Anthropology 2246F/G Lecture Notes - Phonetics, Oracle Bone

• School: Western University
• Department: Anthropology
• Course: Anthropology 2246F/G
• Professor: Tania Granadillo

Document Summary

Writing is a system of graphic symbols that can be used to convey any and all thought (important stipulation) All writing systems are more similar than they are different leading to all the debate about their origins. Symbols that represent sounds vary in proportion of phonetic and semantic signs and they are representation of oral speech and they are trying to capture the oral aspect of language which is very complex. All writing systems are incomplete in their trying to represent speech because there are so many facets of speech that it makes it impossible to be represented in a writing system and this is why scripts are interpreted differently. Language is basically oral and writing is a relatively new invention in terms of human cultural history (had it roughly 5000 years but language for roughly 500,000) and some groups are still capable of living without writing.