Types of writing system
- Abjads / Consonant Alphabets
- Alphabets
- Abugidas / Syllabic Alphabets
- Syllabaries
- Semanto-phonetic writing systems
- Undeciphered writing systems
- Other writing and communication systems
- Constructed scripts
What is a writing system in linguistics?
A writing system, technically referred to as a script or an orthography, consists of a set of visible marks, forms, or structures called characters or graphs that are related to some structure in the linguistic system. Roughly speaking, if a character represents a meaningful unit, such as a morpheme or a word, the orthography is called a ...
What are the different types of writing systems?
List of writing systems 1 Pictographic/ideographic writing systems. ... 2 Logographic writing systems. ... 3 Syllabaries. ... 4 Segmental scripts. ... 5 List of writing systems by adoption. ... 6 Undeciphered systems that may be writing. ... 7 Undeciphered manuscripts. ... 8 Others. ... 9 See also 10 Notes. ... More items...
What is a linear writing system?
Linear writing systems are those in which the characters are composed of lines, such as the Latin alphabet and Chinese characters. Chinese characters are considered linear whether they are written with a ball-point pen or a calligraphic brush, or cast in bronze.
What type of writing system uses systematic syllabic symbols?
Another type of writing system with systematic syllabic linear symbols, the abugidas, is discussed below as well. As logographic writing systems use a single symbol for an entire word, a syllabary is a set of written symbols that represent (or approximate) syllables, which make up words.
What are four types of writing systems?
The major writing systems – methods of inscription – broadly fall into four categories: logographic, syllabic, alphabetic, and featural.
What are the two types of writing systems?
Writing systems can be categorized broadly as two types: phonetic scripts that represent the sounds of spoken language, and ideographic scripts that represent ideas. Phonetic scripts can be further categorized as segmental or syllabic.
What are the six categories of writing system?
There are a number of subdivisions of each type, and there are different classifications of writing systems in different sources.Abjads / Consonant Alphabets.Alphabets.Abugidas / Syllabic Alphabets.Syllabaries.Semanto-phonetic writing systems.Undeciphered writing systems.Other writing and communication systems.More items...•
What are the 5 original writing systems?
Examples are the cuneiform writing of the Sumerians, Egyptian hieroglyphs, Cretan hieroglyphs, Chinese logographs, Indus script, and the Olmec script of Mesoamerica.
What are the three writing systems?
Anyone with an interest in Japanese, or who has traveled to Japan and tried – perhaps futilely – to read signs in Japanese, has probably heard of the three writing systems: kanji, hiragana, and katakana.
How many major writing systems are there?
four main writing systemsThere are four main writing systems: Alphabetic writing systems break words down into their component consonant and vowel sounds, and represent these sounds using letters. Some languages use ways that are very regular, others, such as English, are not always regular.
What is the writing system of language called?
orthographyA writing system, technically referred to as a script or an orthography, consists of a set of visible marks, forms, or structures called characters or graphs that are related to some structure in the linguistic system.
What type of writing system is English?
English is a language, not a writing system. It can be represented in writing in many different ways: by using an alphabet, by using Morse Code, by Braille, whatever you wish. Most commonly today, it is written using the Roman alphabet, which was originally designed to write Latin.
What is writing in linguistics?
Writing may be defined as any conventional system of marks or signs that represents the utterances of a language. Writing renders language visible. Whereas speech is ephemeral, writing is concrete and, by comparison, permanent. Both speaking and writing depend upon the underlying structures of language.
What was the first writing system?
The cuneiform scriptThe cuneiform script, created in Mesopotamia, present-day Iraq, ca. 3200 BC, was first. It is also the only writing system which can be traced to its earliest prehistoric origin. This antecedent of the cuneiform script was a system of counting and recording goods with clay tokens.
What are the types of script writing?
Here are eight types of scripts that you can write:Original script. Original scripts include those that you create from your own ideas. ... Adapted script. An adapted script re-imagines an existing story or narrative. ... Screenplay. ... Storyboard. ... Spec script. ... Standalone script. ... Pitch script. ... Shooting script.
What are the 4 types of alphabets?
Capital letters.Small letters.Cursive letters .Printing letters .
What are the two types of writing systems?
Types of writing system. Writing systems can be divided into two main types: those that represent consonants and vowels (alphabets), and those which represent syllables (syllabaries), though some do both. There are a number of subdivisions of each type, and there are different classifications of writing systems in different sources.
What are the symbols used in semanto-phonetic writing systems?
As a result, such scripts generally include a large number of symbols: anything from several hundred to tens of thousands.
What is a syllable in writing?
A syllabary is a phonetic writing system consisting of symbols representing syllables. A syllable is often made up of a consonant plus a vowel or a single vowel.
What are alternative scripts?
Alternative scripts - alternative scripts for English and other languages. Phonetic alphabets - writing systems that can be used to phonetically indicate the pronunciation of any language. Other notation systems - Braille, Shorthand, etc. Language-based communication systems - Morse Code, Semaphore, etc.
What does each letter represent?
Alphabets, or phonemic alphabets, are sets of letters that represent consonants and vowels. In some languages, such as Czech, each letter or combination of letters represents one sound, while in others, such as English, letters might represent a variety of sounds, or the same sounds can be written in different ways.
What is the most widely used alphabet in Georgia?
Georgian: ბოდი შ ი [bɔdiʃi] (sorry) The most widely-used alphabets are the Latin or Roman alphabet and the Cyrillic alphabet. They have been adapted to write hundreds of different languages and are used on every continent. More information about alphabets.
What is the majority of characters in Chinese script?
The majority of characters in the Chinese script are semanto-phonetic compounds: they include a semantic element, which represents or hints at their meaning, and a phonetic element, which shows or hints at their pronunciation.
What is the non-linear alphabet?
Other non-linear alphabets. These are other alphabets composed of something other than lines on a surface. Braille (Unified) – an embossed alphabet for the visually impaired, used with some extra letters to transcribe the Latin, Cyrillic, Greek, Hebrew, and Arabic alphabets, as well as Chinese.
What is the Suckerfish script?
Suckerfish script – Mi'kmawi'sit – Does have phonetic components, however. Testerian – used for missionary work in Mexico. Emoji – used in electronic messages and web pages. There are also symbol systems used to represent things other than language, or to represent constructed languages.
What is a pictographic script?
Ideographic scripts (in which graphemes are ideograms representing concepts or ideas, rather than a specific word in a language), and pictographic scripts (in which the graphemes are iconic pictures) are not thought to be able to express all that can be communicated by language, ...
What is segmental script?
Segmental scripts. A segmental script has graphemes which represent the phonemes (basic unit of sound) of a language. Note that there need not be (and rarely is) a one-to-one correspondence between the graphemes of the script and the phonemes of a language.
What does glyph mean in writing?
In logographic writing systems, glyphs represent words or morphemes (meaningful components of words, as in mean -ing-ful ), rather than phonetic elements. Note that no logographic script is composed solely of logograms. All contain graphemes that represent phonetic (sound-based) elements as well.
Is Zhuyin a semi-syllabic?
Zhuyin is semi-syllabic in a different sense: it transcribes half syllables. That is, it has letters for syllable onsets and rimes (kan = "k-an") rather than for consonants and vowels (kan = "k-a-n"). Paleohispanic semi-syllabaries – Paleo-Hispanic languages. Tartessian or Southwestern script – Tartessian or Southwestern language.
Is Chinese hieroglyphics ideographic?
Hieroglyphs were commonly thought to be ideographic before they were translated, and to this day Chinese is often erroneously said to be ideographic. In some cases of ideographic scripts, only the author of a text can read it with any certainty, and it may be said that they are interpreted rather than read.
Introduction
The study of writing systems, or grammatology, is concerned with the means by which languages are represented by graphic symbols.
Early Works
The earliest major treatment of writing systems in English is Taylor 1883, a detailed, two-volume work. Other fairly early general books include Diringer 1948 and Moorhouse 1953. All three are works of careful scholarship that were important contributions in their time, although they are now outdated in various ways.
How to Subscribe
Oxford Bibliographies Online is available by subscription and perpetual access to institutions. For more information or to contact an Oxford Sales Representative click here.
Writing Systems
Please review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.
Summary
The syllabic orientation to the study of writing systems leads to a five-way typology, which is useful in investigating the historical development of writing. The five types of writing system are: logosyllabary, syllabary, abjad; alphabet; and abugida.
What is the non-linear alphabet?
Other non-linear alphabets. These are other alphabets composed of something other than lines on a surface. Braille (Unified) – an embossed alphabet for the visually-impaired, used with some extra letters to transcribe the Latin, Cyrillic, Greek, Hebrew, and Arabic alphabets, as well as Chinese.
What is the Latin alphabet?
Latin alphabet or Roman alphabet – originally Latin language; most current western and central European languages, Turkic languages, sub-Saharan African languages, indigenous languages of the Americas, languages of maritime Southeast Asia and languages of Oceania use developments of it.
What is segmental script?
Segmental scripts. A segmental script has graphemes which represent the phonemes (basic unit of sound) of a language. Note that there need not be (and rarely is) a one-to-one correspondence between the graphemes of the script and the phonemes of a language.
What does glyph mean in writing?
In logographic writing systems, glyphs represent words or morphemes (meaningful components of words, as in mean -ing-ful ), rather than phonetic elements. Note that no logographic script is comprised solely of logograms. All contain graphemes which represent phonetic (sound-based) elements as well.
What is the difference between ideographic scripts and pictographic scripts?
Ideographic scripts (in which graphemes are ideograms representing concepts or ideas, rather than a specific word in a language), and pictographic scripts (in which the graphemes are iconic pictures) are not thought to be able to express all that can be communicated by language, as argued by the linguists John DeFrancis and J. Marshall Unger. Essentially, they postulate that no full writing system can be completely pictographic or ideographic; it must be able to refer directly to a language in order to have the full expressive capacity of a language. Unger disputes claims made on behalf of Blissymbols in his 2004 book Ideogram.
Is Zhuyin a semi-syllabic?
Zhuyin is semi-syllabic in a different sense: it transcribes half syllables. That is, it has letters for syllable onsets and rimes (kan = "k-an") rather than for consonants and vowels (kan = "k-a-n"). Zhuyin fuhao – phonetic script for Chinese languages, and principal script for several Formosan languages.
Is the Old Persian alphabet a vowel?
In most of these systems, some consonant-vowel combinations are written as syllables, but others are written as consonant plus vowel. In the case of Old Persian, all vowels were written regardless, so it was effectively a true alphabet despite its sy llabic component.
What are the different types of writing systems?
Writing systems can be placed into broad categories such as alphabets, syllabaries, or logographies, although any particular system may have attributes of more than one category. In the alphabetic category, a standard set of letters represent speech sounds. In a syllabary, each symbol correlates to a syllable or mora.
What is a writing system?
e. A writing system is a method of visually representing verbal communication, based on a script and a set of rules regulating its use. While both writing and speech are useful in conveying messages, writing differs in also being a reliable form of information storage and transfer.
What is a featural script?
A featural script represents finer detail than an alphabet. Here symbols do not represent whole phonemes, but rather the elements (features) that make up the phonemes, such as voicing or its place of articulation. Theoretically, each feature could be written with a separate letter; and abjads or abugidas, or indeed syllabaries, could be featural, but the only prominent system of this sort is Korean hangul. In hangul, the featural symbols are combined into alphabetic letters, and these letters are in turn joined into syllabic blocks, so that the system combines three levels of phonological representation.
What is a glyph in writing?
The terms glyph, sign and character are sometimes used to refer to a grapheme. Common usage varies from discipline to discipline; compare cuneiform sign, Maya glyph, Chinese character. The glyphs of most writing systems are made up of lines (or strokes) and are therefore called linear, but there are glyphs in non-linear writing systems made up of other types of marks, such as Cuneiform and Braille .
What is a grapheme?
A grapheme is a specific base unit of a writing system. They are the minimally significant elements which taken together comprise the set of "building blocks" out of which texts made up of one or more writing systems may be constructed, along with rules of correspondence and use. The concept is similar to that of the phoneme used in the study of spoken languages. For example, in the Latin -based writing system of standard contemporary English, examples of graphemes include the majuscule and minuscule forms of the twenty-six letters of the alphabet (corresponding to various phonemes), marks of punctuation (mostly non-phonemic), and a few other symbols such as those for numerals (logograms for numbers).
What is the term for a text?
The generic term text refers to an instance of written or spoken material with the latter having been transcribed in some way. The act of composing and recording a text may be referred to as writing, and the act of viewing and interpreting the text as reading. Orthography refers to the method and rules of observed writing structure (literal meaning, "correct writing"), and particularly for alphabetic systems, includes the concept of spelling .
What is the purpose of punctuation in writing?
Many writing systems also include a special set of symbols known as punctuation which is used to aid interpretation and help capture nuances and variations in the message's meaning that are communicated verbally by cues in timing, tone, accent, inflection or intonation .