Writing

We explain what writing is, its history, functions and the types that exist. Also, its importance for humanity.

What is writing?

Writing is defined as a system of human communication through graphic representations of verbal language that is, signs drawn on a physical support of some type. The interpretation of written characters is known as reading.

All forms of writing operates as a system, in which each specific sign corresponds to a referent concrete or imaginary, in turn occupying a place within the chain of prayer.

These signs, called graphemes, can represent sounds of the language (following the phonetic principle) or they can, on the contrary, represent ideas or specific referents (following the ideogrammatic principle). It all depends on the writing system in question.

Currently there are many different forms of writing, some derived from the same previous language, such as the Romance languages, coming from Latin, or Chinese and Japanese, in which the same set of synonyms is used (which the japanese call kanji).

Each one has its own grammatical rules and its own notion of spelling. (that is, the correct way to use the signs), as well as their own intonation or pronunciation marks, such as accent marks.

This is because writing, as well as verbal language itself, is a reflection of a particular logic and way of thinking, as well as a specific history, since the modes of writing and their rules of representation usually change over time. weather. So much so, that there is evidence today of ancient writings that are, despite the efforts of specialists, indecipherable.

Origin of writing

Writing emerged in ancient times, but it did not emerge in a single location, but was discovered by several ancient civilizations at different times in their particular history, adapted from the beginning to their interests and their vision of the world.

However, it is estimated that The first writing systems emerged in the late Bronze Age (around 4,000 BC) based on mnemonic systems (reminders) that used specific symbols but that did not yet have any relationship with language.

That is why they are considered proto-writing, that is, mere antecedents, born at some point in the Neolithic, to satisfy different logistical needs, such as the accounting of herds, the ownership of goods or similar situations.

The first known writing was cuneiform, which emerged in ancient Mesopotamia. in the Middle East. It comes from a Sumerian system of uncategorized clay tokens, through which labor and goods were represented for exchange.

As it gained more and more complexity (which probably required carrying hundreds of tokens), this writing ended up being replaced by something more practical: a series of marks on a clay tablet, with the shapes of the tokens.

This first logographic writing system was used or copied by the neighbors of Sumeria, through commercial or other exchanges, such as the Akkadians and the Eblaites, Hittites and Ugarites, especially when in the middle of the third millennium BC. C. a syllabic annex was developed that reflected the sounds and sentence organization of the ancient Sumerian language.

Other writing systems also emerged at that time, such as Egyptian hieroglyphs. whose first signs date back to around 3,100 BC. C. (as the Narmer Palette), the Proto-Elamite writing (around 3,200 BC), the Indus writing (around 2,600 BC), or the Chinese writing (around 1,600 BC), among many others.

Types of writing

As we noted previously, writing can be classified into two major writing systems: phonetic writing and ideographic writing.

The phonetic writings They are those whose signs correspond to a specific sound in the language. In turn, they can be classified into:

• Alphabetical in which each written sign (or combination of them) corresponds to a sound (a phoneme) of the language. All European languages ​​and a significant number of American, African and Asian languages ​​use this type of writing.
• Abyades when only some of the phonemes of the language are represented graphically, that is, the language is not represented completely. Generally, it is the consonant sounds that are written, and the vowels are established by the context, which gives them a certain margin of ambiguity. This is the case, for example, of Hebrew writing.
• Abugidas also known as pseudosyllabic, can be understood as a step forward with respect to abyades, since in them the consonants are graphically represented along with graphic elements that clarify the ambiguity of the vowels, without actually constituting their own sign at all. This is the case of the Ethiopian writings.
• Syllabic in which each written sign represents a combination of two (or more) sounds in the same unit: a consonant sound and another vowel sound, that is, a syllable of the language. Such is the case of Mycenaean Greek writing, for example.

The ideogrammatic writings They are, for their part, those in which each written sign corresponds to a referent. That is, instead of representing language sounds, they directly represent things, actions or ideas. These signs are called ideograms or pictograms, and in general they are complemented by phonetic signs, resulting in mixed writing. Examples of this system are Chinese writing or Egyptian hieroglyphs.

Importance of writing

Writing is one of the most important technologies developed by human beings, to the extent that Its invention is considered the formal starting point of History (and, therefore, the end of prehistory), since before it it was impossible to leave documentation that narrated or evidenced the events.

Seen this way, the writing allowed human beings to overcome the barriers of time and mortality : a written message may well outlive its writer; and also refer to numerous recipients at the same time, or at different times and circumstances. That is, writing separated the sender from the receiver of a message in time and space for the first time in human history.

On the other hand, the writing allowed us to accumulate knowledge and pass it on to subsequent generations which was key in the emergence of more complex civilizations and in the possibility of study and learning, since before everything had to be transmitted orally and memorized, suffering distortions and forgetfulness in the process.

Last but not least, writing made possible the emergence of literature, an artistic form that still exists and that satisfies one of the most basic cultural needs of our species, which is to tell stories.

Writing functions

According to psychology (specifically Gordon Wells' 1987 approach to writing), writing always meets four levels of use, that is, it has four fundamental basic functions, which are:

• Executive or operational function which is summarized in the ability to encode and decode graphic signs, that is, in the possibility of converting an idea into a text and a text into a series of ideas: reading and writing. This is the most basic function of all.
• instrumental function which considers writing as a tool or an instrument for the acquisition of knowledge or knowledge, as in the case of study. In this sense, writing is nothing more than a vehicle of knowledge, a container.
• Interpersonal or functional role one that allows the communication of two human beings through the exchange of written messages, something that we know very well today thanks to instant messaging services. To do this, more than simply the ability to read and write is required: communicative contexts must be managed, a series of codes must be shared with the recipient, etc.
• Epistemic or imaginative function the most complex of all and the most cognitively demanding, is the one that allows the writer to create ideas directly through writing, generating knowledge and opinions that were not given beforehand in the recipient and considering writing as the substance itself, such and as writers, philosophers or poets do.

References

• “Writing” on Wikipedia.
• “Writing system” on Wikipedia.
• “History of writing” on Wikipedia.
• “What is writing” (video) in the Online Education Department of the University of Las Américas (UDLA).
• “First writings: hieroglyphs and cuneiform” (video) in Drawing History.
• “Writing” in The Encyclopaedia Britannica.