On the History of the Script 3700-AL-ZDP-OG

The aim of the subject is to present the history of the writing from the earliest times i.e. from the moment of the apparition in fourth millennium BC of the earliest yet pre-cuneiform systems through the writing systems used in Egypt and the emergence of the alphabet(s) until the creation of the so-called Slavic alphabets i.e. Cyrillic and Glagolitic script. Special attention is paid to the history of writing used in Greece (Aegean Syllabaries) and, in particular, to the development of the Greek alphabet and of the Latin alphabet formed on its basis. There is also discussion on the writing systems from outside the Mediterranean.
1. Classification of the writing systems.
2. The emergence of the writing.
3. Writing systems of the Middle East in the ancient times (2 meetings).
4. Abjad, abugida, and alphabet.
5. Aegean Syllabaries (2 meetings).
6. The origin and development of the Greek alphabet (2 meetings).
7. The origin and development of the Latin alphabet.
8. The European writing systems outside of the Roman Empire (ogham, runes, Gothic, Armenian, and Georgian alphabets).
9. Slavic alphabets.
10. Indian writing systems.
11. East Asian writing systems.
12. Writing systems of the New World.

Type of course

general courses

Prerequisites (description)

(in Polish) wskazana znajomość języka angielskiego (część materiałów dydaktycznych udostępnianych studentom będzie po angielsku)

Course coordinators

Robert Sucharski

Assessment criteria

The assessment is based on the activity of a student in class, and on the evaluation of the semester composition on a selected subject.

Bibliography

Obligatory:
1. D. Schmandt-Besserat, Jak powstało pismo, Wydawnictwo AGADE, Warszawa 2007.
2. M. Kuckenburg, Pierwsze słowo, PIW, Warszawa 2006.
3. H. Rogers, Writing Systems. A Linguistic Approach, Blackwell Publishing 2005.

Optional (to be chosen):
1. P. Daniels & W. Bright (edd.), The World Writing Systems, OUP 1996.
2. P. Daniels, Scripts of Semitic Languages [w:] The Semitic Languages (ed. R. Hetzron), Routledge, London and New York 1997, pp. 16-45.
3. D. Diringer, Alfabet czyli klucz do dziejów ludzkości, PIW, Warszawa 1972.
4. C.B.F. Walker, Pismo klinowe, Wydawnictwo RTW, Warszawa 1998.
5. W.V. Davies, Egipskie hieroglify, Wydawnictwo RTW, Warszawa 1998.
6. J. Chadwick, Pismo linearne B i pisma pokrewne, Wydawnictwo RTW, Warszawa 1998.
7. L.H. Jeffery, The Local Scripts of Archaic Greece, OUP Oxford 1961 (Oxford 1990, revised edition with a supplement by A. W. Johnston).
8. D. Urbanová Václav Blažek, Národy starověké Itálie, jejich jazyky a písma, Host – vydavatelství, Brno 2008.
9. A. Gieysztor, Zarys dziejów pisma łacińskiego, Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN, wyd. II, Warszawa 2009.
10. R.I. Page, Pismo runiczne, Wydawnictwo RTW, Warszawa 1998.
11. L. Moszyński, Wstęp do filologii słowiańskiej, PWN, Warszawa 1984, ss. 7-166.

Additional information

Information on level of this course, year of study and semester when the course unit is delivered, types and amount of class hours - can be found in course structure diagrams of apropriate study programmes. This course is related to the following study programmes:

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Description of 3700-AL-ZDP-OG in USOSweb