Sinographic

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Pertaining to or characteristic of Chinese characters used in writing systems; relating to the study or use of these logograms; connected with the visual form or structure of Chinese script
2. Concerning symbols derived from or inspired by Chinese writing; involving the analysis or application of the Chinese character set; associated with the graphical elements of Chinese logographic representation
3. Involving or concerning the classical Chinese writing style; tied to the use or interpretation of Chinese ideograms; referring to the traditional system of Chinese written symbols and their cultural context

Etymology: "Sinographic" is built from "sinography" plus the adjective-forming suffix "-ic". The base, "sinography," combines the combining form "sino-", from Greek "Sinai" or Latin "Sinae" (the Chinese), with the Greek "-graphia," meaning writing or recording. Taken together, "sinography" names the writing system of Chinese characters, and "sinographic" describes anything relating to those characters or to the graphic principles they embody. The "-ic" ending is the ordinary English suffix that turns a noun into an adjective, as in "geographic" from "geography" or "photographic" from "photography." Its appearance here follows the same pattern, so the word is a straightforward formation rather than an older term with a long history. Its meaning is therefore transparent: a sinographic symbol is one whose form comes from Chinese writing, and a sinographic analysis is one that examines the character set itself.

Synonyms: chinese character based, hanzi related, chinese script