ABSTRACT
The prescriptions for the visual organisation of language discussed in this chapter are rules and principles to tell people how to articulate the texts they produce. Some varieties of graphic language are clearly very rule-bound, and these generally fall within the domain of expert organisers of graphic language. In spoken language many discussions about correctness centre around deviation from variations within a 'standard language'. In written language, 'legitimate' use of conventions bears some relationship to the method of character assembly. Bilingual and multilingual texts present an opportunity to study the way the status of one part of text over another can be reflected through visual organisation. Bilingual texts are frequently criticised because the two languages are not given equal status and there is convincing evidence to suggest that typographic factors may play a part in determining whether one language is perceived by readers as being more important than the other.
