Ranging from cuneiform to shorthand, from archaic Greek to modern Chinese, from Old Persian to modern Cherokee, this is the only available work in English to cover all of the world's writing systems from ancient times to the present. Describing scores of scripts in use now or in the past around the world, this unusually comprehensive reference offers a detailed exploration of the history and typology of writing systems. More than eighty articles by scholars from over a dozen countries explain and document how a vast array of writing systems work--how alphabets, ideograms, pictographs, and hieroglyphics convey meaning in graphic form. The work is organized in thirteen parts, each dealing with a particular group of writing systems defined historically, geographically, or conceptually. Arranged according to the chronological development of writing systems and their historical relationships within geographical areas, the scripts are divided into the following sections: the ancient Near East, East Asia, Europe, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East. Additional parts address the ongoing process of decipherment of ancient writing systems; the adaptation of traditional scripts to new languages; new scripts invented in modern times; and graphic symbols for numerical, music, and movement notation. Each part begins with an introductory article providing the social and cultural context in which the group of writing systems was developed. Articles on individual scripts detail the historical origin of the writing system, its structure (with tables showing the forms of the written symbols), and its relationship to the phonology of the corresponding spoken language. Each writing system is illustrated by a passage of text, and accompanied by a romanized version, a phonetic transcription, and a modern English translation. A bibliography suggesting further reading concludes each entry. Matched by no other work in English, The World's Writing Systems is the only comprehensive resource covering every major writing system. Unparalleled in its scope and unique in its coverage of the way scripts relate to the languages they represent, this is a resource that anyone with an interest in language will want to own, and one that should be a part of every library's reference collection.

In "The Invention of Cuneiform" Jean-Jacques Glassner offers a compelling introduction to a seminal era in human history. Returning to early Mesopotamian texts that have been little studied or poorly understood, he traces the development of writing from the earliest attempts to the sophisticated system of roughly 640 signs that constituted the Sumerian repertory by about 3200 B.C.

This is a book about the structure, history and evolution of the Japanese language. The Japanese Language is a classic study of one of the world's most widely used but least understood languages. Emphasizing the richness and complexity of Japanese as well as its limitations, this fine book provides a lively discussion about the uniqueness of the Japanese language. The relationship of Japanese to other languages is not well understood even by native speakers, and Professor Kindaichi sets out to define it. He concludes that Japanese is indeed only remotely related to other world languages although it shares many features in common with the languages of mainland Asia. Japanese shares with those languages a rich and detailed vocabulary for natural phenomena and an unusually complex and accurate way of expressing social relationships. Moreover, its capability to absorb innovations from abroad easily matches or exceeds that of English or German. The author, after briefly discussing the unique isolation of the Japanese language, moves on to consider the varieties of ordinary speech--dialects, jargon, sex--and role-based distinctions, and the difference between informal, formal, and literary language. He then examines the structure of Japanese pronunciations, its rhythm, and accent. The longest section of the book is devoted to the variety of the vocabulary, what can and cannot be said in Japanese. Readers who are just beginning their own study of Japanese will find this section especially fascinating, for each point is backed by examples from literature and everyday speech. Kindaichi also investigates the so-called vagueness of Japanese and traces it to its source-the unusual sentence order. This book includes: The highly debated origins of the Japanese language. Dialects, jargon, sex and role-based distinctions. Differences between informal, formal, and literary language. Structure, rhythm, and accent of pronunciation. What can and cannot be said in Japanese.

First Published in 1994. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

An insider’s tour through the construction of invented languages from the bestselling author and creator of languages for Legendary's Dune, the HBO series Game of Thrones and the Syfy series Defiance From master language creator David J. Peterson comes a creative guide to language construction for sci-fi and fantasy fans, writers, game creators, and language lovers. Peterson offers a captivating overview of language creation, covering its history from Tolkien’s creations and Klingon to today’s thriving global community of conlangers. He provides the essential tools necessary for inventing and evolving new languages, using examples from a variety of languages including his own creations, punctuated with references to everything from Star Wars to Janelle Monáe. Along the way, behind-the-scenes stories lift the curtain on how he built languages like Dothraki for HBO’s Game of Thrones and Shiväisith for Marvel’s Thor: The Dark World, and an included phrasebook will start fans speaking Peterson’s constructed languages. The Art of Language Invention is an inside look at a fascinating culture and an engaging entry into a flourishing art form—and it might be the most fun you’ll ever have with linguistics. The Art of Language Invention includes a new chapter on phrases, specifically, word order, negation, question formation, pragmatic concerns, relativization, and subordination, providing a complete introduction to language creation and linguistics. Invented languages featured in the book now include Chakobsa from Legendary’s Dune, Trigedasleng (or Grounder) from The 100, Méníshè language from Motherland: Fort Salem and Ravkan from the Netflix series Shadow and Bone.

Revealing the secret history of punctuation, this tour of two thousand years of the written word, from ancient Greece to the Internet, explores the parallel histories of language and typography throughout the world and across time.

The easy way to learn the Korean Hangeul writing system! Fans of K-Pop and Korean dramas as well as beginning students of Korean will love this handy guide to the Korean Hangeul alphabet. Designed for both self-study students and use in a classroom, no prior knowledge of Korean is needed. With this workbook, you'll quickly learn to read, write and pronounce the letters and hundreds of useful Korean words and phrases. Reading and Writing Korean includes: Free online audio recordings to teach you to pronounce all the sounds of the language correctly Fun exercises to help you memorize a broad range of vocabulary--from numbers and Korean foods to pop culture and social media A set of free downloadable flash cards to help you memorize letters and words A complete answer key for all the exercises Mnemonic illustrations to help memorize the sounds of the letters Oxford University instructors Jieun Kiaer and Derek Driggs present the vowels, consonants, syllables and words in a systematic, step-by-step approach which takes you from copying individual letters to writing complete words and sentences in no time at all!

Publisher Description

It's never a good idea to be overly-reliant on technology while traveling! Look-up words quickly and easily with this Korean travel dictionary. Tuttle's Mini Korean Dictionary is ideal for any application where a handy and portable dictionary is required. This pocket-sized dictionary is intended for use by tourists, students, and business people traveling to Korea, or as a Korean language study reference. Mini Korean Dictionary is an essential tool for communicating, and a great way to learn Korean. In addition to being an excellent English to Korean dictionary and Korean to English dictionary, Mini Korean Dictionary contains essential notes on the Korean language, Korean grammar, and Korean pronunciation. All words are written in a Romanized form as well as Korean script (hangul) so that, in case of difficulties, the book can directly be shown to the native speaker you're trying to communicate with. This mini dictionary contains the following essential features: Bidirectional Korean to English and English to Korean Over 12,000 crucial Korean words, as well as useful Korean expressions and idioms A basic overview of Korean grammar and pronunciation All the latest Korean social media and computer terms May be used for all U.S. ESL standardized testing

It explores how the texts from classical Greece and Rome have survived and gives an account of the reasons why it was thought worthwhile to preserve them for future generations. In this 4th edition adjustments have been made to the text and the notes have been revised in order to take account of advances in scholarship over the last twenty years.