Writing and Civilization: From Ancient Worlds to Modernity Season 1 Episode 8 The Five Pillars of Decipherment

First, get an introduction to the five preconditions or "pillars" necessary for decipherment to be possible, paying particular attention to the first pillar, known as script type. Then turn to the typology of the three main categories of signs found across the world--logograms, phonograms, and semantic signs--and consider how these signs are combined in different writing systems.