Why is English written and read left to right?

Question

Why is English written and read from left-to-right as opposed to right-to-left, top-to-bottom, or (not even sure any language does this) bottom-to-top?

Answer 1

I think it was a technique so that right-handed writers will not smudge their work when writing from right to left. It is also easier to read that way. Some approaches used in the past include having one line written right to left, and the next from left to write. It would have been easier for specific people to read the writing like scribes than than typical readers. Some languages like Japanese are written horizontally and vertically, and this is because they use characters instead of letters as is the case with English.

Answer 2

English follows the left-to-right writing pattern of the Latin, Greek, Germanic, Nordic, and other languages from which it was amalgamated. So the answer is that English followed the cultural/linguistic method used by other regional languages. Cunieform, one of the earliest writing systems of which we have examples, employed a stylus and vertical motions to create letters and characters on a wet clay surface. With Semitic and related languages, characters are written from right to left, and flow along the writing surface much as with English. The two systems employ different sets of arm and hand muscles and attachments. With English, one "pulls" the writing instrument across a surface, whereas with Arabic, one "pushes" from right to left. There is some controversy over which system is more efficient. With top-down Oriental languages, there is a completely different dynamic of muscles and attachments involved. Some scholars also argue that the cognitive process is different with top-down languages, i.e., "holistic" as opposed to "linear" logic.