View source for Writing

{{Short description|Persistent representation of language}}
{{Redirect|Write}}
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{{Use Oxford spelling|date=April 2025}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2025}}
[[File:Rosetta Stone.JPG|thumb|upright=1.3|The [[Rosetta Stone]] (196&nbsp;BC) bears writing in three different scripts. [[Hieroglyphs]] (top) and [[Demotic script|Demotic]] (middle) record the same text in the [[Egyptian language]], while an equivalent passage in [[Greek language|Greek]] uses the [[Greek alphabet]] (bottom). These correspondences were key to the [[decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphs]] in the early 19th century.]]

'''Writing''' is the act of creating a persistent representation of [[language]]. A [[writing system]] includes a particular set of symbols called a ''script'', as well as the rules by which they encode a particular spoken language. Every [[written language]] arises from a corresponding spoken language; while the use of language is universal across human societies, most spoken languages are not written.{{sfnp|Harris|2000|p=185}}

Writing is a [[cognitive]] and [[social]] activity involving [[neuropsychological]] and [[Writing process|physical processes]]. The outcome of this activity, also called ''writing'' (or a ''[[Text (literary theory)|text]]'') is a series of [[Handwriting|physically inscribed]], [[Printing press|mechanically transferred]], or [[Digital data|digitally represented]] symbols. [[Reading]] is the corresponding process of interpreting a written text, with the interpreter referred to as a ''reader''.{{sfnp|Smith|2005|pp=[https://archive.org/details/institutionaleth0000smit/page/105 105–108]}}

In general, writing systems do not constitute languages in and of themselves, but rather a means of encoding language such that it can be read by others across time and space.{{sfnp|Ong|1982}}{{sfnp|Haas|1996}} While not all languages use a writing system, those that do can complement and extend the capacities of [[spoken language]] by creating durable forms of language that can be transmitted across space (e.g. [[Letter (message)|written correspondence]]) and stored over time (e.g. [[libraries]]).{{sfnp|Schmandt-Besserat|Erard|2007|p=21}} Writing can also impact what knowledge people acquire, since it allows humans to externalize their thinking in forms that are easier to reflect on, elaborate on, reconsider, and revise.{{sfnp|Emig|1994}}{{sfnp|Adler-Kassner|Wardle|2015}}{{sfnp|Winsor|1994|pp=227–250}}

== Tools, materials, and motivations to write ==
Any instance of writing involves a complex interaction among available tools, intentions, cultural customs, cognitive routines, genres, tacit and explicit knowledge, and the constraints and limitations of the systems used.{{sfnp|Jakobs|Perrin|2014a|p=8}} [[Writing implement]]s used to make physical inscriptions include [[finger]]s, [[stylus]]es, [[ink brush]]es, [[pencil]]s, [[pen]]s, and many styles of [[lithography]]; [[writing surface]]s on which inscriptions may be made include [[stone tablet]]s, [[clay tablet]]s, [[bamboo slips]], [[papyrus]], [[wax tablet]]s, [[vellum]], [[parchment]], [[paper]], [[intaglio printing|copperplate]], and [[Blackboard|slate]].{{sfnpm|1a1=Mahlow|1a2=Dale|1y=2014|1pp=209–210|2a1=Condorelli|2y=2022|2pp=39–49}}

The [[typewriter]], as well as the digital [[word processor]], allow individual writers to produce visually consistent text mechanically via a [[Input method|keyboard]].{{sfnp|Lindgren|Sullivan|2019}}

Advancements in [[natural language processing]] and [[natural language generation]] have resulted in software capable of  producing certain forms of formulaic writing (e.g. weather forecasts and sports reporting) without the direct involvement of humans{{sfnp|Reiter|Dale|2000}} after initial configuration or, more commonly, to be used to support writing processes such as generating initial drafts, producing feedback with the help of a rubric, copy-editing, and [[machine translation|helping translation]].{{sfnp|Katsnelson|2022|pp=208–209}}
=== Motivations and purposes ===
[[File:Olin-Warner-LoC-tympanum-Highsmith.jpeg|thumb|upright=1.2|Bronze [[tympanum (architecture)|tympanum]] featuring the [[personification]] of Writing{{snd}}[[Thomas Jefferson Building]], Washington, D.C.]]
Historically, writing emerged to address the needs of societies growing in economic and social complexity. Once developed, potential applications included tracking produce and other wealth, recording [[history]], maintaining [[culture]], codifying knowledge through [[curricula]] as well as lists of texts deemed to contain foundational knowledge (e.g. ''[[The Canon of Medicine]]'') or artistic value (e.g. the [[literary canon]]). Aids to administration included [[legal codes]], [[census]] records, [[contract]]s, [[deed]]s of ownership, [[tax]]ation, [[trade agreement]]s, and [[treaties]]. As [[Charles Bazerman]] explains, the "marking of signs on stones, clay, paper, and now digital memories—each more portable and rapidly traveling than the previous—provided means for increasingly coordinated and extended action as well as memory across larger groups of people over time and space."{{sfnp|Bazerman|2013|p=193}} Further innovations included more uniform, predictable, and widely dispersed legal systems, the distribution of accessible versions of [[sacred texts]], and furthering practices of [[scientific inquiry]] and [[knowledge management]], all of which were largely reliant on portable and easily reproducible forms of inscribed language. The [[history of writing]] is co-extensive with uses of writing and the elaboration of [[Soft systems methodology#Human activity system|activity systems]] that give rise to and circulate writing.{{sfnp|Andersen|2007|pp=214–231}}

Individual motivations for writing include the ability to operate beyond the limitations of one's own [[memory]]{{sfnp|Hutchins|1995}} (e.g. [[to-do lists]], [[recipe]]s, reminders, [[logbook]]s, [[map]]s, directions for complicated tasks or [[ritual]]s), dissemination of ideas and coordination (e.g. [[essay]]s, [[monograph]]s, [[Broadside (printing)|broadsides]], [[plan]]s, [[petition]]s, [[manifesto]]s), creativity and [[storytelling]], maintaining [[kinship]] and other social networks,{{sfnp|Christiansen|2017|pp=135–164}} [[business correspondence]] regarding goods and services, and [[life writing]] (e.g. a [[diary]] or journal).{{sfnp|Lindenman|Driscoll|Efthymiou|Pavesich|2024|pp=70–106}}

The global spread of digital [[communication]] systems such as [[email]] and [[social media]] has made writing an increasingly important feature of daily life, where these systems mix with older technologies like paper, pencils, whiteboards, printers, and copiers.{{sfnp|Sterponi|Zucchermaglio|Alby|Fatigante|2017|pp=359–386}} Substantial amounts of everyday writing characterize most workplaces in [[developed countries]].{{sfnp|Brandt|2015|p=3}} In many occupations (e.g. law, [[accounting]], [[software design]], [[human resources]]), written documentation is not only the main deliverable but also the mode of work itself.{{sfnp|Jakobs|Spinuzzi|2014|p=360}} Even in occupations not typically associated with writing, routine [[records management]] has most employees writing at least some of the time.{{sfnp|Beaufort|2007|pp=221–237}}

== Contemporary uses ==
Some professions are typically associated with writing, such as literary authors, journalists, and technical writers, but writing is pervasive in most modern forms of work, civic participation, household management, and leisure activities.{{sfnp|Smith|2001|p=160}}

=== Business and finance ===
{{See also|Professional writing|Professional communication}}
Writing permeates everyday commerce. For example, in the course of an afternoon, a wholesaler might receive a written inquiry about the availability of a product line, then communicate with suppliers and fabricators through work orders and purchase agreements, correspond via email to affirm shipping availability with a [[drayage]] company, write an invoice, and request proof of receipt in the form of a written signature. At a much larger scale, modern systems of finances, banking, and business rest on many forms of written documents{{snd}}including written regulations, policies, and procedures; the creation of reports and other monitoring documents to make, evaluate, and provide accountability for decisions and operations; the creation and maintenance of records; internal written communications within departments to coordinate work; written communications that comprise work products presented to other departments and to clients; and external communications to clients and the public.{{sfnp|Yates|1989}}{{page needed|date=June 2023}}{{sfnp|Smart|2006}}{{page needed|date=June 2023}} Business and financial organizations also rely on many written legal documents, such as contracts, reports to government agencies, tax records, and accounting reports.{{sfnp|Devitt|1991|pp=336–357}} Financial institutions and markets that hold, transmit, trade, insure, or regulate holdings for clients or other institutions are particularly dependent on written records (though now often in digital form) to maintain the integrity of their roles.{{sfnp|Yates|2005}}{{page needed|date=June 2023}}

=== Governance and law ===
Many modern systems of government are organized and sanctified through written [[constitution]]s at the national and sometimes state or other organizational levels. Written rules and procedures typically guide the operations of the various branches, departments, and other bodies of government, which regularly produce reports and other documents as work products and to account for their actions. In addition to [[legislature]]s that draft and pass laws, these laws are administered by an [[executive branch]], which can present further written regulations specifying the laws and how they are carried out.{{sfnp|Kerwin|Furlong|2019}}{{page needed|date=May 2023}} Governments at different levels also typically maintain written records on citizens concerning identities, life events such as births, deaths, marriages, and divorces, the granting of licenses for controlled activities, criminal charges, traffic offences, and other penalties small and large, and tax liability and payments.{{cn|date=May 2025}}

=== Science and scholarship ===
Research undertaken in [[academic discipline]]s is typically published as articles in journals or within book-length [[monograph]]s. Arguments, experiments, observational data, and other evidence collated in the course of research is represented in writing, and serves as the basis for later work. Data collection and drafting of [[manuscript]]s may be supported by grants, which usually require proposals establishing the value of such work and the need for funding.{{sfnp|Tardy|2003|pp=7–36}} The data and procedures are also typically collected in [[lab notebook]]s or other preliminary files.{{sfnp|Latour|Woolgar|1986}}{{page needed|date=June 2023}} [[Preprint]]s of potential publications may also be presented at academic or disciplinary conferences or on publicly accessible web servers to gain peer feedback and build interest in the work. Prior to official publication, these documents are typically read and evaluated by [[peer review]] from appropriate experts, who determine whether the work is of sufficient value and quality to be published.{{sfnp|Hyland|2004|pp=1–19}}

Publication does not establish the claims or findings of work as being authoritatively true, only that they are worth the attention of other specialists. As the work appears in review articles, handbooks, textbooks, or other aggregations, and others cite it in the advancement of their own research, does it become codified as contingently reliable knowledge.{{sfnp|Bazerman|1988}}

=== Journalism ===

News and news reporting are central to citizen engagement and knowledge of many spheres of activity people may be interested in about the state of their community, including the actions and integrity of their governments and government officials, economic trends, natural disasters and responses to them, international geopolitical events, including conflicts, but also sports, entertainment, books, and other leisure activities. While news and newspapers have grown rapidly from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries, the changing economics and ability to produce and distribute news have brought about radical and rapid challenges to journalism and the consequent organization of citizen knowledge and engagement.{{sfnp|Conboy|2007|pp=201–216}}{{sfnp|Perrin|2013}}{{page needed|date=October 2024}} These changes have also created challenges for [[journalism ethics]] that have been developed over the past century.{{sfnp|Pavlik|2001|p=82}}

=== Education and educational institutions ===
Formal education&nbsp;is the social context most strongly associated with the learning of writing, and students may carry these particular associations long after leaving school.{{sfnp|Wingate|2012|pp=145–154}} Alongside the writing that students read (in the forms of textbooks, assigned books, and other instructional materials as well as self-selected books) students do much writing within schools at all levels, on subject exams, in essays, in taking notes, in doing homework, and in [[Writing assessment|formative and summative assessments]]. Some of this is explicitly directed toward the learning of writing, but much is focused more on subject learning.{{sfnp|Klein|Arcon|Baker|2016|pp=245–246}}{{sfnp|Williams|Beam|2019|pp=227–242}}

== Writing systems ==
[[Writing system]]s may be broadly classified according to what units of language are generally represented by its symbols:{{sfnp|Daniels|Bright|1996|p=56}}{{sfnp|Rogers|2005|pp=13–15}}
* ''Phonographies'' represent sounds of speech{{snd}}with [[alphabet]]s and [[syllabaries]] using symbols for [[phoneme]]s and [[syllable]]s respectively.
* ''[[Logographies]]'' represent a language's units of meaning ([[word]]s or [[morpheme]]s), though still associated by readers with their given pronunciations in the corresponding spoken language.

=== Logographies ===
[[File:Comparative evolution of Cuneiform, Egyptian and Chinese characters.svg|thumb|Comparative evolution from pictograms to abstract character shapes, in Mesopotamian [[cuneiform]]s, [[Egyptian hieroglyph]]s and [[Chinese characters]]]]
A logography is written using [[logogram]]s{{snd}}written characters which represent individual [[word]]s or [[morpheme]]s.{{sfnp|Daniels|Bright|1996|p=56}} Many logograms have internal structures, with components potentially representing both phonographic and [[ideographic]] (e.g. [[Chinese character radicals]], [[hieroglyphic determinatives]]) aspects of the morpheme.{{sfnp|Condorelli|2022|pp=61–62}}

The main logographic system in use is [[Chinese characters]], used primarily to write the [[Chinese languages]] and [[Japanese language|Japanese]], and historically others from regions influenced by [[Chinese culture]], such as [[Korean language|Korean]] and [[Vietnamese language|Vietnamese]]. Other logographic systems include [[cuneiform]] and [[Maya script]].{{sfnpm|Gnanadesikan|2009|1p=11|Goody|1987|2p=18}}

=== Syllabaries ===
A [[syllabary]] is a set of written symbols that represent [[syllable]]s,{{sfnp|Daniels|Bright|1996|p=56}} typically a consonant followed by a vowel, or just a vowel alone. In some scripts more complex syllables (e.g. consonant–vowel–consonant or consonant–consonant–vowel) may have dedicated glyphs. Phonetically similar syllables are not written similarly.{{sfnp|Daniels|Bright|1996|p=56}}

Syllabaries are best suited to languages with a relatively simple syllable structure, such as Japanese. Other syllabic scripts include [[Linear B]] and the [[Cherokee syllabary]].{{sfnp|Cushman|2011|pp=255–281}}

=== Alphabets ===
{{See also|History of the alphabet}}
An [[alphabet]] is a set of written symbols that represent [[consonant]]s and [[vowel]]s.{{sfnp|Daniels|Bright|1996|p=56}} In a perfectly [[phonological]] alphabet, letters would correspond one-to-one with the language's [[phoneme]]s. Thus, a writer could predict the spelling of a word given its pronunciation, and a speaker could predict the pronunciation of a word given its spelling. In practice, the degree to which letters correspond with phonemes varies greatly between languages and the [[orthographies]] used when writing them.{{citation needed|date=June 2023}}

==== Abjads ====
Alphabets that generally only have letters for consonants are called ''[[abjad]]s'' or ''consonantaries''; though optional, abjads may also use diacritical marks to specify which vowels follow each consonant. The earliest alphabets were abjads, influenced by symbols representing specific consonants that originated in Egyptian hieroglyphs. Most abjads are likewise native to the Middle East, reflecting the relatively limited variation of vowels in the [[morphology (linguistics)|morphology]] of the [[Semitic languages]] spoken in the region.{{sfnp|Daniels|Bright|1996|p=56}}

==== Abugidas ====
In most of the alphabets of India and [[Southeast Asia]], vowels are indicated through diacritics or modification of the shape of the consonant. These are called ''[[abugida]]s''.{{sfnp|Daniels|Bright|1996|p=56}} Some abugidas, such as [[Geʽez script|Geʽez]] and the [[Canadian Aboriginal syllabics]], are learned by children as syllabaries, and so are often called "syllabics". However, unlike true syllabaries, there is not an independent glyph for each syllable.{{citation needed|date=June 2023}}

== History and origins ==
{{Main|History of writing}}
{{redirect|Writings|the section of the Hebrew Bible|Ketuvim}}
Writing first emerged in the [[Early Bronze Age]] to meet the growing economic needs of the city-states of [[Sumeria]], located in southern [[Mesopotamia]]. During this time, the complexity of trade and administration outgrew the power of memory, with [[Sumerian cuneiform]] serving as a reliable means for recording transactions, maintaining financial accounts, and keeping historical records, among similar activities.{{sfnp|Robinson|2019|p=36}}

Cuneiform, used to write the [[Sumerian language]], was followed relatively quickly by [[Egyptian hieroglyphs]], with both emerging from proto-writing systems between 3500 and 2900&nbsp;BC,{{sfnp|Finegan|2019}} and the earliest coherent texts attested {{circa|2600&nbsp;BC}}. While hieroglyphs lack any sign of being directly influenced by cuneiform in either form or function, the degree to which [[cultural diffusion]] from Mesopotamia, if any, played a part in the development of Egyptian writing is not universally agreed upon.

=== Mesopotamia ===
[[File:Accountancy clay envelope Louvre Sb1932.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|Globular envelope with a cluster of accountancy tokens, Uruk period, from [[Susa]]{{snd}}[[Louvre Museum]]]]
Archaeologist [[Denise Schmandt-Besserat]] presented a theory establishing a link between cuneiform and previously uncategorized clay "tokens", the oldest of which have been found in the Zagros region of Iran. Around 8000&nbsp;BC, Mesopotamians began using clay tokens to count their agricultural and manufactured goods. Later they began placing these tokens inside large, hollow clay containers (bulla, or globular envelopes) which were then sealed. The quantity of tokens in each container came to be expressed by impressing, on the container's surface, one picture for each instance of the token inside. They next dispensed with the tokens, relying solely on symbols for the tokens, drawn on clay surfaces. To avoid making a picture for each instance of the same object (for example: 100 pictures of a hat to represent 100 hats), they counted the objects by using various small marks.{{sfnp|Woods|Emberling|Teeter|2010|p=15}}

Cuneiform emerged {{cx|3200&nbsp;BC}} in the context of this technology for keeping accounts. By the end of the 4th millennium&nbsp;BC,{{sfnp|Kramer|1981|pp=381–383}} the Mesopotamians were using a triangular-shaped stylus pressed into soft clay to record numbers. This system was gradually augmented with using a sharp stylus to indicate what was being counted by means of [[pictographs]]. Round and sharp styluses were gradually replaced for writing by wedge-shaped styluses (hence the term ''cuneiform'', from Latin {{lang|la|cunius}} 'wedge'){{snd}}at first only for [[logogram]]s, with phonetic elements introduced by the 29th century&nbsp;BC. Around 2700&nbsp;BC, cuneiform began to represent syllables of spoken Sumerian. About that time, Mesopotamian cuneiform became a general purpose writing system for logograms, syllables, and numbers. This script was adapted to another Mesopotamian language, the East Semitic [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]] ([[Old Assyrian period|Assyrian]] and [[Babylonia]]n) {{cx|2600&nbsp;BC}}, and then to others such as [[Elamite]], [[Hattian language|Hattian]], [[Hurrian language|Hurrian]] and [[Hittite language|Hittite]]. Scripts similar in appearance to this writing system include those for [[Ugaritic]] and [[Old Persian]]. With the adoption of [[Aramaic]] as the lingua franca of the [[Neo-Assyrian Empire]] (911–609&nbsp;BC), Old Aramaic was also adapted to Mesopotamian cuneiform. The latest cuneiform texts in Akkadian discovered thus far date from the 1st century&nbsp;AD.{{sfnp|Geller|1997}}

=== Egypt ===
[[File:Narmer Palette serpopard side.jpg|upright=0.8|thumb|The [[Narmer Palette]], with the two [[Serpopard]]s representing unification of [[Upper Egypt|Upper]] and [[Lower Egypt]], {{cx|3100 BC}}]]
The earliest known [[hieroglyphs]] are clay labels for the [[Predynastic Egypt|Predynastic]] ruler "Scorpion I", dated {{cx|the 33nd century BC}} and recovered at [[Abydos, Egypt|Abydos]] (modern Umm el-Qa'ab), or otherwise the [[Narmer Palette]] dated {{cx|3100 BC}}.{{sfnp|Mattessich|2002}} The hieroglyphic script was [[logographic]], with phonetic adjuncts that included an effective [[Egyptian hieroglyph#Script|alphabet]]. The oldest deciphered sentence is attested on a seal impression from the tomb of [[Seth-Peribsen]] at Abydos, dating to the [[Second Dynasty]] (28th or 27th century&nbsp;BC). Around 800 hieroglyphs were used during the Old, Middle, and New Kingdom periods (2686–1077&nbsp;BC); by the Greco-Roman period (30&nbsp;BC{{snd}}642&nbsp;AD), more than 5,000 distinct glyphs are attested.{{sfnp|Loprieno|1995|p=12}}

Writing was very important in maintaining the Egyptian empire, and literacy was concentrated among an educated elite of [[scribe]]s.{{sfnp|Lipson|2004|page=9}} Only people from certain backgrounds were allowed to train to become scribes, in the service of temple, pharaonic, and military authorities. The hieroglyph system was complex and difficult to master.

Alphabetic writing is only known to have been invented once in human history. Around the mid-19th century&nbsp;BC, the [[Proto-Sinaitic script]] emerged among a community of Canaanite turquoise miners in the [[Sinai Peninsula]].{{sfnp|Goldwasser|2010}} Around 30 crude inscriptions have been found at a mountainous Egyptian mining site known as Serabit el-Khadem, with symbols that stood for single consonant sounds rather than whole words or concepts{{snd}}the basis of an alphabetic system. It was not until between the 12th and 9th centuries&nbsp;BC that use of the alphabet became widespread.{{sfnp|Goldwasser|2010}}

=== Mesoamerica ===
<!-- fringe The [[Cascajal Block]], a stone slab with 3,000-year-old proto-writing, was discovered in the Mexican state of [[Veracruz]] and is an example of the oldest script in the Western Hemisphere, preceding the oldest [[Zapotec writing]] by approximately 500 years.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Wilford |first=John Noble |author-link=John Noble Wilford |date=15 September 2006 |title=Writing May Be Oldest in Western Hemisphere |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/15/science/15writing.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180727145612/https://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/15/science/15writing.html |archive-date=27 July 2018 |access-date=30 March 2008 |work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Briggs |first=Helen |date=14 September 2006 |title='Oldest' New World writing found |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5347080.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080403005953/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5347080.stm |archive-date=3 April 2008 |access-date=30 March 2008 |publisher=BBC}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Rodríguez Martínez |first=Maria del Carmen |last2=Ceballos |first2=Ponciano Ortíz |last3=Coe |first3=Michael D. |last4=Diehl |first4=Richard A. |last5=Houston |first5=Stephen D. |last6=Taube |first6=Karl A. |last7=Calderón |first7=Alfredo Delgado |date=15 September 2006 |title=Oldest Writing in the New World |journal=Science |volume=313 |issue=5793 |pages=1610–1614 |bibcode=2006Sci...313.1610R |doi=10.1126/science.1131492 |pmid=16973873 |s2cid=35140904}}</ref> It is thought to be [[Olmec]]. -->

Of several [[pre-Columbian]] scripts in [[Mesoamerica]], the one that appears to have been best developed, and the only one to be deciphered, is the [[Maya script]]. The earliest inscription identified as Maya dates to the 3rd century&nbsp;BC.{{sfnp|Saturno|Stuart|Beltrán|2006|pp=1281–1283}} Maya writing used logograms complemented by a set of syllabic glyphs, somewhat similar in function to modern Japanese writing.

=== China ===
{{Further|Oracle bone script|Chinese bronze inscriptions}}
The earliest surviving examples of writing in China{{snd}}inscriptions on [[oracle bone]]s, usually tortoise [[plastron]]s and ox [[scapula]]e which were used for divination{{snd}}date from {{cx|1200 BC}}, during the [[Late Shang]] period. A small number of bronze inscriptions from the same period have also survived.{{sfnp|Boltz|1999|pp=74–123}}

=== Elamite scripts ===
Over the centuries, three distinct Elamite scripts developed. [[Proto-Elamite]] is the oldest known writing system from Iran. In use {{cx|3200|2900&nbsp;BC}}, clay tablets with Proto-Elamite writing have been found at different sites across Iran, with the majority having been excavated at [[Susa]], an ancient city located east of the [[Tigris]] and between the Karkheh and Dez rivers.{{sfnp|Dahl|2018|pp=383–396}} The Proto-Elamite script is thought to have developed from early [[cuneiform]] (proto-cuneiform). The Proto-Elamite script consists of more than 1,000 signs and is thought to be partly [[logographic]]. The [[Elamite cuneiform]] script was used from {{cx|2500}} to 331&nbsp;BC, and was adapted from the Akkadian cuneiform. At any given point within this period, the Elamite cuneiform script consisted of about 130 symbols, and over this entire period only 206 total signs were used. This is far fewer than most other cuneiform scripts.{{sfnp|Daniels|Bright|1996|p=56}}

=== Europe ===
==== Crete and Greece ====
[[Cretan hieroglyphs]] are attested on artefacts from [[Crete]] during the early-to-mid 2nd millennium&nbsp;BC (MM I–III, overlapping with Linear A from MM IIA at the earliest). [[Linear B]], the writing system of the [[Mycenaean Greeks]],{{sfnp|Olivier|1986|pp=377–389}} has been deciphered while [[Linear A]] has yet to be deciphered. The sequence and the geographical spread of the three overlapping, but distinct writing systems can be summarized as follows (beginning date refers to first attestations, the assumed origins of all scripts lie further back in the past): Cretan hieroglyphs were used in Crete {{cx|1625–1500 BC}}; Linear A was used in the [[Aegean Islands]], and the [[Greek mainland]] {{cx|1700–1450 BC}}; Linear B was used in Crete ([[Knossos]]), and the mainland {{cx|1375–1200&nbsp;BC}}.{{citation needed|date=June 2023}}

=== Development of the alphabet ===
{{Main|History of the alphabet}}
The first alphabetic writing was developed by workers in the [[Sinai Peninsula]] to write [[West Semitic languages]] {{circa|1800&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}, "in the context of cultural exchanges between Semitic-speaking people from the Levant and communities in Egypt".{{sfnp|Drucker|2022|p=188}} This earliest attested form is known as the ''[[Proto-Sinaitic script]]'', and it adapted concepts and at least some of its written letterforms from Egyptian hieroglyphic writing; it adopted wholly West Semitic sound values for its letters, as opposed to adapting existing Egyptian ones.{{sfnpm|Drucker|2022|1pp=187–189|Fischer|2001|2pp=84–85}} Precise dating of its origin, as well as the graphical origins of many letterforms (if any) remain unclear, and the script remains undeciphered.{{sfnpm|Fischer|2001|1p=85|Haring|2020|2pp=53–54}}

The [[Phoenician alphabet]] ({{circa|1050&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}) is a direct descendant of Proto-Sinaitic. Proto-Sinaitic and Phoenician were [[abjad]]s which only had letters representing consonantal sounds; Phoenician was ultimately adapted into the [[Greek alphabet]] ({{cx|800&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}), the first to represent vowel sounds, which it did by re-purposing unused Phoenician consonantal signs.{{sfnp|Fischer|2001|pp=84–86}} The [[Cumae alphabet]], a variant of the early Greek alphabet, gave rise to the [[Etruscan alphabet]] and its own descendants, such as the [[Latin alphabet]]. Other descendants from the Greek alphabet include [[Cyrillic]], used to write [[Bulgarian language|Bulgarian]] and [[Russian language|Russian]], among other languages. The Phoenician alphabet was also adapted into the [[Aramaic script]], from which the [[Hebrew script|Hebrew]] and the [[Arabic script]]s are descended.{{citation needed|date=June 2023}}

=== Religious texts ===
{{See also|Myth}}
In the history of writing, [[religious texts]] or writing have played a special role. For example, some religious text compilations have been some of the earliest popular texts,<!--, introduced societal rules {{see above|[[#Governance and law|above]]}},--> or even the only written texts in some languages, and in some cases are still highly popular around the world.{{sfnp|Martin|1994}}{{page needed|date=June 2023}}{{sfnp|Johnston|2007|p=133}}{{sfnp|Powell|2009|p=12}}

== See also ==
{{Portal|Writing}}
* [[Collaborative writing]]
* [[Graphonomics]]
* [[Writer's block]]
* [[Writing circle]]
* [[Writing slate]]

== References ==
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=== Works cited ===
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* {{Cite book |title=Naming What We Know: Threshold Concepts of Writing Studies |publisher=Utah State University Press |year=2015 |isbn=978-0-87421-989-0 |editor-last=Adler-Kassner |editor-first=Linda |location=Logan |pages=55–56 |jstor=j.ctt15nmjt7 |editor-last2=Wardle |editor-first2=Elizabeth A.}}
* {{Cite book |last=Bazerman |first=Charles |author-link=Charles Bazerman |title=Shaping Written Knowledge: The Genre and Activity of the Experimental Article in Science |publisher=University of Wisconsin Press |year=1988}}
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** {{Harvc |last=Conboy |first=Martin |c=Writing and journalism: politics, social movements, and the public sphere |in=Bazerman |year=2007 |pages=249–268}}
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* {{Cite journal |last=Winsor |first=Dorothy A. |year=1994 |title=Invention and Writing in Technical Work: Representing the Object |journal=Written Communication |volume=11 |issue=2 |pages=227–250 |doi=10.1177/0741088394011002003 |s2cid=145645219}}
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{{Refend}}

== Further reading ==
{{Refbegin|30em}}
* {{Cite book |last=Ankerl |first=Guy |title=Global Communication without Universal Civilization |publisher=INU Press |year=2000 |isbn=978-2-88155-004-1 |editor-last=Pereboom |editor-first=Dirk |series=INU societal research |volume=1: Coexisting Contemporary Civilizations – Arabo-Muslim, Bharati, Chinese, and Western |pages=59–66, 235}}
* {{Cite book |last=Christin |first=Anne-Marie |title=A History of Writing: From Hieroglyph to Multimedia |last2=Bacon |first2=Josephine |publisher=Flammarion |year=2002 |isbn=978-2-08-010887-6}}
* {{cite web|url=http://www.museumofwriting.co.uk/|publisher=Museum of Writing|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060424070220/http://www.museumofwriting.co.uk/ |archive-date=24 April 2006|title=UK Museum of Writing with information on writing history and implements}}
* {{Cite book |last=Robinson |first=Andrew |title=Writing and Script: A Very Short Introduction |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-19-956778-2 |series=Very Short Introductions}}
* On ERIC Digests: {{multiref|1=[http://www.ericdigests.org/2001-3/writing.htm ''Writing Instruction: Current Practices in the Classroom''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304054304/http://www.ericdigests.org/2001-3/writing.htm |date=4 March 2016 }}|2=[http://www.ericdigests.org/2001-3/development.htm ''Writing Development''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040415092322/http://www.ericdigests.org/2001-3/development.htm |date=15 April 2004 }}|3= [http://www.ericdigests.org/2001-3/views.htm ''Writing Instruction: Changing Views over the Years''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304052125/http://www.ericdigests.org/2001-3/views.htm |date=4 March 2016 }}}}
{{Refend}}

== External links ==
{{Wikiquote}}
{{Commons category|Writing}}
{{Wikiversity|Collaborative play writing}}
{{Wikibooks|Fiction technique}}
{{Wiktionary}}
* [http://www.uca.edu.ar/esp/sec-ffilosofia/esp/docs-institutos/s-cehao/boletin/damqatum3_eng2007.pdf Language, Writing and Alphabet: An Interview with Christophe Rico] [[Damqatum]] 3 (2007)
* [http://mediengeschichte.dnb.de/DBSMZBN/Web/EN/Navigation/SoundsSymbolsScript/sounds_symbols_script_doorpage.html "Signs – Books – Networks", virtual exhibition of the German Museum of Books and Writing i.a. with a thematic module on sounds, symbols and script]
* [https://wac.colostate.edu/ Writing Across the Curriculum Clearinghouse] – open access books, journals, teaching resources on research and practice.

{{Writing}}
{{Paper data storage media|state=expanded}}
{{Communication studies}}
{{Literacy}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Writing| ]]
[[Category:Behavior]]
[[Category:Human communication]]
[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Written communication]]