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- Dictionarywriting/ˈrʌɪtɪŋ/
noun
- 1. the activity or skill of writing: "parents want schools to concentrate on reading, writing, and arithmetic"
- 2. the activity or occupation of composing text for publication: "she made a decent living from writing"
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Learn the various meanings and uses of the word writing, from the act or art of forming letters or characters to the occupation of a writer. See examples, synonyms, related phrases, and word history of writing.
- Overview
- Writing as a system of signs
Writing may be defined as any conventional system of marks or signs that represents the utterances of a language. Writing renders language visible. Whereas speech is ephemeral, writing is concrete and, by comparison, permanent. Both speaking and writing depend upon the underlying structures of language.
Where does writing come from?
While spoken or signed language is a fairly universal human competence that is commonly acquired by human beings without systematic instruction, writing is a technology of relatively recent history that must be taught to each generation of children.
Where did writing first develop?
Of the three writing systems that were formed independently in China, Mesoamerica, and Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq), the Mesopotamian system was the earliest. Evidence of Sumerian script, which in its later stages was known as cuneiform, can be traced back to 8000 BCE, but scholars find more explicit evidence of its use after 3200 BCE.
Why was writing invented?
Languages are systems of symbols; writing is a system for symbolizing these symbols. A writing system may be defined as any conventional system of marks or signs that represents the utterances of a language. Writing renders language visible; while speech is ephemeral, writing is concrete and, by comparison, permanent. Both speaking and writing depend upon the underlying structures of language. Consequently, writing cannot ordinarily be read by someone not familiar with the linguistic structure underlying the oral form of the language. Yet writing is not merely the transcription of speech; writing frequently involves the use of special forms of language, such as those involved in literary and scientific works, that would not be produced orally. In any linguistic community the written language is a distinct and special dialect; usually there is more than one written dialect. Scholars account for these facts by suggesting that writing is related directly to language but not necessarily directly to speech. Consequently, spoken and written language may evolve somewhat distinctive forms and functions. These alternative relations may be depicted as follows:
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It is the fact that writing is an expression of language rather than simply a way of transcribing speech that gives to writing, and hence to written language and to literacy, its special properties. As long as writing was seen merely as transcription, as it was by such pioneering linguists as Ferdinand de Saussure and Leonard Bloomfield earlier in the 20th century, its conceptual significance was seriously underestimated. Once writing was seen as providing a new medium for linguistic expression, its distinctness from speech was more clearly grasped. Scholars such as Milman Parry, Marshall McLuhan, Eric Havelock, Jack Goody, and Walter Ong were among the first to analyze the conceptual and social implications of using written as opposed to oral forms of communication.
Writing is merely one, albeit the most important, means of communicating by visible signs. Gestures—such as a raised hand for greeting or a wink for intimate agreement—are visible signs, but they are not writing in that they do not transcribe a linguistic form. Pictures, similarly, may represent events but do not represent language and hence are not a form of writing.
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- David R. Olson
Writing is the act of creating a persistent representation of human language using symbols and rules. Learn about the origins, evolution, and functions of writing systems and tools across cultures and time periods.
Learn the meaning of writing as a noun, a skill, an activity, and a style. See how to use writing in different contexts and idioms, and compare with speech.
Writing is the act of putting pen to paper...or fingers to keyboard...or even thumbs to phone pad. Any time you record language in script, whether that's a tweet or the next great American novel, you're writing.
Writing is the act of communicating ideas by using symbols or marks on a surface. It can also refer to the written form, style, or profession of a writer. See different meanings, origins, and idioms of writing.
Definition of writing noun in Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Meaning, pronunciation, picture, example sentences, grammar, usage notes, synonyms and more.
