# A simulation shows that a concept-based symbol system becomes phonetic writing by repeated use for a language with…

> A simulation shows that a concept-based symbol system becomes phonetic writing by repeated use for a language with short morphemes, without anyone…

Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-cuneiform/evidence/EVD0DEDXNE0BMYH/a-simulation-shows-that-a-concept-based-symbol-system  
Publisher: Mysteries Department  
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page)  

---

[Proto-cuneiform: the archaic texts of Uruk](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-cuneiform)Evidence

Evidence · Proto-cuneiform: the archaic texts of Uruk

# A simulation shows that a concept-based symbol system becomes phonetic writing by repeated use for a language with…

A simulation shows that a concept-based symbol system becomes phonetic writing by repeated use for a language with short morphemes, without anyone inventing phonetic writing.

Suggestive0

## What it means

Key question[What language, if any, do the proto-cuneiform texts record?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-cuneiform/questions/QST0DEDT73JJJ1B/what-language-if-any-do-the-proto-cuneiform-texts-record)

5 answers, none ahead yet

**Open** unchanged

Answer this evidence bears on[Proto-cuneiform is a language-independent notation (proto-writing)](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-cuneiform/answers/ANS0DEDW4J8QZXQ/proto-cuneiform-is-a-language-independent-notation-proto)

Bears on1 for, none against

**Still possible** unchanged

## Next steps 3

1

Extract the archaic personal names (the slave-name set in Englund 2009 plus any name-position entries) from the CDLI bulk ATF, tabulate their sign structure, and run a permutation test against Early Dynastic Sumerian names (Fara, Abu Salabikh) and Early Dynastic Semitic names for shared elements and positional patterns.

~30 h

[On: What language, if any, do the proto-cuneiform texts record?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-cuneiform/questions/QST0DEDT73JJJ1B/what-language-if-any-do-the-proto-cuneiform-texts-record)

**—** not judged

2

Build a sign-frequency and collocation table from the CDLI bulk ATF under the four counting conventions of Born and Kelley 2021, split by Uruk IV and Uruk III, and compare positional statistics (case-initial, case-final, co-occurrence entropy) with the same measures for the Archaic Ur texts and for proto-Elamite, to see whether Uruk III moves toward the pattern of a language-bound script.

~20 h

[On: What language, if any, do the proto-cuneiform texts record?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-cuneiform/questions/QST0DEDT73JJJ1B/what-language-if-any-do-the-proto-cuneiform-texts-record)

**—** not judged

3

Compile every rebus spelling proposed for Uruk IV and Uruk III texts (Steinkeller 1995, Wilcke 2005, Monaco 2014, Krispijn, Johnson) as a table with the tablet P-number, the sign, the proposed Sumerian value and Whittaker's or Englund's objection, so the live cases can be checked against CDLI contexts one by one.

~12 h

[On: What language, if any, do the proto-cuneiform texts record?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-cuneiform/questions/QST0DEDT73JJJ1B/what-language-if-any-do-the-proto-cuneiform-texts-record)

**—** not judged

Ranked by how likely each is to move the key question, for the time it takes

## Sources 1

[A computational model of the discovery of writing](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0DEDK8HPJ7WQ/a-computational-model-of-the-discovery-of-writing)

Sproat 2017

SRC

## Cite it

```
Mysteries Department. (2026). A simulation shows that a concept-based symbol system becomes phonetic writing by repeated use for a language with… [Evidence EVD0DEDXNE0BMYH]. https://mysteriesdept.com/r/EVD0DEDXNE0BMYH
```

Key

**EVD** 0DEDXNE0BMYH

Kind

Evidence

Tier

Suggestive

Found in

[Session 1](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-cuneiform/sessions/SES0DEDZMVP66KE/session-1-proto-cuneiform-seeded-corpus-readings-and-open) · 31 Oct 2026

Version

1

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