Writing: Difference between revisions

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Writing is the process of recording characters on a medium, with the intention of forming words and other larger language constructs. For example, one can use a pen to write characters on paper or a computer to record characters to disk. The use of pen and paper has historical primacy, and one could argue that the second is merely analogous to writing. Still, as commonly used, writing refers to recording visual characters on physical or electronic media.

In the western world, this means putting characters together to form words and sentences. In cultures using ideograms, each character used represents a word or concept, and can then be put together with others to form sentences.

Writing is believed to have originated by the simple drawing of ideograms: for example, a drawing of an apple represents an apple, and a drawing of two legs may represent the concept of walking or standing. From this origin, the symbols become more abstract, eventually evolving into symbols which seem unrelated to the original symbol. For example, the letter N in English is actually from an Egyptian hieroglyph representing the same sound, but depicting waves in water - the Egyptian word for water contains only one consonant /n/, and the picture eventually came to represent not only the idea of water, but the sound /n/ as well.

Writing with the intent to communicate has been viewed spontaneously in non-humans. Work with the bonobos Kanzi and Panbanisha in the United States has provided one such example. The examples which occur are very few, but the origin of bonobo "writing" seems to be analogous to the origin of human writing.

"Writing" is also often used to describe the craft of creating a larger work of literature. This is an extension of the original meaning, which would include the act of writing longer texts. Writing in this sense can refer to the production of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry.

Writing that blends meaning and transcription is called constrained writing.

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 In the western world, this means putting characters together to form words and sentences. In cultures using [[ideogram]]s, each character used represents a word or concept, and can then be put together with others to form sentences.
+Writing is believed to have originated by the simple drawing of ideograms: for example, a drawing of an apple represents an apple, and a drawing of two legs may represent the concept of walking or standing. From this origin, the symbols become more abstract, eventually evolving into symbols which seem unrelated to the original symbol. For example, the letter N in English is actually from an Egyptian [[hieroglyph]] representing the same sound, but depicting waves in water - the Egyptian word for water contains only one consonant /n/, and the picture eventually came to represent not only the idea of water, but the sound /n/ as well.
+Writing with the intent to communicate has been viewed spontaneously in non-humans. Work with the [[bonobo]]s [[Kanzi and Panbanisha]] in the United States has provided one such example. The examples which occur are very few, but the origin of bonobo "writing" seems to be analogous to the origin of human writing.
 "Writing" is also often used to describe the craft of creating a larger work of [[literature]].  This is an extension of the original meaning, which would include the act of writing longer texts.  Writing in this sense can refer to the production of [[fiction]], [[non-fiction]], and [[poetry]].