A.K. Eyma wrote:

>
> Hi all,
>
> A question about logographs and ideographs came up on another list,
> and I would like to ask your opinion.
>
> The "+" sign in the English language, is it a logograph or a
> ideograph?
>
> 1) One party says: ideograph, as it is conceptual, depending upon
> context it can mean: added to, as well as, with, enhanced, moreover;
> it has no single fixed meaning. Its meaning is always determined by
> context. In circuitry, it signals positive polarity, in "B+ students"
> "with a higher grade than a mere B", in "C + +" it means yet
> something else (very updated), etc.

Irrelevancies.

> 2) The other party says: logograph, for it always represents the
> word "plus"; that the word "plus" can have different shades of
> meaning according to the context is a totally different issue.
> The "+" sign itself does not convey an idea of addition or
> another meaning.

No. "1 + 1 = 2" can be pronounced "One and one is two."

> Who is right?
>
> As a side note - has anyone here heard about the term "Scriptologist"
> and would anyone here call him/herself thus?

No.
--
Peter T. Daniels grammatim@...