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- Volume 2, Issue, 1999
Written Language & Literacy - Volume 2, Issue 1, 1999
Volume 2, Issue 1, 1999
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Strategies for Representing Tone in African Writing Systems
Author(s): Steven Birdpp.: 1–44 (44)More LessTone languages provide some interesting challenges for the designers of new orthographies. One approach is to omit tone marks, just as stress is not marked in English (zero marking). Another approach is to do phonemic tone analysis, and then make heavy use of diacritic symbols to distinguish the "tonemes" (shallow marking). While orthographies based on either system have been successful, this may be thanks to our ability to manage inadequate orthographies, rather than to any intrinsic advantage which is afforded by one or the other approach. In many cases, practical experience with both kinds of orthography in sub-Saharan Africa has shown that people have not been able to attain the level of reading and writing fluency that we know to be possible for the orthographies of non-tonal languages. In some cases this can be attributed to a socio linguistic setting which does not favour vernacular literacy. In other cases, the orthography itself may be to blame. If the orthography of a tone language is difficult to use or to learn, then a good part of the reason may be that the designer either has not paid enough attention to the FUNCTION of tone in the language, or has not ensured that the information encoded in the orthography is ACCESSIBLE to the ordinary (non-linguist) user of the language. If the writing of tone is not going to continue to be a stumbling block to literacy efforts, then a fresh approach to tone orthography is required — one which assigns high priority to these two factors.This article describes the problems with orthographies that use too few or too many tone marks, and critically evaluates a wide range of creative intermediate solutions. I review the contributions made by phonology and reading theory, and provide some broad methodological principles to guide those who are seeking to represent tone in a writing system. The tone orthographies of several languages from sub-Saharan Africa are presented throughout the article, with particular emphasis on some tone languages of Cameroon.
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A Matter of Typology: Alphasyllabaries and Abugidas
Author(s): William Brightpp.: 45–55 (11)More LessThe typology of writing systems includes such well known categories as the alphabet (e.g. that of English), the syllabary (e.g. Japanese kana), and the logosyllabary (such as Chinese characters). An additional type, exemplified by writing systems of India and Ethiopia, shows features of both the alphabet and the syllabary; it has sometimes been called an alphasyllabary, sometimes an abugida (borrowing an Ethiopic term). These terms can be distinguished in several Asian writing systems, depending on whether priority is given to the presence of an inherent vowel or to the graphic arrangement of symbols.
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Some Semitic Phonological Considerations on the Sibilants of the Greek Alphabet
Author(s): Peter T. Danielspp.: 57–61 (5)More LessA recent reinterpretation of the phonetics of the sibilant phonemes in Semitic makes it unnecessary to hunt for "explanations" of the apparent failure of Greek sibilant letters to correspond in value with their Phoenician counterparts.
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Register Aspects of Literacy in Spanish
Author(s): John Gibbonspp.: 63–88 (26)More LessSpanish academic register is here explored in terms of M. A. K. Halliday's concepts of Mode, Field, and Tenor. It is found that striking differences between everyday Spanish and academic Spanish are related to the intrinsic nature of literacy and to academic uses of language. Important aspects of these differences are explored, and consequences for minority language maintenance are discussed.
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Myths of Illiteracy: Childhood Memories of Reading in London's East End
Author(s): Eve Gregorypp.: 89–111 (23)More LessIn late 20th century Britain, a paradigm of early literacy prevails within which the home "story-reading" experience — providing "enjoyment", "pleasure, " or "fun" to parent and child — is seen as an essential prerequisite for later school success. When children's reading expeňences do not fall within this paradigm, their knowledge about literacy remains invisible in the classroom. However, the findings in this paper belie the popular image that equates economic poverty with low literacy interests and achievement. The paper shows that, throughout the 20th century, the East London neighbourhood of Spitalfields has maintained a rich literacy on family and community levels. It argues that these literacy activities, although unrecognised by the school, act as important supports for the achievement of school literacy. The paper thus contributes to the theoretical debate on the role played by "unofficial" home and community literacy practices on children's reading development in school.
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Literacy and Children's Conception of Words
Author(s): Bruce Homer and David R. Olsonpp.: 113–140 (28)More LessChildren's development of metalinguistic awareness has typically been portrayed as a product of more general development processes, or else as a natural consequence of speaking a language. In contrast, we suggest that, at least for certain properties of speech, literacy plays an essential role in the development of metalinguistic awareness by providing a model of the linguistic categories which are used to reflect on spoken language. This hypothesis was tested in two studies that examined the development of children's understanding of the concept of WORD. The first study investigated young children's understanding of the representational nature of writing. It was found that, even before they are functionally literate, children understand that writing represents the spoken word. The second study investigated the relationship of this early understanding of literacy to children's metalinguistic concept of word. It was found that children's understanding of word as a unit of speech was predicted by their awareness of word as a piece of written text. The results are discussed in relation to the MODEL hypothesis of literacy (Olson 1994), and are related to previous findings on children's metalinguistic understanding.
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Commentary: An Orthography on Trial in Belarus
Author(s): Jan Maksymiukpp.: 141–144 (4)More LessEDITORIAL NOTE: Belarusian, a Slavic language, is the distinctive tongue of the Republic of Belarus, formerly a part of the USSR. It is written in a version of the Cyrillic alphabet, fast standardized around 1906; this version is referred to below as the "traditional orthography. " A revised standard, bringing Belarusian script closer to that of Russian, was promulgated under the Soviet regime in 1933. As the following report explains, a recent attempt to revive the earlier system has recently met with official disapproval.This report was made available on the Internet by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Prague, Czech Republic, in RFE/RL Newsline vol. 2, no. 152, part II, 10 August 1998, with the title "A language on trial"; it is printed here by permission. Copyright © 1998 RFE/RL, Inc. All rights reserved. The report was drawn to the editor's attention by Luisa Maffi of Northwestern University. The "Postscript" at the end was made available by Jan Maksymiuk.
Volumes & issues
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Volume 26 (2023)
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Volume 25 (2022)
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Volume 24 (2021)
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Volume 23 (2020)
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Volume 22 (2019)
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Volume 21 (2018)
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Volume 20 (2017)
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Volume 19 (2016)
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Volume 18 (2015)
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Volume 17 (2014)
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Volume 16 (2013)
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Volume 15 (2012)
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Volume 14 (2011)
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Volume 13 (2010)
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Volume 12 (2009)
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Volume 11 (2008)
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Volume 10 (2007)
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Volume 9 (2006)
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Volume 8 (2005)
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Volume 7 (2004)
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Volume 6 (2003)
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Volume 5 (2002)
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Volume 4 (2001)
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Volume 3 (2000)
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Volume 2 (1999)
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Volume 1 (1998)
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