What’s on the Writing Systems poster
A 5-row table: System · A symbol is · Examples.
By what a single character stands for.
- Alphabet — One sound — Latin, Cyrillic, Greek
- Abjad — A consonant — Arabic, Hebrew
- Abugida — Consonant + inherent vowel — Devanagari, Thai, Amharic
- Syllabary — A whole syllable — Japanese kana, Cherokee
- Logographic — A word or morpheme — Chinese characters
Japanese uses three at once: two syllabaries and a logographic set, each doing a different job in the same sentence.
Questions about the Writing Systems poster
- What’s on the Writing Systems poster?
- A 5-row table: System · A symbol is · Examples. By what a single character stands for. Alphabet — One sound — Latin, Cyrillic, Greek; Abjad — A consonant — Arabic, Hebrew; Abugida — Consonant + inherent vowel — Devanagari, Thai, Amharic; Syllabary — A whole syllable — Japanese kana, Cherokee; Logographic — A word or morpheme — Chinese characters. Japanese uses three at once: two syllabaries and a logographic set, each doing a different job in the same sentence.
- Who is the Writing Systems poster for?
- Writing Systems belongs to the Languages section rather than to a school year, because languages is not something one grade owns. Anyone learning how languages work can pin it up — a beginner, a student mid-course, or someone revising years later.
- When should you use the Writing Systems poster?
- What one symbol represents — a sound, a syllable or a meaning — defines the system. A wall chart earns its place by being glanceable from where the work is happening, so Writing Systems belongs on the wall where that languages work actually happens, within glancing distance, rather than filed away.
- What other posters go with Writing Systems?
- Bilingualism, Grammatical Case and Code-Switching sit alongside Writing Systems in the Languages section. Printed together they make a wall rather than a single sheet, which is how a reference set actually gets used.BilingualismGrammatical CaseCode-Switching
- Is the Writing Systems poster free to download and print?
- Yes. Writing Systems downloads as a free PDF with no account, no email and no watermark, like everything else in the Languages section. Print as many copies as you like for a home, a classroom, a library or a tutoring group; reselling the file is the only thing the licence rules out.Read the licence
- What size does the Writing Systems poster print at?
- Writing Systems is a vector PDF laid out for US Letter, and prints on A4 with Fit to page — the same file, no separate download. Because every mark on it is drawn rather than photographed, it stays sharp enlarged to A3, A2 or A1 at a copy shop. Colour carries emphasis only, so a greyscale print of Writing Systems loses nothing.Printing guide
Related posters
Charts that sit alongside Writing Systems on the same wall.
Browse every Languages poster, or start from the full catalogue.