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How the World Writes

Three short lessons on the different ways writing systems record speech: alphabets and abjads, scripts built on syllables, and scripts built on meaning.

Spark & Whetstone · sparkwhetstone.org/learn/how-scripts-work · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Answers are at the end, so you can try each question first.

Lesson 1. Alphabets and abjads

An alphabet writes both consonants and vowels with letters, as English, Ukrainian Cyrillic and Vietnamese do. Vietnamese adds marks for its tones: ma, má, mà, mả, mã and mạ are six different words.

An abjad writes mainly the consonants. In Arabic and Hebrew, short vowels are usually left out, and a fluent reader supplies them from the word. Small marks can add them, as in children's books and religious texts.

Question. What does an abjad usually leave out?

  1. The consonants.
  2. The short vowels.
  3. Spaces between words.

Say it back. In your own words: what is the difference between an alphabet and an abjad?

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Lesson 2. Scripts built on syllables

Some scripts take the syllable as their unit. Japanese kana is a syllabary: か is ka, き is ki, く is ku, each one sign.

Hindi's Devanagari is an abugida: each consonant sign carries a built-in a, so क is ka, and a small mark changes the vowel, so कि is ki. Korean Hangul, created in the 1440s under King Sejong, builds letters into syllable blocks, and its consonant shapes were designed to show how the mouth makes them.

Question. In Devanagari, the sign क is read "ka". What does a small vowel mark do?

  1. Changes the built-in a to another vowel.
  2. Makes it silent.
  3. Turns it into a number.

Say it back. Say it back: how is a syllabary different from an abugida?

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Lesson 3. Scripts built on meaning

Chinese characters each stand for a meaningful part of a word, a morpheme, rather than a single sound. Most characters combine a part that hints at the meaning with a part that hints at the sound.

Because the characters carry meaning, speakers of very different Chinese languages can read the same text, and the same characters were borrowed into Japanese and once into Korean and Vietnamese.

Question. What does a Chinese character usually stand for?

  1. A single letter sound.
  2. A meaningful part of a word.
  3. A whole sentence.

Say it back. In your own words: why can people who speak different Chinese languages read the same text?

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At the table: Write your name three ways

Players: two or more people, 9 or older. You'll need: paper, pens, and a printed table of kana or Hangul (from a library book or OrthoForge).

  1. Each person splits their name into syllables.
  2. Write it once with consonants only, like an abjad.
  3. Write it again in kana or Hangul, one syllable at a time.
  4. Read each other's names back and talk about which way was easiest.

Answers

  1. The short vowels. — An abjad writes mainly consonants and usually leaves the short vowels for the reader to supply.
  2. Changes the built-in a to another vowel. — The mark swaps the built-in a for another vowel, so कि is ki.
  3. A meaningful part of a word. — Each character usually stands for a morpheme: a meaningful part of a word.