A written language is the representation of a language by means of a writing system. Written language is an invention in that it must be taught to children; children will pick up spoken language (oral or sign) by exposure without being specifically taught.
A written language exists only as a complement to a specific spoken language, and no natural language is purely written. However, extinct languages may be in effect purely written when only their writings survive.
Read more about Written Language: Written Language Vs. Spoken Language, Further Reading
Famous quotes containing the words written and/or language:
“Hieratic, slim and fair,
the tracery written here,
proclaims what’s left unsaid
in Egypt of her dead.”
—Hilda Doolittle (1886–1961)
“Was there a little time between the invention of language and the coming of true and false?”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)