books

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Writing systems (General)

The World's Writing Systems

The World's Writing Systems

edited by Peter T. Daniels & William Bright

- the best reference book for writing systems on the market. Provides detailed coverage of just about every writing system, with good quality illustrations and text samples of most of them. Also includes information on musical, mathematical and other notation systems.

Buy from: Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk

The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Writing System

The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Writing Systems

by Florian Coulmas

- an excellent reference for all major and many minor writing systems.
   

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Writing Systems: A Linguistic Approach

Writing Systems: A Linguistic Approach

by Henry Rogers

- provides detailed coverage of all major writing systems of historical or structural significance with thorough discussion of structure, history, and social context as well as important theoretical issues. The book examines systems as diverse as Chinese, Greek, and Maya and each writing system is presented in the light of four major aspects of writing: history and development; internal structure; the relationship of writing and language; and sociolinguistic factors.

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The Writing Systems of the World

The Writing Systems of the World

by Florian Coulmas

- a linguistic study of writing and writing systems.
   

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Writing Systems

Writing Systems

by Geoffrey Sampson

- a linguistic introduction to writing systems

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Signs of Writing

Signs of Writing

by Roy Harris

- re-examines basic questions about writing that have long been obscured by the traditional assumption that writing is merely a visual substitute for speech. By treating writing as an independent mode of communication, based on the use of spatial relations to connect events separated in time, the author shows how musical, mathematical and other forms of writing obey the same principles as verbal writing. These principles, he argues, apply to texts of all kinds: a sonnet, a symphonic score, a signature on a cheque and a supermarket label. Moreover, they apply throughout the history of writing, from hieroglyphics to hypertext. This is the first book to provide a new general theory of writing in over forty years.

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The History of Writing

The History of Writing

by Steven Roger Fischer

- a fascinating overview of the history of writing

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The Alphabetic Labyrinth

The Alphabetic Labyrinth

by Johanna Drucker

- an interesting account of the origins and development of Western and Semitic alphabets.

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The Story of Writing

The Story of Writing

by Andrew Robinson

- a beautifully illustrated, general introduction to writing with limited coverage of individual writing systems.

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The Story of Writing

Lost Languages: The Enigma of the World's Undeciphered Scripts

by Andrew Robinson

- a richly illustrated book, which highlights the thrills of archeological sleuthing, recounts the many attempts at understanding ancient civilizations through the decipherment of their long-lost writing.

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The History and Power of Writing

The History and Power of Writing

by Henri-Jean Martin

- examines the history of writing from its invention 4,000 years ago to the present day and explores the ways writing has contributed to the development of societies.

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From Memory to Written Record: England 1066 - 1307

From Memory to Written Record: England 1066 - 1307

by M. T. Clancy

- a study of the dramatic shift from an oral to a literate culture which took place in England during the Middle Ages.

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The Acquisition of a Second Writing System

The Acquisition of a Second Writing System

by Rosemary Sassoon

- this book provides an overview of a wide range of writing systems and discusses their usage, attitudes to writing and techniques for learning different writing systems.

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Asia's Orthographic Dilemma

Asia's Orthographic Dilemma

by Wm. C Hannas

- provides an overview of how Chinese character-based scripts are or were used to write Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese; the problems involved in learning and using these scripts, and attempts to simplify them. Hannas argues that these scripts are too complex, and that schemes to simplify them, such as limiting the number of characters in use, end up making them more complex. He concludes that ultimately they will most likely be replaced by phonetic scripts.

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Afrikan Alphabets: The Story of Writing in Afrika

Afrikan Alphabets: The Story of Writing in Afrika

by Saki Mafundikwa

- an illustrated introduction to writing systems invented in Africa, including Mende, Vai, Nsibidi, Bamum and Somali.

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A History of Writing: From Hieroglyph to Multimedia

A History of Writing: From Hieroglyph to Multimedia

by Anne-Marie Christin (Editor)

- an interesting, beautifully illustrated exploration of the history of writing. Focuses on the origins, usage and visual appearance of scripts. This is an English translation of the book shown below.

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Histoire de l'écriture : De l'idéogramme au multimédia

Histoire de l'écriture : De l'idéogramme au multimédia

de Anne-Marie Christin

- trois sections ont été ménagées dans cette Histoire. La première est consacrée aux plus anciens systèmes d'écriture et aux réinventions auxquelles ils ont donné lieu dans les civilisations qui ont choisi de les adapter à leur langue et à leur culture. La deuxième se concentre sur les alphabets, leur histoire et leur diffusion. La troisième montre comment l'alphabet occidental est parvenu à réintégrer l'image dans son système à travers ses incarnations successives, manuscrites et imprimées. Elle conduit à s'interroger sur les rapports qu'entretiennent les différents systèmes d'écriture avec le support informatique.

Achetez de: Amazon.fr

Histoire de l'écriture

Histoire de l'écriture

de Louis-Jean Calvet

- histoire fascinante de la lente élaboration de la mémoire écrite de l'humanité. Des premiers pictogrammes à la naissance de l'écriture en Mésopotamie, des cunéiformes, hiéroglyphes, runes, glyphes mayas, caractères chinois aux alphabets modernes. Un livre dense, clairement écrit avec de nombreux croquis et exemples d'écritures à l'appui.

Achetez de: Amazon.fr

L'Écriture

L'Écriture

de Charles Higounet

- l'écriture est avant tout un procédé dont on se sert pour fixer le langage articulé, fugitif par essence même. Mais en rendant la parole muette, l'écriture ne fait pas que la conserver, elle invente un nouveau langage qui discipline la pensée et l'organise en la transcrivant. Des premières tablettes suméro-akkadiennes à la sténographie, cet ouvrage retrace l'histoire des formes d'écriture, ensemble de signes sur lequel reposent toutes nos sociétés

Achetez de: Amazon.fr

La naissance des écritures

La naissance des écritures: Du cunéiforme à l'alphabet

de Collect

Achetez de: Amazon.fr

 

NON LEGITUR

NON LEGITUR - Giro del mondo in trentatré scritture

Marco Cimarosti

- Non legitur, non si legge, scrivevano in latino i copisti medievali quando incontravano testi in scritture sconosciute.

Quante volte il turista, in India o in un paese arabo, ha provato curiosità e frustrazione di fronte a un'insegna o a un segnale stradale?

Questo libro mette in grado il lettore di capire come funzionano i diversi sistemi di scrittura e di leggerne le parole.

Acquista: http://www.stampalternativa.it

Enciclopedia de sistemas de escritura (volumen 1): alfabetos y consonantarios

Enciclopedia de sistemas de escritura (volumen 1): alfabetos y consonantarios

de Santiago Velasco

- una obra única en su género que por primera vez identifica, clasifica y describe todos los repertorios gráficos conocidos (y también los desconocidos) empleados para la representación de las lenguas naturales y artificiales, tanto en uso como ya desaparecidos.

Buy from: Amazon.com

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