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Full Description
The Idea of Writing is an exploration of the versatility of writing systems. From ancient Egyptian, Cuneiform and Meroitic writing to Chinese, Maya and Maldivian script, the authors examine the problems and possibilities of polysemy, representing loanwords and the problems of adapting a writing system to another language. The playful and artistic use of writing, including a contribution on writing dance, further illustrates the intricacies of the systems. This collection of articles aims to highlight the complexity of writing systems rather than to provide a first introduction. The different academic traditions in which these writing systems have been studied use linguistic, socio-historical and philological approaches that give complementary insights into the complex phenomena.
Contents
Table of contents
Acknowledgements
Introducing writing on writing
Alex de Voogt
Play in writing
Strange byways in cuneiform writing
Irving L. Finkel
Scripts and shapes: Chinese characters and Japanese syllabaries in early modern Japan
Margarita Winkel
Substitution, substitution, substitution:
the many faces of Maya writing
Erik Boot
Loanwords
From group-writing to word association:
representation and integration of foreign words in
Egyptian script
Joachim Friedrich Quack
What is being borrowed?
Language and script contact in Taiwan
Henning Klöter
The adaptation of the cuneiform script to foreign languages
Wilfred H. van Soldt
Loanwords, "foreign words," and foreign signs in Maya writing
Erik Boot
On loans and additions to the Fidäl (Ethiopic) writing system
Azeb Amha
Languages and scripts in the Maldive Islands: coding and encoding
Alex de Voogt
Foreign terms in Sanskrit pertaining to writing
Harry Falk
Polysemy
Reducing polyvalency in writing systems: from Egyptian to Meroitic
Claude Rilly
Difficult hieroglyphs and unreadable Demotic?
How the ancient Egyptians dealt with the complexities of their script
Joachim Friedrich Quack
Maya Writing: synonyms and homonyms, polyvalency and polysemy
Erik Boot
In the interstices of representation: ludic writing and the locus of polysemy in the Chinese sign
Wolfgang Behr
Towards another script Egyptian writing for non-Egyptian languages and vice-versa: a short overview
Joachim Friedrich Quack
The Caroline Islands script: a linguistic confrontation
Alex de Voogt
The interaction of syllabic and alphabetic
cuneiform writing in Ugarit
Wilfred H. van Soldt
Writing Dance
Joukje Kolff
Index
