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Author: Johanna Drucker
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226815811
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 387
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Book Description
"Though there are many books about the history of the alphabet, virtually none address how that history came to be. In Inventing the Alphabet, Johanna Drucker guides readers from antiquity to the present to show how humans have shaped and reshaped their own understanding of this transformative writing tool. From ancient beliefs in the alphabet as a divine gift to growing awareness of its empirical origins through the study of scripts and inscriptions, Drucker describes the frameworks-classical, textual, biblical, graphical, antiquarian, archaeological, paleographic, and political-within which the alphabet's history has been and continues to be constructed. Drucker's book begins in ancient Greece, with the earliest writings on the alphabet's origins. She then explores biblical sources on the topic and medieval preoccupations with the magical properties of individual letters. She later delves into the development of modern archaeological and paleographic tools, and she concludes with the role of alphabetic characters in the digital era. Throughout, she argues that, as a shared form of knowledge technology integrated into every aspect of our lives, the alphabet performs complex cultural, ideological, and technical functions, and her carefully curated selection of images demonstrates how closely the letters we use today still resemble their original appearance millennia ago"--
Author: Johanna Drucker
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226815811
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 387
Get Book Here
Book Description
"Though there are many books about the history of the alphabet, virtually none address how that history came to be. In Inventing the Alphabet, Johanna Drucker guides readers from antiquity to the present to show how humans have shaped and reshaped their own understanding of this transformative writing tool. From ancient beliefs in the alphabet as a divine gift to growing awareness of its empirical origins through the study of scripts and inscriptions, Drucker describes the frameworks-classical, textual, biblical, graphical, antiquarian, archaeological, paleographic, and political-within which the alphabet's history has been and continues to be constructed. Drucker's book begins in ancient Greece, with the earliest writings on the alphabet's origins. She then explores biblical sources on the topic and medieval preoccupations with the magical properties of individual letters. She later delves into the development of modern archaeological and paleographic tools, and she concludes with the role of alphabetic characters in the digital era. Throughout, she argues that, as a shared form of knowledge technology integrated into every aspect of our lives, the alphabet performs complex cultural, ideological, and technical functions, and her carefully curated selection of images demonstrates how closely the letters we use today still resemble their original appearance millennia ago"--
Author: Leonard Shlain
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 9780140196016
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 500
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Book Description
This groundbreaking book proposes that the rise of alphabetic literacy reconfigured the human brain and brought about profound changes in history, religion, and gender relations. Making remarkable connections across brain function, myth, and anthropology, Dr. Shlain shows why pre-literate cultures were principally informed by holistic, right-brain modes that venerated the Goddess, images, and feminine values. Writing drove cultures toward linear left-brain thinking and this shift upset the balance between men and women, initiating the decline of the feminine and ushering in patriarchal rule. Examining the cultures of the Israelites, Greeks, Christians, and Muslims, Shlain reinterprets ancient myths and parables in light of his theory. Provocative and inspiring, this book is a paradigm-shattering work that will transform your view of history and the mind.
Author: David Sacks
Publisher: Vintage Canada
ISBN: 0307371034
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 415
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Book Description
Letters are tangible language. Joining together in endless combinations to actually show speech, letters convey our messages and tell our stories. While we encounter these tiny shapes hundreds of times a day, we take for granted the long, fascinating history behind one of the most fundamental of human inventions -- the alphabet. The heart of the book is the 26 fact-filled “biographies” of letters A through Z, each one identifying the letter’s particular significance for modern readers, tracing its development from ancient forms, and discussing its noteworthy role in literature and other media. We learn, for example, why the letter X has a sinister and sexual aura, how B came to signify second best, why the word “mother” in many languages starts with M, and what is the story of O. Packed with information and lavishly illustrated, Letter Perfect is not only accessible and entertaining, but essential to the appreciation of our own language.
Author: Charles V. Kraitsir
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Alphabet
Languages : la
Pages : 72
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Book Description
Author: Barry B. Powell
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521589079
Category : Foreign Language Study
Languages : en
Pages : 312
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Book Description
A challenging and fascinating enquiry into the genesis of alphabetic writing.
Author: Beth Anderson
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1534405569
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 52
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Book Description
“Delightful, relatable, and eye-catchingly illustrated.” —School Library Journal “Deelytful and iloominaating for noo and seesuned reeders alyk.” —Kirkus Reviews “Thought-provoking and entertaining.” —School Library Connection “Engaging...A comprehensible, lively read.” —Publishers Weekly Do you ever wish English was eez-ee-yer to spell? Ben Franklin and Noah Webster did! Debut author Beth Anderson and the New York Times bestselling illustrator of I Dissent, Elizabeth Baddeley, tell the story of two patriots and their attempt to revolutionize the English alphabet. Once upon a revolutionary time, two great American patriots tried to make life easier. They knew how hard it was to spell words in English. They knew that sounds didn’t match letters. They knew that the problem was an inconvenient English alphabet. In 1786, Ben Franklin, at age eighty, and Noah Webster, twenty-eight, teamed up. Their goal? Make English easier to read and write. But even for great thinkers, what seems easy can turn out to be hard. Children today will be delighted to learn that when they “sound out” words, they are doing eg-zakt-lee what Ben and Noah wanted.
Author: David Doran
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 0753548194
Category : Design
Languages : en
Pages : 64
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Book Description
Travel the globe with 32 typographic prints inspired by the world’s greatest cities, all the way from Amsterdam to Zurich, with stops in Paris, Rio and Tokyo along the way. Also features quirky trivia on each city.
Author: Seth L. Sanders
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
ISBN: 0252078357
Category : Foreign Language Study
Languages : en
Pages : 281
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Book Description
How choosing a language created a people
Author: Edward Clodd
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Alphabet
Languages : en
Pages : 226
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Book Description
Author: Douglas Petrovich
Publisher: Hendrickson Academic
ISBN: 9789652208842
Category : Alphabet
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
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.
