MEANING
ENGLISH: Back, spine
SPANISH: Espalda, columna
Families: Body parts, Image abstractions
EXPLANATION
This is the abstraction of a human spine. A lot of English verbs add the termination ‘’back’’ like call back, come back, etc. Remember that the symbol prompts you to hear a sound just like you hear the sound of words when you hear them. But you make sense of the sounds of the words with the context.
MEANING
ENGLISH: Bag, purse
SPANISH: Bolsa, bolso
Families: Image abstractions
EXPLANATION
This is the abstraction of a purse. I didn’t draw the full circle because of Gestalt (your brain completes the missing lines).
MEANING
ENGLISH: Football, soccer, ball
SPANISH: Fútbol, pelota, bola
Families: Image abstractions
EXPLANATION
This is the abstraction of a football ball.
MEANING
ENGLISH: Balloon, party, bladder
SPANISH: Globo, fiesta, vejiga
Families: Body parts, Image abstractions
EXPLANATION
This is the abstraction of a balloon.
MEANING
ENGLISH: Barrier, fence
SPANISH: Barrera, verja, valla
Families: Image abstractions, Lines
EXPLANATION
This is the abstraction of a fence.
MEANING
ENGLISH: Basic, support, base, tolerate, stable
SPANISH: Básico, soporte, base, tolerar, estable
Families: Lines
EXPLANATION
This is an abstraction and an arbitrary symbol. The vertical light is standing ‘’completely upright’’ on the horizontal line, it’s not wobbly, not bent, or inclined, which means the vertical line is strong enough to stand upright (support). The idea of ‘’basic’’ comes from the notion that if something is basic then there might be something advanced moving forwards, meaning that the basic units support or are the ‘’foundation’’ of the advanced ones.
MEANING
ENGLISH: Beautiful, beauty, pretty, gorgeous, cute, fancy
SPANISH: Lindo, hermoso, bonito, elegante, belleza
Families: Lines
EXPLANATION
This is an arbitrary symbol. It reminds me of beautiful, elegant fonts.
MEANING
ENGLISH: Because
SPANISH: Porque
Families: Connectors, Letters
EXPLANATION
The ‘’B’’ and the ‘’C’’ from ‘’Because’’
MEANING
ENGLISH: Bed, bedroom, room
SPANISH: Cama, habitación, cuarto
Families: Image abstractions
EXPLANATION
This is the abstraction of a bed.
MEANING
ENGLISH:
Before, previously, in the past, former
SPANISH:
Antes, previamente, anteriormente, en el pasado
Families: Arrows
EXPLANATION
The line is pointing to the left, which means ‘’past’’. Depending on the word you may change the abbreviation on top of the arrow.
MEANING
ENGLISH: Hope, expect, believe, belief, hopeful
SPANISH: Esperar, creer, esperanza, creencia
Families: Lines, Emotions
EXPLANATION
This is an arbitrary symbol that I started to use because it reminds me of a happy face (when you hope for something, if it happens it will make you happy).
MEANING
ENGLISH: Bell, reception, buzzer
SPANISH: Campana, recepción, timbre
Families: Image abstractions
EXPLANATION
This is the abstraction of a counter call bell.
MEANING
ENGLISH: Chest, belly, abdomen, stomach, torso
SPANISH: Pecho, barriga, abdomen, estómago, torso
Family: Image abstractions
EXPLANATION
This is the abstraction of a belly. I use the ‘’Cx’’ symbol when they say ‘’chest’’ because of the X family (Fx = fracture, Dx = Diagnosis, Bx = Biopsy), etc. I wouldn’t use Cx for ‘’belly, stomach’’, because the first thing you will think about when you see ‘’Cx’’ will be ‘’chest’’. The abstraction is more general.
MEANING
ENGLISH: Below
SPANISH: Debajo
Families: Punctuation marks
EXPLANATION
If you put the parenthesis under another symbol, the parenthesis will be ‘’below’’ it.
MEANING
ENGLISH: Bend down, squat
SPANISH: Agacharse, ponerse en cuclillas
Families: Arrows
EXPLANATION
This is a combination of symbols and also an abstraction. The horizontal lanes bend in an arch and then we have the arrow pointing downwards to indicate ‘’down’’ as in ‘’bend down’’.
MEANING
ENGLISH: Besides
SPANISH: Además
Families: Letters, Slashes
EXPLANATION
The ‘’b’’ and ‘’s’’ from ‘’besides’’. The purpose of the slash is twofold: 1) to let me know there is an idea coming and 2) to differentiate the letters ‘’b’’ and ‘’s’’ to make them stand out as a unique type of ‘’b and s with a slash’’
MEANING
ENGLISH: Better, improve, improvement
SPANISH: Mejor, mejorar, mejoría
Families: Arrows
EXPLANATION
This symbol derives from the symbol for good. It has the little arrow on the upper right corner to indicate it’s a special kind of good, it’s better.
MEANING
ENGLISH: Big, large, huge, long
SPANISH: Grande, gigante, largo
Families: Punctuation marks, Lines
EXPLANATION
This is an abstraction. The horizontal line is very long. It occupies a large portion of the paper.
MEANING
ENGLISH: Bike, motorcycle
SPANISH: Bicicleta, motocicleta, moto
Families: Circles, Image abstractions
EXPLANATION
This is the abstraction of a motorcycle or bike. The two circles are the wheels.
MEANING
ENGLISH: Blurry, blurred
SPANISH: Borroso
Families: Compound symbols, Circles, Medicine
EXPLANATION
This is the combination of two symbols. The symbol for ‘’see’’ and a wobbly line that means insecurity. If your vision is blurry you are not sure about what you are seeing.
MEANING
ENGLISH: Board, panel, dashboard
SPANISH: Board, panel, tablero
Families: Image abstractions
EXPLANATION
This is the abstraction of a chalkboard.
MEANING
ENGLISH: Body, corpse, physical, live
SPANISH: Cuerpo, cadaver, físico, vivir
Families: Image abstractions, Body parts, Medicine
EXPLANATION
This is the abstraction of a human body.
MEANING
ENGLISH: Bone, bony
SPANISH: Hueso, huesudo
Families: Body parts, Medicine, Image abstractions
EXPLANATION
This is the abstraction of a bone.
MEANING
ENGLISH: Bottom
SPANISH: Abajo
Families: Letters
EXPLANATION
This is an arbitrary symbol. The accent mark is below the letter ‘’i’’. (upside down ‘’i’’). The accent mark is at the bottom of the ‘’i’’
MEANING
ENGLISH: Bread, wheat, cereal, rice, oats, grain
SPANISH: Pan, trigo, cereal, arroz, avena, grano
Families: Image abstractions, Foods
EXPLANATION
This is the abstraction of a wheat plant.
MEANING
ENGLISH: Breast, nipple, areola
SPANISH: Seno, pezón, aureola
Families: Body parts, Image abstractions
EXPLANATION
This is a combination of a strong arm.
MEANING
ENGLISH: Bring
SPANISH: Traer, llevar
Families: Arrows, Compound symbols
EXPLANATION
This is the combination of the letter ‘’b’’ and the symbol for ‘’go’’. The result is a laid down ‘’b’’ with an arrow. I didn’t draw the full ‘’b’’ to save strokes.
MEANING
ENGLISH: Brother, bro
SPANISH: Hermano
Families: Family members, Letters
EXPLANATION
This is another way of representing females and males. I add the repetition of the letters because a family is ‘’a repetition of genes’’, reproduction (produce again, repeat).
MEANING
ENGLISH: Brother in law
SPANISH: Cuñado
Families: Family members, Compound symbols
EXPLANATION
This is another way of representing females and males. I add the repetition of the letters because a family is ‘’a repetition of genes’’, reproduction (produce again, repeat).
A combination of symbols.
MEANING
ENGLISH: Brush, scrub, broom, sweep
SPANISH: Cepillo, restregar, escoba, barrer
Families: Image abstractions, Lines
EXPLANATION
This is the abstraction of a broom.
MEANING
ENGLISH: Building, build, construction
SPANISH: Edificio, construir, construcción
Families: Image abstractions
EXPLANATION
This is an abstraction from a city skyline.
MEANING
ENGLISH: Business, company, suitcase
SPANISH: Empresa, compañía, maleta
Families: Image abstractions
EXPLANATION
This is the abstraction of a business suitcase.
MEANING
ENGLISH: But
SPANISH: Pero
Families: Connectors, Letters
EXPLANATION
The ‘’B’’ from ‘’But’’.
MEANING
ENGLISH: Butter, margarine, lard
SPANISH: Mantequilla, margarina, manteca
Families: Image abstractions, Foods
EXPLANATION
This is the abstraction of a block of butter.
