LINGUIST List 13.2400

Fri Sep 20 2002

Books: Writing Systems: Florian Coulmas

Editor for this issue: Richard John Harvey <richardlinguistlist.org>

Directory

1. Joyce Reid, Writing Systems, An Introduction to Their Linguistic Analysis

Cambridge University Press
http://www.cup.org

Writing Systems
An Introduction to Their Linguistic Analysis

Florian Coulmas, Gerhard Mercator University, Duisburg, Germany

The problem of reducing language to writing and conversely that of
interpreting written signs as language has been resolved through the
development of different writing systems. This illustrated textbook
introduces the major writing systems of the world (from cuneiform to
English spelling) and analyzes their structure and function. It
includes a review of the history of writing and a discussion of the
literate mind and society.

Contents:

1. What is writing? 
2. The basic options: meaning and sound 
3. Signs of words 
4. Signs of syllables 
5. Signs of segments;
6. Consonants and vowels 
7. Vowel incorporation 
8. Analysis and interpretation 
9. Mixed systems 
10. History of writing 
11. Psycholinguistics of writing 
12. Sociolinguistics of writing 
Appendix: Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 1.

Cambridge Textbooks in Linguistics

2002/c. 350 pp./58 figures/65 tables
052178217-1/Hb/List: $65.00
052178737-8/Pb/List: $23.00