Portal:Writing

Welcome to the writing portal

Introduction

Writing is the act of creating a persistent, usually visual representation of language on a surface. As a structured system of communication, writing is also known as written language. Historically, written languages have emerged as a way to record corresponding spoken languages. A particular set of symbols, called a script, as well as the rules by which they encode a particular spoken language, is known as a writing system. In some rare cases, writing may be tactile rather than visual.

The cognitive and social activity of writing involves neuropsychological and physical processes whose physical output is also called writing (or a text): a series of physically inscribed, mechanically transferred, or digitally represented symbols. Reading is the activity of encountering a text and construing its symbols. Literacy is the ability of reading and writing.

In general, writing systems do not constitute languages in and of themselves, but rather a durable means of representing language such that it can be understood by people at a later time. While the use of language is universal across human societies, most spoken languages are not written. Those with a writing system can complement and extend the capacities of spoken language, transmitting it across space (e.g. written correspondence) and storing it for future reading (e.g. libraries). Writing can also change people's relationships with the knowledge they acquire, since it allows humans to externalize their thinking in forms that are easier to reflect on, process more slowly, elaborate on, reconsider, and revise. (Full article...)

View new selections hereafter (purge)

edit

Selected article

Pictured left: The stylized signature (tughra) of Sultan Mahmud II of the Ottoman Empire was written in an expressive calligraphy. It reads Mahmud Khan son of Abdulhamid is forever victorious.

Islamic calligraphy is the art of writing, and by extension, of bookmaking. This art has most often employed the Arabic script, throughout many languages. Calligraphy is especially revered among Islamic arts since it was the primary means for the preservation of the Qur'an.

Throughout Islamic history, the work of calligraphers was collected and appreciated. Consideration of figurative art as idolatrous led to calligraphy and abstract figures becoming the main methods of artistic expression in Islamic cultures.

Arabic, Persian and Ottoman Turkish calligraphy is associated with geometric Islamic art (the Arabesque) on the walls and ceilings of mosques as well as on the page. Contemporary artists in the Islamic world draw on the heritage of calligraphy to use calligraphic inscriptions or abstractions in their work. (Full article...)

More selected articles

edit

Selected picture

Credit: Original uploader was User:Nickshanks

Writing systems of the World

More selected pictures

edit

Selected biography

Rudolf Koch (November 20, 1876 - April 9, 1934) was a leading German calligrapher, typographic artist and teacher, born in Nuremberg. He was primarily a calligrapher with the Gebr. Klingspor foundry. He created several fonts, both in fraktur and normal formats. Fritz Kredel studied under Koch.

Koch wrote a book of 493 old-world symbols, monograms and runes entitled The Book of Signs which was published in 1955 by Dover Publications, INC. and which belongs to the Dover Pictorial Archive Series.

Some of Koch's work can be seen today at the Klingspor Museum in Offenbach.

Some typefaces developed by Koch include:

Neuland (1923)
Kabel (1927)
Zeppelin (1929)
Prisma (1931)
Holla (1932)
Marathon (1938) (Full article...)

More selected biographies

edit

Did you know...

... that screenwriter Richard Baer's writing credits for television included twenty-three episodes of Bewitched and five episodes of The Munsters?

Other "Did you know" facts...

edit

Major topics

• Calligraphy •
Western calligraphy • Islamic calligraphy • Indian calligraphy • Chinese calligraphy • Korean calligraphy • Japanese calligraphy • Persian calligraphy • Manuscript
• Writing instruments •
Pen • Ink brushes • Inks • Ink stone • Qalam • Quill • Dip pen • Nib • Paper • Writing slate • Pencil • Typewriter • Word processor • Dry erase marker • Touchscreen

edit

Things you can do

Here are some tasks awaiting attention:

Verify : Creative writing, Fiction, Literature, Print culture.
Other : Improve the Writing portal. Add more relevant information to the "More selected..." archive sections: open the link and add data to a new subsection. Add links to this portal in relevant articles with {{Portal|Writing}}.