This page gives the schedule of topics and assigned readings for Linguistics 115: Writing Systems at the University of Pennsylvania. The basic readings are from the Robinson textbook, The Story of Writing, by page number; online readings are listed with direct links to either html or pdf files. These may be updated during the semester, so check back every week. Other relevant pages are the syllabus, glossary, phonetic symbols, study guide, and course description.
The notes and pictures that are used in lectures are all available on the web for study and review by students in the course; simply click on the links in this schedule. These pages are password-protected because many of the images are copyrighted and fair use restricts them to students in the course. Type the username and password given out in class when prompted by your web browser (contact the professor or the TA if you need help). Without this information, you will not be able to access the links below. Also, be sure that your browser is Unicode compatible.
Links on this page will typically not become usable until just before the relevant week (by Sunday evening). There is no class on September 1st (Labor Day), October 13th (Fall Break), or November 26th (the day before Thanksgiving). There are recitation sections the first week of class (Sept 4th and 5th).
| Week 1 | What is writing? | ||
| Sept 1 | No class: Labor Day |
|
Homework 1 |
| Sept 3 | Typology Transliteration Greek |
||
| Week 2 | Mesopotamian cuneiform | ||
| Sept 8 | Background Structure |
|
Homework 2 |
| Sept 10 | Structure (cont.) Texts |
||
| Week 3 | Egyptian hieroglyphs | ||
| Sept 15 | Background Earliest writing |
Homework 3 |
|
| Sept 17 | Structure Texts |
||
| Week 4 | Maya hieroglyphs | ||
| Sept 22 | Background Structure |
|
Homework 4 |
| Sept 24 | Structure (cont.) Texts (Other systems) |
||
| Week 5 | Chinese morphosyllabic writing | ||
| Sept 29 | Language Historical development |
Homework 5 |
|
| Oct 1 | Structure Morphemes |
||
| Week 6 | Japanese writing: A mixed system | ||
| Oct 6 | Language Kanji |
No homework due next week. |
|
| Oct 8 | Kana Text |
||
| Week 7 | Phonographic writing in East Asia | ||
| Oct 13 | No class: Fall Break |
No homework due next week. |
|
| Oct 15 | Yi and Vietnamese Korean |
||
| Week 8 | Syllabic writing | ||
| Oct 20 | Midterm (see answers) |
Homework 6 |
|
| Oct 22 | Syllabaries Cherokee and Cree Linear B, Cypriot, Texts optional: Undeciphered |
||
| Week 9 | Alphasyllabic systems | ||
| Oct 27 | Indus Valley Early Indic |
Homework 7 |
|
| Oct 29 | Indic descendents Ethiopic Texts |
||
| Week 10 | Consonantal writing | ||
| Nov 3 | Early alphabets Further developments |
Homework 8 |
|
| Nov 5 | Modern alphabets Texts |
||
| Week 11 | The alphabetic principle in Greece | ||
| Nov 10 | Transmission Epichoric alphabets |
Homework 9 |
|
| Nov 12 | Classical
writing Descendent alphabets (More inscriptions) |
||
| Week 12 | The alphabet in Italy and early England | ||
| Nov 17 | Etruscan Latin |
Homework 10 |
|
| Nov 19 | Old English Middle English |
||
| Week 13 | English orthography | ||
| Nov 24 | Modern English The alphabet |
|
No homework due next week. Thanksgiving Break, |
| Nov 26 | No class: Thanksgiving Break |
||
| Week 14 | Implications of literacy | ||
| Dec 1 | Written language
and literacy |
Study for the final exam. |
|
| Dec 3 | Vai literacy | ||
| Review session | |||
Tuesday, |
3-4:30 pm | College Hall, room 314 (the usual classroom) |
|
| Final exam | |||
Wednesday, |
12–2 pm | Steinberg-Dietrich Hall, room 1206 (turn right from Locust Walk entrance). |
|