Mapping Linguistic and Orthographic Structures

"Writing" is a form of human communication by means of a set of visible marks that are related, by convention, to some particular structural level of language" (EB 982).

"Writing is related directly to language but not necessarily directly to speech. Consequently, spoken and written language may evolve somewhat distinctive forms and functions" (EB 983).

Linguistic Structure Orthographic Structure
Meaning-based text
topic
speech act
word
morpheme


pictorial sign
logographic writing
logographic writing
Sound-based syllable
segment
phoneme
phone
feature
 syllabic writing
consonantal writing
alphabetic writing
phonetic alphabet
featural writing system
(After EB 985)


"Level" of a Writing System

"What determines the level of a writing system is the indispensable operational unit that enables the script to function" (53). The symbols used in a phonemic system are collectively referred to as an alphabet; those of a syllabic system as a syllabary. No writing system, according to DeFrancis, "can function with graphemes based on any of the sematic levels--discourse, words, or even morphemes" (55).

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