MEANING
ENGLISH: Hair, wig, haircut
SPANISH: Cabello, pelo, vello, peluca
Families: Image abstractions, Body parts
EXPLANATION
This is the abstraction of hair strands.
MEANING
ENGLISH: Hand, finger, palm, touch, knuckle
SPANISH: Mano, dedo, palma, tocar, nudillo
Families: Image abstractions, Body parts
EXPLANATION
This is the abstraction of a hand.
MEANING
ENGLISH: Handcuff, crime, corruption
SPANISH: Esposas, crimen, corrupción
Family: Legal, Image abstractions, Letters
EXPLANATION
This is an abstraction of real-world handcuffs. I keep the ‘’C’’ on both sides to remind me of the words ‘’crime’’, ‘’corruption’’, ‘’handcuff’’ (all with a C).
MEANING
ENGLISH: Hang, hanging
SPANISH: Colgar, colgando
Families: Image abstractions, Lines
EXPLANATION
The horizontal line is a surface, the curvy line below is attached to. Imagine it’s something hanging, like a thread moved by the wind.
MEANING
ENGLISH: Happy, joyful, please, glad, cheerful
SPANISH: Feliz, regocijado, encantado, alegre, contento
Families: Emotions
EXPLANATION
Typical smiley face
MEANING
ENGLISH: Have, to do, can, use
SPANISH: Tener, hacer, poder, usar
Families: Image abstractions
EXPLANATION
This is an abstraction of a hand. When you have something in your hand, you own it, possess it. The idea of something in your hands is always that of ‘’having’’. If you have it you are able to use it, to do something, you can.
MEANING
ENGLISH: Man, men, male, he, him, masculine, boy, sir, mister, guy
SPANISH: Hombre, masculino, él, niño, señor, tipo
Families: Image abstractions
EXPLANATION
Standard gender symbols.
MEANING
ENGLISH: Head, skull, cranium, brain, scalp
SPANISH: Cabeza, cráneo, cerebro, cuero cabelludo
Families: Body parts, Circles
EXPLANATION
The circle is the head. The line on top helps make this circle stand out as the symbol for the head. Your head is on top of your body. This line also helps differentiate the symbol for ‘’head’’ from the symbol for ‘’we’’.
MEANING
ENGLISH: Height, tall
SPANISH: Altura, alto
Families: Arrows, Image abstractions
EXPLANATION
This is the abstraction of a measuring line used in blueprints.
MEANING
ENGLISH: Help, assist, assistance
SPANISH: Ayudar, asistir, asistencia
Families: Punctuation marks, Image abstractions
EXPLANATION
This is an abstraction of two helping hands.
MEANING
ENGLISH: Hemorrhoids, piles
SPANISH: Hemorroides, almorranas
Families: Letters, Medicine
EXPLANATION
This is an abbreviation + a visual cue. The little string next to the ‘’H’’ is supposed to be the swollen blood vessel (hemorrhoid) that protrudes outside of the ‘’H’’.
MEANING
ENGLISH: Today, here, now
SPANISH: Hoy, aquí, ahora
Family: Arrow, Image abstractions
EXPLANATION
This arrow reflects a hand movement that I’ve seen people do when they say ‘’now’’.
MEANING
ENGLISH: Waist, hip
SPANISH: Cintura, cadera
Families: Body parts, Image abstractions
EXPLANATION
This is the abstraction of a belly button.
MEANING
ENGLISH: History
SPANISH: Historial, antecedentes
Families: Letters, X family, M
EXPLANATION
Abbreviation.
MEANING
ENGLISH: Hit, collision, crash, fight, confrontation
SPANISH: Golpe, golpear, choque, fight, confrontación
Families: Punctuation marks, Lines
EXPLANATION
The two parentheses are facing each other, the horizontal line ‘’pushes’’ the parentheses until they ‘’crash’’ (hit each other).
MEANING
ENGLISH: Honest, true, sincere, genuine, authentic
SPANISH: Honesto, verdad, sincero, genuino, auténtico
Families: Compound symbols, Circles
EXPLANATION
This is an arbitrary symbol. There is no logic behind it. I use it because it reminds me of the symbol for head and good. If your ‘’head is in a good place, you are honest’’. That’s a weak association, but the symbol is easy to draw and remember.
MEANING
ENGLISH: Hope, hopeful, hopefully
SPANISH: Esperar, esperanza
Families: Emotions, Basic shapes
EXPLANATION
There are two options. You have to pick one and stick to it.
MEANING
ENGLISH: Hormone, hormonal
SPANISH: Hormona, hormonal
Families: Medical, Letters
EXPLANATION
This is an abbreviation.
MEANING
ENGLISH: Hospital, clinic
SPANISH: Hospital, clínica
Families: Medicine, Image abstractions
EXPLANATION
This is an abstraction of the ‘’red cross’’ symbol, but square (to differentiate from ‘’medicine’’).
MEANING
ENGLISH: Warm, hot, fire, burn, heat
SPANISH: Tibio, caliente, fuego, quemar, calor
Families: Image abstractions, Medicine, Lines
EXPLANATION
This is the abstraction of the fumes coming out of something hot or burning.
MEANING
ENGLISH: House, apartment, residence, dwelling, roof, home
SPANISH: Casa, apartamento, residencia, vivienda, techo
Families: Image abstractions
EXPLANATION
This is an abstraction from a sloped roof.
MEANING
ENGLISH: How
SPANISH: Cómo
Families: W questions, Letters
EXPLANATION
The ‘’H’’ and ‘’W’’ from ‘’How’’
MEANING
ENGLISH: How long
SPANISH: Desde cuándo, hace cuánto
Families: Letters, W questions
EXPLANATION
This is the abbreviation of ‘’how long’’.
MEANING
ENGLISH: How many, how much
SPANISH: Cuánto
Families: Letters, W questions
EXPLANATION
This is an abbreviation.
T
MEANING
ENGLISH: How often
SPANISH: Con qué frecuencia, cada cuánto, cuán frecuente, qué tan frecuente…
Families: Letters, W questions
EXPLANATION
This is the abbreviation of ‘’how often’’.
MEANING
ENGLISH: However
SPANISH: Sin embargo
Families: Letters, Connectors
EXPLANATION
The ‘’H’’ and ‘’E’’ from ‘’However’’ combined in one character. Notice how I ‘’inserted’’ the ‘’H’’ into the ‘’E’’ (line in blue) to draw faster instead of drawing ‘’H.E.’’
