What is the correct spelling for a word? What is its correct pronunciation? What does a word mean? What kind of writing system should one use to write a particular language? For speakers of a language like English, which has been standardized for a relatively long period of time, these questions may seem to be relatively straightforward. With only rare exceptions, there are clear-cut answers to questions of these sorts. For the correct spelling, pronunciation and meaning of a word, we rely on a dictionary, which tells us what the socially accepted norms are. As for the writing system to be used, again, we rely on a socially agreed-upon system. Thus, English is written in the Latin alphabet rather than in the Cyrillic alphabet, which is used, for example, for Russian.