linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...

, ductus is the qualities and characteristics of

speaking Speech is the use of the human voice as a medium for language. Spoken language combines vowel and consonant sounds to form units of meaning like words, which belong to a language's lexicon. There are many different intentional speech acts, su ...

writing Writing is the act of creating a persistent representation of language. A writing system includes a particular set of symbols called a ''script'', as well as the rules by which they encode a particular spoken language. Every written language ...

instantiated in the act of speaking or the flow of writing the text. For instance, in writing, ductus includes the direction, sequencing, and speed with which the strokes making up a character are drawn. Unlike

rhythm Rhythm (from Greek , ''rhythmos'', "any regular recurring motion, symmetry") generally means a " movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions". This general meaning of regular r ...

, ductus is the performative quality that emerges by actuating the metrically arranged language in voice. It is then the specific style and character of the language as it exists within time. While rhythm is tied to tempo, ductus picks up various features of performative language, such as pitch and tone as well. It is for example possible to recognize people by their ductus.

References

Speech Writing {{ling-stub