Often speaking of 'language' means speaking (speaking language), often writing (written language). How different are they? Of course, while writing is written and read, speech is spoken and heard. But the variations are far more:Levels. Age. Speech goes back, maybe a million years ago, to human origins. The writing, however, is relatively new; first invented by the Sumerians, around 3200 B.C. in Mesopotamia. Since then, the concept of writing has spread globally and in various parts of the world different writing systems have developed.All-encompassing. People will talk everywhere. However, people were not literate until the Sumerian invention. Even now, in officially literate communities, there are many non-literate classes (e.g. New Guinea) and many non-literate citizens.Procurement. People all over the first two years of their life start talking, perhaps many of the skills involved are innate rather than acquired. Writing generally builds on language learning.Structural stages. Two forms of fundamental units are speaking: 'phonemes' or sound units that are meaningless by themselves are combined into 'morphemes' that have a meaning; thus phonemes /b/, /i/ and /t form a bit. It functions the same way alphabetically scripts. In a different type of script, the syllabary, the fundamental unit, refers to a spoken syllable. For example, in the logo script. Each Chinese character is a whole morphema (usually a word). (See Daniels and Bright 1996 for more detail on scripts.)Interdependence. Interdependence. In either speech or writing, most literate persons can convey the same messages, but speech usually transmits more explicit information than writing. Hebrew and Arabic consonants show, but sometimes omit vowel symbols. In Chinese, the words corresponding symbols can offer no or only partial signals of pronunciation. The written and spoken forms of a given language appear to fit and may influence each other on one or more occasions, as if 'through' means 'through' On the other hand, people may pronounce the 't' in spelling pronunciation "often" even though it was lost historically. Some formal literary types, such as classical Chinese, have a written and direct relationship to expression.Power to retrace. Speech cannot be recorded or stored until a magnetic recorder is invented, except by failing memory and writing. But for thousands of years writing can be maintained. Its continuity has made human structures such as libraries, histories, timelines, dictionaries, menus and what we commonly term "civilization" possible.Literary use. Literary use. Non-literate cultures have orally written and memorized customs – songs, ceremonies, stories, myths. These texts may be referred to as oral literature. In comparison, writing allows for the most commonly called 'literature,' i.e. text bodies that are far larger and codified than memory allows. But dramatic performance and aloud reading remain important traditions, even in literate societies.Prestige. Prestige. Written language, which is all highly prestigious, is linked by political and economic powers, admirable literary and educational institutions. People often think their written language as central in literate societies; they see the word as less than it is. However, writing is more cold or impersonal than voice.Normalization. The languages spoken have dialects—forms that differ from geographical to social areas. However, the need for communication promotes progress to a single written, governmental, education and literary standard in complex societies which use writing. The reputation of the written standard would also have an effect on speech.Formality. Formality. It can be formal or informal to interact. Writing may be associated in literary cultures with formal and informal forms. In formal circumstances (oratory, sermons), a person may "speak like a book" and adapt written style. Formal and informal forms, for example in Arabic, can be quite distinct and can be virtually separate languages.Shift. Change. Change. Spoken language is continuously evolving everywhere, and speakers may still be largely unknown about it. Written language has changed even less than its pronunciation since Chaucer's time due to it's consistency and standardization and slower and less sweeping changes. The elements of formality and prestige in turn are related to this.
EPS mid-career prize lecture 2017: Writing systems, reading, and language
