Writing system

The word Scripture is, inter alia sign systems for the preservation and transmission of spoken or otherwise coded information. Previously written by hand and only (visual) or read ( haptic) detectable today's writings or documents may also be in for people not directly usable form to be made readable on technical equipment or to serve even the control of the device itself. Generally signature (digital memory, for example, paper ) is applied to a carrier recorded (written or placed in a different manner to the support ), and decoded to access ( read, for example, for recording or intellectual for controlling a device).

Scripture as equivalent to languages

In Scripture linguistics is between about linguistic signs inventory, font or script (English script), on the one hand and the individual linguistic aspect, the writing system (English writing system), on the other. The system includes at least one control apparatus ( orthography ) and its base unit is the grapheme, while a single element of the script, the characters (English character) or is a symbol.

However, the terminology is not entirely uniform. So Coulmas "writing system " is also used for what Dürscheid inter alia "font" call; these are traditionally distinguished three times, which is usually separated neither by analysis and interpretation level of graphic signs even after script and writing system:

Alphabet and syllabic scripts refer to sounds ( phonographic writing). The ratio depends on the particular language written down. Logogram writings, however, are semantographisch to certain parts, so meaningful is based: the character has a specific meaning, possibly without fixed pronunciation, as it reflects the visible world (pictogram) or an abstract concept representing ( ideogram ).

In the alphabet or Segmentalschriften a distinction between alphabetic writing in the narrow sense and consonants writings. These are in turn differentiated according to whether the vowels, not necessarily or not be represented on the same level as the consonants. In between - and corresponding times attributed to the one and sometimes the other type - are those writings in which vowels as an obligatory auxiliary character of consonants appear (as in Indian scriptures ). These are in some ways the link between alphabetic writing in the narrow sense and consonants writings; in a certain way to the syllabic scripts.

In the syllabic scripts can then be distinguished whether their Syllabogramme are formed in a common format or arbitrary ( arbitrary ), and whether they are sufficient to represent in a writing system all spoken syllables of the language without orthographic combination rules.

Some languages ​​use multiple fonts side by side or mixed fonts, the characteristics of two or all three systems contain.

A special feature are the secret codes that are used for encrypted transmission of information, as well as the short writings.

Signature classes

No natural language can be unambiguously assign one of these signature classes. German has a rather crude and unsystematic character Phonemzuordnung, unlike Hungarian, Czech and Spanish. The result is sometimes more dramatically, which is why written English was jokingly referred to already as a syllabary ( known is the English example of George Bernard Shaw: " ghoti " = " fish", "gh " as in " enough", "o" as in "women "," ti "as in" nation "). Hebrew has the representation of vowels by a points system with added, although it is a purely consonantal script. The hieroglyphs can be seen in the origin of a syllabary, although they form a consonantal script. Only artificial writing systems can be unambiguously classified as the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA ), Bopomofo for presentation of Chinese phonemes or Verschriftung of constructed languages ​​such as Esperanto.

Historical development

Prior to the development of writing, the oral tradition of substantial contents for thousands of years common. A possible Sinnentstellung the original source content and omitting or adding content contained inherent in the oral placement of each individual narrator. Psychological, social and cultural factors play a significant role in the oral tradition. Worldwide were always on vital information, but also secret knowledge, rituals, myths, legends and tales passed down orally (such as, inter alia, the story of the Great Flood ), which have a similar core, in their details but may differ considerably from each other.

Even today there are cultures in which the oral tradition of traditions and knowledge is common. When the Aborigines in Australia, the oral testimony is even in the foreground, even though they are in close contact with a writing culture. The literal passed on to subsequent generations helps to preserve their own culture and values ​​, and also characterizes a special feature of this culture.

Together with the ability to read form letters, writing and arithmetic in the industrialized countries, a substantial part of tradition, culture and education. The invention of writing is one of the most important achievements of civilization, as it allows the tradition of knowledge and cultural traditions reliable over generations, and their preservation guarantees ( depending on the quality of the marked material and of course the circumstances) over a long period of time. All known ancient civilizations ( Sumer, Egypt, Indus Valley Civilization, the Middle Kingdom, Olmec ) to be associated with the use of Scripture.

Traditionally Sumer is called as the culture in which the font was used for the first time. Probably the oldest written evidence comes from the locality of Uruk waste layers under the so-called Uruk III layer. You will thus be in the 4th millennium BC dates. It involves business texts. However, the font used does not allow any conclusions about the language, it is therefore wrong to call this script in the strict sense as Sumerian. Only a few researchers believe that it this to be an actual font in the Symbol character of Vinča culture in South Eastern Europe, which are dated to the 5th millennium BC. The Egyptian hieroglyphs are often seen as an imported from the Near East idea; recent findings by Günter Dreyer in Egypt ask this doctrine in question, however, and he suspects an independent invention. In China and Central America ( Maya ) the script was also developed independently. The first known witness of scripture Central America is one discovered in Veracruz stone block into which a total of 62 symbols are carved; some of these characters were also found on finds that associate researcher of the Olmec culture. Currently, it is believed that the twelve -pound Tablet is around 3000 years old.

The hedged by evidence doctrine on the origin of writing systems in geographically widely separated cultures is relied on by individual researchers and scholar again and again in different variants, the thesis that the earliest known writing systems have been developed from an earlier, partly common, globally distributed design layer ( Herman Wirth, 1931-1936, the Holy original of mankind, see also Kate Ravilious, 2010 via Genevieve of Petzinger, in The writing on the cave wall, and others). Evidence that withstand scientific criticism, for that we had previously but not submitted.

Forms of documentation may be direct transfers from one culture to another, such as the development of the Latin from the Greek alphabet. In some cases, the observation that a foreign culture has a script that developing its own font effects (eg, the Korean script or the syllabary of the Cherokee ).

The history of writing is to be seen not only as a history of fixing language. It is to be expected that there is also a story of symbols, signs and characters. The font we know today go petroglyphs, ahead, for example, in the cave of Lascaux, about 20,000 years ago. There too abstract signs have already been used, which probably had magical and symbolic character. Since tens of thousands of years, people use these characters and images to post messages. From Scripture, however, can only be spoken when a fixed system of signs expressing stands for different information. As early as the Neolithic Age (Neolithic ) stones were made ​​with geometric lines, of which the research can tell with some certainty that they were used for counting, perhaps the most important basis of a genuine development of writing. These stones were according latin called calculi, from which the French calcul (Convert, invoice ) and the German calculate derived.

Deciphering ancient texts

A particular challenge in deciphering ancient scripts dar. Often they succeed when a text with translations found, or if you know the language or a dialect of the language.

Font arrangement and other graphical classifications

One can distinguish scriptures through the writing direction, ie horizontal in left-handed ( sinistrograd, such as Arabic and Hebrew ), Clockwise ( dextrograd, Latin ) and bustrophedone ( line by line changing) writings, as well as vertical in downward ( writings of the Chinese cultural sphere, Mongolian ) and upwards ( some Filipino writings, historical notation for military drum) written. In the vertical headings in turn is to distinguish between those in which the columns from right to left (Chinese and others) and those in which the columns from left to right run ( Mongolian). In horizontal lines the writings generally run from top to bottom. The pages in books are browsed, that scrolls with left-handed writings from right to left in right-handed from left to right. With vertically written documents, the direction of the columns decides analogy about the direction of scrolling.

In most writings, the Zeichenkorpora stretch in a fixed range between two (or more) notional or marked lines. Thus, they can be classified according to whether the baseline runs above (for example, Devanagari ), bottom ( Cyrillic), middle (early Greek) or up and down ( Chinese). In addition, the distinction comes to character variable ( Arabic) and fixed-width ( Chinese).

Another distinction that is sometimes used is that. Between linear scripts, ie those whose characters are composed of lines, and others ( for example Punkt-/Brailleschrift or cuneiform )

Font classification

In the Western world there are different font classification models that differ in part considerably. Of particular two models are used in Germany.

ISO 15924

The standard ISO 15924 " Information and documentation - Codes for font names " ( 2004-02 edition ) contains a subdivision into eight main groups:

• 000-099 hieroglyphics and cuneiform writings (eg Sumerian- Akkadian Cuneiform, Ugaritic, Egyptian hieroglyphs, Maya writing )
• 100-199 alphabet fonts, from right to left ( such as Hebrew, Syriac, Arabic)
• 200-299 alphabet fonts, from left to right (eg, Greek, Latin, Cyrillic, Hangul )
• 300-399 (eg Devanagari and other Indian writings, Thai )
• 400-499 syllabic scripts ( eg linear A / B, Hiragana / Katakana, Ethiopic, Cherokee, Cree )
• 500-599 Ideographic and symbol fonts (eg Han, Braille )
• 600-699 undeciphered writings (eg, Indus, Rongorongo )
• 900-999 Proprietary fonts

DIN 16518

The standard DIN 16518 "Classification of the scriptures " ( 1964-08 edition ) shares lead type fonts into eleven groups:

• Venetian Renaissance Antiqua (keyword Antiqua )
• French Renaissance Antiqua
• Baroque Antiqua
• Neoclassical Antiqua
• Slab serif ( slab serif )
• Linear sans ( serif )
• Rare variants
• Script fonts
• Handwritten Antiqua
• Broken fonts
• Foreign fonts

The font classification corresponds to the historical development and considered in particular detail the usual in German and Western European language area Latin writings. In other countries have similar organizations.

Since the DIN model is not perfect, there are many more attempts at writing classification. In 1998, Indra Kupferschmidstraße their classification according to a principle of form in the DIN committee before. This classification was later taken over by Max Boll Wage and Hans -Peter Willenberg in their books. It distinguishes the writings according to their principle of form ( style) in dynamic, static, geometric and decorative fonts and their equipment with serifs and stroke contrast. The Willenberg student Ralf de Jong has developed a more advanced, advanced matrix.