NONG LAM UNIVERSITY
FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES
WRITING SYSTEM OF LANGUAGE
Instructor: Mr. Le Minh Ha
Group 7 :
1. Do Thi My Duyen – 11128125
2. Le Thi Hong Diem - 11128010
3. Nguyen Thi Tuong Vi - 11159004
4. Nguyen Thi Minh Khoa - 11128046
5. Vu Thi Ky Duyen - 11128021
6. Nguyen Phi Yen Nhi- 11128076
7. Nguyen Thi Huong Lan- 11128051
OUTLINE:
I. The advantages of writing and the differences between
Writing and Speech.
II. Types of Writing
III. The brief history of Writing
IV. Skewing between orthography and pronunciation
V. Developing writing system in newly literate societies
I/ The advantages of writing and the differences between Writing
and Speech:
Student’s name : DO THI MY DUYEN
Student’s code : 11128125
A. THE ADVANTAGES OF WRITING
o Written message is relatively permanent.
o Written message can be kept and consulted at any future time.
o Facts and ideas committed to writing can be preserved without being a
burden on memory.
o Written messages can be read by any number of people at different
times and places.
o The vast store of knowledge and culture is preserved in writing.

B.THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN WRITING AND SPEECH
WRITING SPEECH
o Writing is usually permanent
and written texts cannot
usually be changed once they
have been printed/written
out.
o A written text can
communicate across time and
space for as long as the
particular language and
writing system is still
understood.
o Written language tends to be
more complex and intricate
than speech with longer
sentences and many
subordinate clauses. The
punctuation and layout of
written texts also have no
spoken equivalent. However
some forms of written
language, such as instant
messages and email, are
closer to spoken language.
o Writers receive no immediate
o Speech is usually transient,
unless recorded, and
speakers can correct
themselves and change their

utterances as they go along.
o Speech is usually used for
immediate interactions.
o Spoken language tends to be
full of repetitions,
incomplete sentences,
corrections and
interruptions, with the
exception of formal speeches
and other scripted forms of
speech, such as news reports
and scripts for plays and
films.
o Speech is usually a dynamic
feedback from their readers,
except in computer-based
communication. Therefore
they cannot rely on context to
clarify things so there is more
need to explain things clearly
and unambiguously than in
speech, except in written
correspondence between
people who know one
another well.
o Writers can make use of
punctuation, headings,
layout, colours and other
graphical effects in their
written texts. Such things are

not available in speech.
o Written material can be read
repeatedly and closely
analysed, and notes can be
made on the writing surface.
o Some grammatical
constructions are only used
in writing, as are some kinds
of vocabulary, such as some
complex chemical and legal
terms.
interaction between two or
more people. Context and
shared knowledge play a
major role, so it is possible
to leave much unsaid or
indirectly implied.
o Speech can use timing, tone,
volume, and timbre to add
emotional context.
o Only recorded speech can be
used in this way.
o Some types of vocabulary
are used only or mainly in
speech. These include slang
expressions, and tags like
y'know, like, etc.
C. References :
- Introduction to linguistics
-

.htm
II/ TYPES OF WRITING:
1. There are three main types of writing system :
a. Word writing (where every symbol or character represents a word or
morpheme, as in Chinese),
b. Syllable writing (where each symbol represents a syllable, as in
Japanese)
c. Alphabetic writing (where each symbol represents one phoneme, as
in English).
A. Word Writing:
Student’s name : Le Thi Hong Diem
Student’s code : 11128010
Word Writing:
System of writing in which each character represents a word or
morpheme of the language. ( Sometimes called ideographic or
logographic writing.) .
 Advantages.
o spelling permits speakers whose dialects have diverged to
communicate through writing, as is best exemplifiedin China, where
the ‘dealects’ are mutually unitelligible.
o each symbol or character stands for a word, it has no phonetic value
except by virtue of the fact that the word it stands for has a
characteristic pronunciation.
o read and understand the language as it was written centuries ago. It
was written tortoise shells.
o the spelling often reflects speakers’ morphological and phonological
knowledge.
 Disadvantages:
 Read and write involves much more time and effort than with other kinds of
writing systems.

 Can not figure out how to write a word, or what a character stands for, by
mean of any fixed relationship between symbols and sound.
 The thousands of characters of a word-writing system present for purpose of
writing .
B. Syllabic (syllable-writing ) :
Student’s name : Nguyen Thi Tuong Vi
Student’s code : 11159004
Definition: each symbol represents a single syllabic or syllable type.
For example: the word macaroni
If English were written syllabically, the macaroni would be written with
four symbols. One cadi for ma, ca, ro, ni.
Each symbol in a syllable –writing system has a particular phonetic value, and it is
used in any word that contains the phonetic sequence it stands for. Thus it is
possible to figure out how a word is pronounced from the way it is written, and
vice versa.
 Advantage:
 The sign of a syllabic system will be counted in the dozens, which makes
such a system much less cumbersome than a word-writing system.
Japanese is a well-known example of a language written syllabically.
For example: ひひひひ /HIRAGANA / chữ hiragana
ひひひ /Banana/ : quả chuối
ひひひ /Ichigo/ : quả dâu tây
ひひひひ /Papaya/ : quả đu đủ
C. Alphabetic writing systems:
Definition: Each symbol in an alphabetic system represents, not a whole syllable,
but a single sound segment.
For example: CAT
The English word cat, contains three letters, one each for the sound segments
[k], [æ ], and [t].
 Advantage:

 Since only a relatively small number of sound types are systematically
distinguished in a language, the number of symbols required in an alphabetic
writing system is comparatively small.
For example: We get along with twenty-six letters for English and French.
We get along with thirty-three letters for Vietnamese.

III/ The brief history of Writing
In the writing system, writing of Egyptian and Greek is typical.
 Egyptian
Student’s name : Nguyen Thi Minh Khoa
Student’ code : 11128046
+ Discover hieroglyphic characters of ancient Egypt:
• One of the mysteries of the Egyptians left for mankind is the system of ancient hieroglyphics.
Egyptians used hieroglyphics to write religious texts on papyrus and wood
• The reason the word hieroglyphics called because of its primitive form as indicated by the
shape of the object's material. So, look at the texts of ancient Egypt, we will see the pictures of
people, animals such as birds, cattle, beasts, trees, moon and stars, mountains
+ History and development process:
• Hieroglyphs emerged from the tradition of avant Egyptian text.
Example, the first characters to be found in the ancient ruins dating back to about 3200 BC.
• Beside, 1789, Napoleon during an expedition to the city of Rosetta, Egypt has discovered a stele
inscribed above the ancient Egyptian and Greek inscriptions below.
• And by 1822, Champollion, a French linguist who first deciphered the inscription text on this.
• In the second millennium BC, this is the kind of writing Phoenicians learn and that is basis to
create the first alphabet in the world.
• Scholars believe that Egyptian hieroglyphs "begins exist a short time after the Sumerian
character, and can [ever] was developed under the influence of this character
 Hieroglyphics carved by three types: phonetics (including the individual consonant letters can
operate as a single letter); logogram ( expressing the position) and the definite (narrow
definition of a logogram or symlable words)

 This is a formal writing system coordination between word – writing and part syllable –
writing systems.
For example,suppose word signs were aavailable for “ray” and “sing”, but not “racing”. The
natural thing to do when the word “racing” was needed in a written messaga would be to
represent it by combining the signs for “ray” and “sing”.
+ The phonetic component
• Egyptian writing is often redundant: in fact, very often one can come in a variety of writing the
same sound, to guide the reader. For example, from the NFR, "beautiful, good, perfect"
(beautiful, good, perfect), with a sign written three letters to be read as NFR

+ Logogram
• A hieroglyph can be used as a logogram determine what it is the subject of an image. The
logogram so often used as the common noun, they are always accompanied by a mute
vertical mark represents their status as a logogram ( vi du dau toc ki)
+ For abstract concepts, more complex, the ancient Egyptians used the grafting
or borrow.
• For example, referring to the word "soft" is drawing a cow standing water. Later, when the
script has developed further, these figures represent syllables appear gradually. For example,
from the eyes will be represented by the syllable "ar"
+ The hieroglyphs can be written from any direction: right to left, left to right,
top to bottom, but is generally from left to right.
 Greek:
Student’s name: Vu Thi Ky Duyen
Student’s code : 11128021
 The Greek alphabet is an alphabet that has been used to write the Greek
language since about the 9th century BC
FORM: Right to left -> left to right.
Alphabetic writing in various forms has spread throughout the world, although
other kinds of writing systems are also in use.
The Greek alphabet considered to be the world's first true alphabet:

 It had vowel sounds and consonant sounds.
 It had sounds that could be used all around the world.
 Quicker, more informal style for routine types of writing.
IV/ Skewing between orthography and pronunciation:
Student’s name : Nguyen Phi Yen Nhi
Student’s code : 11128076
The 3 main types of writing systems are idealized and oversimplified in various
ways. For example :
o Some of the characters of Chinese resemble syllabic signs rather than word
signs: Two different words “wheat” and “come” have different meaning but
they are both pronounced “lai” in Chinese.
o Most Japanese writing is not purely syllabic but involves a mixture of
syllabic signs and word signs (of Chinese origin).
o English writing sometimes uses word signs:
$ is a word sign for the same word can be written dollars using alphabetic
symbols. Numerals, such as 3 and 7, are also word signs.
Furthermore, writing systems are seldom as rational as the descriptions might
lead one to expect.
• English is often cited as a language whose orthography is plagued
with irrationality and irregularity
+ One letter may stand for a sequence of sounds (x = [ks])
+ A sequence of letters may stand for one sound (th for the initial sound in thing or
thin)
+ A single letter or a sequence of letters can have many phonetic values (ough is
very different in through, rough, cough, bought, hiccough, dough, and bough).
+ The same sound sequence can be represented in many different ways ( cite, site,
sight).
 In no strict sense, then, does English orthography manifest a simple, regular
pairing of one symbol with one sound type. On the other hand, it would be
misleading to point out these irregularities of English orthography without

at the same mentioning the regularities; we can only speak of irregularity in
the context of a coherent, basically regular system.
• English still have some regularity. For example:
+ A great many letters used in English orthography have constant phonetic value:
the letters m, f, v, z, b, d, r and l almost always stand respectively for the sounds
[m f v z b d l].
* Most of the exceptions are cases of a letter not being pronounced, like the first m
in mnemonic.
+ Observe that even the deviations from the one sound/one symbol pairing tend to
fall into standard patterns. Consider thing, philosophy, and shell, for instance. The
initial sound of each of these words is represented by two letters (th = [ ], ph =
[f], and sh = [s]). But these three sound are very similar (linguists call them
fricatives- compare them with [a] or [t]), and at the same time there orthography
representations are similar, each consisting of two letters the second of which is h.
+ The use of c is quite regular:
 c always represents [s] before the letters i, e, and y (medicine, city, cent,
notice, cycle, and juicy)
 c represents [k] in elsewhere (car, coil, cut, act)
 c represents [ ] when ci, ce is followed by a vowel ( facial, special,
vicious)
 c represents [s] when the first vowel after c is accented (society, science,
scion)
+ a is quite regular when it is used with constant phonetic values:
 a represents [ ] when after a is consonant (man, back,lack,whack)
 a represents [ eI ] when after a are consonant and vowel (mane, pale, wake,
lake)
=> On the whole, then, English spelling is quite reasonable and we have no real
cause for complaint.
V/ Developing writing system in newly literate societies:
Student’s name : Nguyen Thi Huong Lan

Student’s code : 11128051
• The twentieth century, the world had increase communication
among regions, countries, and continents.
• Literacy had been introduced by a new religion: Buddhism,
Christianity….
• And more specifically in Viet Nam, literacy was also introduced by
the dominate of Chinese and French.
When viet nam was colonized by Chinese , they forced we must learn
language and culture of them. We based on Chinese logography to
create new syllabic writing system. That was Nom. It wasn’t more
different than Kanji.
 Requirement of orthography:
 An orthography must be regular, so that native writer will be able
to spell a word which they have never seen before in writing.
 The orthography must also be easy to learn and to use. Whoever
can also acquire it.
 The orthography must be well-adapted to the phonological and
morphological structure of the language.
 An extremely important factor is social acceptance.