difference between speech and writing wikipedia

Speech vs. Writing

What's the difference.

Speech and writing are both forms of communication, but they differ in their delivery and permanence. Speech is immediate and dynamic, allowing for real-time interaction and feedback. It also relies heavily on tone, inflection, and body language to convey meaning. On the other hand, writing is a more deliberate and permanent form of communication, allowing for careful crafting of ideas and messages. It also allows for a wider audience reach and can be revisited and analyzed over time. Both speech and writing have their own strengths and weaknesses, but together they form a powerful tool for effective communication.

Further Detail

Introduction.

Speech and writing are two fundamental forms of communication that humans use to convey information, thoughts, and emotions. While both serve the same purpose, they have distinct attributes that set them apart. In this article, we will explore the differences between speech and writing, examining their unique characteristics and how they impact communication.

Spontaneity and Planning

One of the key differences between speech and writing is the level of spontaneity involved. Speech is often more spontaneous, as it is typically delivered in real-time without much planning or preparation. When speaking, individuals rely on their ability to think on their feet and respond quickly to the conversation. In contrast, writing allows for more time to plan and revise. Writers can carefully craft their words, edit their work, and ensure that their message is clear and concise before sharing it with others.

Clarity and Precision

Another important distinction between speech and writing is the level of clarity and precision that each form of communication offers. Speech is often more informal and conversational, which can sometimes lead to ambiguity or misunderstandings. In contrast, writing tends to be more formal and structured, allowing for greater precision in conveying complex ideas. Writers have the opportunity to choose their words carefully, use proper grammar and punctuation, and provide detailed explanations to ensure that their message is understood correctly.

Nonverbal Cues

Nonverbal cues play a significant role in communication, and they are more prominent in speech than in writing. When speaking, individuals can use gestures, facial expressions, tone of voice, and other nonverbal signals to convey meaning and emotion. These cues can enhance the message being communicated and provide additional context for the listener. In contrast, writing lacks these nonverbal cues, which can sometimes make it challenging to interpret the intended tone or emotion behind the words.

Accessibility and Permanence

Speech and writing also differ in terms of accessibility and permanence. Speech is typically more accessible, as it can be delivered in person, over the phone, or through digital platforms like video calls. It allows for real-time interaction and immediate feedback, making it a dynamic and engaging form of communication. However, speech is also more ephemeral, as it is often not recorded or preserved for future reference. In contrast, writing is more permanent and can be easily saved, shared, and revisited. Written documents can serve as a record of information, ideas, and agreements, making them a valuable tool for documentation and reference.

Emotional Impact

Both speech and writing have the potential to evoke strong emotions in the listener or reader. However, the emotional impact of each form of communication can vary. Speech is often more emotive, as the speaker's tone of voice, volume, and inflection can convey a wide range of emotions, from excitement and enthusiasm to anger and sadness. In contrast, writing relies more on the choice of words, imagery, and rhetorical devices to create an emotional impact. Writers can use descriptive language, metaphors, and storytelling techniques to engage the reader's emotions and evoke a response.

Flexibility and Adaptability

Speech and writing offer different levels of flexibility and adaptability in communication. Speech is more fluid and dynamic, allowing for spontaneous changes in tone, pace, and content based on the context and audience. Speakers can adjust their delivery in real-time to accommodate the listener's reactions and feedback. In contrast, writing is more fixed and permanent, as the words are set in print and cannot be easily changed once they are published or shared. However, written communication can still be adapted through editing, revising, and rewriting to improve clarity and effectiveness.

In conclusion, speech and writing are two distinct forms of communication that each have their own unique attributes and characteristics. While speech is often more spontaneous, emotive, and interactive, writing offers greater precision, permanence, and accessibility. Both forms of communication play a vital role in human interaction and expression, and understanding the differences between them can help individuals become more effective communicators in various contexts.

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Differences between writing and speech

Written and spoken language differ in many ways. However some forms of writing are closer to speech than others, and vice versa. Below are some of the ways in which these two forms of language differ:

Writing is usually permanent and written texts cannot usually be changed once they have been printed/written out.

Speech is usually transient, unless recorded, and speakers can correct themselves and change their utterances as they go along.

A written text can communicate across time and space for as long as the particular language and writing system is still understood.

Speech is usually used for immediate interactions.

Written language tends to be more complex and intricate than speech with longer sentences and many subordinate clauses. The punctuation and layout of written texts also have no spoken equivalent. However some forms of written language, such as instant messages and email, are closer to spoken language.

Spoken language tends to be full of repetitions, incomplete sentences, corrections and interruptions, with the exception of formal speeches and other scripted forms of speech, such as news reports and scripts for plays and films.

Writers receive no immediate feedback from their readers, except in computer-based communication. Therefore they cannot rely on context to clarify things so there is more need to explain things clearly and unambiguously than in speech, except in written correspondence between people who know one another well.

Speech is usually a dynamic interaction between two or more people. Context and shared knowledge play a major role, so it is possible to leave much unsaid or indirectly implied.

Writers can make use of punctuation, headings, layout, colours and other graphical effects in their written texts. Such things are not available in speech

Speech can use timing, tone, volume, and timbre to add emotional context.

Written material can be read repeatedly and closely analysed, and notes can be made on the writing surface. Only recorded speech can be used in this way.

Some grammatical constructions are only used in writing, as are some kinds of vocabulary, such as some complex chemical and legal terms.

Some types of vocabulary are used only or mainly in speech. These include slang expressions, and tags like y'know , like , etc.

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Difference between Speech and Writing

Speech and writing are two primary forms of communication, each with its own characteristics and conventions.

What Is Speech?

Speech is the act of expressing thoughts, ideas, and emotions through spoken language. It involves the production of sounds using the vocal apparatus, which includes the lungs, vocal cords, mouth, and tongue.

What Is Writing?

Writing is a method of human communication that involves the representation of language through a system of symbols, usually known as letters or characters. It is a visual and permanent form of communication that allows for the recording and dissemination of information across time and space.

Both speech and writing have their unique strengths and are suited to different contexts and purposes. Speech, with its immediacy and interactivity, is ideal for dynamic, real-time communication. Writing, with its permanence and precision, is perfect for detailed, thoughtful, and lasting communication. By understanding these differences, we can leverage the strengths of each mode to enhance our communication effectiveness in various situations.

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ENGL000: Pre-College English

Speech vs. writing.

At its heart, writing is simply a form of communication that has many similarities to speech. But there are also some different rules to follow. Read this brief section on speech vs. writing.

Ok, so there is good and slightly less good news here. The good news is that many of you have probably been expressing yourself by speaking the English language much or all of your lives.  Even for those who are not native speakers, I would guess that some of the first English you learned was spoken.  This means that most of you probably are already pretty good at taking the great stuff in your head and putting it into words that you speak.

Particularly for native speakers, the act of taking your thoughts and putting them into spoken words that can express those thoughts to another person or group of people is probably something you don't even think about.         The good news here is that there are absolutely similarities between the way you speak and the way you write. In particular when we talk about grammatical concepts and revision, we will talk about reading your work aloud. There are some major differences between speech and writing, but generally speaking, if something you have written sounds wrong when you read it aloud (that is, it isn't something you would say), there is a good chance that it is wrong.   

The less good news (and note that I'm not calling it "bad news"!) is that, for a number of reasons, writing follows some very different rules from speech.

This is where non-native speakers have a small advantage. Because you have not spoken and written this language your whole life, you don't have as many or as deeply ingrained habits.  For some of my native speakers, there will be things you currently do out of habit in your non-college "language communities" (see the next reading section) that will have to be changed for the new environment of college writing.

Speaking versus Writing

The pen is mightier than the spoken word. or is it.

Josef Essberger

The purpose of all language is to communicate - that is, to move thoughts or information from one person to another person.

There are always at least two people in any communication. To communicate, one person must put something "out" and another person must take something "in". We call this "output" (>>>) and "input" (<<<).

• I speak to you (OUTPUT: my thoughts go OUT of my head).
• You listen to me (INPUT: my thoughts go INto your head).
• You write to me (OUTPUT: your thoughts go OUT of your head).
• I read your words (INPUT: your thoughts go INto my head).

So language consists of four "skills": two for output (speaking and writing); and two for input (listening and reading. We can say this another way - two of the skills are for "spoken" communication and two of the skills are for "written" communication:

Spoken: >>> Speaking - mouth <<< Listening - ear

Written: >>> Writing - hand <<< Reading - eye

What are the differences between Spoken and Written English? Are there advantages and disadvantages for each form of communication?

When we learn our own (native) language, learning to speak comes before learning to write. In fact, we learn to speak almost automatically. It is natural. But somebody must teach us to write. It is not natural. In one sense, speaking is the "real" language and writing is only a representation of speaking. However, for centuries, people have regarded writing as superior to speaking. It has a higher "status". This is perhaps because in the past almost everybody could speak but only a few people could write. But as we shall see, modern influences are changing the relative status of speaking and writing.

Differences in Structure and Style

We usually write with correct grammar and in a structured way. We organize what we write into sentences and paragraphs. We do not usually use contractions in writing (though if we want to appear very friendly, then we do sometimes use contractions in writing because this is more like speaking.) We use more formal vocabulary in writing (for example, we might write "the car exploded" but say "the car blew up") and we do not usually use slang. In writing, we must use punctuation marks like commas and question marks (as a symbolic way of representing things like pauses or tone of voice in speaking).

We usually speak in a much less formal, less structured way. We do not always use full sentences and correct grammar. The vocabulary that we use is more familiar and may include slang. We usually speak in a spontaneous way, without preparation, so we have to make up what we say as we go. This means that we often repeat ourselves or go off the subject. However, when we speak, other aspects are present that are not present in writing, such as facial expression or tone of voice. This means that we can communicate at several levels, not only with words.

One important difference between speaking and writing is that writing is usually more durable or permanent. When we speak, our words live for a few moments. When we write, our words may live for years or even centuries. This is why writing is usually used to provide a record of events, for example a business agreement or transaction.

Speaker & Listener / Writer & Reader

When we speak, we usually need to be in the same place and time as the other person. Despite this restriction, speaking does have the advantage that the speaker receives instant feedback from the listener. The speaker can probably see immediately if the listener is bored or does not understand something, and can then modify what he or she is saying.

When we write, our words are usually read by another person in a different place and at a different time. Indeed, they can be read by many other people, anywhere and at any time. And the people reading our words, can do so at their leisure, slowly or fast. They can re-read what we write, too. But the writer cannot receive immediate feedback and cannot (easily) change what has been written.

How Speaking and Writing Influence Each Other

In the past, only a small number of people could write, but almost everybody could speak. Because their words were not widely recorded, there were many variations in the way they spoke, with different vocabulary and dialects in different regions. Today, almost everybody can speak and write. Because writing is recorded and more permanent, this has influenced the way that people speak, so that many regional dialects and words have disappeared. (It may seem that there are already too many differences that have to be learned, but without writing there would be far more differences, even between, for example, British and American English.) So writing has had an important influence on speaking. But speaking can also influence writing. For example, most new words enter a language through speaking. Some of them do not live long. If you begin to see these words in writing it usually means that they have become "real words" within the language and have a certain amount of permanence.

Influence of New Technology

Modern inventions such as sound recording, telephone, radio, television, fax or email have made or are making an important impact on both speaking and writing. To some extent, the divisions between speaking and writing are becoming blurred. Emails are often written in a much less formal way than is usual in writing. With voice recording, for example, it has for a long time been possible to speak to somebody who is not in the same place or time as you (even though this is a one-way communication: we can speak or listen, but not interact). With the telephone and radiotelephone, however, it became possible for two people to carry on a conversation while not being in the same place. Today, the distinctions are increasingly vague, so that we may have, for example, a live television broadcast with a mixture of recordings, telephone calls, incoming faxes and emails and so on. One effect of this new technology and the modern universality of writing has been to raise the status of speaking. Politicians who cannot organize their thoughts and speak well on television win very few votes.

English Checker

• aspect: a particular part or feature of something
• dialect: a form of a language used in a specific region
• formal: following a set of rules; structured; official
• status: level or rank in a society
• spontaneous: not planned; unprepared
• structured: organized; systematic

Note : instead of "spoken", some people say "oral" (relating to the mouth) or "aural" (relating to the ear).

© 2011 Josef Essberger