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The Writing Systems of the World
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The Writing Systems of the World Paperback - 1991

by Florian Coulmas


From the publisher

This book is an account of the writing systems of the world from earliest times to the present. Its aim is to explore the complex ways in which writing systems relate to the language they depict. Writing, Coulmas contends, is not only the guide or garment of spoken language, but has a deep and lasting effect on the development of language itself.

His study takes in Egyptian hieroglyphics and the cuneiform system of the ancient Near East; he describes Chinese writing, discussing why an apparently cumbersome system has been used continuously for more than 3,000 years; he ranges across the writing systems of western Asia and the Middle East, the Indian families and the various alphabetic traditions which had its origins in the multifarious world of Semitic writing and came to full bloom in pre-Classical Greece.

From the rear cover

This book is an account of the writing systems of the world from earliest times to the present. Its aim is to explore the complex ways in which writing systems relate to the language they depict. Writing, Coulmas contends, is not only the guide or garment of spoken language, but has a deep and lasting effect on the development of language itself.

His study takes in Egyptian hieroglyphics and the cuneiform system of the ancient Near East; he describes Chinese writing, discussing why an apparently cumbersome system has been used continuously for more than 3,000 years; he ranges across the writing systems of western Asia and the Middle East, the Indian families and the various alphabetic traditions which had its origins in the multifarious world of Semitic writing and came to full bloom in pre-Classical Greece.

Details

  • Title The Writing Systems of the World
  • Author Florian Coulmas
  • Binding Paperback
  • Edition Reprint
  • Pages 320
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford
  • Date 1991-01-08
  • ISBN 9780631180289 / 0631180281
  • Weight 1 lbs (0.45 kg)
  • Dimensions 9.01 x 6.01 x 0.96 in (22.89 x 15.27 x 2.44 cm)
  • Library of Congress subjects Writing - History
  • Library of Congress Catalog Number 90020871
  • Dewey Decimal Code 411

About the author

Florian Coulmas is Professor of Linguistics at Chuo University, Tokyo. He has written and edited several books in Linguistics and Sociolinguistics and is associate editor of the International Journal of the Sociology of Language.
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WRITING SYSTEMS OF THE WORLD (The Language Library) [Paperback] Coulmas, Florian
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Writing Systems of the World
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