12 Facts About Writing systems

Writing systems system is a method of visually representing verbal communication, based on a script and a set of rules regulating its use.

Writing systems require shared understanding between writers and readers of the meaning behind the sets of characters that make up a script.

Many writing systems include a special set of symbols known as punctuation which is used to aid interpretation and help capture nuances and variations in the message's meaning that are communicated verbally by cues in timing, tone, accent, inflection or intonation.

Writing systems were preceded by proto-writing, which used pictograms, ideograms and other mnemonic symbols.

Writing systems are distinguished from other possible symbolic communication systems in that a writing system is always associated with at least one spoken language.

Related searches

One of the great benefits of writing systems is that they can preserve a permanent record of information expressed in a language.

The glyphs of most writing systems are made up of lines and are therefore called linear, but there are glyphs in non-linear writing systems made up of other types of marks, such as Cuneiform and Braille.

Invention of the first writing systems is roughly contemporary with the beginning of the Bronze Age in the late 4th millennium BC.

Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican writing systems are generally believed to have had independent origins.

Linear writing systems are those in which the characters are composed of lines, such as the Latin alphabet and Chinese characters.

However, if "writing" is defined as a potentially permanent means of recording information, then these systems do not qualify as writing at all, since the symbols disappear as soon as they are used.

In computers and telecommunication systems, writing systems are generally not codified as such, but graphemes and other grapheme-like units that are required for text processing are represented by "characters" that typically manifest in encoded form.