Commons:Hanzi Universalization/Design principles
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- Graphical simplicity is reserved for broadest universality. Concepts which are most broad and widely applicable are to be rendered in the most simple way, and these form the radical set.
- Semantic concept matrices, associate similar concepts graphically such that related terms are modified by a diacritic.
- Hanzi carries graphical contraints which must be respected. The intrinsic limitations of graphical strokes for representing increasingly complex concepts is understood. Increasing graphical complexity for sake of matching semantic complexity (expressiveness) breaks with the traditional model in an undesirable way. Marks which exceed the current system should be designated as diacritic elements, and, as with Kanji/Kana and Hiragana/Katakana boundaries, should follow strict rules for separation.
- There is no way to graphically represent in a simple way the large number of English suffix declensions in a 1:1 fashion. The use of diacritics mimics suffix declensions by requiring an in-context interpretation of the diacritic - the semantics of the character predefines what possible meanings the diacritics can have.