ABSTRACT
The relation between language and society can also be sought in the nature and function of the writing system(s) used for both ofcial and informal purposes. Before the advent of alphabets, people communicated and passed on their knowledge through the spoken word. But even in early cultures, tools had been invented for recording and preserving ideas in pictographic form. So instinctive is pictography as a mode of writing that it comes as little surprise to nd that it has not disappeared from our own modern world, even though most of our written communication is based on the alphabet. The gures designating men and women on washrooms found in public buildings, to mention but two common examples, are modern-day pictographs:
Writing serves a host of functions. Just think of the books, magazines, and all the other materials that are based on writing and that we use on a daily basis for a host of functions, from information-gathering to entertainment. Some of the written texts of a society, such as sacred texts, are preserved and revered everlastingly. The purpose of this chapter is to take a schematic look at the
social functions of writing, as well as at the kinds of changes it is undergoing today in cyberspace.
