Biscriptality: A typology of written forms of language

Arvind Iyengar

Abstract

The general academic opinion that the spoken form of language is paramount has resulted in the written form of language being neglected, whether deliberately or inadvertently, as a subject of serious research. More importantly, the role of written language in society and the sociolinguistic implications of the use of certain scripts, glyph shapes and orthographies have received scant attention in the literature.

Recent attempts have been made to highlight the “sociolinguistics of writing” (Coulmas, 2003; Sebba, 2007). In particular, an initial step has been taken towards drawing attention to the written parallel of bilingualism, which has been termed “biscriptality” (Bunčić, 2016). Biscriptality refers to the synchronic use of two or more script, glyph or orthographic variants in writing a particular language. The distribution and occurrence of such variation in written language is illustrated with the help of a 3×3 matrix (Bunčić, 2016). This matrix classifies variation in said parameters as status-based, ethnogeographical, or ‘free’.

Original language	English
Pages	1-2
Publication status	Published - 2016
Event	ALS 2016: Australian Linguistic Society Conference 2016 - Monash University, Melbourne, Australia Duration: 7 Dec 2016 → 9 Dec 2016

Conference

Conference	ALS 2016: Australian Linguistic Society Conference 2016
City	Melbourne, Australia
Period	7/12/16 → 9/12/16

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https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/33860

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Cite this

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title = "Biscriptality: A typology of written forms of language",

abstract = "The general academic opinion that the spoken form of language is paramount has resulted in the written form of language being neglected, whether deliberately or inadvertently, as a subject of serious research. More importantly, the role of written language in society and the sociolinguistic implications of the use of certain scripts, glyph shapes and orthographies have received scant attention in the literature. Recent attempts have been made to highlight the {\textquotedblleft}sociolinguistics of writing{\textquotedblright} (Coulmas, 2003; Sebba, 2007). In particular, an initial step has been taken towards drawing attention to the written parallel of bilingualism, which has been termed {\textquotedblleft}biscriptality{\textquotedblright} (Bun{\v c}i{\'c}, 2016). Biscriptality refers to the synchronic use of two or more script, glyph or orthographic variants in writing a particular language. The distribution and occurrence of such variation in written language is illustrated with the help of a 3{\texttimes}3 matrix (Bun{\v c}i{\'c}, 2016). This matrix classifies variation in said parameters as status-based, ethnogeographical, or {\textquoteleft}free{\textquoteright}.",

author = "Arvind Iyengar",

year = "2016",

language = "English",

pages = "1--2",

note = "ALS 2016: Australian Linguistic Society Conference 2016 ; Conference date: 07-12-2016 Through 09-12-2016",

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T2 - ALS 2016: Australian Linguistic Society Conference 2016

AU - Iyengar, Arvind

PY - 2016

Y1 - 2016

N2 - The general academic opinion that the spoken form of language is paramount has resulted in the written form of language being neglected, whether deliberately or inadvertently, as a subject of serious research. More importantly, the role of written language in society and the sociolinguistic implications of the use of certain scripts, glyph shapes and orthographies have received scant attention in the literature. Recent attempts have been made to highlight the “sociolinguistics of writing” (Coulmas, 2003; Sebba, 2007). In particular, an initial step has been taken towards drawing attention to the written parallel of bilingualism, which has been termed “biscriptality” (Bunčić, 2016). Biscriptality refers to the synchronic use of two or more script, glyph or orthographic variants in writing a particular language. The distribution and occurrence of such variation in written language is illustrated with the help of a 3×3 matrix (Bunčić, 2016). This matrix classifies variation in said parameters as status-based, ethnogeographical, or ‘free’.

AB - The general academic opinion that the spoken form of language is paramount has resulted in the written form of language being neglected, whether deliberately or inadvertently, as a subject of serious research. More importantly, the role of written language in society and the sociolinguistic implications of the use of certain scripts, glyph shapes and orthographies have received scant attention in the literature. Recent attempts have been made to highlight the “sociolinguistics of writing” (Coulmas, 2003; Sebba, 2007). In particular, an initial step has been taken towards drawing attention to the written parallel of bilingualism, which has been termed “biscriptality” (Bunčić, 2016). Biscriptality refers to the synchronic use of two or more script, glyph or orthographic variants in writing a particular language. The distribution and occurrence of such variation in written language is illustrated with the help of a 3×3 matrix (Bunčić, 2016). This matrix classifies variation in said parameters as status-based, ethnogeographical, or ‘free’.

M3 - Abstract

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Y2 - 7 December 2016 through 9 December 2016