Writing Systems and Phonetics

Writing Systems and Phonetics provides students with a
critical understanding of the writing systems of the world. Beginning by
exploring the spelling of English, including how it arose and how it
works today, the book goes on to address over 60 major languages from
around the globe and includes detailed descriptions and worked examples
of writing systems which foreground the phonetics of these languages.
Key areas covered include:

• the use of the Latin alphabet in and beyond Europe;
• writing systems of the eastern Mediterranean, Greek and its Cyrillic offshoot, Arabic and Hebrew;
• languages in south and south-east Asia, including Hindi, Tamil,
  Burmese and Thai, as well as in east Asia, including Chinese, Japanese
  and Korean;
• reflections on ancient languages such as Sumerian, Egyptian, Linear B and Mayan;
• a final chapter which sets out a typology of writing systems.

All of the languages covered are contextualised by authentic
illustrations, including road signs, personal names and tables, to
demonstrate how theoretical research can be applied to the real world.

Taking a unique geographical focus that guides the reader on a
journey across time and continents, this book offers an engaging
introduction for students approaching for the first time the phonetics
of writing systems, their typology and the origins of scripts.