Kategoria BISAC: Language Arts & Disciplines >> Alphabets & Writing Systems

At the turn of the millennium, Guatemala experienced a Mayan cultural renaissance often referred to as the Maya Movement. One aspect of this movement was the revitalization of indigenous Mayan languages for written purposes. The Mayan writing system is one of the oldest in the world; thus its reinvention includes a new standardized alphabetic system for each of the twenty-two Mayan languages spoken in Guatemala as well as the incorporation and continuation of some of its ancient elements. This book represents a case study conducted in two Mayan villages in the Guatemalan highlands, and it...

Throughout the East, writing is held to be a gift from the gods, and the divinely inspired letters and characters are objects of the highest veneration. The religious significance of calligraphy has thus led to a unique development of the art of brush and ink in Japan, China, India, and Tibet. This beautifully illustrated book covers such topics as the history and spirit of Eastern calligraphy, the art of copying religious texts, the biographies of important Zen calligraphers, and practical instructions on materials and techniques for the contemporary student. No knowledge of the languages...

The emergence and spread of literacy in ancient human society an important topic for all who study the ancient world, and the development of written Chinese is of particular interest, as modern Chinese orthography preserves logographic principles shared by its most ancient forms, making it unique among all present-day writing systems. In the past three decades, the discovery of previously unknown texts dating to the third century BCE and earlier, as well as older versions of known texts, has revolutionized the study of early Chinese writing.

The long-term continuity and stability of...

The subject of this book is linguistic minorities, and how language is used by speakers of languages which are not the main language of communication. This is a core topic for sociolinguists, who examine how language is actually used within a given context. Globalization, migration, and the erosion of nationhood is creating far more linguistic minorities as society becomes increasingly pluralistic. One of the major sites of contact between languages is the school, and this book focuses on linguistic interaction within this educational context. Through a careful examination of the language...

Now fully updated to make your language learning experience fun and interactive. You can still rely on the benefits of a top language teacher and our years of teaching experience, but now with added learning...

Complete, compact and authoritative--this Japanese language book provides all the information needed to learn kanji and kana, including the 92 basic hiragana and katakana phonetic symbols (known collectively as Japanese Kana) and the 2,136 standard Joyo Kanji characters that every Japanese person learns in school. This new and completely revised edition reflects recent changes made to the official Joyo kanji list by the Japanese government.

The kana and kanji are presented...

Essential Korean Grammar gives you excellent examples that lay out the best grammar options for communicating, and when to use each option. The grammar items are cleverly rated so you can determine what's most useful for you to study, based on your Korean knowledge level and your plans. There is a star rating system, from 5 stars...

This comprehensive guide to learning the Hindi language teaches you basic proficiency in everyday, conversational beginner Hindi. From learning to write the Hindi alphabet and pronounce its sounds, to using vocabulary and grammar, to communicating in dialogues, your rapidly-developing skills in Hindi will surprise you. No prior experience in is necessary to learn Hindi with this book. The chapters cover many situations you'll need to travel to India, read Hindi, write Hindi, and...

Intended as companion to Elementary Hindi or as an independent study tool, this beginner Hindi workbook is the perfect guide for practicing and polishing your basic proficiency in the Hindi language and includes carefully crafted practice activities to read Hindi, write Hindi and speak Hindi. The variety of activities offers beginning level learners the range of practice opportunities they need.

This workbook contains:

• Authentic dialogues.
• Comprehension, vocabulary, and grammar exercises.
• ...

Written Japanese combines three different types of characters: the Chinese characters known as kanji, and two Japanese sets of phonetic letters, hiragana and katakana, known collectively as kana, that must be mastered before the Japanese kanji can be learned.

Learning Japanese Hiragana and Katakana provides beginning-level students of Japanese a thorough grounding in the basic hiragana and katakana phonetic symbols or...