Writing and Communication

Writing, a form of communication and thinking that has changed civilizations as we know them. In the past there have been 2 types of writing: Pictographic, and Phonetic. Each having its own defining characteristic that makes it either more viable or less so.

Pictographic writing being characterized as a drawing or iconographic figure, typically most recognized in today as Hieroglyphics, an extinct writing system. Some like Chinese continued, and have well over 50,000 characters, leading to an intensely large need for memory competency.

Phonetic writing unlike pictographic, has a limited number of characters. In this system each character makes a designated set sound, or set of sounds. Each character also may have special marks to indicate pronunciation differences or other features of the sound. The first phonetic language was the Phoenician language, which would be popularized in Greece. Eventually causing a domino effect into Latin script, which as of today is the most popular form of writing. Dominating the most languages with its writing system being popularized.

Writing will also typically have its own rules about how it translates from spoken to written. Such as punctuation marks to indicate the things like: lists, names, possessions, specific nouns, verbs, and other forms of expressive information, and emotions. Typically, things like sentence and word order and structure are going to be the same in both the written, and spoken language. However how it is read can vary, from different alphabets, sounds, other forms of structure for the sentences, varied tenses, possessives, and many other elements that make up written language. Translation is the most difficult part of the process of writing. Without any information on the writing system, how to read it, which way to read it (written languages can be read in any way so long as it remains consistent as a rule.), and how it’s meaning changes.