To see language and writing as symbols is a new and effective approach to investing their origin. In this thesis, the author first reviews Secondly, the author discusses various theories on the origin of language Postulated by scholars before and during the twentieth century, and points out that the key to turning animal language into human language is in the act of metaphorical transference, i. e., turning sound into symbol. The typology, the internal structures, and the related changes in symbols, and the basic units in the human conceptual world are examined thereafter. In the final chapter, the author discusses the process and the principles of the invention of writing on the basis of three indigenous systems, i.e., Chinese, Egyptian and Mesopotamian. The author also concludes with a summary of his theory on the genesis of language and writing.
