Writing system

A writing system is a special way to use symbols to show a language. These symbols are called a script. They have rules to show words and ideas. The first writing systems started around the late 4th millennium BC. They came from older systems called proto-writing. These used simple pictures called ideographs but could not fully show language.

Writing systems are grouped by how their symbols connect to spoken language. Phonetic writing systems, like alphabets and syllabaries, use symbols called graphemes for sounds. Alphabets have symbols called letters that stand for small sounds, called phonemes. Some alphabets show both consonant and vowel sounds, and others mainly show consonants. Syllabaries use symbols for whole speech parts called syllables.

In contrast, logographic writing systems use symbols for whole words or word parts, called morphemes. Alphabets usually need fewer than 100 symbols, but syllabaries and logographies can have hundreds or thousands. Writing systems help us share ideas over time and distance, making communication easier.

Background: relationship with language

Further information: Written language

Writing is a way to use symbols to show language. These symbols are linked to spoken or signed language. When people write something down, it is called writing. When they look at it and understand it, it is called reading.

People have thought about how writing and language are related for a long time. All people use spoken language, but writing started much later and only in a few places. Every written language is based on a spoken language that already exists. Sometimes, one language can be written in different ways, and one writing system can be used for more than one language.

General terminology

Researchers who study writing systems use some basic words. These words can mean a little differently depending on what they are studying.

A grapheme is the smallest part of a writing system that has meaning. Graphemes are the symbols we use to write words. All writing systems need a set of these symbols, called a script. The idea of a grapheme is like a phoneme in spoken languages. Just as different sounds (phones) can be the same phoneme, different looks of symbols (glyphs) can be the same grapheme. These different looks are called allographs. For example, the lowercase letter ⟨a⟩ can look different in various styles of writing.

Orthography means the rules for writing that a group of people follows. This includes how letters are ordered and related. For alphabets, orthography also includes spelling. For example, English orthography uses uppercase and lowercase forms for 26 letters of the Latin alphabet, along with punctuation and other symbols. A writing system works well if it can show everything that can be said in the spoken language.

History

Main article: History of writing

Writing started a long time ago with simple symbols used to remember things. These early symbols could not fully show language. Examples include the Jiahu symbols from very old China, the Vinča symbols from Europe, and Quipu, a system of knotted cords used by the Inca Empire in South America.

Writing was created separately in different places. The first known writing, called cuneiform, started with the Sumerian language in a place called Mesopotamia. Soon after, Egyptian hieroglyphs began. Both were made without knowing about each other. Chinese characters also started on their own in China. Writing systems in Mesoamerica, like the Maya script, were also invented separately. Over time, these symbols began to stand for words, not just ideas, allowing more complex writing.

Classification by basic linguistic unit

Further information: List of writing systems

Writing systems are ways to make words and ideas into symbols. They can be grouped by how their symbols connect to parts of a language. At the simplest level, they can be either sound-based (where symbols stand for sounds) or meaning-based (where symbols stand for ideas or words).

There are three main types of writing systems. Sound-based systems are split into syllabic and alphabetic types. Syllabaries have symbols for syllables. Alphabets have symbols for individual sounds, called letters. Alphabets can be further divided into three kinds.

In reality, writing systems are grouped by the main kind of symbols they use. Most writing systems mix elements of sound-based and meaning-based writing.

Logographic systems

A logogram is a symbol that stands for a meaning in a language. Chinese characters are the main logographic writing system still used today. They have been used for many languages in East and Southeast Asia. Since each character stands for one meaning, thousands are needed to write all the words of a language.

Syllabaries

A syllabary is a group of written symbols that stand for syllables. Syllabaries work best for languages with simple syllable structures. For example, Japanese has two syllabaries called hiragana and katakana. English, however, has more complex syllables.

Alphabets

An alphabet uses symbols called letters to stand for the sounds in a language. The word "alphabet" comes from the first two letters of the Greek alphabet, alpha and beta. An abjad is a type of alphabet where letters only stand for consonant sounds. These were mainly used for Semitic languages.

An abugida is a kind of alphabet where symbols stand for pairs of consonants and vowels. The largest group of abugidas is the Brahmic family, used in India and Southeast Asia. The name "abugida" comes from the first four letters of the Geʽez script, used in Ethiopia and Eritrea.

Featural systems

A featural system uses symbols for very small parts of sounds. The main example is the Hangul script for Korean. Some scholars argue that Hangul is not truly a featural system. Other examples of designed writing systems include shorthands and made-up scripts, like the Tengwar script created by J. R. R. Tolkien.

Classification by graphical properties

Writing systems can be grouped by how their symbols look and are read. All writing is linear, meaning symbols are placed in a line to show the reading order. Some writing uses connected lines, like the Phoenician alphabet. Others use separate marks, like cuneiform.

Writing can also differ by its direction. Some scripts read from left to right, like the Greek alphabet. Others read from right to left, like the Arabic alphabet and Hebrew. Some ancient scripts, like Egyptian hieroglyphs, could switch directions based on the picture. Most scripts now have one direction to make writing simpler and more consistent.

Orthographic regularity and depth

Writing systems, like alphabets, sometimes have letters that can make more than one sound, or sounds that can be spelled in different ways. This is called polyvalence. Systems with less of this mixing are called shallow, while those with more are called deep. Even though this might seem like a problem, it helps us tell apart words that sound the same but have different meanings, like "sign" and "signal," or "child" and "children."

Researchers study how well different spelling patterns match the sounds of spoken language. While some spellings follow sound rules closely, others help show word meanings more clearly, making it easier for us to understand and use words correctly.