This page describes the requirements and other details for Linguistics 115: Writing Systems at the University of Pennsylvania. The course has no prerequisites, and satisfies the General Requirement in History and Tradition (Sector II).

If you are interested in more information about the course, see the course description and course schedule. Specific questions should be directed to Prof. Gene Buckley. See also other courses in linguistics.

There is one required textbook, available at the Penn Book Center (corner of 34th and Sansom Streets). It is a fairly basic introduction, but it is accurate and you should find it a good place to start before studying the lecture notes and the online readings. A copy is on reserve in Rosengarten, call number P211.R6.

• Andrew Robinson (2007), The Story of Writing, 2nd edition, Thames and Hudson.

An older (first) edition, copyright 1995, is nearly identical to the 2nd edition; the only significant difference is the addition of a brief Postscript, pp. 219–225, with some more recent discoveries. Most of these are already discussed in the web notes, so you can easily use the 1995 edition if (for example) you buy it used. See this page for more details.

There is also an optional book, which overlaps to a large degree with the content of the online lecture notes but which students with a more linguistic orientation may find interesting. It was not ordered at the bookstore but you can get it at places like Amazon (where it has the Search Inside feature).

• Henry Rogers (2005), Writing Systems: A Linguistic Approach, Blackwell.

Finally, there are required online readings that go into more detail about specific systems or historical context. Links to the readings are given each week on the course schedule page.

You are expected to do the assigned readings and regularly attend lectures and recitations, since these are necessary for you to understand the material tested by written work. Don't assume that you can read the lecture notes on your own and gain the same benefit of hearing the explanations in class and then reviewing the notes later — especially when it comes to interpretation of phonetic and other symbols.

There are three components to the course grade.

Homework

There will be frequent homework assignments (handed out most Wednesdays, due the following Wednesday at the beginning of class). They give practice in applying the principles studied in class and in analyzing particular writing systems, and account for 40% of the final grade, so do not neglect them. They are graded on a scale of 0–10. When possible, the corrected assignments will be returned a day or two later in the recitation section. The lowest-scoring homework assignment for each student will automatically be dropped from the grade calculation, and as a result no extra credit assignments will be offered.

Late assignments will not be accepted; make-up assigments will be provided for students with proof of a medical or personal emergency. You are permitted to discuss the assignments with other students in the class, but you must write up independent answers and indicate the name(s) of the other student(s) on your assignment. Email submissions are not accepted without special reason and prior approval from the T.A.

You can also download a pdf file of the homework assignment; see the course schedule for links.

Midterm

A midterm exam in class on Monday, October 20 will test knowledge of basic facts and concepts covered in the first half of the course (weeks 1–7). It will take the form of true/false, multiple-choice, matching, and fill-in questions testing your recognition of important facts and concepts of writing in general, or aspects of a specific writing system. See the study guide for topics to be covered.

Final

A cumulative final exam will cover material from the entire course, though with somewhat more emphasis on the second half of the semester. It is scheduled for Wednesday, December 10, from 12:00 to 2:00 PM. Like the midterm, it will consist of true/false, multiple-choice, matching, and fill-in questions.

While attendance and participation are not a formal part of the grade, regular attendance in lecture and recitation sections (especially with a productive role in discussions) will affect whether your grade is rounded up to the next higher level in borderline cases.

The final grade for the course is determined according to the following percentages.

Grades will be available on Blackboard; other course material (such as this syllabus) is only on the linguistics server.