Page 282 - DK Children's Encyclopedia
P. 282
Writing SEE ALSO
▸ ▸ Storytelling
pp.42–43
Writing is putting the words we speak down on paper or on ▸ ▸ Books p.44
a screen. We do this using sets of characters, such as the ▸ ▸ Bronze Age p.47
letters in an alphabet. Characters represent the different ▸ ▸ Codes pp.66–67
letters or words of a language. The many different ▸ ▸ Language p.144
languages in the world have different systems of writing. ▸ ▸ Philosophy
p.189
Writing systems
Written characters can be
joined together to form
words, or sometimes form Cuneiform
Used in ancient Iraq,
words on their own. Different this was one of the first
systems are written left to writing systems. Have a
right, right to left, or Cuneiform means
“wedge-shaped.”
downward.
nice day
English
Writing tools The English alphabet has 26
letters. These letters are used
The first words were by many languages across
carved into soft clay using a the world.
hard reed or piece of wood.
Today we write with Chinese
pencils, crayons, and pens. These characters are formed
Brushes can be used to of pictures that often show an
paint beautiful characters. object. A character forms one Have a nice day
word or part of a word.
Cyrillic
This alphabet is used to
write Russian and other
Eastern European and
Central Asian languages. Have a nice day
Hindi
The Hindi language of India
is written in the beautiful
Devanagari alphabet. It
has 47 different letters. Have a nice day
Some Chinese Emojis
dictionaries list Emoji means “picture
more than character” in Japanese.
Emojis are used on mobile
Calligraphy brush Fountain pen Pencil characters! a quick way to show
40,000
phones and computers as
feelings or words.
280
US_280_Writing.indd 280 16/05/2017 17:18

