Dorsey-Oral to Literate

In multiple classes we discussed how people often try to write down an oral language for research purposes. My question is, how does the translator determine what characters to attribute to oral pronunciations? I think that it would be important for the oral people to determine the alphabet for their language and if they want it written down at all. When writing myths and stories from oral religions, I also think it is impossible to grasp the whole story in writing if the story is meant to be spoken. Much like writing down lyrics to a song.

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