An interesting little table about writing systems.
| Script | System |
|---|---|
| Sumerian / Akkadian cuneiform | Logographic / syllabary / abjad |
| Egyptian hieroglyphs | Logographic |
| Chinese characters | Phonosemantic characters* |
| Japanese kana | Impure** syllabary |
| Phoenecian alphabet | Abjad |
| Hebrew alphabet | Abjad |
| Arabic alphabet | Abjad |
| Greek alphabet | Alphabet |
| Latin alphabet | Alphabet |
| Nagari | Alphabet |
(*) Because of phonetic shift, now logograms in practice
(**) Almost all writing systems are impure to some degree
The path of evolution seems to be hieroglyphs => Phoenician => All other alphabets and abjads
And, of course, Chinese characters => kana.
But the question that is most fascinating is what the connection is between the three ancient root systems of cuneiform, hieroglyphs, and Chinese characters: they all rely heavily on logograms, and they were all connected by trade roots. Did, one asks, hieroglyphs and Chinese characters evolve from – or under the influence of – cuneiform or were they invented by their native populations?