Written Language

Writing is a way of putting down information in a text or pictorial form. Unlike speech it is a form of communication that has a continuing nature in that it still exists or can be seen after it is completed.

History

The forerunners to writing were carved sticks or knotted chords that conveyed information. Prehistoric writing takes the form of cave art such as found in France. The cultures that developed in Egypt and Sumeria both started with pictorial forms which led to Egyptian hieroglyphics and Sumerian cuneiform. The Hittites, Egyptians and Mesotopanians all devised symbols for specific sounds known as phonetic writing. During the 2nd millennium B.C., Semetic alphabets emerged allowing writing as know it. The Greeks and the Romans both copied these earlier alphabets.

Sources

The New American Desk Encyclopedia, Penguin Group, 1989