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Diversity in Writing Systems: Embracing multiple perspectives
Edited by Amalia E. Gnanadesikan and Anna P. Judson
[Written Language & Literacy 24:2] 2021
► pp. 171–197

<Th>e ubi<qu>ity of polygra<ph>y and its significan<ce> for <th>e typology of <wr>iti<ng> systems

| Ruhr University Bochum
| Ruhr University Bochum

It has often been assumed that there is, or should be, a one-to-one correspondence between graphs and linguistic units in writing systems as the norm. This is not merely doubtful in terms of descriptive accuracy. Conceptualizing writing systems in such a way also has profound consequences for the application of typological categories to specific cases. In this paper we first suggest a working definition of polygraphy, also touching upon its demarcation from adjacent concepts such as ligatures and diacritics. Having demonstrated that polygraphy is in fact fundamental to a significant number of typologically diverse writing systems, we argue in favor of a typology of writing systems taking the ubiquity of polygraphy into due account, with definitions going beyond one-to-one correspondences as the default.

Keywords: typology of writing systems, polygraphy, polygraphs, digraphs, diacritics, ligatures
Article outline
  • 1.The origins of polygraphs
  • 2.The ideal of one-to-one correspondences
  • 3.The ubiquity of polygraphy in writing systems
    • 3.1Polygraphy in segmental systems
    • 3.2Polygraphy in syllabic systems
    • 3.3Polygraphy in morphographic systems
  • 4.Transparency of polygraphs
  • 5.Analysis of writing systems vs. analysis of language
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 21 January 2022
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/wll.00052.ost
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