Writing systems, no matter what type, have a common goal: to represent and record a spoken language. To do this, systems have two primary options. They can either convey semantic information or they can represent the language’s phonetic sounds. Most languages do both, but the degree of each varies on a case-to-case basis. For example, although there are not many phonetic markers in traditional Chinese writing, it provides many semantic clues that are not even represented in the spoken language! English writing, on the other hand, has semantic indicators to an extent, but is primarily composed of phonetic representation. While all types of writing systems have advantages and disadvantages, the emergence of phonetic indicators in traditionally logographic writing systems, as well as the general popularity of alphabetic, consonantal, and syllabic writing systems, indicates that society today tends to value writing systems that convey mostly phonetic information over those that convey mostly semantic information.
In Chinese, which uses a logographic writing system to represent mostly semantic information, each character represents a single syllable. However, because many syllables have multiple meanings, multiple characters may represent the same syllable, which can lead to confusion. Chinese writing also provides very little phonetic information. In fact, only 23 percent of Chinese characters are fully regular, meaning they communicate all three types of Chinese phonetic information—onset, or the initial sound; rime, or the vowel sound; and tone, or the inflection of the vowel (Chen et al., 2003). A very interesting example of the way Chinese conveys information can be found on Omniglot.com, where all the characters derived from the...
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... not discernible without writing. When reading English, it is possible to see a suffix such as “-cide” and realize that the word has to do with the killing of something. However, a word like “countryside,” although the last syllable may be pronounced the same in speech, does not mean “to kill one’s country”!
Iconicity is an important factor in understanding written language, as well, but the iconicity of Chinese is less obvious now. In the early days of language, an iconic character was very useful. For example, the Chinese character for “woman,” when it actually resembled a woman, could be understood even by people who did not speak Chinese. However, these iconic characters were complex and took a considerable amount of time to write, so as time passed, they became simplified. Now the Chinese character for “woman” hardly resembles a woman at all (Robinson, 2007)!
In the Vietnamese language, there is a range of 19 to 21 consonant phonemes, which differs in result of how a word is pronounced. A consonant such as “/p/” only comes about when a word is borrowed from the French language. Other consonants experience more pronunciation such as “/tʰ/”, which occurs when there is an exhale of air that is followed by the words release. The Vietnamese language is also made up of 72 vowels. Technically, there are 12 vowels in the Vietnamese language. However, the language consists of six tones which therefore leads to a total of 72 distinct vowels. (Thompson 2013).
When I initially thought about writing style I believed that there would be some nice neat definition, and maybe a few rules that would govern writing with “style”. It turns out that I grossly underestimated this topic and while I knew that writing style would be a topic of considerable depth, I did not fully understand the degree that I would be pondering the issue of writing with “style”.
Wang, N, Wen, J & Su, X (trs), ‘Twentieth-century debates on Chinese characters and research on Chinese characters in the coming century’, Social Sciences in China 20, no.1 (Spr 1999) pp. 134-145.
Unlike English, the Japanese language uses a phonetic system, so in tanka and waka, where there are syllabic constraints, space must be used as wisely as possi...
For centuries, cursive handwriting has been considered an art. However, to a increasing number of young people the form is becoming extinct. The graceful letters of the cursive alphabet have been transcribed on innumerable love letters, acted as the method for articulating thoughts in journals and diaries, and have been scrawled across elementary school chalkboards for generations. Yet, cursive is gradually vanishing due to the accessibility to keyboards and smartphones. While the loss of the cursive alphabet may appear inconsequential, recent studies have revealed that in fact the gradual death of the fancier ABC’s instigates concerns for future generations.
The use of telepratice in the field of speech-language pathology has become increasingly popular as new technologies have developed and expanded. For individuals living with chronic aphasia, telepractice is a feasible option because these individuals can engage in therapy activities from the comfort of their own homes. This study entitled, “A Usability Study of Internet-Based Therapy for Naming Deficits in Aphasia,” seeks to determine whether the usability of the Phonological Components Analysis treatment program could be appropriate for patients with chronic post-stroke aphasia. Usability was defined as containing three elements: 1) effectiveness (Did the patient complete tasks?), 2) efficiency (Did the patient have difficulty completing tasks?),
The high development of languages around the world is arguably humanity’s most remarkable feat. Without it, we would be not much better off than monkeys or gorillas. Whether seeking to persuade, to inform, to express emotions, to question, to transmit ideas, or even to deliver masterpieces in verse or prosaic, people use language in order to communicate effectively in ways that are simply too arduous to quantify. Language, furthermore, is also not limited to just writing or word of mouth, for it also is used in other fashions, such as codes. Smoke signals, body language, computer programs, as well as Morse and flag are just some examples. Since a person’s language, is essentially inherited, based on their birthplace, due to society’s standards, it is, at times, taken for
Writing is one of the many factors which can lead to an unequal world. Writing was “One of the most important inventions in human history” (Prososki, “Writing”). It was believed to come from the Fertile Crescent called Sumer around 5,000 years ago. Over the years, writing has advanced as people created writing and printing systems, which were able to reach
The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue, Retrieved 20 Oct 2007 from the World Wide Web: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/587/01/
Humans have been using written language to communicate ideas with one another since as early as 3200 BCE in Mesopotamia. Since then, every great civilization has had a written language, each with its own unique characteristics. However, it was the writin...
In the partial alphabetic phase individuals pay attention to different letters in a word in order to attempt its pronunciation, usually the first and final letters of a word are focused on, Ehri referred to this as ‘phonetic cue reading’. This is a skill which along with others which shows phonological awareness.
...o use it to communicate. Many would argue that if modern day people cannot understand pictographs, then pictographs should not be considered as a writing system. However, people now, do not have the context-- the background, knowledge, and culture of the time. If a person were to show me French, I would not be able to understand it, not having been taught the language. Because pictographs are able to be taught, like certain groups of North American Indians, then it can be used to interact. The definition of writing should not be so stringent. It does not have to be “appealing to the eye” (19) nor does it have to have both meaning and sound. Because many of our language systems are primarily based off of pictographs, we should not exclude them from writing. Even google’s definition of writing is so general, so linguists simply should not classify writing so narrowly.
To numerous Westerners, Chinese writing remains a concealed crease in the rich strata of Chinese society. Indeed, it is a fortune of an extremely impressive number of splendid and significant acts as every administration, in the long history of China, has passed down its legacy of great occasions and works. For a long time, they have woven an assortment of kinds and structures enveloping verse, expositions, fiction and drama; each in its own particular manner reflecting the social atmosphere of its day through the high soul of craftsmanship. Chinese writing has its own particular values and tastes, its ruling social convention and its own
Besides the practicality of Chinese characters, they also show the artistic appeal. In the works on calligraphy, the character “Shu” can be used as a verb meaning “to write” and as a noun meaning “calligraphy”. They can be interchangeable because of the association between them. The present models for calligraphy used to be exchanges of correspondence or inscriptions on a tablet for recording feudal decrees and regulations or honorable deeds. The main purpose of these inscriptions were not for art appreciation but they achieved certain artistic effect. Calligraphy originally referred to the method and principles of writing characters but now it has changed into an art form evidenced by so many exhibitions about calligraphy. It has become one