Ideogram -- "BEAUTY"

WB 022 l, originally uploaded by mmaammbr.

Ideogram is a symbol for an object. The Chinese/Japanese have not letters for their words(as far as I know the language has not letters like A B C D.....). They do not learn to speak their language by reading the symbols but by listening. This image is an ideogram or symbol for the word beauty but there are no letter sounds for the spoken word in this image only the image or picture of beauty. So the written language are more pictures than words used to describe the object/person/place/thing (here beauty) and not the spoken word we can hear.

Another explanation:

You use words with letters when you write. People learn to speak your language by listening to words or reading them using the letters to make the sounds for the words. Chinese and Japanese people listen to learn to speak their language. They are then told what the images mean- they have to learn symbols for everything. I understand they have thousands of symbols!