The verb usually translated "write," ghItlh, refers to the physical activity of writing (moving the pencil around, chiseling, etc.) (message on st.k of July 09, 1998)

Indeed, the verb ghItlh is most commonly translated as "write," but it always refers to the act of writing – that is, of making marks on some surface – not to the act of composition. Its use in the contexts of both sculpting and writing suggests that writing began as carving. (KGT p. 80)