Johannes Gutenberg and the Shadow of Bi Sheng

How Language Developed. Why Writing Developed in China - and Printing in Europe. And Whether That Can Tell Us Anything for the Future.
1. Auflage 2023
ISBN: 978-3-658-42864-8
Verlag: Springer

Buch, Englisch, 124 Seiten, Format (B × H): 148 mm x 210 mm, Gewicht: 182 g

Without language, not much else would exist: no writing, no computer – as a matter of fact, no technical or medical progress that make our lives less painful, and easier indeed; but also not some horrors that characterize our world. In fact, language is what defines humans and distinguishes them from other living beings – and is the basis of all other developments. How is it possible that something as complex and fascinating as 'language' has come into being at all? How does language 'work'? And how did it develop? What is common to all languages – and why are there so many? Further questions are how man began to write, and how printing developed – in which languages? Why not in any language? And does this teach us anything for further developments? In trying to answer these and other questions, we experience an exciting history of scientific research.

Zielgruppe

Research

Autoren/Hrsg.

Giessen, Hans

Giessen, Hans W.

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Sprachwissenschaft Einzelne Sprachen & Sprachfamilien
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Europäische Geschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Sprachwissenschaft Historische & Vergleichende Sprachwissenschaft, Sprachtypologie
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Asiatische Geschichte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction.- Children from the wild, children without language.- Pidgin and Creole.- Preconditions and Self Organization.- I, Robot.- To Hear and to Speak.- To Speak and to Think.- Hunters and Gatherers.- The Languages of Hunter-Gatherers.- The Neolithic Revolution.- Hierarchies.- Pictography.- The Rebus Principle.- Syllabary.- Finally: the Alphabet.- Where printing was invented.- The Shadow of Bi Sheng: Seal, Paper, Ink – and the Press.- Johannes Gutenberg.- Current Developments.- A final thought.- References.- Figures.

Über Autor(innen)

Hans Giessenis a double habilitated professor and affiliated with the University of Helsinki (Finland), Jan Kochanowski University in Kielce (Poland), and Saarland University in Saarbrücken (Germany). He was knighted, as a Chevalier de l’Ordre national du Mérite, by the French president. His works have been translated into several languages.