Cartographic language has the characteristics of natural language. As the vocabulary in cartographic language,
cartographic symbols are composed of exterior form and idealistic content. Geographic concepts are the essential
attribute of geographic objects and cell of geographic thinking. Geographic concepts are thinking form of human brain
and are invisible, which only needed to be represented by a certain form. Aiming at the problem of symbolic
representation in geographic concepts and their mutual relationships, the geometrical composition of symbols of large
scale topographic maps and the semantic and geometrical relationships among symbols were analyzed, the symbols
system of topographic maps was regarded as a two-dimensional graphic language, and the relationship between symbols
and geographic concepts was discussed. According to concept of logic and geometrical shape of symbols the
represented categories of geographic concepts and their mutual relationships on the basis of symbols of topographic
maps were defined and the actual examples were given, which provides the use for reference for studying cartographic
language by logic method.
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