The Writing Revolution: Cuneiform to the Internet

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Amalia E. Gnanadesikan (University of Maryland Center for Advanced Study of Language)

The Writing Revolution

Cuneiform to the Internet

Amalia E. Gnanadesikan (University of Maryland Center for Advanced Study of Language)

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Paperback

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English

Wiley-Blackwell
31 July 2025

Historical & comparative linguistics

Series: The Language Library

Now in its second edition, The Writing Revolution takes readers on a journey through the origins, historical development, adaptations, linguistic properties, cultural context, and social impact of the world’s major written traditions. Demonstrating how the creation of writing transcended the limitations of human memory and made the modern world possible, linguist Amalia E. Gnanadesikan offers an engaging, easy-to-read historical narrative of written language that covers everything from the earliest proto-cuneiform tablet to the latest AI-generated text.

Concise chapters describe how different writing systems originated, how they evolved over time, and how they represent the thoughts and sounds expressed in spoken language. Throughout the book, Gnanadesikan interweaves ideas from cultural studies, archaeology, linguistics, literature, anthropology, and information science—complemented by illustrative examples of Egyptian hieroglyphs, Japanese syllabaries, Chinese characters, New World writing systems, the Roman alphabet, and many others.

Featuring new and expanded coverage of the Digital Age, including Unicode, the internet, emojis, and generative AI, The Writing Revolution: Cuneiform to the Internet is essential reading for students of writing systems, linguistics, information science, and intellectual history, as well as general readers with an interest in the remarkable history of written language.

By: Amalia E. Gnanadesikan (University of Maryland Center for Advanced Study of Language)
Imprint: Wiley-Blackwell
Country of Publication: United States
Edition: 2nd edition
Dimensions: Height: 224mm, Width: 150mm, Spine: 25mm
Weight: 544g
ISBN: 9781394218196
ISBN 10: 1394218192
Series: The Language Library
Pages: 400
Publication Date: 31 July 2025
Audience: College/higher education , Primary
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

AMALIA E. GNANADESIKAN served as the Technical Director for Language Analysis at the University of Maryland Center for Advanced Study of Language. Now retired, she has taught writing, linguistics, and writing systems at the University of Maryland, West Chester University, and Rutgers University. Her linguistics publications include works in writing systems, phonology, and language description. She is the author of Dhivehi: The Language of the Maldives.