ABSTRACT
The familiar languages of Europe, but not all their dialects , and the languages of the major areas of civilization in the world are both written and spoken; that is to say a system of writing and a system of speaking are recognizable and recognized as 'the same language'. Many languages are spoken languages only, and the spread of literacy does not necessarily bring them all within its compass; spoken languages of relatively small communities, living within a larger political or cultural group, are often bypassed as the speakers are taught to be literate in a more widely used language of the area as a 'second' language or one acquired in the course of education and not in infancy (as is also the case with many speakers of non-standard dialects of written languages) . This situation is found among the American Indians of North America (literate in English), the American Indians of Central and South America (becoming literate in Spanish or Portuguese), many of the inhabitants of parts of Africa (literate in English, Swahili, or some widely used language), and the people of several other parts of the world .
