Talk:Written language

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Overly referential first line[edit]

"A written language is the representation of a spoken or gestural language by means of a writing system." Given that this is what comes up on Google when one looks for "define written language", should this first sentence define written language from basic principles instead of relying on the definition of a spoken/gestural language? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.95.103.44 (talk) 17:01, 23 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Written versus spoken language[edit]

Written language is a language whose words and sentences are written in paper instead of being spoken: strange thing, makes the distinction written/spoken appear as strong as the difference between spoken languages, which doesn't look right. So IMO this article should be reworked (and renamed) or deleted. --FvdP 20:50 14 Jul 2003 (UTC)

I think I fixed your concern. I made a (too?) strong statement about the absence of purely written languages. If anyone has any credible source to discount please let me know.

--Selket 05:38, 24 Jan 2005 (UTC)

My experience as a person with hyperlexia and Asperger Syndrome is that the difference between spoken and written languages is much wider than most people realize. My first language is written English; I learned to read by the age of 3, and although I did learn to speak before then, I picked up a lot more from books than from lectures or sermons on the same topics. For the first twenty years of my life, I transcribed speech into text in my mind so automatically that it took a neurological shift for me to realize I was doing it. I became fluent in spoken English around the age of twenty, thanks to nightly hour-long intimate conversations with two friends over the course of several months. If we ever contact alien life, I believe this article's assertion that "written language is an invention in that it must be taught to children, who will instinctively learn or create spoken or gestural languages" will only prove true in that we have no natural appendages for writing (crude jokes about yellow snow notwithstanding). --BlueNight (talk) 00:38, 28 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]

ASL[edit]

Isn't using ASL as an example of a language with a written complement a bit misleading? Is there a standard written form of ASL? If no-one objects I'll delete this from the page. thefamouseccles 07:41, 10 Mar 2006 (UTC)

ASL gloss is a method of writing the ASL language grammar and gestures using English words instead of signs, there is also a dance notation for ASL called SignWriting. Ticklewickleukulele (talk) 21:16, 9 December 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Most Efficient Writing Style[edit]

Does anyone know what the most efficient/advanced writing system/language is? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.205.122.30 (talk) 21:29, 18 August 2007

If you mean pen and ink writing on paper with the fewest number of strokes, then shorthand is the most efficient. If you broaden it to mean any method of printing human speech on paper, then a computer speech recognition system that prints out what you say in a microphone is the most efficient, although the error rate is high. Greensburger 20:48, 19 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Diglossia[edit]

"However, such diglossia is often considered as one between literary language and other registers, especially if the writing system reflects its pronunciation."

I'd like to help this sentence, but I don't know what it means. "One" is probably "one diglossia"; but "however" suggests a contrast with what precedes it, and I don't see any contrast; and I can't imagine what it could be saying that could be affected in any way by whether or not the writing system reflects its pronunciation. Can anyone suggest what point this sentence is trying to make? Pi zero (talk) 23:44, 3 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]

NPOV[edit]

I have found this:

Written Language refers to communication in its written form - most commonly in the forms of reading and writing. However we are in a need for oral language; speaking and listening skills are acquired naturally by young children remarkably without the need for having to teach them. Language in its written form has become a process that is required in our oral language rules and must be clearly taught. There are many languages in our world that exist, but do not have a written form.

I believe that this is a biased sentence, as it declared the written language as bad and advertises spoken language. Also, Wikipedia is written in a written language. Ticklewickleukulele (talk) 21:15, 9 December 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I've removed it. I don't find it particularly biased (except maybe for the word "remarkably"), but it doesn't really say anything new. It's basically a platitude. Angr (talk) 16:41, 21 December 2012 (UTC)[reply]

ગુજરાતી ભાષામાં ક્લિક બોડૅ મેસેજ લખવા માટે ૧/૪ વાળી ક્લિક બોડૅ ચાલુ રહે તેમ કરવું માટે[edit]

Click board should be 1/4 for Gujrati Language to write message in gujrati 2405:205:C906:93C6:61C7:E293:5442:E25B (talk) 07:17, 22 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]