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Article In: Written Language & Literacy
Vol. 29:2 (2026) ► pp.240–286

The relevance of heraldry to the study of writing systems

 | Sakana AI (Japan)
This content is being prepared for publication; it may be subject to changes.
Abstract
Writing, in the narrow sense, is a structured notation system encoding linguistic information, with a crucial component of any full-fledged writing system being symbols used to write sound. Suppose one has an ancient symbol system that had some of the functions of writing, such as identifying individuals, seemed highly structured, and apparently had mechanisms for encoding phonetics. Would such a system count as writing?
In this paper we examine two heraldic systems that have all of these properties and yet would not normally be classified as writing. We contrast these with Nahuatl writing, which is often considered to be a borderline case. We identify several features of the latter that set it apart from the former, thus offering more precision in deciding if a system passes the bar for writing. We discuss the implications of these results for a recent proposal suggesting that some khipu may have encoded phonetic information.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
    • 1.1Prelude
    • 1.2Heraldic symbols as names
  • 2.The centrality of phonetics and structure in writing
  • 3.A brief introduction to heraldry
  • 4.A brief introduction to kamon
  • 5.Canting and allusive arms; puns in kamon
  • 6.The prevalance of punning
  • 7.Structure in heraldry and kamon
  • 8.Some relevant comparisons
    • 8.1Nahuatl writing
    • 8.2Khipu
  • 9.Conclusions and limitations: Is phonetics enough?
  • Acknowledgments
  • Notes
  • Author queries
  • References
References (90)
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