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Lecture 1 Types of Writing

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Salina Saharudin
Salina Saharudin

The document discusses different types of writing systems. It describes: 1) The main types are alphabets, where letters represent sounds, and syllabaries, where symbols represent syllables. 2) Alphabets can be divided into categories like abjads (consonant alphabets like Arabic), alphabets, and alphasyllabaries. 3) Syllabaries use symbols to represent consonant-vowel combinations, with diacritics changing vowels. The document provides examples of scripts from different languages to illustrate these categories.

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WRITING SKILLS CED 2123 Lecture 1 Murni Salina Fac of Education & Social Science UNISEL Bestari Jaya
Types of writing system Writing systems can be divided into two main types: alphabets - consonants and vowels, syllabaries - syllables There are a number of subdivisions of each type, and there are different classifications of writing systems in different sources. Abjads / Consonant Alphabets Alphabets Syllabic Alphabets / Abugidas Syllabaries Semanto -phonetic writing systems Undeciphered writing systems Other writing and communication systems
1. Abjads, or consonant alphabets such as Arabic and Hebrew full vowel indication (vocalisation) is only used in specific contexts, such as in religious books and children's books. the word 'language' in Arabic and Hebrew, both without vowel marks (unvocalised) and with vowel marks (vocalised).
In Semitic languages e.g. k-t-b ( كتب ) is the root for words related to marking, inscribing or writing in Arabic. Adding vowels and other consonants to such roots creates different words such as katîb, writer; kutub, books; kutubî, bookdealer; maktab, school, office; maktaba, library, literature. Many of the ancient alphabets used in West Asia and North Africa were abjads, as are the Arabic and Hebrew scripts.
2. Alphabets or phonemic alphabets are sets of letters that represent consonants and vowels. In English, letters might represent a variety of sounds, or the same sounds can be written in different ways. IPA: /ʃ/ (unvoiced postalveolar fricative) Afrikaans: sj ampoe (shampoo) Czech: š plouchat (to splash) English: sh ip, elec ti on, ma ch ine, mi ssi on, pre ss ue, sch edule. French: ch at (cat) German: sch ön (beautiful) Irish: mi s e (me) Lingala: c akú / sh akú (African grey parrot) Welsh: si arad (to speak) Russian: ко ш ка (cat) Armenian: շ աբաթօրյա (Saturday) Georgian: ბოდი შ ი (sorry)
3. Syllabic alphabets alphasyllabaries or abugidas are writing systems in which the main element is the syllable. Syllables are built up of consonants, each of which has an inherent vowel, e.g. ka, kha, ga, gha. Diacritic symbols are used to change or mute the inherent vowel, and separate vowel letters may be used when vowels occur at the beginning of a syllable or on their own.
4. A syllabary phonetic writing system consisting of a consonant plus a vowel or a single vowel. The illustration below shows a selection of symbols from Japanese Hiragana, and Inuktitut.
5. Semanto-phonetic writing systems The symbols used in semanto-phonetic writing systems often represent both sound and meaning. As a result, such scripts generally include a large number of symbols: anything from several hundred to tens of thousands. In fact there is no theoretical upper limit to the number of symbols in some scripts, such as Chinese. These scripts could also be called logophonetic, morphophonemic, logographic or logosyllabic.
5.1 Pictograms and logograms Pictograms or pictographs resemble the things they represent. Logograms are symbols that represent parts of words or whole words. The image shows examples of pictograms from the Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic and Chinese scripts.
5.2 Ideograms Ideograms or ideographs are symbols which graphically represent abstract ideas. The image below shows a number of ideographic Chinese characters.
5.3 Compound characters 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. Below are a few such compound characters which all share a semantic element meaning 'horse'.
Undeciphered writing systems The writing systems listed below have yet to be deciphered or have only been partially deciphered. Vinča / Old European A collection of symbols found on many of the artefacts dating from between 6,000 to 4,500 BC excavated from sites in south-east Europe, in particular from Vinča near Belgrade. There is no agreement on whether these symbols are a writing system. Indus/Harappa script A collection of symbols used in the Indus valley of India between about 3,500 and 2,000 BC. Some believe that these symbols are non-linguistic, while others argue that they represent a Dravidian language.
Other writing and communication systems 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. Magical alphabet - Enochian, Theban, etc. Fictional scripts - writing systems used in books, films and computer games
THANK YOU Dec 2010

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Lecture 1 Types of Writing

  • 1. WRITING SKILLS CED 2123 Lecture 1 Murni Salina Fac of Education & Social Science UNISEL Bestari Jaya
  • 2. Types of writing system Writing systems can be divided into two main types: alphabets - consonants and vowels, syllabaries - syllables There are a number of subdivisions of each type, and there are different classifications of writing systems in different sources. Abjads / Consonant Alphabets Alphabets Syllabic Alphabets / Abugidas Syllabaries Semanto -phonetic writing systems Undeciphered writing systems Other writing and communication systems
  • 3. 1. Abjads, or consonant alphabets such as Arabic and Hebrew full vowel indication (vocalisation) is only used in specific contexts, such as in religious books and children's books. the word 'language' in Arabic and Hebrew, both without vowel marks (unvocalised) and with vowel marks (vocalised).
  • 4. In Semitic languages e.g. k-t-b ( كتب ) is the root for words related to marking, inscribing or writing in Arabic. Adding vowels and other consonants to such roots creates different words such as katîb, writer; kutub, books; kutubî, bookdealer; maktab, school, office; maktaba, library, literature. Many of the ancient alphabets used in West Asia and North Africa were abjads, as are the Arabic and Hebrew scripts.
  • 5. 2. Alphabets or phonemic alphabets are sets of letters that represent consonants and vowels. In English, letters might represent a variety of sounds, or the same sounds can be written in different ways. IPA: /ʃ/ (unvoiced postalveolar fricative) Afrikaans: sj ampoe (shampoo) Czech: š plouchat (to splash) English: sh ip, elec ti on, ma ch ine, mi ssi on, pre ss ue, sch edule. French: ch at (cat) German: sch ön (beautiful) Irish: mi s e (me) Lingala: c akú / sh akú (African grey parrot) Welsh: si arad (to speak) Russian: ко ш ка (cat) Armenian: շ աբաթօրյա (Saturday) Georgian: ბოდი შ ი (sorry)
  • 6. 3. Syllabic alphabets alphasyllabaries or abugidas are writing systems in which the main element is the syllable. Syllables are built up of consonants, each of which has an inherent vowel, e.g. ka, kha, ga, gha. Diacritic symbols are used to change or mute the inherent vowel, and separate vowel letters may be used when vowels occur at the beginning of a syllable or on their own.
  • 7. 4. A syllabary phonetic writing system consisting of a consonant plus a vowel or a single vowel. The illustration below shows a selection of symbols from Japanese Hiragana, and Inuktitut.
  • 8. 5. Semanto-phonetic writing systems The symbols used in semanto-phonetic writing systems often represent both sound and meaning. As a result, such scripts generally include a large number of symbols: anything from several hundred to tens of thousands. In fact there is no theoretical upper limit to the number of symbols in some scripts, such as Chinese. These scripts could also be called logophonetic, morphophonemic, logographic or logosyllabic.
  • 9. 5.1 Pictograms and logograms Pictograms or pictographs resemble the things they represent. Logograms are symbols that represent parts of words or whole words. The image shows examples of pictograms from the Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic and Chinese scripts.
  • 10. 5.2 Ideograms Ideograms or ideographs are symbols which graphically represent abstract ideas. The image below shows a number of ideographic Chinese characters.
  • 11. 5.3 Compound characters 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. Below are a few such compound characters which all share a semantic element meaning 'horse'.
  • 12. Undeciphered writing systems The writing systems listed below have yet to be deciphered or have only been partially deciphered. Vinča / Old European A collection of symbols found on many of the artefacts dating from between 6,000 to 4,500 BC excavated from sites in south-east Europe, in particular from Vinča near Belgrade. There is no agreement on whether these symbols are a writing system. Indus/Harappa script A collection of symbols used in the Indus valley of India between about 3,500 and 2,000 BC. Some believe that these symbols are non-linguistic, while others argue that they represent a Dravidian language.
  • 13. Other writing and communication systems 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. Magical alphabet - Enochian, Theban, etc. Fictional scripts - writing systems used in books, films and computer games