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Definition
 Graphology
is the study of the system of symbols which
communicates language in written form.
In
its more popular sense, it is the study of handwriting.
Examples
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This is an example of a pictographic symbol |
Use
In
the English language, writing starts on the left and moves to the
right. It begins at the top of the page and moves downwards.
This
might seem rather obvious, but writing in some other languages
is arranged differently. Hebrew moves from right to left in rows,
and Japanese from top to bottom in columns.
Graphology
in context. 'Grapheme' is the term for the smallest unit
of written communication. A letter of the alphabet or a punctuation
mark is a grapheme. A scientific, mathematical, or any other
kind of symbol is also a grapheme.
English
is an ideographic language. This means that the writing system
is based on a set of symbols. These have
no intrinsic connection with what they are expressing.
Chinese
on the other hand is known as a logographic or pictographic language.
This is because the characters of that language were historically
pictorial representations of the object being expressed.
Over
the centuries these pictures have been stylised to the extent that
they no longer resemble houses, people or trees. They now seem,
to the uninitiated, just as arbitrary in their function as the
English alphabet.
In
linguistic study, graphology is a level of analysis along with phonology,
vocabulary, grammar and
semantics.
It includes the study of layout, the use
of logos and any other feature of graphical communication.
Children
learn to form individual letters and later to produce joined-up
writing. Some students find it difficult to make the transition
from upper case printing to continuous script. This can be a significant
impediment to their studies.
However,
with literacy and maturity, we develop our own style of hand-writing.
There is commonly a variation in the way we form our letters which
is subject to context.
For
instance, we may form a flamboyant 's' at the end of a word, but
a conservative version of that same grapheme if it occurs in an
initial or medial position.
It
is important to be able to distinguish between upper and lower
case letters in order to punctuate. This is not possible with printing.
Continuous script can also be produced much more rapidly.
Continuous
script is easier to read than printing, because the eye is led
by the connecting strokes between the characters. This is the same
principle as the use of sefifed fonts in the layout of
continuous writing.
Approaches
to teaching hand-writing have changed over the years. It is interesting
to note that each generation seems to have its own style of handwriting.
Our parents and their contemporaries seem to produce the same script
style, while their parents' generation also have their own similarly
distinct style.
Perhaps
parallel with the phenomenon of speech style, handwriting styles
are easier to categorise from a distance. Our children may see
our contemporaries' handwriting as belonging to an identifiable
style, whilst we ourselves consider each person's handwriting to
be idiosyncratic. |
