(1) The most crucial distinction is that Chinese is ideogram, but nushu is, on the contrary, a phonogram that represents local dialect.(2) Although it is often difficult to decide whether a sign is an ideogram or a phonogram .(3) Many phonics programs teach the blends as separate phonograms .(4) Words could be written using only phonograms or ideograms, but most used a combination of both.(5) While it is possible that the Egyptians borrowed the idea for ideograms and phonograms from the Sumerians, many experts think that would be very unlikely.