I have considered that alphabet is a result of visual refinement˳ However, in its thousands of years’ history, albeit undergoing changes, Chinese didn’t develop into alphabet˳ Characters <1> remain complex over thousands of years’ development˳ Major simplification process hadn’t occurred until last century˳ Number of characters was increasing˳ The question is: why did simplification occur so late? What kept Chinese characters complex for thousands of years? Was legibility principle not taking effect on Chinese system? It should˳ There should be something that prevented Chinese from developing into alphabet˳ Let’s elaborate the concept of legibility˳
Proof
Visual info of text is taken in by eyes˳ Fit for reading denotes fit for being taken by the eyes˳ Legible writing should fit vision’s characteristics˳ One of vision’s characteristics is horizontal-vertical asymmetry˳ Adapted to natural environment, our eyes are shaped and aligned horizontally˳ We view broader horizontally than vertically˳ When looking forward, we detect info better in both sides than up/down˳ The eyes’ (vision’s) characteristics of reading in different directions correlate with writing’s characteristics in those directions˳ Horizontal and vertical readings’ essential difference has to do with the asymmetry between horizontal and vertical visual spans, which has anatomic and neuroscientific evidences˳ Horizontal visual span is larger than vertical visual span, as mentioned in [1] among others˳ It is consistent with the anatomy of macula (of retina), which is oval-shaped with long horizontal axis [2] [3]˳
We can see alphabetic system and Chinese have directional characteristic˳ Alphabetic systems are dominantly written horizontally while Chinese is traditionally written vertically˳ Alphabetic sequence is lengthened while Chinese characters are enclosed˳ That might be due to horizontal-vertical visual span asymmetry˳ Horizontal lengthening may have led to development into alphabet while enclosing results in complexity˳ Writing direction and complexity of symbols might be correlated˳ Let’s employ the vision’s characteristic to explain how symbols grow in horizontal/vertical directions˳
The best shape of a single symbol might be oval resembling macula˳ It would have greater width than height˳ When a sequence of symbols is read and one of the symbols is fixated, the eyes also take in info of symbols adjacent to the fixated symbol˳ The vision’s power is thus shared by the several adjoining symbols˳ If the visual span is larger, the symbols at and around fixation will be more simplified˳ Hence horizontally arranged symbols can be more simplified˳
Knowledge representation is achieved by growth of text˳ With respect to a symbol, text grows in two ways: internal growth and external growth˳ Through internal growth, a symbol becomes more complex˳ External growth is sequential combination of symbols into bigger linguistic units˳ Reading involves moving visual fixation from symbol to symbol˳ When a sequence of symbols is read, symbols next to the fixated are of interested˳ External growth of text is mainly in the forward direction as eyes strive to take them in˳ Competition exists between internal and external growths˳ When reading direction is same as larger visual span direction (horizontal), external growth is promoted˳ When reading direction is same as smaller visual span direction (vertical), internal growth is promoted˳
When text is arranged horizontally, external growth further simplifies symbols as horizontal visual span extends farther˳ Contextual effect leads visual span to extend further forward as people guess out meaning from text of less acuity˳ Rapid eye movement also contributes to simplification because less time is spent on each symbol˳ For instance, for left-right writing more symbols to the right are read than those to the left [4], probably more than the width of right visual span˳ Horizontal writing has undergone successful simplification, standardization and systematization into a small number of letters – alphabet˳
When symbols are arranged vertically, each symbol grows internally in accordance with the larger horizontal visual span then turns to next symbol˳ Conflict between text direction and stronger visual direction exists˳ Symbols are restricted into blocks, leading to logographic system˳ Top-down reading failed to lead to simplification of Chinese characters˳ On the contrary, characters were allowed to go more complex (Simple characters were also allowed to exist)˳ The limit of complexity is constrained by recognizability during reading˳ Although characters failed to simplify, by utilizing horizontal visual span, one can maximize the amount of visual info-being-read while maintaining sufficient acuity˳ Although characters are read as units, internal detail is needed to recognize a character and distinguish between characters˳ Characters are composed of smaller structural units, such as strokes and radicals, which are not as standardized as alphabets do˳ There is also no standardized order of combining them since visual span goes to any direction inside a character frame˳ Not towards alphabet, Chinese characters did evolve into their modern form that facilitates reading˳ They are square-shaped with to-some-extent standardized components and rules for their formation˳
Remark
In the present world, two types of incompatible writing systems exist˳ One is horizontal alphabetic system˳ The other is vertical logographic system˳ Representative for the former is Latin alphabet˳ Representative for the latter is Chinese system˳ Horizontality and verticality are responsible for these two types, respectively˳ Some vertical non-logographic systems, such as Mongolian script and Japanese syllabary, are intermediate systems influenced by these two types˳ These two types are both fit for reading, for their respective directions˳ One may think that written Chinese is primitive for it is poor in representing speech sounds˳ Here we point out that it is an advanced system in top-down direction˳ With that direction writing would never develop into alphabet on its own˳ When horizontal writing meets vertical writing, alphabetic system overpowers logographic system because horizontal extension is fitter for our eyes˳
Simplified Chinese and traditional Chinese coexist˳ The traditional Chinese should represent the genuine Chinese since simplification of Chinese characters was due to foreign influence˳ The simplification of Chinese characters was accompanied by change in writing direction˳ Change in direction is consistent with and also promotes simplification˳ Simplification and change from vertical to horizontal are in fact Chinese’s deviation from its essential nature˳ Character’s internal structure is less concerned about˳ People are now accustomed to reason basing on double- or multi-character words rather than single characters˳ There is debate whether simplification of Chinese is beneficial˳ Simply put, as Chinese system has turned into horizontal system, further simplification should be its future˳
Conclusion
The concept of legibility is elaborated˳ Text’s legibility is direction-dependent˳ Horizontal-vertical visual span asymmetry can be used to explain simplicity of horizontally arranged alphabetic symbols and complexity of vertically arranged Chinese characters˳
Symbol shape and direction are two aspects of writing˳ Evolution of symbols is direction-dependent˳ Writing direction changes to conform to the characteristic of vision˳
Footnote
<1> Refer to traditional Chinese characters except noted otherwise˳
Note
This article is an extension and complement of my another article “Visual Evolution of Writing Systems Towards Latin Alphabet – A Hypothesis” and could be extended from paragraph 1, section 2 of that article˳
References
[1] Insup Taylor, M˳ Martin Taylor˳ Writing and literacy in Chinese, Korean, and Japanese˳ John Benjamins Publishing Co, 1995˳Google Books, Web˳ 9 Nov 2011˳ Page 104˳
[2] http://balyeatretinasurgery˳com/AMD˳html
[3] John Herbert Parsons˳ An Introduction to the Study of Colour Vision˳ University Press, 1915˳ Google Books, Web˳ 9 Nov 2011˳ Page 13˳
[4] Gordon E˳ Legge˳ Psychophysics of reading in normal and low vision˳Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2006˳ Google Books, Web˳ 9 Nov 2011˳ Page 71˳
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