Barry B. Powell

Writing (eBook, PDF)

Theory and History of the Technology of Civilization

• Format: PDF

Produktbeschreibung

Writing: Theory and History of the Technology of Civilization traces the origins of writing tied to speech from ancient Sumer through the Greek alphabet and beyond. * Examines the earliest evidence for writing in Mesopotamia in the fourth millennium BC, the origins of purely phonographic systems, and the mystery of alphabetic writing * Includes discussions of Ancient Egyptian,Chinese, and Mayan writing * Shows how the structures of writing served and do serve social needs and in turn create patterns of social behavior * Clarifies the argument with many illustrations

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: John Wiley & Sons
• Seitenzahl: 296
• Erscheinungstermin: 25. Januar 2012
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9781118293508
• Artikelnr.: 37351606

Autorenporträt

Barry B. Powell is Halls-Bascom Professor Emeritus of Classics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He has written extensively on ancient Greek literature and the history of writing. His books include Homer and the Origin of the Greek Alphabet (1991), A New Companion to Homer (editor, with Ian Morris) (1997), Writing and the Origins of Greek Literature (2001), and two editions of Homer (second edition, Blackwell, 2007).

Inhaltsangabe

List of Illustrations. Maps. Preface. Chronology. Introduction: A Difficult
Topic, Little Studied, Poorly Understood. 1. What Is Writing? 2. Writing
with Signs. 3. Categories and Features of Writing. 4. Some General Issues
in the Study of Writing. 5. Protocuneiform and Counting Tokens. 6. Origin
of Lexigraphic Writing in Mesopotamia. 7. Plato's Ideas and Champollion's
Decipherment of the Egyptian Hieroglyphs. 8. Egyptian Writing and Egyptian
Speech. 9. The Origin and Nature of Egyptian Writing. 10. "The House of
Life": Scribes and Writing in Ancient Egypt. 11. Syllabic Scripts of the
Aegean. 12. The West Semitic Revolution. 13. What Kind of Writing Was West
Semitic? 14. The Origins of West Semitic Writing. 15. Chinese Logography.
16. Lexigraphic Writing in Mesoamerica. 17. The Greek Alphabet: A Writing
That Changed the World. 18. Summary and Conclusions. Glossary.
Bibliography. Index.

Rezensionen

"Powell's concentration on precise names for terms used in discourse clears up some of the confusion common to histories of work on ancient scripts." (About.com, May 2009)

"Writing is stimulating and impressive." (Science, April 2009)

"For anyone interested in language, writing, and their fascinating history across many cultures and centuries of development, this engagingly written, well-illustrated book will provide a very readable mine of information." (CHOICE, December 2009)
"Powell's concentration on precise names for terms used in discourse clears up some of the confusion common to histories of work on ancient scripts." (About.com, May 2009)

"A feature ... is the use of the ancient scripts in the text with numerous illustrations to familiarize the reader with the different writing systems. The result is a readable and enlightening study of a complex topic." (Bryn Mawr Classical Review, April 2010)

"Writing is stimulating and impressive." (Science, April 2009)