 For current purposes it is only necessary to note about this nomenclature that its terms divide between emphasizing that the graphs convey sounds (phonetics), which are in the majority, and a minority suggesting the graphs function basically as conveyers of ideas, or meanings, i.e., semantics (hereafter the more general terms “characters” and “graphs” will continue to be employed interchangeably). Within the general category of the characters there are smaller groupings, the names for which have been commonly agreed upon for some time. Three of these smaller groupings we must examine briefly.