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Writing is a visible form of communication created by the hand, appealing to the eye, and consisting of signs that are assigned external referents.
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Real writing is compromise, it is historic, and it is pragmatic. There is no perfect fit between the linguistic constructs that are functional in speech and writing, because writing is static while speech is dynamic
- Writing and speech are distinct systems
- They are related in a variety of complex ways
- They have both shared and distinct functions
- The biomechanics for their production and reception are different.
Defining Writing
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There is much debate about whether writing comes from oral language or vice versa, as well as the role of writing in relation to language.
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Aristotle - Words spoken are symbols of affections or impressions of the soul (i.e., ideas); written words are symbols of words spoken.
- Writing is the act of forming signs for other signs (namely oral speech) as their referents.
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Liu Hsieh - When the mind is at work, speech is uttered. When speech is uttered, writing is produced.
- Writing has a creative analytic potential. Ideas can be expressed in either speech or writing and so writing is not necessarily fully dependent on speech.
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Plato - Written words are unnecessary, except to remind him who knows the matter about which they are written
- Writing was not a substitute for speech because it was silent and lacked the intimacy of speech.
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Zen - written words are useless
- Writing creates distance between message and author / reader; it only relies on objectified knowledge rather than conscious experience.
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Egyptians - signs precede things. Creation is an act of articulation in the heart which finds expression in written signs first and then in speech.
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Massias - It is this necessity of writing which gives its name to grammar, osteology and framework of discourse
- Writing is at the heart of every language. There is only written speech.
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Saussure - Language and writing are two distinct systems of signs; the second exists for the sole purpose of representing the first. The linguistic object is not both the written and the spoken forms of words; the spoken forms alone constitute the object.
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Geib - writing is a means of expressing language.
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Even though it is recognized as ‘only’ a representation of speech, its categories are allowed to intrude into linguistic inquiry - that which asks about he nature of language.
Writing Systems
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Broadly speaking there are two kinds — those that are based on meaning or semiography and those based on sound or phonography.
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Writing is auto-indexical in the sense that they reveal the procedures on the basis of which they must be used. It can be inferred how to decipher the text.
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Leibniz - writing could be the root for a universal language that could facilitate logic, memory, and international communication. Doing this required that words correspond to things (concepts) independent of language.
- This is the foundation for a philosophical effort towards a universal language.
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van Helmont - endeavored to translate graphemes to the positions of articulatory organs.
- This idea was present in the creation of Korean script from Chinese. Letters imitated tongue positions during articulation
- In general, there is the notion that letters should correspond to Phonetics.
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Writing and transcription are different. Writing is for readers who have little need for phonetic information.
- Writing systems are conventionalized techniques of segmenting linguistic utterances in such away that the resulting units can be interpreted as linguistic constructs.
- Transcription focuses on phonetics and phonology instead without regard for meaningful understanding.
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A set of language symbols does not determine the nature of the writing system they are put to use.
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Principle of Autonomy of the Graphic System: Writing systems are structured and can therefore be analyzed in terms of functional units and relationships, and irrespective of other levels of linguistic structures.
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Principle of Interpretation - writing systems are structured in such a way that they map onto two other levels of linguistic structure — the phonetic, phonemic, morphophonemic and lexical. These mappings are complex and imprecise.
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Principle of Historicity - writing systems represent change in the language over time.
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Script - pertains to the graphic form of the units of writing.
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Grapheme - pertains to an abstract type of a letter and its position in a given writing system.