Encyclopedia of World Writing Systems: Alphabets, Abjads, Abugidas, and Syllabaries of All Languages Living and Dead

by Daniel Dinkelman

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF WORLD WRITING SYSTEMSAlphabets, Abjads, Abugidas, and Syllabaries of All Languages Living and Dead

---
Over 100 Writing Systems Within
in a 500-Page Encyclopedia

The Encyclopedia of World Writing Systems is a complete guide to the diverse writing systems used throughout history and across the globe. This book is an essential resource for language enthusiasts, linguists, travelers, and anyone interested in understanding and deciphering the world's scripts. Covering over 100 writing systems, from ancient to modern times, this encyclopedia provides detailed information on each script's origin, development, and cultural significance. It includes descriptions of the scripts' glyphs, their phonetic values, and sample words in the languages they represent. With its extensive coverage and practical approach, this book is an indispensable tool for navigating the complex world of writing systems.

Scripts Adlam

Arabic

Armenian

Avestan

Balinese

Bamum

Bangla (Bengali)

Batak

Baybayin

Berber (Tifinagh)

Buginese (Lontara)

Buhid

Burmese

Canadian Aboriginal Syllabics

Carian

Caucasian Albanian

Cham

Cherokee

Chinese

Coptic

Cypriot Syllabary

Cyrillic

Deseret

Devanagari

Egyptian Hieroglyphs

Elbasan

Ethiopic (Ge’ez)

Georgian (Mkhedruli, Nuskhuri, Asomtavruli)

Gothic

Grantha

Greek

Gujarati

Gurmukhi

Hangul (Korean)

Hanunó'o

Hebrew

Inscriptional Pahlavi

Inscriptional Parthian

Japanese (Hiragana)

Japanese (Kanji)

Japanese (Katakana)

Japanese (Romaji)

Javanese

Kannada

Kayah Li

Kharoshthi

Khmer

Khojki

Khudawadi

Lao

Latin

Lepcha

Limbu

Linear B Ideograms

Linear B Syllabary

Lisu

Lycian

Lydian

Makasar

Malayalam

Mandaic

Marchen

Meitei Mayek

Mende Kikakui

Meroitic Hieroglyphs

Meroitic Cursive

Modi

Mongolian

Mro

N’Ko

Newa (Pracalit)

Odia (Oriya)

Ogham

Ol Chiki (Santali)

Old Hungarian

Old Italic

Old North Arabian

Old Permic

Old Persian

Old South Arabian

Old Turkic

Orkhon

Osage

Osmanya

Pahawh Hmong

Pau Cin Hau

Phoenician

Psalter Pahlavi

Rejang

Rohingya Hanifi

Runic

Samaritan

Saurashtra

Shavian

Siddham

Sinhala

Sundanese

Sylheti Nagari

Syriac

Tagbanwa

Tai Ahom

Tai Le

Tai Lue (New Tai Lue)

Tai Tham

Tai Viet

Takri

Tamil

Telugu

Thaana

Thai

Tibetan

Tirhuta (Maithili)

Ugaritic

Uighur

Vai

Warang Citi

Yi


---
Use this guide to decode letters and symbols of all these over 100 writing systems and find their pronunciations.IdentifyDecodePronounce
Thank you for checking out this book!

500 pages, Paperback

Published June 17, 2024

Reviews

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reference for writing systems around the world and across time

This book covers over 100 writing systems, placing them within their culture and describing their letters and pronunciations, and providing a few examples of words. It’s pretty fascinating from an intellectual perspective, but it is very dense. It’s interesting to learn about all these systems, and since some of them are still in use, you can use them more immediately. Others are an academic exercise, but still pretty neat to read about. It’s very much a reference rather than a narrative, so you can skip around to the languages you want to learn more about; it might be fun to take this book to a museum and see what you can interpret yourself in the artifacts there.

[Alex Galvan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Kindle version is useless

In the Kindle version, various writing systems failed to print, either partially or completely, such one finds oneself in the absurd situation of looking at a bunch of little vertical rectangles in the place where writing symbols should be. We are left to imagine what on earth is being described. Except we pay for this. Personally, I am perfectly able to not know the shape of something I’ve never heard of before. I don’t need to pay for a book to tell me that. Do NOT purchase the Kindle version under any circumstances!

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

It doesn’t cover all languages and alphabets, but it does cover very many. I wish it showed alternate appearances of letters, such as when it looks different when in initial or middle or final position, or when the capital letter doesn’t look like a lower-case letter. I wish it showed earlier forms and how they progressed. But, I have often wished for a compilation of different alphabets in one place and hadn’t made my own yet - at least not this complete - so I appreciate it and am very glad to have it.

[deLancey · Rating 5 out of 5]

one of most amazing books I’ve ever known!

bravo to David Dinkelman for compiling this astonishing volume of world writing systems. I’m quite well educated & have never heard of a great many of the included languages. not only does he include extensive samples (given how very many varieties are included), he also outlines a history of each as well as whether it is endangered & what steps are being taken to preserve. each one

[R. Cobb · Rating 4 out of 5]

A comprehensive and fascinating exploration of over 100 writing systems

If you're into this kinda thing, this book is a must-read for linguistics enthusiasts and scholars. Its detailed examples and insightful explanations make it an invaluable resource.

[Ankith Hardageri · Rating 5 out of 5]

All Languages

If you are looking for the inner mechanics of all the different languages across the world, this book has got you covered. Love the detail and the variety.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good informative overview of the world's writing systems, both extant and extinct.