graphics

in linguistics, a system of rules for the transition from graphemes and their combinations to phonemes and their combinations, or vice versa. These rules are necessitated by the fact that in no language do the phonemic and grap. hemic systems coincide completely. On the one hand there are phonemes to which graphic combinations correspond (for example, [∫]~ sh in the English writing system), but this correspondence does not follow from the fact that the grapheme s corresponds to the phoneme [s] or [z] and the grapheme h to the phoneme [h] or zero. On the other hand, graphemes having no phonemic parallels at all outside certain graphic combinations do exist (for example, q is not encountered in most Western European writing systems other than in the combination qu). The term “graphics” is often used to designate an entire set of devices that are specifically for written speech (graphemes, punctuation marks, and differences in typeface).