Register for a CSMC lecture

Tuesday, 29 October 2024, 10:15 am – 12:00 pm CET

Warburgstraße 26, 20354 Hamburg, room 0001 (pavilion)

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Why No Alphabet in East Asia?   

William G. Boltz (University of Washington)

Based on the prima facie evidence of the modern literate world, the alphabet would seem to be both the simplest and most straightforward way to reduce speech to writing, and therefore the natural ‘default’ recourse in that regard. And yet, with the specific exception of Korean han’gul, this ‘natural’ glottographic phenomenon did not arise in East Asia. Asking, and attempting to answer, the question ‘why?’ or ‘why not?’ involves both linguistic and cultural aesthetic considerations, which we will explore in this talk.

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