Full Description
The cultures of the world have chosen different ways to make spoken language visible and permanent. The original edition of Writing Systems represented the first time that modern linguistic principles were brought to bear on a study of this. Now this new edition brings the story up to date; it incorporates topics which have emerged since the first edition (such as electronic techniques for encoding the world's scripts), together with new findings about established topics, including the ultimate historical origin of our alphabet. Featuring a series of detailed case studies of scripts of diverse types, and giving due attention to the psychology of reading and learning to read, the book is written so as to be accessible to those with no prior knowledge of any writing systems other than our own.
Contents
1. Introduction 2. Theoretical Preliminaries 3. The Earliest Writing 4. A Syllabic System: Linear B 5. Consonantal Writing 6. European Alphabetic Writing 7. Influences on Graph-shape Evolution 8. A Featural System: Korean Hangul 9. A Logographic System: Chinese Writing 10. Pros and Cons of Logography 11. A Mixed System: Japanese Writing 12. Writing Systems and Information Technology 13. English Spelling 14. Conclusion
