5MT Writing systems

• Engels
• Secundair onderwijs

WRITING SYSTEMS

What is a morpheme?

What is the difference between a phoneme and phonetics?

How many phonemes are there in English?

1. 26
2. 24
3. 20
4. 44

What is a grapheme?

Is a comma a grapheme?

1. Yes
2. No

Do all languages have punctuation marks?

1. Yes
2. No

In English, all graphemes represent a single sound/phoneme. Is this true for all languages/writing systems?

1. Yes
2. No

What else can a grapheme represent besides a phoneme?

Types of writing systems

There are 5 types of writing systems:

1. alphabets
2. abjads
3. abugidas
4. syllabary
5. logography

Alphabets

• The graphemes represent
  both consonants and vowels.
• Each consonant and vowel
  have their own grapheme. 
• Alphabets are the most
  common type of writing system. 
  
• Examples: Ancient Greek, Latin alphabet, Cyrrilic alphabet

Abjads

• Only represent consonants.
• Vowels are implied and sometimes
  marked with diacritics in specific
  texts like the ones used for learning
  to read. 
• Examples: Hebrew, Arabic, etc. 

Abugidas

• a syllabic alphabet: the graphemes represent a consonant and a vowel sound
• diacritics are used to represent vowels
• Examples: Hindu, Tebetan, Thai, etc. 

Syllabary

• The graphemes represent a consonant and a vowel sound. Sometimes a singular vowel. 
  
• There is no shared consonant when the vowel sounds change in a syllabary.
• Examples: Japanese Kana, Cherokee, etc. 

Logography

• Uses a new grapheme for each word or morpheme
• Examples: Chinese, Japanese kanji, etc.