Graphetics

Graphetics is a branch of linguistics concerned with the analysis of the physical properties of shapes used in writing.

It is an etic study, meaning that it has an outsider's perspective and is not concerned with any particular writing system. It is contrasted with the related emic field of graphemics, the study of the relation between different shapes in particular writing systems. Graphetics is analogous to phonetics; graphetics is to the study of writing as phonetics is to the study of spoken language. As such, it can be divided into two areas, visual graphetics and mechanical graphetics, which are analogous to auditory and articulatory phonetics, respectively. Both printed and handwritten language can be the subject of graphetic study.

An example
Graphetics : The graph "s" can be written in both lowercase and uppercase, it can be handwritten or printed. For printed fonts, one can choose one of the many writing systems, different font sizes or variants (bold, italic...): each of these forms can be chosen consciously and used for a specific purpose, for example for advertising purposes, as an invitation, for writing a scientific article. It is always only the form of the characters that is important, not their function in the language system, which remains the same. Graphemics : When you compare the word "reisen" and the word "reißen", it is no longer just about the form, but also about the meaning-distinguishing function of the characters. It is then no longer just about graphs, but about different graphemes. In this case, the two different graphemes "s" and "ß" differentiate two words from each other; the contrast between the two is important for identifying or differentiating the two words.

Importance of graphetics
Graphetics develops the prerequisites for successful writing and reading lessons. It deals with the different forms of writing, such as the difference between cursive and printed writing, between normal writing and so-called shorthand ( stenography ). Its subjects include the many different fonts ( Times New Roman, Arial ...) that can be chosen for different purposes.

literature

 * Hans Peter Althaus: Graphetik . In: Hans Peter Althaus, Helmut Henne, Herbert Ernst Wiegand (eds.): Lexicon of Germanic Linguistics . 2nd, completely revised and expanded edition. Niemeyer, Tübingen 1980, ISBN 3-484-10389-2, pp.  138–142.
 * Burckhard Garbe: Phonetics and phonology, graphetics and graphemics of modern high German since the 17th century . In: Werner Besch, Anne Betten, Oskar Reichmann, Stefan Sonderegger (eds.): History of language. A handbook on the history of the German language and its research. 2nd volume . 2nd, completely revised and expanded edition. de Gruyter, Berlin/New York 2000, ISBN 3-11-015882-5, pp.  1766–1782.
 * Dimitrios Meletis: Psycholinguistic aspects of graphetics. The relevance of the form and materiality of writing . Graz 2014 ( uni-graz.at [PDF; 2.9  MB ]).