Semasiography ('writing with signs', from Greek semasia 'signification' + graphia 'writing') is the use of symbols, called semasiographs, to "communicate information without the necessary intercession of forms of speech".
This non-phonetic based technique is studied in semasiology within the field of linguistics.
Semasiography predates the advent of language-based writing.
Contemporary systems like musical and mathematical notation, computer icons, and emoji have also been characterized as semasiographies.
[1] This writing system–related article is a stub.