William Bright

International encyclopedia of linguistics

UK CONTRIBUTORS: David Crystal, University of North Wales Gerald Gazdar, University of Sussex Daniel Abondolo, University of London Dick Allwright, University of Lancaster David C. Bennett, University of London Theodora Bynon, University of London Ronald Carter, University of Nottingham Jenny Cheshire, University of London Robert Coleman, University of Cambridge Greville G. Corbett, University of Surrey Alan Cruttenden, University of Manchester Paul Fletcher, University of Reading Roger Fowler, University of East Anglia W. J. Hardcastle Martin Harris, University of Essex Susan Hockey, University of Oxford Ewan Klein, University of Edinburgh Geoffrey Leech, University of Lancaster Giulio Lepschy, University of Reading William Marslen-Wilson, University of London Marilyn Martin-Jones, University of Lancaster P. H. Matthews, University of Cambridge Peter Muhlhausler, University of Oxford Peter Roach, University of Leeds Robert H. Robins, University of London Suzanne Romaine, University of Oxford David Short, University of London Marcel A. A. Tatham, University of Essex.

Phonological Rules in Literary and Colloquial Kannada

Differences between literary and colloquial styles of Kannada have recently been studied by H. M. Nayak in terms of synchronic correspondences between surface structures. A clearer perspective can be obtained, however, if we take into consideration that forms of the literary style represent, to a large extent, both the historical antecedents and the morphophonemic bases of the colloquial forms. The synchronic phonological rules of the colloquial Kannada dialects may then be seen as recapitulating the processes of historical sound changes which gave rise to these dialects.

The World's Writing Systems

The Worlds Writing Systems meets the need for a definitive volume on the major historical and modern writing systems of the world. Comprising more than eighty articles contributed by expert scholars in the field, the work is organized in twelve units, each dealing with a particular group of writing systems defined historically, geographically, or conceptually. Each unit begins with an introductory article providing the social and cultural context in which the group of writing systems was created and developed. Articles on individual scripts detail the historical origin of the writing system in question, its structure (with tables showing the forms of the written symbols), and its relationship to the phonology of the corresponding spoken language. Each writing system is illustrated by a passage of text, accompanied by a romanized version, a phonetic transcription, and a modern English translation. Each article concludes with a bibliography. Units are arranged according to the chronological development of writing systems and their historical relationship within geographical areas. First, there is a discussion of the earliest scripts of the ancient Near East. Subsequent units focus on the scripts of East Asia, the writing systems of Europe, Asia, and Africa that have descended from ancient West Semitic (Phoenician), and the scripts of South and Southeast Asia. Other units deal with the recent and ongoing process of decipherment of ancient writing systems; the adaptation of traditional scripts to new languages; new scripts invented in modern times; and graphic systems for numerical, music, and movement notation. The result is a comprehensive resource of all of the major writing systems of the world.