Download or read book The Origins of Writing written by Wayne M. Senner and published by U of Nebraska Press. This book was released on 1991-01-01 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This collection of 12 essays outlines what is now known about the origins and development of writing. The topics discussed include such precursors to writing as the tokens used for record-keeping in the Middle East, as well as cuneiform and Egyptian hieroglyphics.The alphabet is treated from its invention to its use in Arabic, Greek and Latin. Also presented are the writing systems of China and Middle America and two European systems, runes and ogham, that have been superseded by the Latin alphabet. An introduction surveys the subject and explores myths and theories on the invention of writing.

Download or read book Encyclopaedia of the History of Science Technology and Medicine in Non Western Cultures written by Helaine Selin and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2008-03-12 with total page 2428 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Here, at last, is the massively updated and augmented second edition of this landmark encyclopedia. It contains approximately 1000 entries dealing in depth with the history of the scientific, technological and medical accomplishments of cultures outside of the United States and Europe. The entries consist of fully updated articles together with hundreds of entirely new topics. This unique reference work includes intercultural articles on broad topics such as mathematics and astronomy as well as thoughtful philosophical articles on concepts and ideas related to the study of non-Western Science, such as rationality, objectivity, and method. You’ll also find material on religion and science, East and West, and magic and science.

Download or read book A History of Writing written by Anne-Marie Christin and published by Flammarion-Pere Castor. This book was released on 2002 with total page 416 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Art does not produce the visible but makes visible," wrote Paul Klee. This work examines and reinterprets this important principle-- writing does not reproduce speech, it makes it visible-- through an in-depth history of writing across the globe, from ancient civilization to the modern day. "A History of Writing" analyzes the role of the image in writing from three perspectives: * Part one is devoted to the oldest, non-alphabetic methods of writing, and to the ingenious developments devised by civilizations that chose to adapt them to their language and culture: from the ancient development of cuneiform script in southern Mesopotamia, to the intricate ideographic scripts of China and Japan, or the still-to-be-deciphered rongo-rongo script of Easter Island. * Part two focuses on the history and dissemination of alphabets, examining the origins of the Western semitic alphabet and its "sister" Arabic alphabet script, through to the lesser-known scripts of the Caucasus or of sub-Saharan Africa. * Part three, finally, examines the reincorporation of imagery into the Western alphabet, looking at various hand-written and printed forms, from the sumptuous illuminations of the "Book of Kells" to the rise of printing and of typographic forms in modern times, leading to questions over how different writing systems are now adapting in a world that is increasingly dominated by computer technology. In total, fifty-eight lavishly illustrated chapters present detailed yet accessible commentaries from a team of leading specialists in the study of writing. Together they explain and clarify the birth, evolution, and dissemination of over thirty key scripts and alphabets and theirnumerous derivatives. The breadth and scope of material covered, along with the detailed sources of documentation provided, make "A History of Writing" an essential and exciting new contribution to existing scholarship on this fascinating subject. With contributions from: Michel Amandry, Jacques André , Pierre-Marc de Biasi, Catherine Bizot, Franç ois Bizot, Daniel Bouchez, Jean Boulè gue, Dominique Briquel, Claire Bustarret, Nina Catach, Dominique Charpin, Roger Chartier, Anne-Marie Christin, Cé cile Dauphin, Michel Davoust, Franç ois Dé roche, Franç ois-Xavier Dillmann, Catherine Dobias-Lalou, Jean-Piere Drè ge, Jean-Marie Durand, Bé atrice Fraenkel, Pascal Griolet, Michaë l Guichard, Bertrand Hirsch, Yves Jeanneret, Pierre-Yves Lambert, Daniè le Lavallé e, André Lemaire, Sé golè ne Le Men, Franç ois Lissarrague, Jean-Pierre Mahé , Henri-Jean Martin, Charles Mopsik, Nguyen Phu Phong, Jean-Pierre Olivier, Jennifer O'Reilly, Michel Parisse, Armando Petrucci, Jacqueline Pigeot, Georges-Jean Pinault, René Ponot, Annie Renonciat, Daniel Roche, Cé cile Sakai, Marianne Simon-Oikawa, Martine Simonin, Darwin Smith, Emmanuel Souchier, Jacqueline Sublet, Marc Thouvenot, Lé on Vandermeersch, Pascal Vernus, Vladimir Vodoff

Download or read book The Ancient Languages of Syria Palestine and Arabia written by Roger D. Woodard and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2008-04-10 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book, derived from the acclaimed Cambridge Encyclopedia of the World's Ancient Languages, describes the ancient languages of Syria-Palestine and Arabia, for the convenience of students and specialists working in that area. Each chapter of the work focuses on an individual language or, in some instances, a set of closely related varieties of a language. Providing a full descriptive presentation, each of these chapters examines the writing system(s), phonology, morphology, syntax and lexicon of that language, and places the language within its proper linguistic and historical context. The volume brings together an international array of scholars, each a leading specialist in ancient language study. While designed primarily for scholars and students of linguistics, this work will prove invaluable to all whose studies take them into the realm of ancient language.

Download or read book The Mysteries of the Alphabet written by Marc-Alain Ouaknin and published by . This book was released on 1999 with total page 392 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Traces the origins of the alphabet beginning with the first pictograms of 5,000 years ago, describing the changes the alphabet has gone through in different countries and cultures.

Download or read book Language Conflict and Language Rights written by William D. Davies and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2018-08-09 with total page 451 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As the colonial hegemony of empire fades around the world, the role of language in ethnic conflict has become increasingly topical, as have issues concerning the right of speakers to choose and use their preferred language(s). Such rights are often asserted and defended in response to their being violated. The importance of understanding these events and issues, and their relationship to individual, ethnic, and national identity, is central to research and debate in a range of fields outside of, as well as within, linguistics. This book provides a clearly written introduction for linguists and non-specialists alike, presenting basic facts about the role of language in the formation of identity and the preservation of culture. It articulates and explores categories of conflict and language rights abuses through detailed presentation of illustrative case studies, and distills from these key cross-linguistic and cross-cultural generalizations.

Download or read book Understanding Relations Between Scripts II written by Philippa M. Steele and published by Oxbow Books. This book was released on 2019-10-10 with total page 404 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Contexts of and Relations between Early Writing Systems (CREWS) is a project funded by the European Research Council under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No. 677758), and based in the Faculty of Classics, University of Cambridge. Understanding Relations Between Scripts II: Early Alphabets is the first volume in this series, bringing together ten experts on ancient writing, languages and archaeology to present a set of diverse studies on the early development of alphabetic writing systems and their spread across the Levant and Mediterranean during the second and first millennia BC. By taking an interdisciplinary perspective, it sheds new light on alphabetic writing not just as a tool for recording language but also as an element of culture.

Download or read book Old Syriac Edessean Inscriptions written by H. J. W. Drijvers and published by Brill Archive. This book was released on 1972 with total page 140 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book DeArabizing Arabia written by Saad D. Abulhab and published by Blautopf Publishing. This book was released on 2011 with total page 253 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is a comprehensive reference on the history of Arabic Language and script, which goes beyond the sole discussion of technical matters. It studies objectively the evidence presented by modern-day western archeological discoveries together with the evidence presented by the indispensable scholarly work and research of the past Islamic Arab civilization era. The book scrutinizes modern western theories about the history of the Arabs and Arabic language and script in connection with the roles played by Western Near East scholarship, religion and colonial history in the formation of current belief system vs. Arab history and language, which is an essential step to study this correlated and complex topic objectively. In his book, the author explores the relevant facts of history and geography as crucial defining factors in the study of history of Arabic language and script. He offers a brief balanced account on the important topic of Muhammad leadership and Islam in the formation of Arabia, and investigates the Quran as a key evidence and reference of the Arabic language and script. As a research tool, this book presents in-depth tracings and readings of the most relevant inscriptions and the findings accumulated by the author over one and a half year of research. Particularly, it presents new comprehensive readings of the important Umm al-Jimal and al-Namarah Nabataean Arabic inscriptions. The al-Namarah stone which was discovered by French archeologist Dussaud in 1901 (displayed today on a wall in the Louvre Museum of Paris) was assumed for more than a century to be the tombstone of the prominent pre-Islamic Arab king, Umru' al-Qays bin 'Amru. After re-tracing and re-reading its complex inscription, the author concluded it was actually about a previously unknown personality named 'Akdi, possibly a high ranking Arab soldier in the Roman army or an Arab tribal leader, not the burial stone of King Umru' al-Qays or even about him. Similarly, the author proves beyond doubt that the important Umm al-Jimal Nabataean Arabic inscription was not the burial stone of Faihru bin Sali, but Faru' bin Sali. The two inscriptions are among only four Nabataean inscriptions believed by Western scholars to be written in the old Arabic language. These are referenced heavily today as evidence linking the Arabic script to the Nabataean Aramaic script. Utilizing classic Arabic and grammar tools and challenging their accuracy at times, the author findings in this book could potentially amend several historical and linguistic facts as told today by history textbooks. In his book, the author, a known Arabic type designer, studies with an investigative expert eye the early shapes of the pre-Islamic Arabic script and compares them to those of Musnad Arabic and late Nabataean Aramaic inscriptions, in addition to those of the early Islamic Arabic manuscripts and papyri. He concludes that the early Arabic script was not an evolved Nabataean script, but likely an independently derived script of the old Musnad Arabic script, with clear Nabataean influence. Although this book is conceived as a reference tool for scholars and researchers, other readers may find its topics and captivating arguments valid enough to debate and to study further. All chapters can be read independently. There are more than 40 figures and illustrations to aid the reader throughout the book. The first two chapters are intended as introductory essays regarding the history of Arabia (people and language) and the role of Western scholarship. To facilitate the selective and independent reading of the last three chapters, which presents the author research findings and conclusions, the book included (in addition to the chapter-specific references already offered throughout the whole book) chapter-specific introductions and conclusions.

Download or read book Script Effects as the Hidden Drive of the Mind Cognition and Culture written by Hye K. Pae and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2020-10-14 with total page 251 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This open access volume reveals the hidden power of the script we read in and how it shapes and drives our minds, ways of thinking, and cultures. Expanding on the Linguistic Relativity Hypothesis (i.e., the idea that language affects the way we think), this volume proposes the “Script Relativity Hypothesis” (i.e., the idea that the script in which we read affects the way we think) by offering a unique perspective on the effect of script (alphabets, morphosyllabaries, or multi-scripts) on our attention, perception, and problem-solving. Once we become literate, fundamental changes occur in our brain circuitry to accommodate the new demand for resources. The powerful effects of literacy have been demonstrated by research on literate versus illiterate individuals, as well as cross-scriptal transfer, indicating that literate brain networks function differently, depending on the script being read. This book identifies the locus of differences between the Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans, and between the East and the West, as the neural underpinnings of literacy. To support the “Script Relativity Hypothesis”, it reviews a vast corpus of empirical studies, including anthropological accounts of human civilization, social psychology, cognitive psychology, neuropsychology, applied linguistics, second language studies, and cross-cultural communication. It also discusses the impact of reading from screens in the digital age, as well as the impact of bi-script or multi-script use, which is a growing trend around the globe. As a result, our minds, ways of thinking, and cultures are now growing closer together, not farther apart.

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 Semitic Languages written by Edward Lipiński and published by Peeters Publishers. This book was released on 2001 with total page 792 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first comparative grammar of the Semitic languages, by H. Zimmern, was published a hundred years ago and the last original work of this kind was issued in Russian in 1972 by B.M. Grande. The present grammar, designed to come out in the centenary of the completion of Zimmern's work, fills thus a gap. Besides, it is based on both classical and modern Semitic languages, it takes new material of these last decades into account, and situates the Semitic languages in the wider context of Afro-Asiatic. The introduction briefly presents the languages in question. The main parts of the work are devoted to phonology, morphology, and syntax, with elaborate charts and diagrams. Then follows a discussion of fundamental questions related to lexicographical analysis. The study is supplemented by a glossary of linguistic terms used in Semitics, by a selective bibliography, by a general index, and by an index of words and forms. The book is the result of twenty-five years of research and teaching in comparative Semitic grammar.

Download or read book A Companion to Ancient Near Eastern Languages written by Rebecca Hasselbach-Andee and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2020-03-31 with total page 560 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Covers the major languages, language families, and writing systems attested in the Ancient Near East Filled with enlightening chapters by noted experts in the field, this book introduces Ancient Near Eastern (ANE) languages and language families used during the time period of roughly 3200 BCE to the second century CE in the areas of Egypt, the Levant, eastern Anatolia, Mesopotamia, and Iran. In addition to providing grammatical sketches of the respective languages, the book focuses on socio-linguistic questions such as language contact, diglossia, the development of literary standard languages, and the development of diplomatic languages or “linguae francae.” It also addresses the interaction of Ancient Near Eastern languages with each other and their roles within the political and cultural systems of ANE societies. Presented in five parts, The Companion to Ancient Near Eastern Languages provides readers with in-depth chapter coverage of the writing systems of ANE, starting with their decipherment. It looks at the emergence of cuneiform writing; the development of Egyptian writing in the fourth and early third millennium BCI; and the emergence of alphabetic scripts. The book also covers many of the individual languages themselves, including Sumerian, Egyptian, Akkadian, Hittite, Pre- and Post-Exilic Hebrew, Phoenician, Ancient South Arabian, and more. Provides an overview of all major language families and writing systems used in the Ancient Near East during the time period from the beginning of writing (approximately 3200 BCE) to the second century CE (end of cuneiform writing) Addresses how the individual languages interacted with each other and how they functioned in the societies that used them Written by leading experts on the languages and topics The Companion to Ancient Near Eastern Languages is an ideal book for undergraduate students and scholars interested in Ancient Near Eastern cultures and languages or certain aspects of these languages.

Download or read book The Semitic Languages written by Stefan Weninger and published by Walter de Gruyter. This book was released on 2011-12-23 with total page 1298 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The handbook The Semitic Languages offers a comprehensive reference tool for Semitic Linguistics in its broad sense. It is not restricted to comparative Grammar, although it covers also comparative aspects, including classification. By comprising a chapter on typology and sections with sociolinguistic focus and language contact, the conception of the book aims at a rather complete, unbiased description of the state of the art in Semitics. Articles on individual languages and dialects give basic facts as location, numbers of speakers, scripts, numbers of extant texts and their nature, attestation where appropriate, and salient features of the grammar and lexicon of the respective variety. The handbook is the most comprehensive treatment of the Semitic language family since many decades.

Download or read book Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic written by Frank Moore CROSS and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2009-06-30 with total page 397 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Annotation The essays contained in this book are preliminary studies directed toward a new synthesis of the history of the religion of Israel. Each study is addressed to a special and, in the authors view, unsolved problem in the description of Israel's religious development.

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 The Alphabet Effect written by Robert K. Logan and published by William Morrow. This book was released on 1986 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The author's thesis is that Western civilization's thought patterns emerged because of its phonetic alphabet.