For any genuinely ancient civilization, writing is characteristic in one form or another. Writing served as a way of storing and transmitting information and as a universal tool in various spheres of human life. Writing today is an integral aspect of the life of every perfect person, and many people even resort to the help of other people to do a particular job. Today, anyone can turn to professional writing services for help and get this help quickly, reliably, and efficiently.
Medieval Writing Was Regional
Unlike today, people in the Middle Ages had their handwriting styles and writing systems. The term “cursive” is often used to refer to handwriting styles of the Middle Ages, but it’s a 20th -century invention. According to one historian, “cursive” was first introduced in American penmanship classes in 1815. The idea was that students should pay more attention to how letters looked as they were being formed than what they were being formed into.
Similarly, there wasn’t one letter system that all European countries used. By the 6th century, Irish monks invented a unique alphabet that became popular in other Celtic-speaking regions. Some historians also credit the Celts with inventing the first alphabet based on Latin letters around the 5th century BC, although this would have been written in a flowing cursive style.
There is a Science to Analyze Handwriting
There is a science to analyze handwriting, and the techniques used for this analysis are called Handwriting Analysis or Graphology. Handwriting is one of the three main communication tools globally, along with speech and body language – but only handwriting is recorded. Handwriting analysis is a powerful tool used in education, counseling, and business.
The First Font Was Very Script-Like
The Romans were the first culture to develop a writing system. And history proves that there’s always been something written on the walls. But did you know that the first font looked almost identical to cursive? Even before papyrus, there was clay. Before clay, our ancestors used rocks, bones, and even sand to record their thoughts.
The old-looking letters were very similar to the style used in 15th-century manuscripts. This font style is still popular today because it is easy to read and has a classic look and feel. The appearance of Sumerian writing is quite different than the modern writing that is most commonly used today. The Sumerian writing was very pictorial and used ligatures (a fancy word for “joined letters”) to show how letters were pronounced.
Professional Writer Was a Job Once
Today, it is assumed that everyone can read and write correctly. It has become such a given part of our lives, and we no longer question how it all began or how far writing has come. The profession of a writer was once not valued by many people. Professional writers have been around for centuries, as have many forms of written communication.
Handwriting Had a Longer Story Than You Think
The Sumerians developed the first system of writing, which used a pictographic script called cuneiform. In cuneiform, symbols were carved into clay tablets which were then baked hard in the sun. This allowed messages to be sent over long distances via courier. Then, the first phonetically-based alphabet emerged in ancient Egypt and evolved into the Phoenician alphabet. The history of writing is one of the things that people tend to take for granted. Most people have been taught how to read and write at a young age, and it becomes something that they rarely give a second thought.
Punctuation Was Rare Until the 18th Century
Punctuation has become an everyday part of life for most of us in the 21st century, but it wasn’t always like that. The term ‘punctuation’ was first used in 17th century England to describe a set of symbols and signs used for writing. These symbols were mainly called dots and dashes that separated longer writing passages into different sentences and sections.
The earliest type of punctuation was developed in Greece and Rome over 1,000 years before anyone started talking about punctuation. When texts were written without punctuation, the Greeks used spaces between words to tell where one sentence ended and another began. The Romans introduced the semi-colon.
In 18th century England, punctuation was introduced at school when children started writing out passages from the bible, Shakespeare’s plays, and poetry. Teachers were called ‘Punctuators’ because they were responsible for teaching students how to write with full stops, commas, question marks, exclamation marks, and periods.
Writing Is an Indicator of Civilization
As the crucial element of civilization, writing is an excellent indicator of society’s progress. In Western cultures, punctuation is one of the essential parts of written languages, and it was rarely used until the Eighteenth Century. Exclamation points, question marks, colons, and semi-colons, for example, were all invented in the 1700s.
Before that time, there were only periods and spaces between words or none at all. Punctuation was invented to aid in reading long sentences and creating a better understanding between people. Hence, we owe our liveliness to punctuation. Punctuation makes reading more enjoyable and provides us with a glimpse into what they did day-to-day 2,000 years ago. Additionally, the invention of punctuation has eliminated many arguments and misunderstandings. People can share their ideas clearly through the correct use of punctuation.
Writing Develops Language
Punctuation was rare until the 18th century. Before then, people were very good at reading and writing without commas, periods, or other standard punctuation marks. Even William Shakespeare didn’t use any of these to separate his sentences. How did people do it? They used their voices to make sense of long sentences. When people read at home or in groups, they naturally added pauses where commas fit within an otherwise long sentence.
Punctuation developed through the influence of different languages and cultures. In English, we use punctuation to alter meaning, clarify ideas, and improve reading flow. For example, a question mark at the end of a sentence changes the tone from a statement to a question.
