Scriptio continua facts for kids

Scriptio continua is a Latin phrase meaning "continuous writing." It's a way of writing where there are no spaces between words, no different letter cases (like big letters and small letters), and no punctuation marks. Imagine reading a whole book where every single word runs into the next one!

This style was very common in Ancient Greek and Classical Latin texts. Even though people back then knew how to use punctuation, they often chose scriptio continua. Why? Because writing materials like parchment were very expensive. By not using spaces, they could fit more words on one page, saving money. Also, in spoken language, words often flow together without clear breaks, so this writing style was closer to how people spoke.

After the Roman Empire fell, scriptio continua became less common. People started adding spaces between words to make reading easier. The first known writings to use spaces were Irish and Anglo-Saxon Bibles and Gospels.

However, scriptio continua is still used today in the writing systems of some modern languages. These include Southeast Asian languages like Thai, Lao, Khmer, Burmese, Javanese, Balinese, and Tibetan. Languages that use Chinese characters, such as Chinese and Japanese, also sometimes use scriptio continua. Modern Chinese and Japanese started using punctuation in the 19th and 20th centuries, influenced by Western countries.

Examples of Continuous Writing

Let's look at some examples to see how scriptio continua works in different languages.

Latin Examples

Here's a famous sentence from the Roman poet Ovid's book, Metamorphoses. First, you'll see it in scriptio continua, then with spaces and punctuation, and finally in English. In these Latin examples, all 'U's are written as 'V's, which was common back then.

• INNOVAFERTANIMVSMVTATASDICEREFORMASCORPORA​DICOEPTISNAMVOSMVTASTISETILLAS​ADSPIRATEMEISPRIMAQVE​ABORIGINEMVNDIADMEAPERPETVVMDEDVCITETEMPORACARMEN
• In nova fert animvs mvtatas dicere formas corpora; di, coeptis (nam vos mvtastis et illas) adspirate meis primaqve ab origine mvndi ad mea perpetvvm dedvcite tempora carmen!
• I want to speak about bodies changed into new forms. You, gods, since you are the ones who alter these, and all other things, inspire my attempt, and spin out a continuous thread of words, from the world's first origins to my own time.

English Examples

Here's a well-known verse from the Bible, John 3:16, first in scriptio continua and then with spaces and punctuation.

• FORGODSOLOVEDTHEWORLDTHATHEGAVEHISONLYBEGOTTENSON​THATWHOSOEVERBELIEVETHINHIM​SHOULDNOTPERISH​BUTHAVEEVERLASTINGLIFE
• For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

You might even use a form of scriptio continua every day! When you type a URL web address for a website, you can't use spaces. For example, if a website is called "Example Fake Website," its URL would be examplefakewebsite.com. This is a modern example of continuous writing.

Chinese Examples

Chinese writing didn't use punctuation until the 20th century. This change happened because of more contact with Western countries. Even without spaces or punctuation, Chinese is fairly easy to read. This is because each Chinese character usually stands for a whole word or a meaningful part of a word, not just a single sound like letters in an alphabet.

Here's a sentence in modern Chinese, then in scriptio continua, then with spaces, then in Pinyin (a way to write Chinese sounds using the Latin alphabet), and finally its English translation.

• 北京在中国北方；广州在中国南方。
• 北京在中国北方广州在中国南方
• 北京　在　中国　北方；　广州　在　中国　南方。
• Běijīng zài Zhōngguó běifāng; Guǎngzhōu zài Zhōngguó nánfāng.
• Beijing is in Northern China; Guangzhou is in Southern China.

Japanese Examples

Like Chinese, Japanese writing also doesn't use spaces between words. Japanese uses many Chinese characters, called kanji. When Japanese was first written, it was mostly with kanji and man'yogana (kanji used for sounds). This made old Japanese texts very hard to read, even for native speakers.

Later, around the 10th century, the Japanese created new writing systems based on sounds, called kana. These helped make writing faster and clearer.

Today, Japanese uses three main writing systems:

• Kanji for showing the meanings of words.
• Hiragana for showing the sounds of words, often for grammar parts or common words.
• Katakana for showing the sounds of words, especially for words borrowed from other languages (not Chinese), or for emphasis.

Even without spaces, native Japanese speakers can read quickly because these three different writing styles look distinct. Each style is usually used for a specific type of word.

Japanese also didn't use punctuation until the Meiji Restoration period, when Japan quickly modernized and adopted Western ideas.

Here's a Japanese sentence. First, it's written with hiragana, katakana, and kanji without spaces. Then, with spaces. After that, only in hiragana and katakana. Then, in romaji (Japanese written with the Latin alphabet). Next, its English translation. Finally, it's written in scriptio continua using only kanji and man'yōgana.

• ベサニー・ヒルズと高森昭は東京に住んでいます。
• ベサニー・ヒルズ　と　高森　昭　は　東京　に　住んでいます。
• ベサニー・ヒルズ　と　たかもり　あきら　は　とうきょう　に　すんでいます。
• Besanī Hiruzu to Takamori Akira wa Tōkyō ni sundeimasu.
• Bethany Hills and Akira Takamori are living in Tokyo.
• 邊三仁伊日流頭吐高森昭歯東京仁須無弟位麻須

Images for kids

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  Vergilius Augusteus, Georgica 141ff, written in capitalis quadrata and in scriptio continua.

See also

In Spanish: Scriptio continua para niños