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Writing system
A writing system comprises a set of symbols, called a script, as well as the rules by which the
script represents a particular language. The earliest writing was invented during the late 4th
millennium BC. Throughout history, each writing system invented without prior knowledge of
writing gradually evolved from a system of proto-writing that included a small number of
ideographs, which were not fully capable of encoding spoken language, and lacked the ability to
express a broad range of ideas.
Writing systems are generally classified according to how its symbols, called graphemes, relate
to units of language. Phonetic writing systems, which include alphabets and syllabaries, use
graphemes that correspond to sounds in the corresponding spoken language. Alphabets use
graphemes called letters that generally correspond to spoken phonemes, and are typically
classified into three categories. In general, pure alphabets use letters to represent both
consonant and vowel sounds, while abjads only have letters representing consonants, and
abugidas use characters corresponding to consonant–vowel pairs. Syllabaries use graphemes
called syllabograms that represent entire syllables or moras. By contrast, logographic
(alternatively morphographic) writing systems use graphemes that represent the units of
meaning in a language, such as its words or morphemes. Alphabets typically use fewer than 100
distinct symbols, while syllabaries and logographies may use hundreds or thousands
respectively.
A writing system also includes any punctuation used to aid readers and encode additional
meaning, including that which would be communicated in speech via qualities of rhythm, tone,
pitch, accent, inflection, or intonation.
Background: relationship with language
According to most contemporary definitions, writing is a visual and tactile notation
representing language. As such, the use of writing by a community presupposes an analysis of
the structure of language at some level.[2] The symbols used in writing correspond
systematically to functional units of either a spoken or signed language. This definition excludes
a broader class of symbolic markings, such as drawings and maps.[a][4] A text is any instance of
written material, including transcriptions of spoken material.[5] The act of composing and
recording a text is referred to as writing,[6] and the act of viewing and interpreting the text as
reading.[7]
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The relationship between writing and language more
broadly has been the subject of philosophical analysis as
early as Aristotle (384–322 BC).[8] While the use of
language is universal across human societies, writing is not;
writing emerged much more recently, and was
independently invented in only a handful of locations
throughout history. While most spoken languages have not The relationship between spoken,
been written, all written languages have been predicated on written, and signed modes of
[9]
an existing spoken language. When those with signed
language, as modelled by Beatrice
languages as their first language read writing associated
Primus et al.[1] While many spoken
with a spoken language, this functions as literacy in a or signed languages are not written,
second, acquired language.[b][10] A single language (e.g. there are no written languages
Hindustani) can be written using multiple writing systems, without a spoken counterpart that
and a writing system can also represent multiple languages. they originally emerged to record.
For example, Chinese characters have been used to write
multiple languages throughout the Sinosphere—including
the Vietnamese language from at least the 13th century, until their replacement with the Latin-
based Vietnamese alphabet in the 20th century.[11]
In the first several decades of modern linguistics as a scientific discipline, linguists often
characterized writing as merely the technology used to record speech—which was treated as
being of paramount importance, for what was seen as the unique potential for its study to
further the understanding of human cognition.[12]
General terminology
While researchers of writing systems generally use some of the
same core terminology, precise definitions and interpretations
can vary by author, often depending on the theoretical approach
being employed.[13]
A grapheme is the basic functional unit of a writing system. Comparison between double-
Graphemes are generally defined as minimally significant storey | a | (left) and single-
elements which, when taken together, comprise the set of symbols storey | ɑ | (right) lowercase
forms of the Latin letter ⟨A⟩
from which texts may be constructed.[14] All writing systems
require a set of defined graphemes, collectively called a script.[15]
The concept of the grapheme is similar to that of the phoneme used in the study of spoken
languages. Likewise, as many sonically distinct phones may function as the same phoneme
depending on the speaker, dialect, and context, many visually distinct glyphs (or graphs) may
be identified as the same grapheme. These variant glyphs are known as the allographs of a
grapheme: For example, the lowercase letter ⟨a⟩ may be represented by the double-storey |a|
and single-storey |ɑ | shapes,[16] or others written in cursive, block, or printed styles. The choice
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of a particular allograph may be influenced by the medium used, the writing instrument used,
the stylistic choice of the writer, the preceding and succeeding graphemes in the text, the time
available for writing, the intended audience, and the largely unconscious features of an
individual's handwriting.
Orthography (lit. 'correct writing') refers to the rules and conventions for writing shared by a
community, including the ordering of and relationship between graphemes. Particularly for
alphabets, orthography includes the concept of spelling. For example, English orthography
includes uppercase and lowercase forms for 26 letters of the Latin alphabet (with these
graphemes corresponding to various phonemes), punctuation marks (mostly non-phonemic),
and other symbols, such as numerals. Writing systems may be regarded as complete if they are
able to represent all that may be expressed in the spoken language, while a partial writing
system cannot represent the spoken language in its entirety.[17]
History
In each instance, writing emerged from systems of proto-writing,
though historically most proto-writing systems did not produce
writing systems. Proto-writing uses ideographic and mnemonic
symbols to communicate, but lacks the capability to fully encode
language. Examples include:
The Jiahu symbols (c. 7th millennium BC) carved into tortoise
shells, found in 24 Neolithic graves excavated at Jiahu in
northern China.[18]
The Vinča symbols (c. 6th–5th millennia BC) found on
artefacts of the Vinča culture of central and southeastern
Europe.[19]
The Indus script (c. 2600 – c. 2000 BC) found on different
types of artefacts produced by the Indus Valley Civilization on
the Indian subcontinent.[20]
Diagram comparing the
Quipu (15th century AD), a system of knotted cords used as abstraction of pictographs in
mnemonic devices by the Inca Empire in South America.[21] cuneiform, Egyptian
Writing has been invented independently multiple times in hieroglyphs, and Chinese
characters – from an 1870
human history—first emerging between 3400 and 3200 BC
publication by French
during the Early Bronze Age, with cuneiform, a system invented Egyptologist Gaston
in southern Mesopotamia to write the Sumerian language, Maspero[c]
considered to be the earliest true writing. Cuneiform was closely
followed by Egyptian hieroglyphs. It is generally agreed that the
two systems were invented independently from one another; both evolved from proto-writing
systems with the earliest coherent texts dated c. 2600 BC. Chinese characters emerged
independently in the Yellow River valley c. 1200 BC. There is no evidence of contact between
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China and the literate peoples of the Near East, and the Mesopotamian and Chinese approaches
for representing aspects of sound and meaning are distinct.[22][23][24] The Mesoamerican
writing systems, including Olmec and the Maya script, were also invented independently.[25]
With each independent invention of writing, the ideographs used in proto-writing were
decoupled from the direct representation of ideas, and gradually came to represent words
instead. This occurred via application of the rebus principle, where a symbol was appropriated
to represent an additional word that happened to be similar in pronunciation to the word for
the idea originally represented by the symbol. This allowed words without concrete
visualizations to be represented by symbols for the first time; the gradual shift from ideographic
symbols to those wholly representing language took place over centuries, and required the
conscious analysis of a given language by those attempting to write it.[26]
Alphabetic writing descends from previous morphographic writing, and first appeared before
2000 BC to write a Semitic language spoken in the Sinai Peninsula. Most of the world's
alphabets either descend directly from this Proto-Sinaitic script, or were directly inspired by its
design. Descendants include the Phoenician alphabet (c. 1050 BC), and its child in the Greek
alphabet (c. 800 BC).[27][28] The Latin alphabet, which descended from the Greek alphabet, is
by far the most common script used by writing systems.[29]
Classification by basic linguistic unit
Writing systems are most often categorized according to
what units of language a system's graphemes correspond
to.[30] At the most basic level, writing systems can be either
phonographic (lit. 'sound writing') when graphemes
represent units of sound in a language, or morphographic
('form writing') when graphemes represent units of meaning
(such as words or morphemes).[31] Depending on the
author, the older term logographic ('word writing') is often
used, either with the same meaning as morphographic, or
specifically in reference to systems where the basic unit
being written is the word. Recent scholarship generally
prefers morphographic over logographic, with the latter Table of scripts in the introduction to
seen as potentially vague or misleading—in part because the Sanskrit–English Dictionary by
Monier Monier-Williams
systems usually operate on the level of morphemes, not
words.[32]
Many classifications define three primary categories, where phonographic systems are
subdivided into syllabic and alphabetic (or segmental) systems. Syllabaries use symbols called
syllabograms to represent syllables or moras. Alphabets use symbols called letters that
correspond to spoken phonemes (or more technically, to diaphonemes). Alphabets are generally
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classified into three subtypes, with abjads having letters for consonants, pure alphabets having
letters for both consonants and vowels, and abugidas having characters that correspond to
consonant–vowel pairs.[33] David Diringer proposed a five-fold classification of writing
systems, comprising pictographic scripts, ideographic scripts, analytic transitional scripts,
phonetic scripts, and alphabetic scripts.[34]
In practice, writing systems are classified according to the primary type of symbols used, and
typically include exceptional cases where symbols function differently. For example, logographs
found within phonetic systems like English include the ampersand ⟨&⟩ and the numerals ⟨0⟩,
⟨1⟩, etc.—which correspond to specific words (and, zero, one, etc.) and not to the underlying
sounds.[30] Most writing systems can described as mixed systems that feature elements of both
phonography and morphography.[35]
Logographic systems
A logogram is a character that represents a morpheme within a language. Chinese characters
represent the only major logographic writing systems still in use: they have historically been
used to write the varieties of Chinese, as well as Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, and other
languages of the Sinosphere. As each character represents a single unit of meaning, thousands
are required to write all the words of a language. If the logograms do not adequately represent
all meanings and words of a language, written language can be confusing or ambiguous to the
reader.[36]
Logograms are sometimes conflated with ideograms, symbols which graphically represent
abstract ideas; most linguists now reject this characterization:[37] Chinese characters are often
semantic–phonetic compounds, which include a component related to the character's meaning,
and a component that gives a hint for its pronunciation.[38]
Syllabaries
A syllabary is a set of written symbols (called syllabograms) that represent either syllables or
moras—a unit of prosody that is often but not always a syllable in length.[39] Syllabaries are best
suited to languages with relatively simple syllable structure, since a different symbol is needed
for every syllable. Japanese, for example, contains about 100 moras, which are represented by
moraic hiragana. By contrast, English features complex syllable structures with a relatively large
inventory of vowels and complex consonant clusters—for a total of 15–16 thousand distinct
syllables. Some syllabaries have larger inventories: the Yi script contains 756 different
symbols.[40]
Alphabets
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An alphabet uses symbols (called letters) that correspond to
the phonemes of a language, e.g. its vowels and consonants.
However, these correspondences are rarely uncomplicated,
and spelling is often mediated by other factors than just
which sounds are used by a speaker.[41] The word alphabet
is derived from alpha and beta, the names for the first two
letters in the Greek alphabet.[42] An abjad is an alphabet
whose letters only represent the consonantal sounds of a
language. They were the first alphabets to develop
historically,[43] with most used to write Semitic languages,
and originally deriving from the Proto-Sinaitic script. The
morphology of Semitic languages is particularly suited to
this approach, as the denotation of vowels is generally
redundant.[44] Optional markings for vowels may be used
for some abjads, but are generally limited to applications
like education.[45] Many pure alphabets were derived from
abjads through the addition of dedicated vowel letters, as
with the derivation of the Greek alphabet from the
Phoenician alphabet c. 800 BC. Abjad is the word for
"alphabet" in Arabic: the term derives from the traditional
order of letters in the Arabic alphabet ('alif, bā', jīm,
dāl).[46]
An abugida is a type of alphabet with symbols
corresponding to consonant–vowel pairs, where basic
symbols for each consonant are associated with an inherent
vowel by default, and other possible vowels for each
consonant are indicated via predictable modifications made
to the basic symbols.[47] In an abugida, there may be a sign
for k with no vowel, but also one for ka (if a is the inherent
vowel), and ke is written by modifying the ka sign in a A bilingual stop sign in English and
consistent way with how la would be modified to get le. In Cherokee in Tahlequah, Oklahoma
many abugidas, modification consists of the addition of a
vowel sign; other possibilities include rotation of the basic
sign, or addition of diacritics.
While true syllabaries have one symbol per syllable and no systematic visual similarity, the
graphic similarity in most abugidas stems from their origins as abjads—with added symbols
comprising markings for different vowel added onto a pre-existing base symbol. The largest
single group of abugidas is the Brahmic family of scripts, however, which includes nearly all the
scripts used in India and Southeast Asia. The name abugida is derived from the first four
characters of an order of the Geʽez script used in some contexts. It was coined as a linguistic
term by Peter T. Daniels (b. 1951), who borrowed it from the Ethiopian languages.[48]
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Featural systems
Originally proposed as a category by Geoffrey Sampson
(b. 1944),[49][50] a featural system uses symbols
representing sub-phonetic elements—e.g. those traits that
can be used to distinguish between and analyse a language's
phonemes, such as their voicing or place of articulation. The
only prominent example of a featural system is the hangul
script used to write Korean, where featural symbols are
combined into letters, which are in turn joined into syllabic
blocks. Many scholars, including John DeFrancis (1911–
2009), reject a characterization of hangul as a featural
system—with arguments including that Korean writers do
not themselves think in these terms when writing—or
question the viability of Sampson's category altogether.[51]
As hangul was consciously created by literate experts,
Daniels characterizes it as a "sophisticated
[52]
grammatogeny" —a writing system intentionally designed
for a specific purpose, as opposed to having evolved
gradually over time. Other grammatogenies include A passage from the Bible printed
shorthands developed by professionals and constructed using Balinese script
scripts created by hobbyists and creatives, like the Tengwar
script designed by J. R. R. Tolkien to write the Elven
languages he also constructed. Many of these feature advanced graphic designs corresponding
to phonological properties. The basic unit of writing in these systems can map to anything from
phonemes to words. It has been shown that even the Latin script has sub-character features.[53]
Classification by graphical properties
Linearity
In the initial historical distinction, linear writing systems (e.g. the Phoenician alphabet)
generally form glyphs as a series of connected lines or strokes. Systems (e.g. cuneiform) that
instead used discrete, generally more pictorial marks—such as those made with a wedge into
clay—are sometimes termed non-linear. The historical abstraction of logographs into
phonographs is often associated with a linearization of the script.[54] Linear writing is most
common, but there are non-linear writing systems where glyphs consist of other types of marks,
such as in cuneiform and Braille. Egyptian hieroglyphs and Maya script were often painted in
linear outline form, but in formal contexts they were carved in bas-relief. The earliest examples
of writing are linear: while cuneiform was not linear, its Sumerian ancestors were. Non-linear
systems are not composed of lines, no matter what instrument is used to write them. Cuneiform
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was likely the earliest non-linear writing. Its glyphs were formed by pressing the end of a reed
stylus into moist clay, not by tracing lines in the clay with the stylus as had been done
previously. The result was a radical transformation of the appearance of the script.
While all writing is linear in the broadest sense—i.e., symbols are arranged spatially in a way
that indicates the order in which they should be read[55]—on a more granular level, systems
with discontinuous marks like diacritics can be characterized as less linear than those
without.[56] In Braille, raised bumps on the writing substrate are used to encode non-linear
symbols. The original system—which Louis Braille (1809–1552) invented in order to allow
visually impaired people to read and write—used characters that corresponded to the letters of
the Latin alphabet.[57] Moreover, that Braille and visual writing systems function equivalently to
one another has indicated on a deeper level that the phenomenon of writing is fundamentally
spatial in nature, not merely visual.[58] There are also transient non-linear adaptations of the
Latin alphabet, including Morse code, the manual alphabets of various sign languages, and
semaphore, in which flags or bars are positioned at prescribed angles. However, if writing is
defined as a potentially permanent means of recording information, then these systems do not
qualify as writing at all, since the symbols disappear as soon as they are used. Instead, these
transient systems serve as signals.
Directionality and orientation
Writing systems may be characterized by how text is graphically divided into lines, which are to
be read in sequence:[59]
Axis
Whether lines of text are laid out as horizontal rows or vertical columns
Lining
How each line is positioned relative to the one previous on the medium—whether above
or below it on a horizontal axis, or to the left or right of it on a vertical axis
Directionality
How individual lines are read—whether starting from the left or right on a horizontal axis,
or from the top or bottom on a vertical axis
For example, English and many other Western languages are written in horizontal rows that
begin at the top of a page and end at the bottom, with each row read from left to right. Egyptian
hieroglyphs were written either left to right or right to left, with the animal and human glyphs
turned to face the beginning of the line. The early alphabet could be written in multiple
directions:[60] horizontally from side to side, or vertically. Prior to standardization, alphabetic
writing could be either left-to-right (LTR) and right-to-left (RTL). It was most commonly
written boustrophedonically: starting in one (horizontal) direction, then turning at the end of
the line and reversing direction.[61]
The right-to-left direction of the Phoenician alphabet initially stabilized after c. 800 BC.[62]
Left-to-right writing has an advantage that, since most people are right-handed,[63] the hand
does not interfere with what is being written (which, when inked, may not have dried yet) as the
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hand is to the right side of the pen. The Greek alphabet and its successors settled on a left-to-
right pattern, from the top to the bottom of the page. Other scripts, such as Arabic and Hebrew,
came to be written right to left. Scripts that historically incorporate Chinese characters have
traditionally been written vertically in columns arranged from right to left, while a horizontal
direction from left to right was only widely adopted in the 20th century due to Western
influence.[64]
Several scripts used in the Philippines and Indonesia, such as Hanunoo, are traditionally
written with lines moving away from the writer, from bottom to top, but are read left to
right;[65] ogham is written from bottom to top, commonly on the corner of a stone.[66] The
ancient Libyco-Berber alphabet was also written from bottom to top.[67]
See also
Calligraphy
Languages portal
Defective script
Digraphia
Epigraphy
Formal language
ISO 15924
Pasigraphy
Penmanship
Palaeography
Transcription (linguistics)
X-SAMPA
Notes
a. This view is sometimes called the "narrow definition" of writing. The "broad definition" of
writing also includes semasiography—i.e. meaningful symbols without a direct relationship
to language.[3]
b. This is to be distinguished from the use of notation systems designed to record signed
languages, such as SignWriting.
c. Maspero, Gaston (1870). Recueil de travaux relatifs à la philologie et à l'archéologie
égyptiennes et assyriennes ([Link]
de/2up) (in French). Paris: Librairie Honoré Champion. p. 243.
References
1. Meletis & Dürscheid (2022), p. 17; Primus (2003), p. 6.
2. Coulmas (2002), pp. 151–152.
3. Powell (2009), pp. 31, 51.
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3. Powell (2009), pp. 31, 51.
4. Meletis & Dürscheid (2022), p. 14.
5. Crystal (2008), p. 481.
6. Bußmann (1998), p. 1294.
7. Bußmann (1998), p. 979.
8. Rutkowska (2023), p. 96.
9. Rogers (2005), p. 2.
10. Meletis & Dürscheid (2022), p. 17; citing Morford et al. (2011)
11. Coulmas (1991), pp. 113–115; Hannas (1997), pp. 73, 84–87.
12. Sampson (2016), p. 41.
13. Condorelli & Rutkowska (2023), p. 4.
Joyce (2023), p. 141, citing Gnanadesikan (2017), p. 15.
14. Köhler, Altmann & Fan (2008), pp. 4–5; Coulmas (1996), pp. 174–175.
15. Coulmas (2002), p. 35.
16. Steele & Boyes (2022), p. 232.
17. Ottenheimer (2012), p. 194.
18. Houston (2004), pp. 245–246.
19. Condorelli (2022), pp. 20–21; Daniels (2018), p. 148.
20. Sproat (2010), p. 110.
21. Coulmas (2002), p. 20.
22. Bagley (2004), p. 190.
23. Boltz (1999), p. 108.
24. Keightley (1983), pp. 415–416.
25. Gnanadesikan (2023), p. 36.
26. Robertson 2004, pp. 21–24.
27. Coulmas (1996), pp. 158–159.
28. Millard (1986), p. 396.
29. Haarmann (2004), p. 96.
30. Gnanadesikan (2023), p. 32.
31. Rogers (2005), pp. 13–15.
32. Joyce (2023), pp. 152–153.
33. Joyce (2023), p. 142.
34. Diringer (1962), pp. 21–23.
35. Meletis & Dürscheid (2022), p. 219.
36. Coulmas (2002), pp. 40–41.
37. Coulmas (1991), pp. 62, 103–104; Steele (2017), p. 9.
38. Rogers (2005), p. 34.
39. Meletis & Dürscheid (2022), pp. 240–241.
40. DeFrancis (1989), p. 147.
41. Coulmas (2002), pp. 99–100, 113–114.
42. Condorelli (2022), p. 26.
43. Condorelli (2022), p. 25.
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43. Condorelli (2022), p. 25.
44. Fischer (2005), pp. 85–90; Rogers (2005).
45. Fischer (2005), p. 148; Meletis & Dürscheid, p. 230; 2022.
46. Coulmas (2002), p. 113.
47. Daniels (2018), p. 84.
48. Meletis & Dürscheid (2022), p. 222.
49. Sampson (1985), p. 40.
50. Collinge (2002), p. 382.
51. Coulmas (2002), p. 165; DeFrancis (1989), p. 197.
52. Daniels (2013), p. 55.
53. Primus (2004), pp. 242–243.
54. Powell (2009), pp. 155–161, 259; Dobbs-Allsopp (2023), pp. 28–30; Coulmas (1991),
pp. 23–24, 94.
55. Rogers (2005), p. 9.
56. Rogers (2005), pp. 9–10; Daniels (2018), pp. 194–195.
57. Sproat (2010), pp. 183–186; Scholes (1995), p. 364.
58. Harris (1995), p. 45.
59. Condorelli (2022), p. 83.
60. Threatte (1980), pp. 54–55.
61. Powell (2009), p. 235.
62. Rogers (2005), p. 91.
63. de Kovel, Carrión-Castillo & Francks (2019), p. 584; Papadatou-Pastou et al. (2020), p. 482.
64. Fischer (2001), pp. 177–178.
65. Gnanadesikan (2009), p. 180.
66. Fischer (2001), pp. 53–54.
67. Daniels & Bright (1996), p. 112.
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External links
[Link] Page 14 of 15
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The World's Writing Systems ([Link] – all 294 known
writing systems, each with a typographic reference glyph and Unicode status
Retrieved from "[Link]
[Link] Page 15 of 15