Spoken vs written language

[conlanger]

A question: do your conlangs have in-universe written versions?

If so, is literacy rare or widespread?

Is there one standard written language or many shifting varieties?

How close is the written language to the spoken one? What are people’s relationship to written language in their society?

Comments

Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> A question: do your conlangs have in-universe written versions?<<

Many of mine do, but I rarely write them out.

>> If so, is literacy rare or widespread? <<

Depends on the culture. Frex, with Torn Tongue, the Northerners relied largely on oral tradition; while the Southerners in their various subcultures were almost all literate.

>> Is there one standard written language or many shifting varieties? <<

Usually one.

>> How close is the written language to the spoken one?<<

Typically close, although Torn Tongue did have an Ancient, a Southern, and a Northern dialect.

>> What are people’s relationship to written language in their society? <<

Again, that varies. Some places rely a lot more on writing than others. Torn Tongue makes a good contrast again, because Northerners barely used it while Southerners carried a case of licenses everywhere. More often it's in between.