Source a: in the 3000s bce, the earliest system of writing
in mesopotamia was based on images that looked like,
and represented, physical things. for example, a trader
might have drawn a picture of a donkey to indicate the sale
of a donkey. over time, these images evolved into abstract
characters, wedges of different configurations
representing things and ideas. by the 2000s bce, they no
longer bore any resemblance to the things they stood for,
just as groups of letters in english do not look like the
things they signify.
source b: the first evidence of chinese writing appeared
on bone fragments as early as 1600 bce. each symbol
resembled something tangible, such as a horse or an eye.
from these original symbols, an entire writing system
emerged that survives to the present day. however, most
chinese pictograms no longer bear any resemblance to
what they signify. over the years, scribes developed a
shorthand that allowed for faster writing, simplifying what
used to be complete pictures into symbols made up of a
few quick brushstrokes.
which claim synthesizes information from both sources ?