Writing Systems. A Linguistic Introduction.

Sampson, Geoffrey:

ISBN 10: 009156980X / ISBN 13: 9780091569808

Published by London: Hutchinson, 1989

About this Item

234p hardback, scarlet cloth and jacket with gilt characters, very good condition, jacket surfaces a bit creased, name to endpaper and light pencil marks in a few page margins, otherwise free from significant wear, pages very neat and bright, binding firm, a very good pre-owned copy Language: English Weight (g): 788.

Seller Inventory # 236124

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Writing Systems. A Linguistic Introduction.
• Publisher: London: Hutchinson
• Publication Date: 1989
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 009156980X
• ISBN 13: 9780091569808
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: Dust Jacket Included
• Seller catalogs:
  • Linguistics

About this title

Synopsis

The cultures of the world have chosen different ways to make spoken language visible and permanent. The original edition of Writing Systems represented the first time that modern linguistic principles were brought to bear on a study of this. Now this new edition brings the story up to date.

Review

"In this engaging book, Sampson, treating the all-too-long ostracized 'black sheep' of linguistics, offers a refreshing and rigorous contemporary scientific examination of writing cum system. . . . Linguists on all fronts should welcome this text whose contents have undergone the same rigorous examination and discussion as any work on the core problems of language. This work renews an old field of study—and not for trained scientists only, for several arguments here are instructive to the novice."
—J. Caflisch
,Choice
Choice
Choice

"This book is a readable, non-technical discussion of the nature of scripts as linguistically structured systems. It sensibly discusses the general issues concerning the relation of script to language, and concerning historical change in this relationship. . . . Sampson's research is unique among recent books in the extent to which it makes informed use of non-anecdotal psychological research on reading and spelling in addressing issues of script typology and history. . . . This is a book that can be recommended as the best linguistic introduction to the study of writing systems now available."
—John Justeson
,Language