The difference between spoken word and written word.

To celebrate reaching 100 page views!!! I am going to do a particularly boring post about speech, but I am such a #WordNerd that I actually find it interesting! I will try to make it as quick and painless as possible, I promise!



As I'm sure you're well aware already, we don't tend to speak to each other in the same way that we write. In fact the two types of language are often extremely different which makes them easily recognisable. Spoken word is more chatty, informal and friendly whilst written word is grammatically correct. Older poems and the classics are rarely written in informal language because of the strict values of the formal audiences eg. Victorians. I try to write my blog in a formal, factual way but with informal features so you know I'm nice! :)   ...see, smiley faces are informal...

So, some things you say in real life to your friends are not grammatically correct. Obviously, this post is based on English grammar, as I am a tea-drinking, eco-friendly, big-nosed Brit. We as humans use a lot of slang in our informal speech. For example, 'innit' instead of 'isn't it' or, 'aint ya' instead of, 'aren't you'. You might say to your friend, 'I could of done it!' but this is terrible grammar. In written word you would write, 'I could have done it'. An easy way to remember it is that written word tends to be in 'The Queen's English', if she wouldn't say it, we generally wouldn't write it. Informal language includes a great deal more colloquial terms as well.

The digital era and the introduction of web 2.0 and social media has dramatically changed language, we have effectively created our own; text talk. It used to be just for writing messages quickly and trying to fit a whole sentence into the number of characters you were allowed in one text message to save on credit, but now text talk is a big part of our lives. Social media uses personification to sound friendlier and more human to us eg. you 'like' something on Facebook. Now Facebook seems informal and like less of a robot. It's a subtle but clever marketing tool.

There are a lot of devices that we wouldn't use in written word, such as the term, 'utterences' meaning 'sentences'. You can't 'utter' something in writing, that's impossible. Also adjacency pairs, overlaps and false starts are more examples of devices found only in spoken word.

Spoken language also contains interruptions, sound effects and people talking over each other. In written word, a conversation is much easier to follow as it is set out in a simple way. Authors must remember this when writing texts such as plays and monologues that will be read aloud.For example, in 'Wuthering Heights' by Emily Bronte, the character 'Joseph' has a very thick Northern accent. Bronte represents this by writing all his speech phonetically, it is almost impossible for the educated characters in the novel to understand as well as for the audience. When reading his speech, you can really hear the regional accent in your head...
 
'What are ye for?' he shouted. 'T' maister's down i' t' fowld. Go round by th' end o' t' laith, if ye went to spake to him.'
'Is there nobody inside to open the door?' I hallooed, responsively.
'There's nobbut t' missis; and shoo'll not oppen 't an ye mak' yer flaysome dins till neeght.'
'Why? Cannot you tell her whom I am, eh, Joseph?'
'Nor-ne me! I'll hae no hend wi't,' muttered the head, vanishing
Transcripts are a great way of showing and understanding how a piece will sound when read out, and they are not very difficult to write. Transcripts show where speakers naturally pause, change tone or even certain aspects of their physical appearance when speaking eg. a horrified expression. They can also help to direct actors because sometimes things have to be said in a certain way for their meaning to be understood.