Editing Writing (section)

== Writing systems ==
[[Writing system]]s may be broadly classified according to what units of language are generally represented by its symbols:{{sfnp|Daniels|Bright|1996|p=56}}{{sfnp|Rogers|2005|pp=13–15}}
* ''Phonographies'' represent sounds of speech{{snd}}with [[alphabet]]s and [[syllabaries]] using symbols for [[phoneme]]s and [[syllable]]s respectively.
* ''[[Logographies]]'' represent a language's units of meaning ([[word]]s or [[morpheme]]s), though still associated by readers with their given pronunciations in the corresponding spoken language.

=== Logographies ===
[[File:Comparative evolution of Cuneiform, Egyptian and Chinese characters.svg|thumb|Comparative evolution from pictograms to abstract shapes, in Mesopotamian [[cuneiform]]s, [[Egyptian hieroglyph]]s and [[Chinese characters]]]]
A logography is written using [[logogram]]s{{snd}}written characters which represent individual [[word]]s or [[morpheme]]s.{{sfnp|Daniels|Bright|1996|p=56}} For example, the Maya 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 [[ideographic]] component (e.g. [[Chinese character radicals]], [[hieroglyphic determinatives]]).

The main logographic system in use is [[Chinese characters]], used primarily to write the [[Chinese languages]] and [[Japanese language|Japanese]], and historically others from regions influenced by [[Chinese culture]], such as [[Korean language|Korean]] and [[Vietnamese language|Vietnamese]]. Other logographic systems include [[cuneiform]] and [[Maya script]].{{citation needed|date=June 2023}}

=== Syllabaries ===
A [[syllabary]] is a set of written symbols that represent [[syllable]]s,{{sfnp|Daniels|Bright|1996|p=56}} typically a consonant followed by a vowel, or just a vowel alone. In some scripts more complex syllables (e.g. consonant–vowel–consonant or consonant–consonant–vowel) may have dedicated glyphs. Phonetically similar syllables are not written similarly.{{sfnp|Daniels|Bright|1996|p=56}} 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 [[Mycenaean Greek]] ([[Linear B]]), [[Cherokee syllabary|Cherokee]],{{sfnp|Cushman|2011|pp=255–281}} the [[Ndyuka language|Ndjuka]] creole language of [[Suriname]], and the [[Vai language]] of [[Liberia]].

=== Alphabets ===
{{See also|History of the alphabet}}
An [[alphabet]] is a set of written symbols that represent [[consonant]]s and [[vowel]]s.{{sfnp|Daniels|Bright|1996|p=56}} In a perfectly [[phonological]] alphabet, letters would correspond one-to-one with 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. In practice, the degree to which letters correspond with phonemes varies greatly between languages and the [[orthographies]] used when writing them.{{citation needed|date=June 2023}}

==== Abjads ====
Alphabets that generally only have letters for consonants are called ''[[abjad]]s'' or ''consonantaries''; though optional, abjads may also use diacritical marks to specify which vowels follow each consonant. The earliest alphabets were abjads, influenced by symbols representing specific consonants that originated in Egyptian hieroglyphs. Most abjads are likewise native to the Middle East, reflecting the relatively limited variation of vowels in the [[morphology (linguistics)|morphology]] of the [[Semitic languages]] spoken in the region.{{sfnp|Daniels|Bright|1996|p=56}}

==== 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''.{{sfnp|Daniels|Bright|1996|p=56}} Some abugidas, such as [[Geʽez script|Geʽez]] and the [[Canadian Aboriginal syllabics]], 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}}