История письма и чтения. Асафова Г.К. - 19 стр.

UptoLike

Составители:

Рубрика:

UNIT 3

HISTORY OF WRITING SYSTEMS

While speaking is a universal human competence that has been characteristic

of the species from the beginning and that is acquired by all normal human beings

without systematic instruction, writing is a technology of relatively recent history

that must be taught to each generation of children. Historical accounts of the

evolution of writing systems have until recently concentrated on a single aspect-

increased efficiency- with the Greek invention of the alphabet being regarded as

the culmination of a long historical evolution. This efficiency is a product of a

limited and manageable set of graphs (images) that can express the full range of

meanings in a language. As Eric Havelock wrote, “At a stroke the Greeks provided

a table of elements of linguistic sound not only manageable because of economy,

but also accurate for the first time in the history of homo sapiens.” Ignace Gelb

distinguished four stages in this evolution, beginning with picture writing, which

expressed ideas directly; followed by word-based writing systems; then by sound-

based syllabic writing systems, including unvocalized syllabaries or consonantal

systems; and concluding with the Greek invention of the alphabet.

The invention of the alphabet is a major achievement of Western culture. It

is also unique; the alphabet was invented only once, though it has been borrowed

by many cultures. It is a model of analytic thinking, breaking down perceptible

qualities like syllables into more basic constituents. And because it is capable of

conveying subtle differences in meaning, it has come to be used for the expression

of a great many of the functions served by speech. The alphabet requires little of

the reader beyond familiarity with its orthography. It allows the reader to decipher

words newly encountered and permits the invention of spellings for new patterns

of sound, including proper names (a problem that is formidable for non alphabetic

systems). Finally, its explicitness permits readers to make a relatively sharp

distinction between the tasks of deciphering and interpreting. Less explicit