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written language

written language

5 3.4
A way of showing words using letters or characters instead of speech
  • noun
  • /ˈrɪtən ˈlæŋɡwɪdʒ/
translation icon : lenguaje escrito
  • Morgan (1987) investigated the development of written language awareness in African American preschool children.
  • written language and oral
  • reading and written language
  • written language problems

All right, So how, how do we get then from no written language to written language?

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Examples

  • Focusing readers solely or primarily on written language limits their understanding and the meanings they can construct while reading.

    Academic text (2012)
  • In this study, we investigated students' developing written language skills in both narrative and expository genres.

    Academic text (2015)
  • All right, So how, how do we get then from no written language to written language?

  • But they might have some sort of written language or basis for visual communication.

  • The potential impact of memory span problems on reading and written language is not always clear.

    Academic text (1993)
  • Students in second grade are tested in the areas of listening, speaking, reading, and written language.

    Academic text (2013)
  • There are many students whose written language is more impaired than their oral language.

    Academic text (1993)
  • Until the 20th century, all East Asian histories shared a common written language: classical Chinese.

    Academic text (1996)
  • The lowest scores were generally in written language, with mean composite scores around the 15th percentile.

    Academic text (2013)
  • Many ancient civilizations developed their own written language to record their history and transactions.

Synonyms

writing
vswritten language
123 1.0

Marks or letters on a surface that show language

is about language expressed with nonspoken symbols rather than speech
script
vswritten language
24 4.1

A set of letters or symbols used to write a language

is about language expressed by symbols not the visual or stylistic form
written word
vswritten language
16 3.2

Words shown with letters on a page or screen instead of spoken

is the general idea of representing language with nonspoken symbols
writing system
vswritten language
  • Specialized
2 3.5

A way to show a language's words using letters or characters

is the broad use of symbols to communicate ideas not the representation method

Antonyms

Language people use with their voice rather than in writing

Surface Forms

Morphology

written + language

The phrase is a straightforward modifier + noun composition: 'written' (recorded in writing) specifies the type of 'language' (a system of communication), yielding the literal sense 'language expressed in writing rather than speech.' This is a common, cross-linguistic pattern and therefore a B1 learner who knows both constituents can reliably infer the meaning.

Etymology

Written language is a simple picture: written means putting marks or letters on a page and language means words and ideas, so it refers to words shown as letters or symbols rather than heard as 'speech'.