syllabary
Americannoun
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syllabaries
plural
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a list or catalog of syllables.
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a set of written symbols, each of which represents a syllable, used to write a given language.
the Japanese syllabary.
noun
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a table or list of syllables
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a set of symbols used in certain writing systems, such as one used for Japanese, in which each symbol represents a spoken syllable
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of syllabary
From the New Latin word syllabārium, dating back to 1580–90. See syllable, -ary
Vocabulary lists containing syllabary
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
In the early 1800s Cherokee polymath Sequoyah invented the Cherokee syllabary of written characters.
From Scientific American ● Apr. 10, 2023
Bouabré became convinced they were the remains of an ancient writing system, and he wanted to use them as the basis for a new alphabet, or syllabary.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 6, 2022
With a collaborator, Rozin devised an experimental curriculum that moved children through degrees of linguistic abstraction by teaching them Chinese logographs followed by a Japanese syllabary, and only then applying the same logic to English.
From New York Times ● Dec. 27, 2021
Or, going back to the beginning of this chapter and Sequoyah’s syllabary, you may choose to take inspiration from something linguistic, an expression or a way of talking that is associated with your culture.
From Textbooks ● Dec. 21, 2021
The characters he created represented syllables rather than letter sounds, so it is called a syllabary rather than an alphabet.
From "An Indigenous People’s History of the United States" by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
In addition, Japanese papers use flashy modern trappings such as airplanes, walkie-talkies and monotypes that can set some 2,200 Japanese syllabaries and Chinese ideographs.
From Time Magazine Archive
Some syllabaries persist today, the most important being the kana syllabary that the Japanese use for telegrams, bank statements, and texts for blind readers.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
Thus, the developmental sequence of uses for alphabetic writing was the reverse of that for the earlier systems of logograms and syllabaries.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
Most such tailor-made systems modify existing alphabets, though some instead design syllabaries.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
Shortly afterward, orientalists made great discoveries in the Mesopotamian valley, but the inscriptions at Van did not tally with any syllabaries discovered up to that time, nor could they be translated in any known language.
From Armenian Legends and Festivals by Louis A. Boettiger
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