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How is writing different from speaking?

We are all familiar with the Roman/Latin alphabet that we use to write English!
- Spend the next minute writing down the names of as many other writing systems as you can think of
- Try to list the languages that are written using that writing system (for example, the Roman alphabet is used to write not only English but also Latin [and all its daughter languages], Germanic languages, some Slavic languages, in “Romanizations” of languages like Chinese, Japanese, etc., and many more – about 70% of the written languages use it!)
- If you don’t know the name of the writing system, Google it!
- You can also jot down any interesting facts you know about the system ::: {.notes}

https://www.milestoneloc.com/latin-alphabet-usage-and-variations/

:::

Language acquisition is the process by which humans acquire the ability to use, produce, and perceive language!
- First Language Acquisition: how an infant acquires his/her first or native language
- Second Language Acquisition: how children and adults acquire additional languages beyond the first
Learning vs. acquiring
Critical period – need to acquire early!
- Interlanguage = stages on the way to acquiring fluency
- Fossilization = hitting the wall of acquisition
All languages are equally challenging; difficulty is relative

Pros:
- Provides similar range as speaking for people who physically cannot speak
Cons:
- Requires use of hands
- Must be viewed
- Evaporates/cannot span time without the assistance of modern technology

Pros:
- Pictographs (we’ll later say this is NOT writing) can be understood across languages
- Can be read/understood more quickly than speaking can be heard/understood
- Endures and has great reach
Cons:
- Takes longer to produce than speech
- Requires use of hands
- Must be viewed

Writing allows humans to transmit information to others not within hearing distance, both spatially and temporally

Epic of Gilgamesh

Writing is the representation of language with the use of visual signs

English Alphabet

< Linguistics is awesome. >

The primary goal of writing is to make our utterances, which are by default audible, visible

Is it learned or acquired? Learned

Represents the morpheme pr ‘house’ & the syllable /pr/ in Egyptian

It’s iconic because the symbol looks like what it represents!

Represents the phonemes of Old Gaelic

It’s symbolic because there is no connection between the thing drawn and what it means

19th c. message from Turtle-Following-His-Wife to his son, Little Man
- Says something like: “Dad (TFHW) says to return home, enclosed is $53 for the cost of the trip”
- Is this “writing”? Why or why not?

Tablet from Nippur, 2000 bce

7. Language is universal; writing is not

True or false: an abjad is mostly consonants, and vowels are generally left unwritten. True