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Hallmarks Distinguishing
Orality from Literacy

This list draws on the 1982 book, Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word, by Walter J. Ong. It is developed by the webmaster. Any errors are entirely her own. The numbers in parentheses refer to the page in the 2003 reprint of the book.

The list is not meant to foster any kind of elitism. Consistent with Dr. Ong's own caveat, neither orality nor literacy is in any way superior to the other. Rather, literacy is indebted to orality and may reflect residual effects. The list serves only to clarify the predominant characteristics of each.
The absence of qualifiers does not mean that 100% of the members of a group behave in the ways described 100% of the time. Each description should be understood in the sense of "For the most part . . ." because there may be exceptions.
For each situation in which literacy seems predominant, any event triggering strong emotions makes everyone involved instinctively and immediately default to the oral mode. Strong precautions and strength of mind must be invoked to control the potential damage. When they are not, the oral mode becomes operative.

Vocabulary & words' past meanings (8)

Skills used in learning (8-9)

How people learn (8)

Expectations for language artists - poets and other composers (21-23)

The themes (23)

The persona of the main characters (30, 69-70)

The power inherent in the word (32-33)

The way names are perceived (33)

The way thoughts are formed (34)

The style of sentence structures (28, 36-38)

Discourse shows characteristics features (37-57)

The purpose for riddles and questions (39)