The spoken language comes before the written language, both in the language-learning child and in the history of humanity. Homo loquens was there first, but much later he also became gay scribens. Therefore, linguistics also considers spoken language as its primary object of research. However, we, the language user but also the linguist, are so familiar with the written language that we always perceive the spoken language through the glasses of that written language. As a result, we project all kinds of characteristics of the written language onto the spoken language. For example, letters would correspond to separate sounds and sentences would express thoughts. This book questions these assumptions that we think are 'natural' but that are in fact 'cultural'. The book also shows how our vision on the origin of writing and on the process of learning to read and write is colored by the written glasses. This also makes this book a critical reflection on linguistics and its history. |