Download or read book Inventing the Alphabet written by Johanna Drucker and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2022-08-08 with total page 387 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first comprehensive intellectual history of alphabet studies. Inventing the Alphabet provides the first account of two-and-a-half millennia of scholarship on the alphabet. Drawing on decades of research, Johanna Drucker dives into sometimes obscure and esoteric references, dispelling myths and identifying a pantheon of little-known scholars who contributed to our modern understandings of the alphabet, one of the most important inventions in human history. Beginning with Biblical tales and accounts from antiquity, Drucker traces the transmission of ancient Greek thinking about the alphabet’s origin and debates about how Moses learned to read. The book moves through the centuries, finishing with contemporary concepts of the letters in alpha-numeric code used for global communication systems. Along the way, we learn about magical and angelic alphabets, antique inscriptions on coins and artifacts, and the comparative tables of scripts that continue through the development of modern fields of archaeology and paleography. This is the first book to chronicle the story of the intellectual history through which the alphabet has been “invented” as an object of scholarship.
Download or read book King Sejong Invents an Alphabet written by Carol Kim and published by . This book was released on 2021 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 15th-century Korea, King Sejong was distressed. The complicated Chinese characters used for reading and writing meant only rich, educated people could read--and that was just the way they wanted it. But King Sejong thought all Koreans should be able to read and write, so he worked in secret for years to create a new Korean alphabet. King Sejong's strong leadership and determination to bring equality to his country make his 600-year-old story as relevant as ever.
Download or read book The Origin and Progress of Letters written by William Massey and published by . This book was released on 1763 with total page 386 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Significance of the Alphabet written by Charles V. Kraitsir and published by . This book was released on 1846 with total page 72 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Alphabet Versus the Goddess written by Leonard Shlain and published by Penguin. This book was released on 1999-09-01 with total page 500 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This groundbreaking book proposes that the rise of alphabetic literacy reconfigured the human brain and brought about profound changes in history, religion, and gender relations. Making remarkable connections across brain function, myth, and anthropology, Dr. Shlain shows why pre-literate cultures were principally informed by holistic, right-brain modes that venerated the Goddess, images, and feminine values. Writing drove cultures toward linear left-brain thinking and this shift upset the balance between men and women, initiating the decline of the feminine and ushering in patriarchal rule. Examining the cultures of the Israelites, Greeks, Christians, and Muslims, Shlain reinterprets ancient myths and parables in light of his theory. Provocative and inspiring, this book is a paradigm-shattering work that will transform your view of history and the mind.
Download or read book Homer and the Origin of the Greek Alphabet written by Barry B. Powell and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1996-10-28 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A challenging and fascinating enquiry into the genesis of alphabetic writing.
Download or read book Letter Perfect written by David Sacks and published by Vintage Canada. This book was released on 2010-08-20 with total page 415 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Letters are tangible language. Joining together in endless combinations to actually show speech, letters convey our messages and tell our stories. While we encounter these tiny shapes hundreds of times a day, we take for granted the long, fascinating history behind one of the most fundamental of human inventions -- the alphabet. The heart of the book is the 26 fact-filled “biographies” of letters A through Z, each one identifying the letter’s particular significance for modern readers, tracing its development from ancient forms, and discussing its noteworthy role in literature and other media. We learn, for example, why the letter X has a sinister and sexual aura, how B came to signify second best, why the word “mother” in many languages starts with M, and what is the story of O. Packed with information and lavishly illustrated, Letter Perfect is not only accessible and entertaining, but essential to the appreciation of our own language.
Download or read book The Story of the Alphabet written by Edward Clodd and published by . This book was released on 1903 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Alphabetic Labyrinth written by Johanna Drucker and published by Thames & Hudson. This book was released on 1995 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The letters of the alphabet have been the object of speculation since their invention. This book examines the many ways in which the letters of the alphabet have been assigned value in political, spiritual, or religious systems over two millennia.
Download or read book The Invention of Hebrew written by Seth L. Sanders and published by University of Illinois Press. This book was released on 2011 with total page 281 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How choosing a language created a people
Download or read book An Inconvenient Alphabet written by Beth Anderson and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2018-09-25 with total page 52 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Delightful, relatable, and eye-catchingly illustrated.” —School Library Journal “Deelytful and iloominaating for noo and seesuned reeders alyk.” —Kirkus Reviews “Thought-provoking and entertaining.” —School Library Connection “Engaging...A comprehensible, lively read.” —Publishers Weekly Do you ever wish English was eez-ee-yer to spell? Ben Franklin and Noah Webster did! Debut author Beth Anderson and the New York Times bestselling illustrator of I Dissent, Elizabeth Baddeley, tell the story of two patriots and their attempt to revolutionize the English alphabet. Once upon a revolutionary time, two great American patriots tried to make life easier. They knew how hard it was to spell words in English. They knew that sounds didn’t match letters. They knew that the problem was an inconvenient English alphabet. In 1786, Ben Franklin, at age eighty, and Noah Webster, twenty-eight, teamed up. Their goal? Make English easier to read and write. But even for great thinkers, what seems easy can turn out to be hard. Children today will be delighted to learn that when they “sound out” words, they are doing eg-zakt-lee what Ben and Noah wanted.
Download or read book Early History of the Alphabet written by Joseph Naveh and published by . This book was released on 2005 with total page 222 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book A Place for Everything written by Judith Flanders and published by Basic Books. This book was released on 2020-10-20 with total page 364 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From a New York Times-bestselling historian comes the story of how the alphabet ordered our world. A Place for Everything is the first-ever history of alphabetization, from the Library of Alexandria to Wikipedia. The story of alphabetical order has been shaped by some of history's most compelling characters, such as industrious and enthusiastic early adopter Samuel Pepys and dedicated alphabet champion Denis Diderot. But though even George Washington was a proponent, many others stuck to older forms of classification -- Yale listed its students by their family's social status until 1886. And yet, while the order of the alphabet now rules -- libraries, phone books, reference books, even the order of entry for the teams at the Olympic Games -- it has remained curiously invisible. With abundant inquisitiveness and wry humor, historian Judith Flanders traces the triumph of alphabetical order and offers a compendium of Western knowledge, from A to Z. A Times (UK) Best Book of 2020
Download or read book A Northern Alphabet written by Ted Harrison and published by Tundra Books. This book was released on 2017-02-21 with total page 30 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Available now in board book format for the first time, A Northern Alphabet is an early introduction to the letters by way of all things northern: the landscape, the people, and the flora and fauna. From A for anorak and B for bear to Q for quilt and Z for zinc mine, in these pages, children everywhere can experience the color and beauty of northern life. Each letter is accompanied by simple text naming a few of the objects, animals and people depicted in each spectacular painting.
Download or read book The World s Oldest Alphabet written by Douglas Petrovich and published by Hendrickson Academic. This book was released on 2016 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For about 150 years, scholars have attempted to identify the language of the world's first alphabetic script, and to translate some of the inscriptions that use it. Until now, their attempts have accomplished little more than identifying most of the pictographic letters and translating a few of the Semitic words. With the publication of The World's Oldest Alphabet, a new day has dawned. All of the disputed letters have been resolved, while the language has been identified conclusively as Hebrew, allowing for the translation of 16 inscriptions that date from 1842 to 1446 BC. It is the author's reading that these inscriptions expressly name three biblical figures (Asenath, Ahisamach, and Moses) and greatly illuminate the earliest Israelite history in a way that no other book has achieved, apart from the Bible.
Download or read book The Numberlys written by William Joyce and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2014-05-27 with total page 56 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the team who brought you The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore comes an alphabet tale extraordinaire! Once upon a time there was no alphabet, only numbers… Life was…fine. Orderly. Dull as gray paint. Very…numberly. But our five jaunty heroes weren’t willing to accept that this was all there could be. They knew there had to be more. So they broke out hard hats and welders, hammers and glue guns, and they started knocking some numbers together. Removing a piece here. Adding a piece there. At first, it was awful. But the five kept at it, and soon it was…artful! One letter after another emerged, until there were twenty-six. Twenty-six letters—and they were beautiful. All colorful, shiny, and new. Exactly what our heroes didn’t even know they were missing. And when the letters entered the world, something truly wondrous began to happen…Pizza! Jelly beans! Color! Books! Based on the award-winning app, this is William Joyce and Moonbot’s Metropolis-inspired homage to everyone who knows there is more to life than shades of black and gray.
Download or read book Linguistic Diversity in Space and Time written by Johanna Nichols and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2018-12-14 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this ground-breaking book, Johanna Nichols proposes means of describing, comparing, and interpreting linguistic diversity, both genetic and structural, providing the foundations for a theory of diversity based upon population science. This book will interest linguists, archaeologists, and population specialists. "An awe-inspiring book, unequalled in scope, originality, and the range of language data considered."—Anna Siewierska, Linguistics "Fascinating. . . . A brilliant pioneering study."—Journal of Indo-European Studies "A superbly reasoned book."—John A. C. Greppin, Times Literary Supplement
