demotic script

demotic script

      Egyptian hieroglyphic writing of cursive form that was used in handwritten texts from the early 7th century BC until the 5th century AD. Demotic script derived from the earlier pictographic hieroglyphic inscriptions and the cursive hieratic script, and it began to replace hieratic writing during the reign of Psamtik I (664–610 BC). By the 5th century BC, demotic script had come into use everywhere in Egypt for business and literary purposes, although hieratic remained in use for religious texts. The demotic script began to be displaced by Greek during the Ptolemaic period (304–30 BC), but hieratic graffiti left by the priests of Isis at Philae date from as late as AD 452.

      The term demotic is also used for the everyday form of any language that has developed alternative (“high” versus “low”) levels of expression, such as in Greek (Greek language) and Arabic (Arabic language).

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  • Demotic script — noun a simplified cursive form of the ancient hieratic script Demotic script was eventually replaced by Greek • Syn: ↑Demotic • Hypernyms: ↑hieratic, ↑hieratic script …   Useful english dictionary

  • Demotic (Egyptian) — Demotic Type Abjad augmented by …   Wikipedia

  • demotic — 1. adjective a) Of or for the common people. demotic script is a simplified, cursive form of hieroglyphs used in ancient egypt. b) Of, relating to, or written in the vulgar form of ancient Egyptian hieratic writing. demotic Greek …   Wiktionary

  • demotic — /di mot ik/, adj. 1. of or pertaining to the ordinary, everyday, current form of a language; vernacular: a poet with a keen ear for demotic rhythms. 2. of or pertaining to the common people; popular. 3. of, pertaining to, or noting the simplified …   Universalium

  • demotic — de•mot•ic [[t]dɪˈmɒt ɪk[/t]] adj. 1) ling. cv of or pertaining to the current, ordinary, everyday form of a language; vernacular 2) ara of or pertaining to the common people; popular 3) ara ling. of or pertaining to the simplified form of… …   From formal English to slang

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  • Demotic — (Greek for of the people or folkish ) may refer to: Demotic Greek, a variety of the Greek language Demotic (Egyptian), a script and stage of the Egyptian language This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an …   Wikipedia

  • Demotic —     A cursive script developed from business Hieratic and introduced towards the end of the seventh century BC, demotic also had a distinctive grammar and new vocabulary. Mainly used for legal and administrative documents but also for some… …   Ancient Egypt

  • demotic — [dɪ mɒtɪk] adjective 1》 denoting or relating to the kind of language used by ordinary people; colloquial. 2》 denoting or relating to the form of modern Greek used in everyday speech and writing. Compare with katharevousa. 3》 denoting a simplified …   English new terms dictionary

  • Meroitic script — Infobox Writing system name=Meroitic languages=Meroitic and possibly Old Nubian type=Abugida time=300 BC to 600 AD fam1=Egyptian hieroglyphs fam2=Demotic script children=Old Nubian sample=Meroitic.png iso15924=MeroThe Meroitic script is an… …   Wikipedia

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