Writing

{{Short description|Persistent representation of language}}
{{Redirect|Write}}
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{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2018}}
[[File:Rosetta Stone.JPG|thumb|The [[Rosetta Stone]], with writing using three different scripts, was instrumental in deciphering [[Egyptian hieroglyphs]]]]

'''Writing''' is the act of creating a persistent representation of human [[language]]. A [[writing system]] uses a set of symbols and rules to encode aspects of spoken language, such as its [[lexicon]] and [[syntax]]. However, [[written language]] may take on characteristics distinct from those of any spoken language.<ref>Harris, Roy (2000). ''Rethinking Writing.'' Bloomington IN: Indiana University Press.</ref>

Writing is a [[cognition|cognitive]] and [[social]] activity involving [[neuropsychology|neuropsychological]] and physical [[Writing process|processes]]. The outcome of this activity, also called "writing", and sometimes a "[[Text (literary theory)|text]]", is a series of [[Handwriting|physically inscribed]], [[Printing press|mechanically transferred]], or [[digital data|digitally represented]] symbols. The interpreter or activator of a text is called a "reader".<ref>{{Cite book|title=Institutional Ethnography: A Sociology for People|last=Smith|first=Dorothy E.|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|year=2005|isbn=978-0-7591-0502-7|location=Lanham, MD|pages=[https://archive.org/details/institutionaleth0000smit/page/105 105–108]|url=https://archive.org/details/institutionaleth0000smit/page/105}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Ong|first=Walter|title=Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word|publisher=Methuen|year=1982|isbn=978-0415027960|location=London|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/oralityliteracyt00ongw}}</ref><ref>Haas, Christina. (1996). ''Writing technology: Studies on the materiality of literacy''. Mahwah, NJ: L. Erlbaum Associates.</ref>  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]] or other public records).<ref>Schmandt-Besserat, Denise and Michael Erard. (2008) "Origins and Forms of Writing." ''Handbook of Research on Writing: History, Society, School, Individual, Text.'' Charles Bazerman, ed. New York: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 7–21 [21].</ref> Writing can also have knowledge-transforming effects, since it allows humans to externalize their thinking in forms that are easier to reflect on, elaborate on, reconsider, and revise.<ref name="Emig (1994)">{{cite book|vauthors=Emig J |title=Landmark essays |chapter=Writing as a mode of learning |publisher=Taylor and Francis Groups |date=1994 |isbn=978-1003059219}}</ref><ref>Estrem, Heidi. "Writing is a Knowledge-Making Activity." ''Naming What We Know: Threshold Concepts of Writing Studies.'' L. Adler-Kassner & E. Wardle, eds. Logan: Utah State University Press, 2015: 55–56.</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Winsor |first=Dorothy A. |date=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 }}</ref>

== Tools, materials, and motivations to write ==
{{See also|Writing implement}}

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 writing system(s) deployed.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Jakobs |first1=Eva-Maria |title=Handbook of writing and text production |last2=Perrin |first2=Daniel |publisher=De Gruyter / Mouton |year=2014 |isbn=978-3-11-022063-6 |page=8 |chapter=Introduction and research roadmap: Writing and text production}}</ref> Inscriptions have been made with [[finger]]s, [[stylus]]es, [[quill]]s, [[ink brush]]es, [[pencil]]s, [[pen]]s, and many styles of [[lithography]]; surfaces used for these inscriptions include [[stone tablet]]s, [[clay tablet]]s, bamboo slats, [[papyrus]], [[wax tablet]]s, [[vellum]], [[parchment]], [[paper]], [[intaglio printing|copperplate]], [[Blackboard|slate]], [[porcelain]], and other [[Whiteboard|enameled surfaces]]. The Incas used knotted cords known as [[quipu]] (or khipu) for keeping records.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Khipu Database Project |url=http://khipukamayuq.fas.harvard.edu/index.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722135315/http://khipukamayuq.fas.harvard.edu/index.html |archive-date=22 July 2011 |access-date=2 November 2008}}</ref> Countless writing tools and surfaces have been improvised throughout history (as the cases of [[graffiti]], [[tattoo]]ing, and impromptu aides-memoire illustrate).

The [[typewriter]] and subsequently various digital [[word processor]]s have recently become widespread writing tools, and studies have compared the ways in which [[writer]]s have framed the experience of writing with such tools as compared with the pen or pencil.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Observing Writing: Insights from Keystroke Logging and Handwriting |publisher=Brill |year=2019 |isbn=978-90-04-39251-9 |editor-last=Lindgren |editor-first=E. |location=Leiden, The Netherlands |editor-last2=Sullivan |editor-first2=K.}}</ref> Word processors include, often [[Multiple-document interface|multi-document]], [[text editor]]s or [[Comparison of note-taking software|note-taking apps]], [[World Wide Web|Web]] systems ([[search engine]]s, [[Wiki]]s, etc.), messaging software (chat apps, [[e-mail]] [[user interface|UIs]], etc.), or their underlying [[operating system]]s' code supporting the text [[input device]](s).

Advancements in [[natural language processing]] and [[natural language generation]] allow certain tools (in the form of [[software]]) to produce certain kinds of highly formulaic writing (e.g., weather forecasts and brief sports reporting) without the direct involvement of humans<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Reiter |first1=Ehud |title=Building Natural Language Generation Systems. |last2=Dale |first2=Robert |publisher=Cambridge UP |year=2000 |isbn=978-0511519857}}</ref> 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]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Katsnelson |first1=Alla |title=Poor English skills? New AIs help researchers to write better |journal=Nature |pages=208–209 |language=en |doi=10.1038/d41586-022-02767-9 |date=29 August 2022|volume=609 |issue=7925 |pmid=36038730 |bibcode=2022Natur.609..208K |s2cid=251931306 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Dzieza |first1=Josh |title=Can AI write good novels? |url=https://www.theverge.com/c/23194235/ai-fiction-writing-amazon-kindle-sudowrite-jasper |access-date=16 November 2022 |work=The Verge |date=20 July 2022 |archive-date=10 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230210114137/https://www.theverge.com/c/23194235/ai-fiction-writing-amazon-kindle-sudowrite-jasper |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=AI Writing Assistants: A Cure for Writer's Block or Modern-Day Clippy? |url=https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/ai-writing-assistants-a-cure-for-writers-block-or-modern-day-clippy |access-date=16 November 2022 |work=PCMAG |language=en |archive-date=23 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230123173826/https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/ai-writing-assistants-a-cure-for-writers-block-or-modern-day-clippy |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Song |first1=Victoria |title=Google's new prototype AI tool does the writing for you |url=https://www.theverge.com/2022/11/2/23435258/google-ai-writing-wordcraft-lamda |access-date=16 November 2022 |work=The Verge |date=2 November 2022 |archive-date=7 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230207035316/https://www.theverge.com/2022/11/2/23435258/google-ai-writing-wordcraft-lamda |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Image:Olin-Warner-LoC-tympanum-Highsmith.jpeg|thumb|300px|[[Olin Levi Warner]], [[tympanum (architecture)|tympanum]] representing Writing, above exterior of main entrance doors, [[Thomas Jefferson Building]], Washington DC, 1896]]

Writing technologies from different eras coexist easily in many homes and workplaces. During the course of a day or even a single episode of writing, for example, a writer might instinctively switch among a pencil, a touchscreen, a text-editor, a whiteboard, a legal pad, and adhesive notes as different purposes arise.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=O'Hara |first1=Kenton P. |last2=Taylor |first2=Alex |last3=Newman |first3=William |last4=Sellen |first4=Abigail J. |date=2002 |title=Understanding the materiality of writing from multiple sources |journal= International Journal of Human-Computer Studies|volume=56 |issue=3 |pages=269–305|doi=10.1006/ijhc.2001.0525 }}</ref>

=== Motivations and purposes ===
As human societies emerged, collective motivations for the [[development of writing]] were driven by pragmatic exigencies like keeping track of produce and other wealth, recording [[history]], maintaining [[culture]], codifying knowledge through [[Curriculum|curricula]] and lists of texts deemed to contain foundational knowledge (e.g., ''[[The Canon of Medicine]]'') or to be artistically exceptional (e.g., a [[literary canon]]), organizing and governing societies through the formation of [[legal systems]], [[census]] records, [[contract]]s, [[deed]]s of ownership, [[tax]]ation, [[trade agreement]]s, [[Treaty|treaties]], and so on.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Anderson |first=Jack |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/124074929 |title=Handbook of Research on Writing: History, Society, School, Individual, Text |date=2008 |publisher=L. Erlbaum Associates |isbn=978-0-8058-4870-0 |editor-last=Bazerman |editor-first=Charles |location=New York |pages=177–190 |chapter=The Collection and Organization of Written Knowledge |oclc=124074929}}</ref> Amateur historians, including [[H.G. Wells]], had speculated since the early 20th century on the likely correspondence between the emergence of [[Writing system|systems of writing]] and the development of [[city-state]]s into [[empire]]s.<ref>{{cite book|title=A Short History of the World|title-link=A Short History of the World (H. G. Wells)|last=Wells|first=H. G.|year=1922|page=41}}</ref> 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."<ref>{{Cite book|last=Bazerman|first=Charles|url=https://wac.colostate.edu/docs/books/literateaction/v2/theory.pdf|title=A Theory of Literate Action, Vol. 2|publisher=Parlor Press|year=2013|isbn=978-1-60235-477-7|location=Anderson, SC|pages=193|chapter=Literacy and the Organization of Society|access-date=27 August 2020|archive-date=22 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200822012440/https://wac.colostate.edu/docs/books/literateaction/v2/theory.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> For example, around the 4th millennium BC, the complexity of trade and administration in [[Mesopotamia]] outgrew human memory, and writing became a more dependable method for the permanent recording and presentation of transactions.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Green |first=M.W. |date=1981 |title=The Construction and Implementation of the Cuneiform Writing System. |journal=Visible Language |volume=15 |issue=4 |pages=345–372 |issn=0022-2224}}</ref> In both [[ancient Egypt]] and [[Mesoamerica]], on the other hand, writing may have evolved through calendric and political necessities for recording historical and environmental events.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ray |first=John D. |date=1986 |title=The Emergence of Writing in Egypt |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/124697 |journal=World Archaeology |volume=17 |issue=3 |pages=307–316 |doi=10.1080/00438243.1986.9979972 |jstor=124697 |issn=0043-8243 |access-date=6 December 2022 |archive-date=6 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221206142739/https://www.jstor.org/stable/124697 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Justeson |first=John S. |date=1986 |title=The Origin of Writing Systems: Preclassic Mesoamerica |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/124706 |journal=World Archaeology |volume=17 |issue=3 |pages=437–458 |doi=10.1080/00438243.1986.9979981 |jstor=124706 |issn=0043-8243 |access-date=6 December 2022 |archive-date=6 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221206142741/https://www.jstor.org/stable/124706 |url-status=live }}</ref> Further innovations included more uniform, predictable, and widely dispersed legal systems, the distribution of accessible versions of [[Religious text|sacred texts]], and furthering practices of [[Models of scientific inquiry|scientific inquiry]] and [[Knowledge management|knowledge consolidation]], 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.

Individual, as opposed to collective, motivations for writing include improvised additional capacity for the limitations of human [[memory]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hutchins |first=Edwin |title=Cognition in the Wild |publisher=MIT Press |year=1995 |isbn=9-780262-581462 |location=Cambridge MA}}</ref> (e.g., [[Time management|to-do lists]], [[recipe]]s, reminders, [[logbook]]s, [[map]]s, the proper sequence for a complicated task or important [[ritual]]), dissemination of ideas and coordination (as in an [[essay]], [[monograph]], [[Broadside (printing)|broadside]], [[plan]]s, (code) [[Issue tracking system|issues]], [[petition]], or [[manifesto]]), imaginative narratives and other forms of [[storytelling]], maintaining [[kinship]] and other social networks,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Christiansen |first=M. Sidury |date=2017 |title=Creating a Unique Transnational Place: Deterritorialized Discourse and the Blending of Time and Space in Online Media |journal=Written Communication |volume=34 |issue=2 |pages=135–164|doi=10.1177/0741088317693996 |s2cid=151827910 }}</ref> negotiating household matters with [[Business correspondence|providers]] of goods and services and with local and regional governing [[Activism|bodies]], and [[Life writing|lifewriting]] (e.g., a [[diary]] or journal).

The nearly global spread of digital [[communication]] systems such as [[e-mail]] 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.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sterponi |first1=Laura |last2=Zucchermaglio |first2=Cristina |last3=Alby |first3=Francesca |last4=Fatigante |first4=Marilena |title=Endangered Literacies? Affordances of Paper-Based Literacy in Medical Practice and Its Persistence in the Transition to Digital Technology |journal=Written Communication |date=October 2017 |volume=34 |issue=4 |pages=359–386 |doi=10.1177/0741088317723304 |s2cid=149050969 }}</ref> Substantial amounts of everyday writing characterize most workplaces in [[Developed country|developed countries]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Brandt|first=Deborah|title=The Rise of Writing|publisher=Cambridge UP|year=2015|isbn=978-1-107-46211-3}}{{page needed|date=June 2023}}</ref> In many occupations (e.g., [[Lawyer|law]], [[accounting]], [[software design]], [[Human resource management|human resources]], etc.), written documentation is not only the main deliverable but also the mode of work itself.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Jakobs |first1=Eva-Marie |title=Handbook of Writing and Text Production |last2=Spinuzzi |first2=Clay |publisher=De Gruyter Mouton |year=2014 |isbn=978-3-11-022063-6 |page=360 |chapter=Professional Domains: Writing as Creation of Economic Value}}</ref>  Even in occupations not typically associated with writing, routine [[workflow]]s (maintaining [[Records management|records]], [[Incident report|reporting incidents]], record-keeping, [[inventory]]-tracking, documenting [[sales]], [[Timesheet|accounting for time]], fielding inquiries from clients, etc.) have most employees writing at least some of the time.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Beaufort|first=Anne|title=Handbook of Research on Writing: History, Society, School, Individual, Text|publisher=Lawrence Erlbaum Associates|year=2008|isbn=978-0-8058-4870-0|location=New York|pages=221–237|chapter=Writing in the Professions}}</ref>

The following section offers examples of how writing constitutes much of the labor of many modern careers.

== 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.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Smith |first=Dorothy E. |date=2001 |title=Texts and the ontology of organizations and institutions |journal=Studies in Cultures, Organizations and Societies |volume=7 |issue=2 |pages=160 |doi=10.1080/10245280108523557 |s2cid=146217590}}</ref> The following are examples of this pervasiveness, but they are far from encompassing all the uses of writing.

=== 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—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.<ref>{{cite book|last=Yates|first=JoAnne|author-link=JoAnne Yates|year=1989|title=Control through Communication: The Rise of System in American Management|location=Baltimore, MD|publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press|isbn=978-0-8018-3757-9}}{{page needed|date=June 2023}}</ref><ref>Smart, G. (2006). ''Writing the economy: Activity, genre and technology in the world of banking.'' London: Equinox.{{page needed|date=June 2023}}</ref>  Business and financial organizations also rely on many written legal documents, such as contracts, reports to government agencies, tax records, and accounting reports.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Devitt |first=Amy J. |title=Textual Dynamics of the Professions: Historical and Contemporary Studies of Writing in Professional Communities |publisher=University of Wisconsin Press |year=1991 |location=Madison |pages=336–357 |chapter=Intertextuality in Tax Accounting: Generic, Referential, and Functional}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite book|last=Yates|first=JoAnne|author-link=JoAnne Yates|year=2005|title=Structuring the Information Age: Life Insurance and Technology in the Twentieth Century|location=Baltimore, MD|publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press|isbn=978-0-8018-8086-5}}{{page needed|date=June 2023}}</ref>

=== 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|legislative branches]] that draft and pass laws, these laws are administered by an [[Executive (government)|executive branch]], which can present further written regulations specifying the laws and how they are carried out.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kerwin|first1=Cornelius M.|author1-link=Cornelius M. Kerwin|last2=Furlong|first2=Scott R.|year=2019|title=Rulemaking: How Government Agencies Write Law and Make Policy|edition=5th|publisher=Sage Publishing|isbn=978-1-48335-281-7}}{{page needed|date=May 2023}}</ref>&nbsp;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 offenses, and other penalties small and large, and tax liability and payments.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-08-15 |title=Vital Records |url=https://www.archives.gov/research/vital-records |access-date=2023-02-24 |website=National Archives |language=en |archive-date=24 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230224225956/https://www.archives.gov/research/vital-records |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Governance]] systems also produce [[policy|policies]] to shape society's activities, sometimes also [[International treaty|at the international level]],<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hoffman |first1=Steven J. |last2=Baral |first2=Prativa |last3=Rogers Van Katwyk |first3=Susan |last4=Sritharan |first4=Lathika |last5=Hughsam |first5=Matthew |last6=Randhawa |first6=Harkanwal |last7=Lin |first7=Gigi |last8=Campbell |first8=Sophie |last9=Campus |first9=Brooke |last10=Dantas |first10=Maria |last11=Foroughian |first11=Neda |last12=Groux |first12=Gaëlle |last13=Gunn |first13=Elliot |last14=Guyatt |first14=Gordon |last15=Habibi |first15=Roojin |last16=Karabit |first16=Mina |last17=Karir |first17=Aneesh |last18=Kruja |first18=Krista |last19=Lavis |first19=John N. |last20=Lee |first20=Olivia |last21=Li |first21=Binxi |last22=Nagi |first22=Ranjana |last23=Naicker |first23=Kiyuri |last24=Røttingen |first24=John-Arne |last25=Sahar |first25=Nicola |last26=Srivastava |first26=Archita |last27=Tejpar |first27=Ali |last28=Tran |first28=Maxwell |last29=Zhang |first29=Yu-qing |last30=Zhou |first30=Qi |last31=Poirier |first31=Mathieu J. P. |title=International treaties have mostly failed to produce their intended effects |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |date=9 August 2022 |volume=119 |issue=32 |pages=e2122854119 |doi=10.1073/pnas.2122854119 |pmid=35914153 |pmc=9372541 |bibcode=2022PNAS..11922854H }}
* University press release: {{cite news |title=Do international treaties actually work? Study says they mostly don't |url=https://phys.org/news/2022-08-international-treaties-dont.html |access-date=15 September 2022 |work=[[York University]] |language=en |archive-date=15 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220915095030/https://phys.org/news/2022-08-international-treaties-dont.html |url-status=live }}</ref> e.g., allocating [[budget]]s and regulating or actuating [[economic]] mechanisms, ideally towards collective [[goal]]s and [[value (ethics)|values]] such as safety and health or [[problem solving|addressing]] identified problems.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kirlin |first1=J. J. |title=What Government Must Do Well: Creating Value for Society |journal=Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory |date=1 January 1996 |volume=6 |issue=1 |pages=161–185 |doi=10.1093/oxfordjournals.jpart.a024298|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wu |first1=X |last2=Ramesh |first2=M |last3=Howlett |first3=M |title=Policy capacity: A conceptual framework for understanding policy competences and capabilities |journal=Policy and Society |date=1 September 2015 |volume=34 |issue=3–4 |pages=165–171 |doi=10.1016/j.polsoc.2015.09.001|s2cid=154823584 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Kerwin |first1=Cornelius M. |last2=Furlong |first2=Scott R. |title=Rulemaking: How Government Agencies Write Law and Make Policy |year=2018 |publisher=CQ Press |isbn=978-1-4833-5282-4 }}{{page needed|date=June 2023}}</ref> These also include systems at subnational levels, such as cities and multinational corporations (e.g., [[corporate governance]] and Web platform governance).

Written legal codes in modern governments are typically produced by legislative branches and provide standardized rules for commercial, civil, and lawful activity.<ref>{{Cite book |editor1-last=Gibbons |editor1-first=John |title=Language and the law |publisher=Longman |year=1994 |location=New York|ISBN=9780582101456}}{{page needed|date=June 2023}}</ref>&nbsp; The legal codes also provide remedies and penalties for violations of the rules, as well as procedures for their enforcement. In the United States, legal proceedings in courts produce written records, which can be appealed based on the written records to higher courts. Written records carry particular evidentiary weight in court proceedings. Lawyers also offer [[Legal writing|written briefs]] for initial proceedings, subsequent appeals, and other points at issue; maintain files on the cases they are engaged with; and negotiate written agreements that might resolve cases. Judges produce written opinions that may then be treated as precedent for subsequent cases.<ref>Tiersma, P. (2008). Writing, Text, and the Law. ''Handbook of Research on Writing: History, Society, School, Individual, Text,'' New York: Lawrence Erlbaum Assoc. pp. 125–137.</ref><ref>Tiersma, P. (2010). ''Parchment, Paper, Pixels: Law and the Technologies of Communication''. University of Chicago Press.{{page needed|date=June 2023}}</ref><ref>Tiersma, P & Solan, L. (Eds.) (2012). ''The Oxford Handbook of Language and Law.'' Oxford University Press.{{page needed|date=June 2023}}</ref>

Police departments and other bodies charged with the enforcement of laws and maintenance of civil, commercial, or criminal order regularly must produce reports of the interactions with community members, actions taken, the process and results of inquiries, and the disposition of cases.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Seawright |first=Leslie |title=Genre of Power: Police Report Writers and Readers in the Justice System |publisher=National Council of Teachers of English |year=2017 |isbn=978-0-8141-1842-9 |series=Studies in Writing and Rhetoric |location=Urbana, IL}}</ref> Such cases are often initiated by written complaints by those alleging injury, thereby opening a file on the case, which then aggregates all the related documents and reports to follow. These files serve as the basis for processing the case, as potential evidence in legal proceedings, and for monitoring and making accountable the working of these departments.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Yu |first1=Han |last2=Monas |first2=Natalie |title=Recreating the Scene: An Investigation of Police Report Writing |journal=Journal of Technical Writing and Communication |date=January 2020 |volume=50 |issue=1 |pages=35–55 |doi=10.1177/0047281618812441 |s2cid=69505178 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Carpenter |first1=Michael |title=Put It in Writing: The Police Policy Manual |journal=FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin |date=October 2000 |volume=69 |issue=10 |pages=1–5 |id={{NCJ|185444}} |oclc=4769477311 |url=http://www.fbi.gov/publications/leb/2000/oct00leb.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010913015326/http://www.fbi.gov/publications/leb/2000/oct00leb.pdf |archive-date=13 September 2001 }}</ref>

=== Scientific and scholarly knowledge production ===
[[File:201805 article.png|thumb|Layout of a typical modern scientific study with a summarizing [[Abstract (summary)|abstract]] near the top, below (multiple lines of) [[metadata]]]]
Knowledge produced in [[Academic discipline|research disciplines]] of the sciences, social sciences, and humanities arises primarily in the form of [[Research|journal articles]] and book [[monograph]]s. Experiments, observational data, archival documents, and other evidence collected as part of [[research]] inquiries are then represented within the [[Academic authorship|written contribution]] and serve as the [[Citation|basis]] for arguments for new claims intended to be published in specialized [[academic journal]]s and [[university press]]es.

Such 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.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Tardy |first1=Christine M. |title=A Genre System View of the Funding of Academic Research |journal=Written Communication |date=January 2003 |volume=20 |issue=1 |pages=7–36 |doi=10.1177/0741088303253569 |s2cid=5205721 }}</ref> The data and procedures are also typically collected in [[lab notebook]]s or other preliminary files.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Latour |first1=Bruno |title=Laboratory Life: The Construction of Scientific Facts |last2=Woolgar |first2=Steve |publisher=Princeton UP |year=1986 |isbn=0-691-02832-X}}{{page needed|date=June 2023}}</ref> [[Preprint|Early versions]] of the possible 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|referees]] from the appropriate research specialties, who, in their written evaluations, determine whether the work is of sufficient value and quality to be published.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hyland |first=Ken |title=Disciplinary Discourses: Social Interactions in Academic Writing |publisher=University of Michigan Press |year=2004 |isbn=0-472-03024-8 |location=Ann Arbor |pages=1–19}}</ref>&nbsp;Referees may also recommend certain improvements be made or that the work not be published.

Publication in such a disciplinary forum does not establish the claims or findings of such work as authoritatively true, only that they are worth the attention of other specialists.&nbsp;Only over time, as others may cite the work (see [[intertextuality]]) and use it to advance further claims and the work appears in review articles, handbooks, textbooks, or other aggregations, does it become codified as contingently reliable knowledge.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bazerman |first=Charles |title=Shaping written knowledge: The genre and activity of the experimental article in science. |publisher=University of Wisconsin Press |year=1988 |location=Madison WI}}</ref>

Scientific or scholarly work written for more popular audiences relies on the published work of the scientific literature for its authority but does not in itself directly contribute to the scientific literature.{{citation needed|date=June 2023}}

=== Journalism ===
{{Main|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.<ref>Conboy, M. (2008). "Writing and Journalism: Politics, Social Movements, and the Public Sphere". ''Handbook of Research on Writing: History, Society, School, Individual, Text,'' New York: Lawrence Erlbaum Assoc. pp. 201–216.{{isbn missing}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Perrin |first=Daniel |title=The linguistics of newswriting |publisher=John Benjamins |year=2013 |location=Amsterdam}}</ref> These changes have also created challenges for [[Journalism ethics and standards|journalism ethics]] that have been developed over the past century.<ref>Pavlik, J. V. (2001). ''Journalism and the new media''. New York: Columbia University Press.{{isbn missing}}{{page needed|date=May 2023}}</ref>

=== Technical and medical writing ===
{{Main|Technical writing|Medical writing}}

Technical and medical writing are recognized writing specialties that, address the needs of scientifically and technologically based professions for precise, accurate, and timely communications, internally and externally, for the audiences the professions serve. Internally, these specialized writers ensure that communications present the necessary information in clear and precise terms to people in various roles. Both in the writing they do, and with the support they provide other professionals within their organizations, they make sure that each person within the organization has the information they need and that the work of the organization is coordinated by making sure all necessary tasks are assigned, and carried out, in a timely and accurate way. Through various media and genres, technical and medical writers elicit the goodwill and cooperation of the public served, while informing the public of the services and products offered, instructions needed for best outcomes, and other information.&nbsp;Technical and medical writers make sure appropriate and accurate records are kept for internal and external accountability and regulation. An important part of their roles is to prepare reports for government approval and monitoring.{{citation needed|date=June 2023}}

=== Literature and the leisure book market ===
Works of [[literature]] encompass written fiction, poetry, autobiography and memoir, non-fiction, and scripts of dramatic, cinematic or video performance, and hybridized forms of some or all of those previously listed.&nbsp;Works of literature sell widely and encompass a wide substantial market provided by large corporate publishers, self-published writers, and everything in-between.&nbsp;A certain subset of these works gain scholarly attention and are taught in literature classes at schools at all levels, including [[children's literature]], [[Young adult fiction|young adult literature]], and [[Western canon|canonical literature]] taught at universities; these works typically become the subject of another form of writing: [[Research|academic scholarship]]. Other forms of literature that are widely circulated but have only limited scholarly attention include [[historical fiction]], [[science fiction]], [[Romance novel|romance]], [[fan fiction]], [[western fiction]], [[Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction|dystopic and apocalyptic fiction]], [[mystery fiction]], [[Fantasy literature|fantasy and myth]]. Other segments of the book market include non-fictional works that some may not characterize as literature but exist within the same marketing space, such as [[popular history]], [[biography]] and [[autobiography]], political and celebrity [[memoir]]s, [[Self-help book|self-help]] and educational books, [[popular science]] and technology, accounts of [[Social issue|social problems]], and [[Futures studies|futuristic projections]].{{citation needed|date=June 2023}}

Authors and publishers' agents produce considerable documentation preparatory and subsequent to the successful publication of literature: [[Prospectus (book)|prospectuses]], developmental editing notes, [[contract]]s, correspondence with potential reviewers, [[Press release|press-releases]], marketing plans, etc.{{citation needed|date=June 2023}}

=== Writing within 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.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Wingate |first=Ursula |date=2012 |title='Argument!' helping students understand what essay writing is about |journal=Journal of English for Academic Purposes |volume=11 |issue=2 |pages=145–154|doi=10.1016/j.jeap.2011.11.001 |s2cid=73669683 }}</ref> 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]].&nbsp; Some of this is explicitly directed toward the learning of writing, but much is focused more on subject learning.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Klein |first1=Perry D. |title=Handbook of Writing Research |last2=Arcon |first2=Nina |last3=Baker |first3=Samanta |publisher=Guilford Press |year=2016 |isbn=978-1-4625-2243-9 |edition=2nd |location=New York |pages=245–246 |chapter=Writing to Learn}}</ref><ref name="Williams et al. (2019)">{{cite journal |vauthors=Williams C, Beam S |date=2019 |title=Technology and writing: review of research |journal=Computers & Education |volume=128 |pages=227–242 |doi=10.1016/j.compedu.2018.09.024 |s2cid=53746020}}</ref> Students receive much writing from their teachers as well in the forms of assignments and syllabi, directions for activities, worksheets, corrections on work, or information about subjects or exams. Students also receive institutional notices and regulations, sometimes to be shared with families. Students also may write [[teacher evaluations]] for use by teachers to improve instruction or by others reviewing quality of teacher instruction, particularly within higher education.{{citation needed|date=June 2023}}

Writing also pervades schools and educational institutions in less visible and memorable ways.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kinkead |first=Joyce A. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1285306363 |title=A writing studies primer |date=2022 |isbn=978-1-55481-531-9 |location=Peterborough, Ontario |pages=295–310 |oclc=1285306363}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Murphy |first=James |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/744299034 |title=A short history of writing instruction : from ancient Greece to contemporary America |date=2012 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-89746-4 |edition=3rd |location=New York |oclc=744299034}}</ref> Since schools are typically hierarchically arranged bureaucracies, writing also circulates in the forms of notices and regulations that teachers receive from their supervisors and arrange their instruction according to district and state syllabi and regulations.&nbsp; Teachers often must produce and submit lesson plans or other information about their teaching. In primary and secondary education teachers may need to write notices or letters to parents about matters relating to their children's learning, school activities, or regulations. Within school hierarchies many memos, notices, or other documents may flow. National policies and regulations as elaborated by ministries or departments of education may also be of consequence. Additionally, research in the various subject areas and in educational studies may be attended to by educators in the classroom and higher bureaucratic levels.&nbsp; And of course, subject learning draws on the knowledge produced and authorized by disciplines.{{citation needed|date=June 2023}}

=== Software code ===
{{See also|Command (computing)}}
[[File:C Hello World Program.png|thumb|A sample code in the C programming language that displays '[["Hello, World!" program|Hello, World!]]' when executed ]]
{{Excerpt|Software development|only=paragraphs}}

=== Hypertext ===
{{See also|Timeline of hypertext technology}}
{{Excerpt|Hypertext|files=1|templates=-InfoMaps}}

=== Other ===
* Written personal and group communication, using [[Letter (message)|letters]], signed texts such as [[open letter]]s, [[e-mail]]s, [[social media]] and [[chat software]]
* Unoriginal writing such as [[translation]] of texts and [[Transcription (linguistics)|transcription]] of spoken language
* [[Screenwriter|Screenplay writing]] for film and other audiovisual scenes.

== Writing systems ==
{{main|Writing system}}
The major writing systems broadly fall into four categories: [[Logogram|logographic]], [[Syllabary|syllabic]], [[alphabet]]ic, and [[Featural writing system|featural]]. As [[pictogram]]s do not represent a language's sounds, they have been argued not to constitute a writing system.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |title=The World's Writing Systems |date=1996 |publisher=Oxford University Press |others=Peter T. Daniels, William Bright |isbn=0-19-507993-0 |location=New York |pages=59 |oclc=31969720}}</ref>

===Logographies===
[[File:Comparative evolution of Cuneiform, Egyptian and Chinese characters.svg|thumb|Comparative evolution from pictograms to abstract shapes, in [[Mesopotamian]] [[cuneiform]]s, [[Egyptian language|Egyptian]] [[hieroglyph]]s and [[Chinese characters]]]]
A logography (also called a logosyllabary) is written using [[logogram]]s—written characters which represent individual [[word]]s, [[morpheme]]s or certain [[syllable]]s.<ref name=":0" /> For example, in Mayan, the glyph for "fin", pronounced ''ka'', was also used to represent the syllable ''ka'' whenever the pronunciation of a logogram needed to be indicated. Many logograms have an [[Ideogram|ideographic]] component (Chinese "radicals", hieroglyphic "determiners"). In Chinese, about 90% of characters are compounds of a semantic (meaning) element called a ''radical'' with an existing character to indicate the pronunciation, called a ''phonetic''. However, such phonetic elements complement the logographic elements, rather than vice versa.{{citation needed|date=June 2023}}

The main logographic system in use today is [[Chinese characters]], used with some modification for the various languages or dialects of [[languages of China|China]], [[languages of Japan|Japan]], and sometimes in [[Korean language|Korean]], although in [[South Korea|South]] and [[North Korea]], the phonetic [[Hangul]] system is mainly used. Older logographic systems include [[cuneiform]] and [[Mayan script|Mayan]].{{citation needed|date=June 2023}}

===Syllabaries===
A [[syllabary]] is a set of written symbols that represent [[syllable]]s,<ref name=":0" /> typically a consonant followed by a vowel, or just a vowel alone. In some scripts more complex syllables (such as consonant-vowel-consonant, or consonant-consonant-vowel) may have dedicated glyphs. Phonetically similar syllables are not written similarly.<ref name=":0" /> For instance, the syllable "ka" may look nothing like the syllable "ki", nor will syllables with the same vowels be similar.{{citation needed|date=June 2023}}

Syllabaries are best suited to languages with a relatively simple syllable structure, such as Japanese. Other languages that use syllabic writing include the [[Linear B]] script for [[Mycenaean Greek]]; [[Cherokee syllabary|Cherokee]],<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Cushman|first=Ellen|date=2011|title=The Cherokee Syllabary: A Writing System in its Own Right|journal=Written Communication|volume=28|issue=3|pages=255–281|doi=10.1177/0741088311410172|s2cid=144180867}}</ref> [[Ndyuka language|Ndjuka]], an English-based [[creole language]] of [[Suriname]]; and the [[Vai language|Vai]] script of [[Liberia]].

===Alphabets===
{{See also|History of the alphabet}}An [[alphabet]] is a set of written symbols that represent [[consonant]]s and [[vowel]]s.<ref name=":0" /> In a perfectly [[phonology|phonological]] alphabet, the letters would correspond perfectly to 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. However, as languages often evolve independently of their writing systems, and writing systems have been borrowed for languages they were not designed for, the degree to which letters of an alphabet correspond to phonemes of a language varies greatly from one language to another and even within a single language.{{citation needed|date=June 2023}}

Sometimes the term "alphabet" is restricted to systems with separate letters for consonants and vowels, such as the [[Latin alphabet]], although abugidas and abjads may also be accepted as alphabets. Because of this use, [[Greek alphabet|Greek]] is often considered to be the first alphabet.{{citation needed|date=June 2023}}

====Abjads====
In most of the alphabets of the Middle East, it is usually only the consonants of a word that are written, although vowels may be indicated by the addition of various diacritical marks. Writing systems based primarily on writing just consonants phonemes date back to the hieroglyphs of ancient Egypt. Such systems are called ''[[abjad]]s'', derived from the Arabic word for "alphabet", or ''consonantaries''.<ref name=":0" />

====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''.<ref name=":0" /> Some abugidas, such as [[Geʽez script|Ethiopic]] and [[Canadian Aboriginal syllabics|Cree]], 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}}

===Featural scripts===
A [[Featural writing system|featural script]] represents the features of the phonemes of the language in consistent ways. An example of such a system is Korean [[hangul]].<ref name=":0" /> For instance, all [[Labial consonant|labial]] sounds (pronounced with the lips) may have some element in common. In the Latin alphabet, this is accidentally the case with the letters "b" and "p"; however, labial "m" is completely dissimilar, and the similar-looking "q" and "d" are not labial. In Korean [[hangul]], however, all four labial consonants are based on the same basic element, but in practice, Korean is learned by children as an ordinary alphabet, and the featural elements tend to pass unnoticed.{{citation needed|date=June 2023}}

Another featural script is [[SignWriting]], the most popular writing system for many [[sign languages]], where the shapes and movements of the hands and face are represented [[secular icon|iconically]]. Featural scripts are also common in fictional or invented systems, such as [[J.R.R. Tolkien]]'s [[Tengwar]].{{citation needed|date=June 2023}}

==History and origins==
{{Main|Proto-writing|List of languages by first written accounts|History of writing}}
{{redirect-distinguish|Writings|Ketuvim}}

===Mesoamerica===
A stone slab with 3,000-year-old writing, known as the [[Cascajal Block]], 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 |first=John Noble |last=Wilford |author-link=John Noble Wilford |title=Writing May Be Oldest in Western Hemisphere |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/15/science/15writing.html |quote=A stone slab bearing 3,000-year-old writing previously unknown to scholars has been found in the Mexican state of Veracruz, and archaeologists say it is an example of the oldest script ever discovered in the Western Hemisphere. |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=30 March 2008 |date=15 September 2006 |archive-date=27 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180727145612/https://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/15/science/15writing.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Helen |last=Briggs |title='Oldest' New World writing found |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5347080.stm |quote=Ancient civilisations in Mexico developed a writing system as early as 900 BC, new evidence suggests. |publisher=BBC |access-date=30 March 2008 |date=14 September 2006 |archive-date=3 April 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080403005953/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5347080.stm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rodríguez Martínez |first1=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 |title=Oldest Writing in the New World |journal=Science |date=15 September 2006 |volume=313 |issue=5793 |pages=1610–1614 |doi=10.1126/science.1131492 |pmid=16973873 |bibcode=2006Sci...313.1610R |s2cid=35140904 |quote=A block with a hitherto unknown system of writing has been found in the Olmec heartland of Veracruz, Mexico. Stylistic and other dating of the block places it in the early first millennium before the common era, the oldest writing in the New World, with features that firmly assign this pivotal development to the Olmec civilization of Mesoamerica. }}</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 BC.<ref name=Saturno2006>{{cite journal |last1=Saturno |first1=William A. |last2=Stuart |first2=David |last3=Beltrán |first3=Boris |title=Early Maya Writing at San Bartolo, Guatemala |journal=Science |date=3 March 2006 |volume=311 |issue=5765 |pages=1281–1283 |doi=10.1126/science.1121745 |pmid=16400112 |bibcode=2006Sci...311.1281S |s2cid=46351994 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Maya writing used logograms complemented by a set of syllabic glyphs, somewhat similar in function to modern Japanese writing.

===Central Asia===
In 2001, archaeologists discovered that there was a civilization in [[Central Asia]] that used writing {{circa|2000 BC}}. An excavation near [[Ashgabat]], the capital of [[Turkmenistan]], revealed an inscription on a piece of stone that was used as a stamp seal.<ref>{{cite news |title=Ancient writing found in Turkmenistan |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/1330705.stm |quote=A previously unknown civilisation was using writing in Central Asia 4,000 years ago, hundreds of years before Chinese writing developed, archaeologists have discovered. An excavation near Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan, revealed an inscription on a piece of stone that seems to have been used as a stamp seal. |publisher=BBC |access-date=30 March 2008 |date=15 May 2001 |archive-date=7 December 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081207141534/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/1330705.stm |url-status=live }}</ref>

===China===
{{Further|Oracle bone script|Bronzeware script}}

The earliest surviving examples of writing in China—inscriptions on so-called "[[oracle bone]]s", tortoise [[plastron]]s and ox [[scapula]]e used for divination—date from around 1200 BC in the [[Late Shang]] period. A small number of bronze inscriptions from the same period have also survived.<ref>{{cite book
  | title = The Cambridge History of Ancient China
  | editor1-first = Michael | editor1-last = Loewe
  | editor2-first = Edward L. | editor2-last = Shaughnessy
  | location = Cambridge | publisher = Cambridge University Press | year = 1999
  | isbn = 978-0-521-47030-8
  | first = William | last = Boltz
  | chapter = Language and Writing | pages = 74–123
  | title-link = The Cambridge History of Ancient China }}</ref>

In 2003, archaeologists reported discoveries of [[Jiahu symbols|isolated tortoise-shell carvings]] dating back to the 7th millennium BC, but whether or not these symbols are related to the characters of the later oracle-bone script is disputed.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Archaeologists Rewrite History |journal=China Daily |date=12 June 2003 |access-date=4 January 2012 |url=http://www.china.org.cn/english/2003/Jun/66806.htm |archive-date=26 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181026123513/http://www.china.org.cn/english/2003/Jun/66806.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title='Earliest writing' found in China |first=Paul |last=Rincon |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/2956925.stm |quote=Signs carved into 8,600-year-old tortoise shells found in China may be the earliest written words, say archaeologists |work=BBC News |date=17 April 2003 |access-date=4 January 2012 |archive-date=20 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320140538/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/2956925.stm |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Egypt===
[[File:Narmer Palette serpopard side.jpg|196px|thumbnail|right|[[Narmer Palette]], with the two [[Serpopard]]s representing unification of [[Upper Egypt|Upper]] and [[Lower Egypt]], circa 3100 B.C.E.]]
The earliest known [[Egyptian hieroglyph|hieroglyphs]] are about 5,200 years old, such as the clay labels of a Predynastic ruler called "Scorpion I" (Naqada IIIA period, {{circa|32nd century BC}}) recovered at Abydos (modern Umm el-Qa'ab) in 1998 or the [[Narmer Palette]], dating to {{circa|3100 BC}}, and several recent discoveries that may be slightly older, though these glyphs were based on a much older artistic rather than written tradition. The hieroglyphic script was [[logogram|logographic]] with phonetic adjuncts that included an effective [[Egyptian hieroglyph#Script|alphabet]]. The world's oldest deciphered sentence was found on a seal impression found in the tomb of [[Seth-Peribsen]] at Umm el-Qa'ab, which dates from the Second Dynasty (28th or 27th century BC). There are around 800 hieroglyphs dating back to the Old Kingdom, Middle Kingdom and New Kingdom Eras. By the Greco-Roman period, there are more than 5,000.{{citation needed|date=June 2023}}

Writing was very important in maintaining the [[New Kingdom of Egypt|Egyptian empire]], and literacy was concentrated among an educated elite of [[scribe]]s.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lipson |first=Carol |title=Rhetoric before and beyond the Greeks |publisher=SUNY Press |year=2004 |isbn=978-0791460993 |editor-last=Lipson |editor-first=Carol S. |chapter=Ancient Egyptian Rhetoric: It All Comes Down to Maat |editor-last2=Binkley |editor-first2=Roberta A.}}</ref> 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 always difficult to learn, but in later centuries was purposely made even more so, as this preserved the scribes' status.{{citation needed|date=June 2022}}

The world's [[Middle Bronze Age alphabets|oldest known alphabet]] appears to have been developed by Canaanite turquoise miners in the Sinai desert around the mid-19th century BC.<ref>[[Orly Goldwasser|Goldwasser, Orly]]. "How the Alphabet Was Born from Hieroglyphs", Biblical Archaeology Review, Mar/Apr 2010</ref> Around 30 crude inscriptions have been found at a mountainous Egyptian mining site known as Serabit el-Khadem. This site was also home to a temple of Hathor, the "Mistress of turquoise". A later, two line inscription has also been found at [[Wadi el-Hol]] in Central Egypt. Based on [[hieroglyph]]ic prototypes, but also including entirely new symbols, each sign apparently stood for a consonant rather than a word: the basis of an alphabetic system. It was not until the 12th to 9th centuries, however, that the alphabet took hold and became widely used.{{citation needed|date=June 2023}}

===Elamite scripts===
Over the centuries, three distinct Elamite scripts developed.
[[Proto-Elamite]] is the oldest known writing system from Iran. In use only for a brief time ({{circa|3200}}–2900 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 River|Tigris]] and between the Karkheh and Dez Rivers.<ref>{{cite book |doi=10.4324/9781315658032-20 |chapter=The proto-Elamite writing system |title=The Elamite World |year=2018 |last1=Dahl |first1=Jacob L. |pages=383–396 |isbn=978-1-315-65803-2 }}</ref> 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 [[logogram|logographic]].

[[Linear Elamite]] is a writing system attested in a few monumental inscriptions in Iran. It was used for a very brief period during the last quarter of the 3rd millennium BC. It is often claimed that Linear Elamite is a syllabic writing system derived from Proto-Elamite, although this cannot be proven since Linear-Elamite has not been deciphered. Several scholars have attempted to decipher the script, most notably [[:de:Walther Hinz|Walther Hinz]]<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hinz |first=Walther |date=1975 |title=Problems of Linear Elamite |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25203649 |journal=The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland |volume=2 |pages=106–115 |via=JSTOR}}</ref> and [[:it:Piero Meriggi|Piero Meriggi]].

The [[Elamite cuneiform]] script was used from about 2500 to 331 BC, and was adapted from the [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]] [[cuneiform (script)|cuneiform]]. At 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.<ref name=":0" />

===Europe===
{{Expand section|date=February 2023}}
[[File:Lascaux 04 (with_circle).jpg|thumb|Representation of the potential [[History of writing#Recorded history of writing|first]] known (proto-)writing in history]]
Notational signs [[Upper Paleolithic|from ~37,000 years ago]] in caves, apparently convey [[calendar]]ic meaning about the behaviour of animal species drawn next to them, and are considered [[History of writing#Recorded history of writing|the first]] known ([[proto-writing|proto-]])writing in history.<ref>{{cite news |title=Mysterious marks on Ice Age cave art may have been ancient records |url=https://www.sciencenews.org/article/mysterious-marks-ice-age-cave-art |access-date=15 February 2023 |work=Science News |date=27 January 2023 |archive-date=15 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230215212025/https://www.sciencenews.org/article/mysterious-marks-ice-age-cave-art |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bacon |first1=Bennett |last2=Khatiri |first2=Azadeh |last3=Palmer |first3=James |last4=Freeth |first4=Tony |last5=Pettitt |first5=Paul |last6=Kentridge |first6=Robert |title=An Upper Palaeolithic Proto-writing System and Phenological Calendar |journal=Cambridge Archaeological Journal |date=5 January 2023 |volume=33 |issue=3 |pages=371–389 |doi=10.1017/S0959774322000415 |s2cid=255723053 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

====Cretan and Greek scripts====
{{Further|Cretan hieroglyphs|Linear A|Linear B}}

[[Cretan hieroglyphs]] are found on artifacts of [[Crete]] (early-to-mid-2nd millennium BC, MM I to MM III, overlapping with Linear A from MM IIA at the earliest). [[Linear B]], the writing system of the [[Mycenaean Greece|Mycenaean Greeks]],<ref name=Olivier>{{cite journal |last1=Olivier |first1=J.‐P. |title=Cretan writing in the second millennium B.C. |journal=World Archaeology |date=February 1986 |volume=17 |issue=3 |pages=377–389 |doi=10.1080/00438243.1986.9979977 |s2cid=163509308 }}</ref> 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 from {{circa|1625}} to 1500 BC; Linear A was used in the [[Aegean Islands]] ([[Kea (island)|Kea]], [[Cythera (island)|Kythera]], [[Milos|Melos]], [[Santorini|Thera]]), and the [[Greek mainland]] ([[Laconia]]) from {{circa|18th century}} to 1450 BC; and Linear B was used in Crete ([[Knossos]]), and mainland ([[Pylos]], [[Mycenae]], [[Thebes, Greece|Thebes]], [[Tiryns]]) from {{circa|1375}} to 1200 BC.{{citation needed|date=June 2023}}

===Indus Valley===
{{Main|Indus script}}

Indus script refers to short strings of symbols associated with the [[Indus Valley Civilization]] (which spanned modern-day [[Pakistan]] and [[North India]]) used between 2600-1900 BC. Despite attempts at [[decipherment]]s and claims, it is as yet undeciphered. The term 'Indus script' is mainly applied to that used in the mature Harappan phase, which perhaps evolved from a few signs found in early [[Harappa]] after 3500 BC.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Whitehouse |first1=David |title='Earliest writing' found |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/334517.stm |work=BBC News |date=4 May 1999 }}</ref> The script is written from right to left,{{sfn|Mukhopadhyay|2019|page= 2}} and sometimes follows a [[boustrophedonic]] style. In 2015, the epigrapher Bryan Wells estimated there were around 694 distinct signs.{{sfn|Wells|2015|page=13}} This is above 400, so scholars accept the script to be logo-syllabic{{sfn|Stiebing|Helft|2018|page=104–105}} (typically syllabic scripts have about 50–100 signs whereas logographic scripts have a very large number of principal signs). Several scholars maintain that structural analysis indicates an [[agglutinative]] language underlies the script.{{citation needed|date=June 2023}}

===Mesopotamia===

While research into the development of writing during the [[Neolithic|late Stone Age]] is ongoing, the current consensus is that it first evolved from economic necessity in the [[ancient Near East]]. Writing most likely began as a consequence of political expansion in ancient cultures, which needed reliable means for transmitting information, maintaining financial accounts, keeping historical records, and similar activities. Around the 4th millennium BC, the complexity of trade and administration outgrew the power of memory, and writing became a more dependable method of recording and presenting transactions in a permanent form.{{sfn|Robinson|2003|p=36}}

The invention of the first writing systems is roughly contemporary with the emergence of civilisations and the beginning of the [[Bronze Age]] of the late [[4th millennium BC]]. The [[Sumerian language|Sumerian]] archaic [[cuneiform script]] and the [[Egyptian hieroglyphs]] are generally considered the earliest writing systems, both emerging out of their ancestral proto-literate symbol systems from 3400 to 3300 BC<ref>{{Cite web |title=British Library |url=https://www.bl.uk/history-of-writing/articles/where-did-writing-begin |access-date=2022-02-28 |website=www.bl.uk |archive-date=11 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220311085214/https://www.bl.uk/history-of-writing/articles/where-did-writing-begin |url-status=live }}</ref> with earliest coherent texts from about [[26th century BC|2600 BC]]. It is generally agreed that Sumerian writing was an independent invention; however, it is debated whether Egyptian writing was developed completely independently of Sumerian, or was a case of [[cultural diffusion]].
[[File:Accountancy clay envelope Louvre Sb1932.jpg|thumb|upright|Globular envelope with a cluster of accountancy tokens, Uruk period, from [[Susa]]. [[Louvre Museum]]]]

Archaeologist [[Denise Schmandt-Besserat]] determined the link between previously uncategorized clay "tokens", the oldest of which have been found in the Zagros region of Iran, and the first known writing, [[Mesopotamian]] [[cuneiform]].<ref name="Rudgley">{{cite book | title=The Lost Civilizations of the Stone Age| last=Rudgley| first=Richard| author-link=Richard Rudgley| year=2000| pages=48–57| publisher=Simon & Schuster| location=New York}}</ref> In approximately 8000 BC, the 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. In this way the Sumerians added "a system for enumerating objects to their incipient system of symbols".{{quote without source|date=June 2023}}

The original [[Mesopotamian]] writing system was derived around 3200 BC from this method of keeping accounts. By the end of the 4th millennium BC,<ref>{{cite book|chapter=The Origin and Development of the Cuneiform System of Writing|first=Samuel Noah|last=Kramer|author-link=Samuel Noah Kramer|title=History Begins at Sumer: Thirty-Nine Firsts in Recorded History|pages=381–383|isbn=978-0-8122-7812-5|year=1981|edition=3rd|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press}}</ref> 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-stylus and sharp-stylus writing was gradually replaced by writing using a wedge-shaped stylus (hence the term [[cuneiform script|cuneiform]]), at first only for [[logogram]]s, but by the 29th century BC also for phonetic elements. Around 2700 BC, cuneiform began to represent syllables of spoken [[Sumerian language|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) around 2600 BC, and then to others such as [[Elamite language|Elamite]], [[Hattian language|Hattian]], [[Hurrian language|Hurrian]] and [[Hittite language|Hittite]]. Scripts similar in appearance to this writing system include those for [[Ugaritic language|Ugaritic]] and [[Old Persian language|Old Persian]]. With the adoption of [[Aramaic language|Aramaic]] as the 'lingua franca' of the [[Neo-Assyrian Empire]] (911–609 BC), Old Aramaic was also adapted to Mesopotamian cuneiform. The last cuneiform scripts in Akkadian discovered thus far date from the 1st century AD.{{citation needed|date=June 2023}}

===Phoenician writing system and descendants===
The [[Proto-Sinaitic]] script, in which [[Proto-Canaanite]] is believed to have been first written, is attested as far back as the 19th century BC. The [[Phoenician script|Phoenician writing system]] was adapted from the Proto-Canaanite script sometime before the 14th century BC, which in turn borrowed principles of representing phonetic information from [[Egyptian hieroglyphs]]. This writing system was an odd sort of syllabary in which only consonants are represented. This script was adapted by the [[Greek alphabet|Greeks]], who adapted certain consonantal signs to represent their vowels. 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]] and [[Rune]]s. Other descendants from the [[Greek alphabet]] include [[Cyrillic script|Cyrillic]], used to write [[Bulgarian language|Bulgarian]], [[Russian language|Russian]] and [[Serbian language|Serbian]], among others. The Phoenician system 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}}

The [[Tifinagh]] script (Berber languages) is descended from the [[Libyco-Berber alphabet|Libyco-Berber script]], which is assumed to be of Phoenician origin.{{citation needed|date=June 2023}}

===Religious texts===
{{See also|History of writing#Writing and religion|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.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Martin |first1=Henri-Jean |title=The History and Power of Writing |date=1994 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-50836-8 }}{{page needed|date=June 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Johnston |first1=Sarah Iles |title=Ancient Religions |date=30 September 2007 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-26477-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FSEsEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA133 |language=en |access-date=2 March 2023 |archive-date=26 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230426224052/https://books.google.com/books?id=FSEsEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA133 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Powell |first1=Barry B. |title=Writing: Theory and History of the Technology of Civilization |year=2009 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1-4051-6256-2 |page=12 }}</ref> The first books printed widely using the [[printing press]] [[Gutenberg Bible|were bibles]].
Such texts enabled rapid spread and maintenance of societal cohesion, [[collective identity]], motivations, justifications and [[belief]]s that e.g. notably [[Religious war|historically supported or enabled large-scale warfare between modern humans]].

==Contemporary efforts to foster writing acquisition==
{{See also|Literacy|Composition studies|Teaching writing in the United States}}
[[File:Writing Center (14050616124).jpg|thumb|A writing center]]
Multiple programs are in place to aid both children and adults in improving their [[literacy]] skills. For example, the emergence of the [[writing center]] and community-wide literacy councils aim to help students and community members sharpen their writing skills. These resources, and many more, span across different age groups in order to offer each individual a better understanding of their language and how to express themselves via writing in order to perhaps improve their [[socioeconomic status]]. As William J. Farrell puts it: "Did you ever notice that, when people become serious about communication, they want it in writing?"<ref name="Farrell1992">{{cite journal |last1=Farrell |first1=William J. |title=The Power of Writing |journal=The WAC Journal |date=1992 |volume=3 |issue=2 |pages=1–3 |doi=10.37514/WAC-J.1992.3.2.02 }}</ref>

Other parts of the world have seen an increase in writing abilities as a result of programs such as the [[World Literacy Foundation]] and [[International Literacy Foundation]], as well as a general push for increased global communication.{{citation needed|date=June 2023}}

==See also==
{{Portal|Writing}}
{{columns-list|colwidth=18em|
* [[Asemic writing]]
* [[Boustrophedon text]]
* [[Calligraphy]]
* [[Collaborative writing]]
* [[Composition (language)]]
* [[Copyright Clause]]
* [[Creative writing]]
* [[Dyslexia]]
* [[Fiction writing]]
* [[Foreign language writing aid]]
* [[Genre studies]]
* [[Graphonomics]]
* [[Interactive fiction]]
* [[Kishōtenketsu]]
* [[List of writers' conferences]]
* [[Literary award]]
* [[Literary criticism]]
* [[Literary festival]]
* [[Mechanical pencil]]
* [[Orthography]]
* [[Peer critique]]
* [[Printing]]
* [[Publishing]]
* [[Reading]]
* [[Sequoyah#Creation of the syllabary|Creation of the Sequoyah syllabary]]
* [[Scriptorium]]
* [[Bible (screenwriting)]]
* [[Speech]]
* [[Textual scholarship]]
* [[Typography]]
* [[White paper]]
* [[Writer's block]]
* [[Writing bump]]
* [[Writing circle]]
* [[Writing in space]]
* [[Slate (writing)|Writing slate]]
* [[Writing style]]
* [[Writer's voice]]
}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

===Works cited===
* {{Cite journal |last=Mukhopadhyay |first=Bahata Ansumali |date=2019 |title=Interrogating Indus inscriptions to unravel their mechanisms of meaning conveyance |journal=Palgrave Communications |volume=5 |issue=1 |pages=1–37 |doi=10.1057/s41599-019-0274-1 |issn=2055-1045 |doi-access=free}}
* {{cite book |last=Robinson |first=Andrew |chapter=The Origins of Writing |editor1-first=David |editor1-last=Crowley |editor2-first=Paul |editor2-last=Heyer |title=Communication in History: Technology, Culture, Society |publisher=Allyn and Bacon |year=2003 }}
* {{Cite book |last1=Stiebing |first1=William H. Jr. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C4U0DwAAQBAJ |title=Ancient Near Eastern History and Culture |last2=Helft |first2=Susan N. |date=2018 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-88083-6 |edition=3rd }}
* {{Cite book |last=Wells |first=B.&nbsp;K. |title=The Archaeology and Epigraphy of Indus Writing |date=2015 |publisher=Archaeopress |isbn=9781784910464 |location=Oxford, UK}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin|30em}}
* ''A History of Writing: From Hieroglyph to Multimedia'', edited by Anne-Marie Christin, [https://web.archive.org/web/20030812215212/http://www.flammarion.com/groupe/ Flammarion] (in French, hardcover: 408 pages, 2002, {{ISBN|2-08-010887-5}})
* "The Art of Writing" (1974). ''The Book Collector'' 23 no 3 (autumn):319–338.
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=momIk7nVNdkC ''In the Beginning: A Short History of the Hebrew Language.''] By Joel M. Hoffman, 2004. Chapter 3 covers the invention of writing and its various stages.
* [http://www.ancientscripts.com/ws.html Origins of writing on AncientScripts.com]
* [http://www.museumofwriting.co.uk/ Museum of Writing] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060424070220/http://www.museumofwriting.co.uk/ |date=24 April 2006 }}: UK Museum of Writing with information on writing history and implements
* On ERIC Digests: [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 }}; [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 }}; [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 }}
* [[Giulio Angioni|Angioni, Giulio]], ''La scrittura, una fabrilità semiotica'', in ''Fare, dire, sentire. L'identico e il diverso nelle culture'', il Maestrale, 2011, 149–169. {{ISBN|978-88-6429-020-1}}
* [http://www.childrenofthecode.org/Tour/c5/index.htm Children of the Code: The Power of Writing&nbsp;– Online Video]
* Powell, Barry B. 2009. ''Writing: Theory and History of the Technology of Civilization,'' Oxford: Blackwell. {{ISBN|978-1-4051-6256-2}}
* Reynolds, Jack 2004. ''Merleau-Ponty And Derrida: Intertwining Embodiment And Alterity'', Ohio University Press
* Rogers, Henry. 2005. ''Writing Systems: A Linguistic Approach.'' Oxford: Blackwell. {{ISBN|0-631-23463-2}} (hardcover); {{ISBN|0-631-23464-0}} (paperback)
* {{cite book|last= Ankerl |first= Guy |title= Global communication without universal civilization |orig-year= 2000 |series= INU societal research |volume= 1: Coexisting contemporary civilizations: Arabo-Muslim, Bharati, Chinese, and Western |publisher= INU Press |location= Geneva |isbn= 978-2-88155-004-1 |pages= 59–66, 235s|year= 2000 }}
* Falkenstein, A. 1965 Zu den Tafeln aus Tartaria. Germania 43, 269–273
* Haarmann, H. 1990 Writing from Old Europe. The Journal of Indo-European Studies 17
* Lazarovici, Gh., Fl. Drasovean & Z. Maxim 2000 The Eagle&nbsp;– the Bird of death, regeneration resurrection and messenger of Gods. Archaeological and ethnological problems. Tibiscum, 57–68
* Lazarovici, Gh., Fl. Drasovean & Z. Maxim 2000 The Eye&nbsp;– Symbol, Gesture, Expression. Tibiscum, 115–128
* Makkay, J. 1969 The Late Neolithic Tordos Group of Signs. Alba Regia 10, 9–50
* Makkay, J. 1984 Early Stamp Seals in South-East Europe. Budapest
* Masson, E. 1984 L'écriture dans les civilisations danubiennes néolithiques. Kadmos 23, 2, 89–123. Berlin & New York.
* Maxim, Z. 1997 Neo-eneoliticul din Transilvania. Bibliotheca Musei Napocensis 19. Cluj-Napoca
* Milojcic, Vl. 1963 Die Tontafeln von Tartaria (Siebenbürgen), und die Absolute Chronologie des mitteleeuropäischen Neolithikums.Germania 43, 266–268
* Paul, I. 1990 Mitograma de acum 8 milenii. Atheneum 1, p.&nbsp;28
* Paul, I. 1995 Vorgeschichtliche untersuchungen in Siebenburgen. Alba Iulia
* Vlassa, N. 1962 – (Studia UBB 2), 23–30.
* Vlassa, N. 1962 – (Dacia 7), 485–494;
* Vlassa, N. 1965 – (Atti UISPP, Roma 1965), 267–269
* Vlassa, N. 1976 Contribuții la Problema racordării Neoliticul Transilvaniei, p.&nbsp;28–43, fig. 7-8
* Vlassa, N. 1976 Neoliticul Transilvaniei. Studii, articole, note. Bibliotheca Musei Napocensis 3. Cluj-Napoca
* Winn, Sham M. M. 1973 The Sings of the Vinca Culture
* Winn, Sham M. M. 1981 Pre-writing in Southeast Europe: The Sign System of the Vinca culture. BAR
* Merlini, Marco 2004 La scrittura è natta in Europa?, Roma (2004)
* Merlini, Marco and Gheorghe Lazarovici 2008 Luca, Sabin Adrian ed. "Settling discovery circumstances, dating and utilization of the Tărtăria Tablets"
* Merlini, Marco and Gheorghe Lazarovici 2005 "New archaeological data referring to Tărtăria tablets", in Documenta Praehistorica XXXII, Department of Archeology Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana. Ljubljana: 2005–2019.
{{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:Nonverbal communication]]
[[Category:Writing systems]]
[[Category:Written communication]]

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