As early hieroglyphic writing systems from different parts of the world show, this use of representations based on resemblance can further evolve so that all resemblance is gone, thus leading from an intentional use to an intentionally arbitrary symbol. As this happens, a drawing changes from an icon to a symbol. And just as this has happened in writing systems, so it is likely that it has happened in spoken systems, with different sound combinations becoming conventions, associated with a particular meaning.
