The Story of Writing

Andrew Robinson (Autor)

Buch | Hardcover

224 Seiten

1995
Thames & Hudson Ltd (Verlag)
978-0-500-01665-7 (ISBN)

Infos

Aims to demystify writing for the general reader. This book explains the interconnection between sound, symbol and script for each of the major writing systems in turn, and follows the discovery of writing forms from cuneiform and Egyptian hieroglyphs to alphabets and the scripts of Japan today.

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People can be interested in language, writing and scripts. They may wonder how, when and where did writing evolve? Do alphabets function better than hieroglyphs? And are we today, in the computer age, moving towards a "universal language" of signs and symbols? This text aims to demystify writing for the general reader. It explains the interconnection between sound, symbol and script for each of the major writing systems in turn, and discovers and deciphers writing forms from cuneiform and Egyptian and Maya hieroglyphs to alphabets and the scripts of China and Japan today. Throughout, the reader is guided by step-by-step graphic analysis of the way each script works, with illustrated examples.

Inhalt

How writing works: reading the Rosetta Stone; sound, symbol and script; proto-writing. Extinct writing: cuneiform; Egyptian hieroglyphs; linear B; Mayan glyphs; undeciphered scripts. Living writing: the first alphabet; new alphabets from old; Chinese writing; Japanese writing; from hieroglyphs to alphabets - and back?

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 1.12.1995
• Zusatzinfo: 300 illustrations, further reading, index
• Verlagsort: London
• Sprache: englisch
• Maße: 192 x 254 mm
• Gewicht: 1000 g
• Themenwelt: Geschichte ► Hilfswissenschaften ► Paläografie
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Sprach- / Literaturwissenschaft ► Sprachwissenschaft
• ISBN-10: 0-500-01665-8 / 0500016658
• ISBN-13: 978-0-500-01665-7 / 9780500016657
• Zustand: Neuware