Writing seems indispensable to human civilization. It’s difficult to imagine where we would be today without being able to share information and communicate our thoughts, ideas, and knowledge to other human beings through written words. The history of writing, however, is shorter than we think. Let’s find out some surprising facts about it.
What to Know About the Development of Writing?
The history of writing is fascinating since it relates to one of the most valuable skills, with the greatest contribution to human progress. This means it can be an interesting topic for your dissertation. You can contact online an expert thesis writing service to get more advanced materials about the topic or to even get the whole thesis written by professional writers. Since the history of writing is so complex, getting help can be a relief.
In the meantime, let’s see what are some surprising facts you could start your research from.
1. Before Writing There Was Painting
Human beings always felt a strong desire to communicate. It is widely believed that this is among the first skills our species developed, but it took us a long time. Before developing a real communication system, our ancestors used cave paintings with the same purpose. The idea was to record important events and facts, exactly what we use writing today for.
2. Earliest Writing Comes from 3000 BC
The earliest evidence of writing dates back to 3000 BC and belongs to the areas around Egypt and Mesopotamia and at a greater distance, China. For ancient people, numbers were more important than letters, so this is why they were invented first.
3. Instead of Modern Letters People Used Pictures
Before modern alphabets, like we have today, people used pictograms. These were simple images that represented something tangible or a symbol. Combining multiple pictures formed a sentence. For example, the picture of an animal along a picture of a weapon meant that that weapon was used to kill that specific animal. People also carved pictures on stones to count their possessions.
4. Sumerian Is the First Written Language
According to research from anthropologists, Sumerian is the first written language in the world, in the cuneiform style developed in the Middle East. This system used symbols to represent sounds instead of pictures, which lead to the development of writing based on letters as we have today, where each letter is a sound.
5. Egyptians Wrote in Hieroglyphics
One of the oldest writing systems comes from Ancient Egypt. The Egyptian hieroglyphics were translated to modern languages after the discovery of an important archaeological artifact, the Rosetta Stone, which had hieroglyphics inscribed on it that hadn’t been damaged by time. If you want to write your thesis about the Rosetta Stone, you can find help with a thesis paper writing service.
6. The Greek Alphabet Is the First Modern Alphabet
The Greek or Phoenician alphabet is the first example of an alphabet similar to the one we use today in the Western world. Based on symbols that represented consonants, the alphabet was known and used all across the Mediterranean basin by merchants and travelers. A thesis service can help you make a comparison between the Greek alphabet and the Latin alphabet, and how they influenced each other.
7. The Printing Press Is Crucial for the Development of Writing
From the first written language to the printing press, the process was long and difficult. However, this technological invention revolutionized the world and made writing available to everyone everywhere. If books, pens, pencils, and paper were used before only by the elite, the printing press gave democratic access to books or newspapers to everyone.
If you want to write your thesis about the huge significance of the printing press for education, academia, politics, science or literature, find a thesis writer for additional resources on the topic. This can be a great investigation for a thesis on history, culture, sociology, and not only.
We cannot imagine today a world where we couldn’t read articles, blog posts, books, or text messages from friends. Writing is so pervasive in our lives that we forget it was not always here. This is what makes it such a versatile research topic for students.
Interesting Facts about History of Writing
1. Introverts are best writers. There is a belief that writers are lonely, anti-social introverts who don’t like to interact with other people. Well, that’s not true; studies have found that introverts are more creative. Maybe because they can think up or create a lot of ideas by spending time alone, which makes them the best writers.
2. Agatha Christie, one of the world’s famous writers couldn’t write easily. She had a condition called dysgraphia, which makes it difficult to write, so she had to tell someone else what to write in her novels. She was a famous romance writer and playwright whose books sold billions of copies.
3. John Steinbeck used up to 60 pencils every day. It’s common for authors to write their books by hand in an age where computers are not yet available. John’s masterpiece, East of Eden, took 300 pencils to finish. Each pencil could write as far as 35 miles. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1962. His book The Grapes of Wrath was transformed into a well-known movie in 1940 and received both a Pulitzer Prize and a National Book Award.
4. Creative writers are not right-brain dominant. It is said that the left hemisphere of the brain controls analytical and reasoning skills, while the right hemisphere controls artistic and creative thought. That is why many believe that creative writers are right-brain dominant. Studies, however, have shown that this isn’t true and that many creative writers don’t have a dominant hemisphere but are more or less balanced between the two. There is very little evidence that there are truly dominant brain hemispheres since both sides of the brain are always working together.
5. The English language is constantly changing. Based on one estimate, a new word Is added to the dictionary every two hours Every so often, the rules for how to use words change as well. Some of the most popular style guides, such as Chicago, APA, MLA, and AP, change their rules for how to use punctuation, pronouns, and specific words and phrases on a regular basis. Writers must keep up with the latest changes in style to make sure their work is up to date.
6. Writers can have odd habits. Gertrude Stein and Vladimir Nabokov preferred to write in their parked cars. Anthony Trollope used a watch to make sure that every 15 minutes, he wrote 250 words.