherent definition.

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Can western languages be conveyed visually? Mostly no, it would be a huge stretch as the writing system isn't based around visual inspiration, just like you mentioned. But tbf, I think with Chinese & Japanese, you'll find many words that aren't easily conveyed visually either, or that have heavily transformed into obscurity over time.