Writing systems, alphabets, scripts Books
Tuttle Publishing Learn Japanese with Manga Volume One: A
Book SynopsisLearn to read, write, and speak everyday Japanese with manga stories! If you enjoy manga, you'll love learning Japanese with this book. The language lessons are interspersed with entertaining manga comic strips, making it easy to learn and remember all the key vocabulary and grammar. With a focus on the casual speech used by young people in Japan, you'll find yourself feeling confident with speaking, reading, and writing Japanese quickly! Designed for self-study use by adult learners, this book is a fun resource for beginners—no prior knowledge of Japanese required! Readers will find: Help with learning to write and pronounce the 92 Hiragana and Katakana letters plus 160 basic Kanji characters Hundreds of useful words and phrases—from numbers and greetings to expletives and insults! Seven manga stories woven throughout the book, reinforcing your grasp of the language The basic vocabulary and grammar needed to communicate in Japanese! Hundreds of exercises with free online audio recordings by Japanese native speakers A bidirectional dictionary and answer keys for all the exercises **Recommended for language learners 16 year old & up. Not intended for high school classroom use due to adult content.**
£13.49
Tuttle Publishing Korean Stories For Language Learners
Book SynopsisThe most enjoyable way to learn about an unfamiliar culture is through its stories especially when they're told in two languages!Trade Review"…a great bilingual reader for beginners to mid-intermediate learners…Tuttle also offers downloadable audio files from their website…Always love the little touches like this--shows that the author / publishing house understands the readers' needs." --Hangukdrama & Korean blog"…comes with an MP3 collection that is an absolute joy to listen to. The reader speaks in a very clear voice and articulates words clearly--even on the higher-level stories." -- Mezzofanti Guild"I'd recommend [this book] to anyone interested in learning more about the Korean culture while still practicing some Korean." --Natalia Garza
£14.39
Tuttle Publishing Korean Hangul Writing Practice Workbook
Book Synopsis
£7.59
British Museum Press How To Read Egyptian Hieroglyphs
Book SynopsisHave you ever wished that you could read the beautiful hieroglyphic script of ancient Egypt for yourself? Now you can, with the help of this practical step-by-step guide. It is suitable for complete beginners, or for anyone who would like to improve their knowledge of the language and culture of ancient Egypt. Mark Collier and Bill Manley have many years of experience teaching non-specialists at courses around the UK, so their approach is tried and tested. From the very beginning you will be introduced to genuine texts from ancient monuments. Each chapter introduces a new aspect of the ancient Egyptian language's hieroglyphic script and encourages you to develop your growing reading skills with practical exercises. The authors concentrate on a fascinating and rewarding group of monuments funerary inscriptions, coffins and tomb scenes. The texts and supporting notes offer a first-hand insight into topics such as the pharaonic administration, family life in ancient Egypt, and anci
£13.49
British Museum Press Arabic Calligraphy Naskh Script for Beginners
Book SynopsisThe first stroke-by-stroke guide ever produced for learning to write Naskh, one of the six major cursive Arabic scripts.Table of Contents1 Introduction by Dr Venetia Porter; 2 Naskh script: a brief introduction; 3 The Arabic alphabet; 4 The initial, medial and final; 5 Getting started: what you need to know and do; 6 Stage One: al-Mufradat (single letters); 7 Stage Two: al-Murakkabat (joined letters); 8 Stage Three: al-Kelimat (words); 9 Gallery; 10 Naskh script: past and present; 11 Bibliography and further reading
£9.49
Tuttle Publishing Reading Writing Thai A Workbook for SelfStudy
Book Synopsis
£11.69
Tuttle Publishing Chinese Language Writing Workbook
Book SynopsisLearn and practice how to write Chinese characters with this handy workbook!This essential workbook is designed for beginners to learn to write Chinese characters the correct way, and to provide an easy-format notebook of blank gridded & lined pages for writing practice.A brief introduction to Chinese pronunciation and tones is provided along with common greetings, expressions, and explanations of the eight basic Chinese writing strokes?and how they are combined to create characters.Stroke-order instructions and practice writing boxes are given for the 48 most common characters. Learners can write each character by simply following the directional arrows in the grids. The book then provides 110 additional blank lined and gridded pages for continued writing practice?extremely helpful to beginners to write and memorize the basic characters!At the back of the book, helpful tips are provided showing how characters are combined to form words and sentences. Complete vocabulary lists for the Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi (HSK) Level 1 and Level 2 standard proficiency exams are also included. These lists contain all the characters which beginning first-year and second-year students are expected to learn.Free online audio recordings by native Chinese speakers provide the correct pronunciations of all the characters and words in the book.
£9.49
John Murray Press Improve Your Handwriting
Book SynopsisDoes your handwriting reflect the image you want to project?The way you write mirrors your mood and character. It is one of the main ways in which you communicate with the world, and the clarity and technique of your writing will be interpreted by others in many ways.This practical and informative book will help you to improve your handwriting and find a mature, attractive and individual style. It is specifically written for adults and uses self-diagnosis to identify problems and provides exercises for improving your script. In a digital age where writing by hand remains a vital skill, this book covers everything from holding a pen and retraining bad habits, to the difficulties that left handers face and problems that may be caused by medical conditions. It shows how to write quickly and clearly when desired, and beautifully when desired.Experiment with the way you write and choose the style that suits you best, enabling you to write quickly andTrade Review"This book helped me to easily diagnose what went wrong and how to set about improving my writing" * Tanya - Amazon reviewer *Table of Contents : Part one: Handwriting problems : 1. Self-diagnosis : 2. More about self-diagnosis : 3. Practical matters : 4. Help for left-handers : 5. More serious problems : Part two: How to put things right : 6. Regaining control : 7. Rhythm and texture : 8. A training model : 9. Joining up : 10. Personal modifications : 11. Capital letters : Part three: Before and after : Part four: Finishing touches : 12. Layout : 13. A more formal model
£10.44
Tuttle Publishing Survival Vietnamese
£7.20
Tuttle Publishing Farsi Persian for Beginners
Book SynopsisPerfect for self-studiers or traditional students, this Farsi language book takes a user-friendly approach.Trade Review"Farsi for Beginners is a solid language learning coursebook with dialogues included together with the audio, and learners are directed through the various units and encouraged to do exercises in order to make them familiar with basic conversational skills in Farsi…it is truly worth keeping a copy of Farsi for Beginners in your bookshelf!" --Mehr News Agency
£14.39
Tuttle Publishing Conversational Japanese
£12.00
Tuttle Publishing Learn Japanese with Manga Volume Two: A
Book SynopsisLearn to speak, read and write Japanese quickly using manga comics strips!If you enjoy manga, you'll love learning Japanese with this book. The language lessons are interspersed with entertaining manga comic strips that make it easy to learn and remember all the key vocabulary and grammar. The plot picks up where Learn Japanese with Manga Volume 1 left off — following Nuria, a journalist who is sent to Tokyo to research a news story, where she keeps encountering a mysterious "shadow" or kage. Use your knowledge of hiragana and katakana from Volume 1 to help you decipher hundreds of new kanji vocabulary — without romanizations! Learn to form complex sentences, with relative clauses, honorific forms and more! Learn hundreds of useful words and phrases — from how to order food in a restaurant to dealing with unexpected events and emergencies Five manga episodes are woven throughout the book, reinforcing your language skills A bidirectional dictionary and answer keys for all the exercises are included! Learn Japanese with Manga is designed for self-study by adult learners, but is also suitable for classroom use. Audio recordings by Japanese native speakers are available for free online to help you improve your pronunciation and listening skills. With a focus on the casual speech used by young people in Japan today, you'll find yourself speaking and writing Japanese before you know it!
£13.49
Tuttle Publishing Learning Korean
Book SynopsisLearn to speak, read, and write Koreanwith manga illustrations!A complete language guide for beginners, Learning Korean is your gateway to learning the basics of the Korean language, allowing you to engage in practical daily conversations and build your vocabulary for effective communication. Whether you're a self-study enthusiast or participating in a beginner-level class, this guide equips you with the essential skills to start conversing in Korean right away. Key features include:11 Beginner-Friendly Lessons: 11 thoughtfully crafted lessons designed to cater to adult learners taking their first steps in the world of Korean languageDaily Conversations: Learn basic sentence patterns and essential vocabulary that are commonly used in everyday interactions. This practical approach ensures that you can start communicating effectively from the very beginningManga Art: Illustrations throughout each lesson demonstrate the daily dialogues and common experiences in Korea, and help make lear
£12.59
Tuttle Publishing Japanese Hiragana & Katakana for Beginners: First
Book SynopsisA complete introduction to written Japanese — start here with zero knowledge and finish feeling confident!This introduction to the Japanese writing system teaches you to read and write the fundamental 92 hiragana and katakana characters—and makes learning fun and easy with a memorable picture-based method!The method that's helped thousands learn Japanese successfully: Memorable pictures help you to learn the characters by associating their shapes and sounds with combinations of images and English words already familiar to you Clear examples and engaging exercises offer opportunities to read, write, use and practice all 92 primary hiragana katakana characters, plus the remaining kana that stand for more complex sounds Polish your knowledge with word searches, crossword puzzles, fill-in-the-blanks, timed recognition quizzes, and other engaging activities The online media includes printable flashcards to help you review and practice, even while you are on the go All media content is alternatively accessible on the Tuttle Publishing websiteTrade Review"As a whole I find this book to be a useful tool to learning the characters of both writing systems. I especially like the vocabulary usage at the bottom of each characters page…If you are looking for a book to get you started with Japanese I think this is a good place to start." --BenLearnsJapanese.com blog
£14.02
British Museum Press Runes
Book SynopsisRunes employ many techniques from informal scratchings to sophisticated inlaid designs on weapons, or the exquisite relief carvings of the Franks Casket. This book tells the story of runes from their mysterious origins, their development as a script, to their use and meaning in the modern world.
£9.99
Tuttle Publishing The Complete Guide to Japanese Kanji: (JLPT All
Book SynopsisLearn over 2,000 Japanese Kanji characters with this user-friendly Japanese language-learning book.This unique Kanji study guide provides a comprehensive introduction to all the Kanji characters on the Japanese Ministry of Education's official Joyo ("General Use") list—providing detailed notes on the historical development of each character as well as all information needed by students to read and write them. As fascinating as it is useful, this is the book every Japanese language learners keeps on his or her desk and visits over and over. This Kanji book includes: Clear, large-sized entries All of the General Use Joyo Kanji Characters Japanese readings and English meanings Stroke-count Stroke order Usage examples Mnemonic hints for easy memorization The components which make up each character are detailed, and the Kanji are graded in difficulty according to Ministry of Education guidelines, allowing students to prioritize the order in which the Kanji are learned and track their progress. This book is essential to anyone who is planning to take the official Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) and will appeal to beginning students as well as those who wish to attain higher-level mastery of the Japanese language. It is the only book that also provides historical and etymological information about the Japanese Kanji. This latest edition has been updated to include all of the 2,136 Kanji on the expanded Joyo list issued by the Japanese government in 2010. Many entries have been revised to include the most recent research on character etymologies.Trade Review"This book is nothing less than an etymological kanji dictionary of all 2000+ joyo (everyday use) kanji! For each kanji character, it presents its history in brief, references it to associated characters, tells its story of how it has evolved into its current form, and also its readings (both kun and on readings) and three example words/compound words written using the character. Of all the Japanese learning-related books I own, this one is by far the one I've gotten the most out of. I heartily recommend this one! --Squidoo language learning"…I use it every single day and have done so for almost a year now. It is the most brilliant reference book ever for learning kanji. I use this in conjunction with a phone app for Android, Obenkyo. I use the app to learn how to write each kanji and to study them. I consult this book daily to learn the Why of each kanji, and to figure out how to remember them. There is a story to each kanji--and when you know the story it is much easier to remember each kanji. To find a kanji, you look it up by the readings in the back. If you get one book to learn kanji, this is the one you should get." --Goodreads
£21.24
Amber Books Ltd Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs Illustrated: A
Book SynopsisThe Ancient Egyptians used a hieroglyphic writing system that still resonates today for its graphic representation of things, people, pharaohs and concepts. These hieroglyphics were discovered by adventurers and archeologists in temples, tombs and on papyrus documents, telling of the everyday life, religion and history of this 5,000-year-old civilization. Some of the symbols were simple but represented something with a wider significance, such as the eye of Horus; other logographs might represent an animal, such as a snake, elephant or lion; while others, such as the Ba symbol of a bird with a human head, represented the human soul with the ability to travel to the afterlife using wings. The language grew and over time came to represent every facet of Ancient Egyptian life. This book allows the reader to piece together and read the symbols, to understand their meanings and use, and examines what they have taught the world about this most influential of early civilizations. In Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs Illustrated, we learn more of the story of this rich ancient language and its development over thousands of years, and the story of their decipherment after the discovery of the Rosetta Stone. The book explores the key logograms for popular concepts such as ‘sun’, ‘house’ and ‘mountain’, as well as more complex ideas such as Ajet, or ‘sun rising over mountains’; marvel at Tutankhamun’s full name as marked on his tomb, which is portrayed using a reed, a wave of water, a falcon, an ankh symbol, and a series of staffs; learn about the two outstretched arms of the Ka symbol, which represents the mortal life and soul of a person. Each of the graphically illustrated entries is accompanied by a description of the written form and an explanation of its meaning. Presented in a high-quality Chinese-bound format with accompanying illustrations, Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs Illustrated provides a compact, easy-to-understand introduction to the writing system of Ancient Egypt.Table of ContentsSelected Contents: History of Language Scribe and Society Hieroglyphic alphabet Sign of the Times Reading the SymbolsLife and Land Sistrum, Bee Lotus, Tree of LifeReligion and Ritual Shen Ring, Menat, Winged Solar Disk, Djed ColumnPharaohs and Power Uraeus, Hedjet Crown, Crook & Flail, ObeliskRoyal Cartouches Khufu, Tuthmose I, Hatsepshut, Tutankhamun, Alexander, CleopatraGods and Myths Eye of Horus, Eye of Ra, Osiris, Ankh, Tyet, ShuAfterlife Seba, Ba, Duat, Ka, Mummy, IbKey Discoveries Narmer Palette, Abydos Kings List, Book of the DeadSelected Letters A – Vulture, B – Foot, D – Hand, F – Horned Viper, H – Twisted Flax, M – Owl, N – Ripple, T – Loaf of Bread, Z or S – Door bolt
£23.99
Quercus Publishing An Atlas of Endangered Alphabets
Book SynopsisA global exploration of the many writing systems that are on the verge of vanishing, and the stories and cultures they carry with them.If something is important, we write it down. Yet 85% of the world''s writing systems are on the verge of vanishing - not granted official status, not taught in schools, discouraged and dismissed.When a culture is forced to abandon its traditional script, everything it has written for hundreds of years - sacred texts, poems, personal correspondence, legal documents, the collective experience, wisdom and identity of a people - is lost.This Atlas is about those writing systems, and the people who are trying to save them. From the ancient holy alphabets of the Middle East, now used only by tiny sects, to newly created African alphabets designed to keep cultural traditions alive in the twenty-first century: from a Sudanese script based on the ownership marks traditionally branded into camels, to a secret system used in one c
£24.00
Tuttle Publishing Arabic for Beginners
Book Synopsis
£14.39
Pan Macmillan A Place For Everything: The Curious History of
Book Synopsis'A delightfully quirky sturdy . . . [Flanders] is a meticulour historian with a taste for the offbeat; the story of the alphabet suits her well . . . Fascinating.' Sunday TimesOnce we've learned it as children, few of us think much of the alphabet and its familiar sing-song order. And yet the order of the alphabet continues to play a major role in our adult lives. From school registers to electoral rolls, from dictionaries and encyclopaedias to library shelves, our lives have been ordered from A to Z. Long before Google searches, this magical system of organization gave us the ability to sort through centuries of thought, knowledge and literature, allowing us to sift, file, and find the information we have, and to locate the information we need.In A Place for Everything, acclaimed historian Judith Flanders fascinatingly lays out the gradual triumph of alphabetical order, from its use as a sorting tool in the Great Library of Alexandria to its current decline in prominence in the digital age. Along the way, the reader encounters a wonderful cast of characters,from the great collector Robert Cotton, who catalogued his manuscripts by the names of the busts of the Roman emperors surmounting his book cases, to the unassuming sixteenth-century London bookseller who ushered in a revolution by listing his authors by 'sirname' first.'One of the many fascinations of Judith Flanders' book is that it reveals what a weird, unlikely creation the alphabet is.' GuardianTrade ReviewMarvellous . . . I read it with astonished delight . . . It is equally scholarly and entertaining. -- Jan MorrisQuirky and compelling . . . She is a meticulous historian with a taste for the offbeat; the story of the alphabet suits her well . . . Fascinating. -- Dan Jones * Sunday Times *A library and academic essential. -- Libby Purves * The Times *One of the many fascinations of Judith Flanders’s book is that it reveals what a weird, unlikely creation the alphabet is. -- Joe Moran * Guardian *Judith Flanders’s A Place for Everything presents itself as a history of alphabetical order, but in fact it is more than that. Rather, as the title suggests, it offers something like a general history of the various ways humans have sorted and filed the world around them – a Collison –level view of the matter, in which alphabetical order is just one system among many.’ -- Dennis Duncan * The Spectator *Judith Flanders has a knack for making odd subjects accessible . . . In A Place for Everything, the popular historian paints alphabetisation as one of our most radical acts. . . Flanders retains a sense of fun . . . finds contemporary resonance in humanity's search for order. * i *Praise for Judith Flanders' previous book, Christmas: A Biography: 'A catalogue of colourful information, and as surprising an assortment of items as any you might find heaped up under a tree.' -- Lucy Hughes-Hallett * Observer *A well-researched account. There are more footnotes here than there are presents under a Rockefeller Christmas tree. Indeed, the book is stuffed with facts – enough to satiate even the most ravenous postprandial taste for quizzing. * Sunday Times *[An] entertaining biography . . . Following the fine tradition of light entertainment Christmas books, Judith Flanders provides lots of trivia . . . However, there is much more to it than that. Flanders is a respected social historian, best known for studies on Victorian life, and the strength of this warm book lies in its quiet erudition. * The Times *Judith Flanders . . . likes Christmas (I think), but she loves reality and its awkward, amusing facts. (A previous book of hers, Inside the Victorian Home, is deep, bright and encompassing.) * New York Times *The non-fiction I most enjoyed . . . an excellent subject, carried out with exemplary care and authority. -- Philip Hensher * Spectator *
£13.21
Tuttle Publishing Reading and Writing Japanese Hiragana: A
Book SynopsisThis book provides a complete course for beginning students who want to master the first step in learning to read and write Japanese!With plentiful writing and reading practice, this workbook starts with the basic letters and works up to writing words and complete sentences. Divided into two parts, the first part presents the 46 main Hiragana in their full and contracted forms, with extensive writing spaces provided for writing practice. Recognition and pronunciation of the letters are reinforced through writing and listening exercises.In the second half of the book, students can apply their knowledge of Hiragana in a Writing Practice section that contains sentences related to contexts in which Hiragana words are often used, such as greetings, common expressions, place names and transportation. The exercises are graded in difficulty from Writing Drills (from copying to writing from memory) to Dictation Practice (connecting the sounds with the letters) to Writing Exercises (writing answers that fit the situations given).Unique features of this language workbook include: A thorough overview of the Japanese writing system explaining when and how Hiragana is used Handwriting and stroke-order tips Online audio files speed up the process by reinforcing the pronunciation of the letters through a variety of listening and writing exercises Printable flashcards available online for download Mnemonic illustrations for every character The Japanese writing system combines three types of letters: hiragana, katakana, and kanji. Hiragana can be used to spell out the sounds of kanji Chinese character words—and if you don't know the kanji character you can use Hiragana instead (as young children do). It is also used for various grammatical-function words as well as verb and adjective endings.
£9.49
British Museum Press Latin inscriptions
Book SynopsisDirk Booms is a curator of Roman archaeology at the British Museum. He has special interests in Roman architecture, sculpture, glass and inscriptions and is co-author of Roman Empire: Power and People (British Museum Press, 2013).Table of Contents1. Who put up inscriptions and why? • 2. The Latin language and its Latin script • 3. How to read inscriptions • 4. Imagery and inscription • 5. The art of the stone cutters • 6. Inscriptions today
£9.99
Tuttle Publishing Korean Conversations and Debating
Book Synopsis
£13.49
Pan Macmillan A Place For Everything: The Curious History of
Book Synopsis'Marvellous . . . I read it with astonished delight . . . It is equally scholarly and entertaining.' - Jan Morris 'Quirky and compelling.' - The Times Once we've learned it as children, few of us think much of the alphabet and its familiar sing-song order. And yet the order of the alphabet, that simple knowledge that we take for granted, plays a major role in our adult lives. From the school register to the telephone book, from dictionaries and encyclopaedias to library shelves, our lives are ordered from A to Z. Long before Google searches, this magical system of organization gave us the ability to sift through centuries of thought, knowledge and literature, allowing us to sort, to file, and to find the information we have, and to locate the information we need. In A Place for Everything, acclaimed historian Judith Flanders draws our attention to both the neglected ubiquity of the alphabet and the long, complex history of its rise to prominence. For, while the order of the alphabet itself became fixed very soon after letters were first invented, their ability to sort and store and organize proved far less obvious. To many of our forebears, the idea of of organizing things by the random chance of the alphabet rather than by established systems of hierarchy or typology lay somewhere between unthinkable and disrespectful.A Place for Everything fascinatingly lays out the gradual triumph of alphabetical order, from its possible earliest days as a sorting tool in the Great Library of Alexandria in the third century BCE, to its current decline in prominence in our digital age of Wikipedia and Google. Along the way, the reader is enlightened and entertained with a wonderful cast of unknown facts, characters and stories from the great collector Robert Cotton, who denominated his manuscripts with the names of the busts of the Roman emperors surmounting his book cases, to the unassuming sixteenth- century London bookseller who ushered in a revolution by listing his authors by 'sirname' first.Trade ReviewMarvellous . . . I read it with astonished delight . . . It is equally scholarly and entertaining. -- Jan MorrisQuirky and compelling . . . She is a meticulous historian with a taste for the offbeat; the story of the alphabet suits her well . . . Fascinating. -- Dan Jones * Sunday Times *A library and academic essential. -- Libby Purves * The Times *One of the many fascinations of Judith Flanders’s book is that it reveals what a weird, unlikely creation the alphabet is. -- Joe Moran * Guardian *Judith Flanders’s A Place for Everything presents itself as a history of alphabetical order, but in fact it is more than that. Rather, as the title suggests, it offers something like a general history of the various ways humans have sorted and filed the world around them – a Collison –level view of the matter, in which alphabetical order is just one system among many.’ -- Dennis Duncan * The Spectator *Judith Flanders has a knack for making odd subjects accessible . . . In A Place for Everything, the popular historian paints alphabetisation as one of our most radical acts. . . Flanders retains a sense of fun . . . finds contemporary resonance in humanity's search for order. * i *Praise for Judith Flanders' previous book, Christmas: A Biography: 'A catalogue of colourful information, and as surprising an assortment of items as any you might find heaped up under a tree.' -- Lucy Hughes-Hallett * Observer *A well-researched account. There are more footnotes here than there are presents under a Rockefeller Christmas tree. Indeed, the book is stuffed with facts – enough to satiate even the most ravenous postprandial taste for quizzing. * Sunday Times *[An] entertaining biography . . . Following the fine tradition of light entertainment Christmas books, Judith Flanders provides lots of trivia . . . However, there is much more to it than that. Flanders is a respected social historian, best known for studies on Victorian life, and the strength of this warm book lies in its quiet erudition. * The Times *Judith Flanders . . . likes Christmas (I think), but she loves reality and its awkward, amusing facts. (A previous book of hers, Inside the Victorian Home, is deep, bright and encompassing.) * New York Times *The non-fiction I most enjoyed . . . an excellent subject, carried out with exemplary care and authority. -- Philip Hensher * Spectator *
£15.29
Tuttle Publishing Chinese Folktales for Language Learners
Book SynopsisA collection of 15 classic Chinese folk storiespassed down from generation to generationpresented in both Chinese and English. Welcome to the fascinating world of Chinese folklore. The fifteen stories in this book address universal concerns such as the origins of humankind, the impact of wars and natural disasters, the great deeds of cultural heroes, the struggle for dignity and justice for the common man, and the yearnings of the human heart. For readers from around the world, this book is a window to some of the historical and cultural facets of China that remain relevant today. These stories can be enjoyed in English by readers with no knowledge of Chinese, while the bilingual format and vocabulary lists are an added bonus for language students. Each story is given in parallel Chinese and English versions, and is accompanied by a short essay about its historical context, a vocabulary list, discussion questions, and native speaker audio recordings. Enjoy fifteen classic Chinese
£14.39
University of Minnesota Press Asemic: The Art of Writing
Book SynopsisThe first critical study of writing without language In recent years, asemic writing—writing without language—has exploded in popularity, with anthologies, a large-scale art exhibition, and flourishing interest on sites like tumblr, YouTube, Pinterest, and Instagram. Yet this burgeoning, fascinating field has never received a dedicated critical study. Asemic fills that gap, proposing new ways of rethinking the nature of writing.Pioneered in the work of creators such as Henri Michaux, Roland Barthes, and Cy Twombly, asemic writing consolidated as a movement in the 1990s. Author Peter Schwenger first covers these “asemic ancestors” before moving to current practitioners such as Michael Jacobson, Rosaire Appel, and Christopher Skinner, exploring how asemic writing has evolved and gained importance in the contemporary era.Asemic includes intriguing revelations about the relation of asemic writing to Chinese characters, the possibility of asemic writing in nature, and explanations of how we can read without language. Written in a lively style, this book will engage scholars of contemporary art and literary theory, as well as anyone interested in what writing was and what it is now in the process of becoming.Trade Review"How does the noncommunicative communicate? This is the seemingly innocent question Peter Schwenger unpacks. At once storehouse and treatise, Asemic has the clarity of a dictionary entry, its sagacity delivered with deceptive ease, revealing a domain vaster than anyone would have thought: a Copernican marvel."—Jed Rasula, author of History of a Shiver: The Sublime Impudence of Modernism"Asemic is a long-overdue study of poetries that occupy liminal spaces between art, like Twombly's paintings, and recognizable words, like Michaux's poetry. Peter Schwenger offers an extended theory and an introductory survey of contemporary asemic writing by Michael Jacobson, Rosaire Appel, Christopher Skinner, and others. From this book one can learn to read and, by extension, teach a-semiological texts."—Craig Saper, co-editor of Readies for Bob Brown's Machine"This is the first full-length exploration of the history and meaning of asemic writing. Important figures such as Michaux, Twombly, Barthes, Jim Leftwich, and Rosaire Appel are included, as well as examples from Chinese culture. Well-chosen illustrations accompany Peter Schwenger's insightful text. This book is a solid first map of a territory previously unknown to academic study."—Tim Gaze, publisher of Asemic magazine"What emerges in Schwenger’s book is an aesthetics of language, and of reading in par- ticular, that draws attention to how asemic writing lets us dive into the untapped possibilities of incomprehension."—Literary Review of Canada"The Art of Writing,Peter Schwenger’s engaging and groundbreaking book focused on the asemic as a cultural phenomenon and ratified genre of modern and contemporary art."—Art in America"Peter Schwenger offers a history of the practice, linking modern era pioneers like Barthes, Henri Michaux, and Cy Twombly to lesser-known contemporary practitioners Michael Jacobson, Rosaire Appel, and Christopher Skinner. Pulling examples of asemic writing from a diversity of fields—across contemporary art, comics, notation, and even nature—he demonstrates poet Michael Jacobson’s fitting definition of his field: “Without words, asemic writing is able to relate to all words, colors, and even music, irrespective of the author or the reader’s original language.”"—The Brooklyn Rail"Peter Schwenger offers the first book-length academic study of this vibrant field; it is an important and valuable start to the formal study of asemic writing."—Rain Taxi Review of Books"Vital and fateful . . . engagingly international."—CAA Reviews"In a clear and in-depth way, Asemic: the Art of Writing can be seen as a first official notation of that dance, excelling in the ability to bring to a wider audience the intricacies of a subject often seen as a niche of encrypted doodles legible only to a few."—Electric Book Review
£999.99
Tuttle Publishing Essential Thai Phrasebook Dictionary
Book Synopsis
£7.59
The University of Chicago Press Inventing the Alphabet
Book SynopsisTrade Review"[Drucker] provides a rich, detailed account of how western thinkers have understood the origins and development of the alphabet. . . . Millions learn the alphabet in childhood, and Drucker's study opens up a fascinating realm of ideas and scholarship into its origins and meaning." * BBC History Magazine *"In its wealth of detail and generous illustration [Inventing the Alphabet] goes some way toward reproducing the experience of reading the catalogs and compendia it describes." * New York Review of Books *"Drucker takes us on a journey through centuries of intellectual history, from the musings of the first historians to the scientific methods of modern archaeologists and linguists. At the heart of it all is the alphabet: an invention that is both ubiquitously banal and world-changingly innovative." * History Today *"This latest book by Drucker is not primarily a new history of the alphabet, although it provides this history, but a historiographical work that traces the ways beliefs in Western thought shaped the discourse around the alphabet’s origins. The author asks who knew what when and how people conceptualized the evidence available to them, from the earliest classical and biblical accounts to contemporary archaeological, epigraphical, and paleographical syntheses. . . Highly recommended." * Choice *"Johanna Drucker ’s Inventing the Alphabet is all about writing’s material histories." * London Review of Books *"For ill and for good, our world remains profoundly alphabetized, from classroom rosters, to bureaucratic systems, to the labeling of our very genetic essence, even if random access, not ABC order, has become our everyday search mode. As Drucker somewhat shockingly reminds us. . . the ancient analog alphabet forms the substrate of our digital world." * Critical Inquiry *"Stunning. . . . Drucker deserves our full recognition for this masterpiece of bibliographical scholarship." * Publishing Research Quarterly *“With Inventing the Alphabet, Drucker—scholar, interpreter, and designer of printed words and letters—sheds light on that which has brought humankind out of darkness." -- Steven Heller, author, design critic, and cochair of the SVA MFA Design DepartmentTable of ContentsIntroduction 1. When Did the Alphabet Become "Greek"? 2. Divine Gifts: Original Letters, Moses, and the Tablets at Mount Sinai 3. Medieval Copyists: Magical Letters, Mythic Scripts, and Exotic Alphabets 4. The Confusion of Tongues and Compendia of Scripts 5. Antiquity Explained: The Origin and Progress of Letters 6. The Rhetoric of Tables and the Harmony of Alphabets 7. Modern Archaeology: Putting the Evidence of the Alphabet in Place 8. Reading the Early Alphabet: Epigraphy and Paleography 9. Alphabet Effects and the Politics of Script Coda: Alphabetic Agency and Global Hegemony Notes Selected Bibliography Index
£30.40
Tuttle Publishing Thai Picture Dictionary
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£12.59
John Murray Press Alphabetical: How Every Letter Tells a Story
Book SynopsisFrom minding your Ps and Qs to wondering why X should mark the spot, Alphabetical is a book for everyone who loves words and language. Whether it's how letters are arranged on keyboards or Viking runes, textspeak or zip codes, this book will change the way you think about letters for ever. How on Earth did we fix upon our twenty-six letters, what do they really mean, and how did we come to write them down in the first place? Michael Rosen takes you on an unforgettable adventure through the history of the alphabet in twenty-six vivid chapters, fizzing with personal anecdotes and fascinating facts. Starting with the mysterious Phoenicians and how sounds first came to be written down, he races on to show how nonsense poems work, pins down the strange story of OK, traces our seven lost letters and tackles the tyranny of spelling, among many, many other things. His heroes of the alphabet range from Edward Lear to Phyllis Pearsall (the inventor of the A-Z), and from the two scribes of Beowulf to rappers. Each chapter takes on a different subject - codes, umlauts or the writing of dictionaries. Rosen's enthusiasm for letters positively leaps off the page, whether it's the story of his life told through the typewriters he's owned or a chapter on jokes written in a string of gags and word games. So if you ever wondered why Hawaiian only has a thirteen-letter alphabet or how exactly to write down the sound of a wild raspberry, read on . . .Trade Review[Michael Rosen's] beguiling journey through the alphabet will entrance anyone interested in the quirks of language and its history . . . Rosen has written a charming and thought-provoking book about what written language represents, how we use it, and the joys and mysteries therein. His humor and obvious love for his subject are winning elements * Publishers Weekly *Enjoyable history of the alphabet * The Times *Substantial and engaging * Guardian *Forget party crackers - when you settle down to the turkey and trimmings this year simply make sure you have this book to hand. There's even a chapter devoted to family friendly alphabet games: perfect for playing after the Queen's been on. That letters can and should be fun, not just functional, is one of the main messages of this book * Sunday Telegraph *The perfect book for anyone who relishes the intricacies of language and letters . . . [Rosen] reveals a gift for seamlessly meshing hard information, personal anecdote, jokes and puzzles with educational, cultural and linguistic questions and wry, pointed, observations . . . There are delights in this book for all ages * Australian *[Michael Rosen] gives each letter a neat CV . . . enjoyable * The Times *
£10.99
Tuttle Publishing Reading and Writing Japanese Katakana: A
Book SynopsisThis book provides a complete course for beginning students who want to learn the Katakana alphabet!With plentiful writing and reading practice, this workbook starts with the basic letters and works up to writing words and complete sentences. Divided into two parts, the first part presents the 46 main Katakana letters in their full and contracted forms, with extensive writing spaces provided for writing practice. Recognition and pronunciation of the letters are reinforced through writing and listening exercises.In the second half of the book, students can apply their knowledge of Katakana in a Writing Practice section that contains sentences related to contexts in which Katakana words are often used, such as food and drinks, social media and tourism. Exercises are graded in difficulty from Writing Drills (from copying to writing from memory) to Dictation Practice (connecting the sounds with the letters) to Writing Exercises (writing answers that fit the situations given).Features of this language workbook include: A thorough overview of the Japanese writing system, explaining when and how Katakana is used Handwriting and stroke-order tips along with extensive writing practice sheets Online audio recordings speed up the process by reinforcing the pronunciation of the letters through a wide variety of listening and writing exercises Mnemonic illustrations for every character Printable flashcards available online for download The Japanese writing system combines three types of letters: hiragana, katakana, and kanji. Katakana is used for transcription of foreign language words into Japanese; in the writing of loan words; for emphasis; to represent onomatopoeia; for technical and scientific terms; for names of plants, animals, minerals and often Japanese companies.
£9.49
Tuttle Publishing Reading Writing Farsi Persian A Workbook for
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£11.69
Tuttle Publishing Basic Tagalog
Book SynopsisTrade Review"I hope that the new and expanded edition of this book will further encourage both non-Tagalogs and non-Filipinos to speak the Tagalog language better. Only then shall they appreciate the individuality of the language that reflects the resilience and flexibility of Filipinos all around the world." -- Yolanda Canseco Hernandez, author
£15.29
Tuttle Publishing JLPT Study Guide: The Comprehensive Guide to the
Book SynopsisDon't worry—there's no need to stress about JLPT test prep! As the founder of JLPTBootCamp.com—a test prep website with more than 300,000 annual visitors—Clayton MacKnight has helped tens of thousands of students to pass the JLPT N5 exam. Now, he's distilled his study resources and tips into a handy must-have volume for anyone prepping for this important language test.MacKnight's complete study package fully prepares the exam-taker by providing: Clear and simple grammar lessons with sample sentence patterns Printable vocabulary, Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji flash cards Over 300 sample test questions Three printable practice tests (all with answer keys and free online audio recordings for the listening portions) Exam-takers can stop worrying and take the uncertainty out of exam prep because the JPLT Study Guide shows them exactly what to expect—and how to pass the test with flying colors!The Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) is the standardized test taken by everyone who wants to study or work in Japan.Trade Review"Learning a second language can open up the world in many ways… Japanese can be difficult, but it is also mostly phonetic, which is a definite plus, and when you set yourself a measurable goal, you have something to work towards, which is where the JLPT Study Guide comes into play." -- Castle View Academy blog
£13.49
Tuttle Publishing Japanese Kanji and Kana Workbook: A Self-Study
Book SynopsisJapanese Kanji and Kana Workbook offers a modern approach to learning the Japanese writing system, covering all 92 Hiragana & Katakana characters as well as over 600 important Kanji!Offering such a wide range of characters allows students to build a truly solid foundation of the Japanese writing system, and unlike many other available resources Japanese Kanji and Kana Workbook has everything you need in just one book!Presenting all 92 Hiragana and Katakana and 617 high-frequency Kanji characters, this character workbook teaches you how to write the Kanji and Kana neatly and correctly. With guided writing instructions, English meanings, vocabulary, radicals, and ample space for writing practice, this approach has helped thousands of students feel confident in their reading & writing abilities!This valuable Japanese language book also includes an introduction explaining how to begin learning the Japanese writing system and two Kanji indexes—one by radicals, the other by readings. The 617 Kanji characters provided cover all Kanji required to take the AP Japanese Language and Culture Exam and the JLPT levels N5, N4, and N3.Trade Review"Overall, this book can actually teach you a good deal of Japanese in three months … it could come in handy if you're the type of student who simply wants to learn Japanese grammar in a short period of time." -- Language Trainers
£14.39
Tuttle Publishing Learning Japanese Kanji: The 520 Most Essential
Book SynopsisAn enjoyable and effective way to learn Japanese kanji!This useful reference book helps self-study and classroom students remember the meanings and pronunciations of 520 essential kanji. An otherwise daunting task, memorization is made easier with this book—which uses mnemonic techniques based on the psychology of learning and memory. Key principles include the use of visual imagery, the visualization of short "stories," and the systematic building-block approach that shows how more complicated characters are constructed from basic elements.This is a practical guide with a clear, concise, and appealing layout; it is well-indexed with easy look-up methods. The kanji in this volume give you the majority of characters you will encounter in daily life, from newspapers to street signs. It also includes the kanji required for the AP Japanese exam and N4 & N5 JLPT tests.Accompanying online audio provides recordings by native Japanese speakers to perfect your pronunciation.
£15.29
Tuttle Publishing Elementary Mandarin Chinese Workbook
Book SynopsisThis workbook is designed for use with the Elementary Mandarin Chinese Textbook and offers a wealth of carefully-designed practice activities to help you solidify every aspect of your Chinese skills in listening, speaking, reading, and writing. It includes extensive interactive drills, exercises and other practice materials.
£13.49
Oxford University Press CyproMinoan Inscriptions Volume 1 Analysis
a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.
£102.50
British Museum Press Write Your Own Egyptian HieroglyphsNames
Book SynopsisA handy and colourful illustrated guide to reading, writing and understanding ancient Egyptian names, epithets, titles and phrases.Table of Contents1. The importance of names in Ancient Egypt; 2. People and their names: how Egyptian names are written and what they mean; 3. Gods' names and epithets; 4. The animal world: how animal names express the nature of the creature; 5. Secret names and names for posterity; 6. List of useful Egyptian words and phrases.
£8.54
Tuttle Publishing Elementary Mandarin Chinese Textbook
Book SynopsisThe 24 lessons in this book are meant to be used in 3 hours per week of class instruction over one academic year. Students will need another 23 hours of outside practice and review for every hour of class time, using the materials in the accompanying Elementary Mandarin Chinese Workbook .
£21.24
Tuttle Publishing Learning Chinese
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£13.49
Tuttle Publishing The Second 100 Chinese Characters Traditional
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£6.23
John Murray Press Ukrainian Script Hacking
Book SynopsisUsing a unique, tried and tested algorithm, this book teaches you how to quickly and efficiently recognise letters and common words in Ukrainian script. Whether you need to quickly be able to read and understand the words around you, or are preparing to learn Ukrainian and want to master the basics, this is the book for you. In this book you will find: · An introduction to Ukrainian script and the Cyrillic alphabet · Plenty of practice activities to help you recognise each letter of the alphabet · Helpful mnemonics to make you remember the shape of each letter · Accompanying audio files so you know how to pronounce letters and words · Handy tips to help you decipher co
£10.44
John Murray Press Hebrew Script Hacking
Book SynopsisUsing a unique, tried and tested algorithm, this book teaches you how to quickly and efficiently recognise letters and common words in Hebrew script. Whether you''re travelling and want to understand the words around you, or preparing to learn Hebrew and want to master the basics, this is the book for you.In this book you will find: An introduction to Hebrew script Plenty of practice activities to help you recognise each letter of the alphabet Helpful mnemonics to make you remember the shape of each letter Accompanying audio files so you know how to pronounce letters and words Handy tips to help you decipher common and familiar wordsThe audio for this course can be downloaded from the Teach Yourself Library app or streamed at library.teachyourself.com.Rely on Teach Yourself, trusted by language learners for over 80 years.
£10.44
Hodder & Stoughton Signs of Civilisation: How punctuation changed
Book Synopsis'Punctuation is not only an important part of our language code; an advanced system of punctuation has been a driving force in our entire Western Civilisation. Nothing less.'With the invention of printing, reading books moved from being an act only performed by priests and aristocrats into an individual, even private, activity. This change helped spark the Renaissance, the Reformation, the Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution - in which punctuation played a crucial role. As long as texts were read out loud only by an educated elite there was no need for punctuation to mark pauses, full stops or questions.So punctuation - the full stop, the comma, the exclamation mark, the question mark and the semicolon - helped shape modern-day Europe as we know it.
£8.99
Oxbow Books The Social and Cultural Contexts of Historic
Book SynopsisWriting is not just a set of systems for transcribing language and communicating meaning, but an important element of human practice, deeply embedded in the cultures where it is present and fundamentally interconnected with all other aspects of human life. The Social and Cultural Contexts of Historic Writing Practices explores these relationships in a number of different cultural contexts and from a range of disciplinary perspectives, including archaeological, anthropological and linguistic. It offers new ways of approaching the study of writing and integrating it into wider debates and discussions about culture, history and archaeology.Table of ContentsList of contributors Acknowledgements Abbreviations 1. Introduction: writing practices in socio-cultural context Philip J. Boyes, Philippa M. Steele and Natalia Elvira Astoreca 2. Towards a social archaeology of writing practices Philip J. Boyes 3. The lives of inscribed commemorative objects: the transformation of private personal memory in Mesopotamian temple contexts Nancy Highcock 4. A cognitive archaeology of writing: concepts, models, goals Karenleigh A. Overmann 5. The materiality of the Cretan Hieroglyphic script: textile production-related referents to hieroglyphic signs on seals and sealings from Middle Bronze Age Crete Marie-Louise Nosch and Agata Ulanowska 6. Visual dimensions of Maya hieroglyphic writing: meanings beyond the surface Christian M. Prager 7. Visibility of runic writing and its relation to Viking Age Society Sophie Heier 8. Words beyond writings: how to decrypt the secret writings of the masters of psalmody (Yunnan, China)? Aurélie NévotContents 9. A script ‘good to drink’. The invention of writing systems among the Sora and other tribes of India Cécile Guillaume-Pey 10. Why did people in medieval Java use so many different script variants? A.J. West 11. Cultures of writing: rethinking the ‘spread’ and ‘development’ of writing systems in the Bronze Age Mediterranean Theodore Nash 12. Script, image and culture in the Maya world: a southeastern perspective Kathryn M. Hudson and John S. Henderson 13. Writing and elite status in the Bronze Age Aegean Sarah Finlayson 14. Why με? Personhood and agency in the earliest Greek inscriptions (800–550 BCE) James Whitley 15. Names and authorship in the beginnings of Greek alphabetic writing Natalia Elvira Astoreca 16. Marking identity through graphemes? A new look at the Sikel arrow-shaped alpha Olga Tribulato and Valentina Mignosa Bibliography
£49.50
Oxbow Books Writing Around the Ancient Mediterranean:
Book SynopsisWriting in the ancient Mediterranean existed against a backdrop of very high levels of interaction and contact. In the societies around its shores, writing was a dynamic practice that could serve many purposes – from a tool used by elites to control resources and establish their power bases to a symbol of local identity and a means of conveying complex information and ideas.This volume brings together contributions by members of the Contexts of and Relations between Early Writing Systems (CREWS) research team and visiting fellows, offering a range of different perspectives and approaches to problems of writing in the ancient Mediterranean. Their focus is on practices, viewing writing as something that people do within a wider social and cultural context, and on adaptations, considering the ways in which writing changed and was changed by the people using it.Trade Review[T]his volume, as a contribution to the research output of the CREWS project, encapsulates how the research of the CREWS core team and wider family has revolved around questions of the contexts and relatedness of writing systems and traditions * New Testament Abstracts *Table of ContentsApproaches to writing in the ancient Mediterranean and Near East Philippa M. Steele Relations between script, writing material and layout: the case of the Anatolian Hieroglyphs Willemijn Waal Word division in Sicilian inscriptions Robert Crellin What is an Alphabet good for? Csaba La’da Measuring particularity and similarity in archaic Greek alphabets with NLP Natalia Elvira Astoreca Borrowing, invention, remodelling: Observations on the rare letters of the Phrygian alphabet and the problem of formation of Anatolian alphabets Rostislav Oreshko Cypro-Minoan and its potmarks and vessel inscriptions as challenges to Aegean Scripts corpora Cassandra Donnelly Ductus in Cypro-Minoan writing. Definition, purpose and distribution of stroke types Martina Polig The introduction of the Greek alphabet in Cyprus, a case study in material culture Beatrice Pestarino The death of alphabets at the end of the Bronze Age. How does the Deir ‘Alla alphabet fit the picture? Michel de Vreeze Early Egyptian writing from the perspective of the embodied practitioner Kathryn Piquette The magic of writing Philip J. Boyes
£45.00
Tuttle Publishing Japanese Made Easy: A situation-based guide
Book SynopsisJapanese Made Easy is a complete self-study guide that allows readers to begin using simple, everyday Japanese vocabulary and sentences from the first day!This handy resource features: Practical exercises to teach you the 30 most common Japanese sentence patterns Notes on the key points of Japanese grammar, sentence structure and vocabulary A detailed glossary of Japanese words and an index of vocabulary and grammar Sentences for everyday social situations encountered by visitors to Japan In this completely revised edition, vocabulary and sentences are shown in Japanese script, as well as romanized Japanese and English. This book includes many new dialogues, cultural notes, illustrations and updated vocabulary.
£11.69
