Florian Coulmas

The writing systems of the world

Preface. Part I: Theoretical Perspectives:. 1. What Writing Is All About. 2. From Icon to Symbol: The General Trend of Evolution. 3. Units of Speech and Units of Writing. Part II: Writing Systems:. 4. Sacred Characters: The Theocratic Script of Egypt. 5. From Word to Syllable I: Cuneiform Writing. 6. An Alternative to the Alphabet: The Chinese Writing System. 7. From Word to Syllable II: Chinese Characters for other Languages. 8. Semitic Writing: Syllables or Consonants?. 9. The Alphabet. 10. Writing in India. Part III: Practical Problems:. 11. From Letter to Sound: Deciphering Written Languages. 12. From Sound to Letter: Creating Alphabets. 13. Writing Reform: Conditions and Implications. Part IV: Conclusion:. 14. What Writing Means for Linguistics. References. Appendix I: Ancient Near Eastern Chronology. Appendix II: Far Eastern Chronology. Index.

On the sociolinguistic relevance of routine formulae

Abstract Routine formulae are expressions whose occurrence is closely tied to types of recurrent social situations. In providing the verbal means for mastering such situations in a generally accepted manner, they carry a great deal of social meaning. It is argued in the present paper that the pragmatic conditions for their appropriate usage as well as their communicative functions can only be explicated in terms of cognitive systems of beliefs, wants, wishes, preferences, norms, and values. The problem of translation of routine formulae is discussed, and it is demonstrated that a proper analysis can only be reached on the basis of a contrastive pragmatic approach. An attempt is made at explaining in what sense routine formulae are typical of a given sociocultural system.

The Writing Systems of the World

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.

Direct and indirect speech: General problems and problems of Japanese

Abstract This paper is about direct and indirect quotation. According to generally received opinion, direct quotation implies faithfulness to form and content of the reported utterance while indirect speech only renders its content. This view is accepted. However, it is argued that, nonetheless, for indirect speech different degrees of faithfulness to the form of the reported utterance should be distinguished. The second part of the paper deals with peculiarities of reported speech in Japanese. The often voiced claim that there is no distinction between direct and indirect speech in Japanese is refuted. Grammatical and deictic problems of reported speech underlying this claim are discussed and some of the conditions giving rise to sentences that are ambiguous as to whether they are direct or indirect quotations are investigated.

Changing language regimes in globalizing environments

Abstract Marketization, deregulation and participation are the major developments summarily referred to under the heading of globalization. Increasing interdependence and electronic communications that facilitate the exchange of information among individuals, organizations and societies are vital parts of this process. The spread of English, too, has been described as a causal and concomitant factor of globalization which, however, has many other implications for the world’s languages. In this paper I want to make some suggestions as to how globalization and language interact and, more specifically, how language regimes change under the influence of economic, political and cultural developments.

Evaluating merit—the evolution of writing reconsidered

This article examines the question whether the merits of a writing system have a bearing on its spreading. While it is well known that the diffusion of writing systems and scripts follows that of religions, empires and other non-linguistic factors, the adoption and reform of a writing system or orthography is invariably promoted on the grounds of systematic merits. Since writing is an artefact it stands to reason that some systems are superior to others. Yet, it is difficult to define an absolute standard of goodness against which different writing systems could be measured and compared. Instead this article raises the question why, if it is true that in the long run quality prevails, after 5000 years of writing a universal visual code for language has not won world-wide recognition. Discussing a variety of examples it offers six partial answers.

Linguistic Minorities and Literacy: Language Policy Issues in Developing Countries

Most of the papers are based on presentations given at a workshop held under the auspices of the United Nations University in Tokyo, Sept. 4-5, 1982.

Imploding Populations in Japan and Germany

Japan and Germany are at the vanguard of a new population dynamics in developed countries: population decline in the absence of war, famine and pandemics. This book presents an in-depth overview of the social and economic implications of this development.

The surge of Japanese

One of the seeming paradoxes of the emerging global society is this. Since the end of World War II a number of international organizations have come into existence, and the shaping of modern society depends increasingly on international cooperation and communication across political, linguistic, and cultural borders. International contacts involving trade, scholarship, and tourism have developed to an all-time high. Yet, this increase in international interaction has not been paralleled by a proportionale increase of foreign-language education. While the democratization of higher education in many countries has resulted in some foreignlanguage training for more people than ever before, foreign-language requirements at the high school and College levels have at the same time seen a steady decline. It has become possible, for example, to graduate from many American Colleges without any foreign-language education at all. In most European countries, Greek and Latin have been reduced to insignificance in the high school curriculum without in all cases having been replaced by modern languages. The one language which has made enormous gains at the expense of all others is English (Conrad and Fishman 1977; Kachru 1982). With the dissolution of the British Colonial empire, which äs one of is most important legacies left behind the English language in one function or another in most former colonies after independence, and the concurrent rise of the United States to become the unchallenged leader of the Western world, English became the foremost international language of the second half of this Century against which all other contenders to world language Status, notably the modern European Standard languages French, Spanish, German, Italian, and Russian, are fighting a losing battle. Thus, very few languages have seen a significant increase of the number of students learning them äs foreign languages, because English is widely

Language regimes in transformation : future prospects for German and Japanese in science, economy, and politics

Globalization has many faces. One of them is the transformation of language regimes caused by the spread of English. This book provides an in-depth account of how two highly developed all-purpose national languages, Japanese and German, are affected by this process. In the international arena, they no longer compete with English, but their status as foreign languages in third countries as well as in their home countries is in flux. Original empirical and theoretical contributions are presented in this up-to-date study of language regime change.