This book develops a formal computational theory of writing systems. It offers specific proposals about the linguistic objects that are represented by orthographic elements; what levels of linguistic representation are involved and how they may differ across writing systems; and what formal constraints hold of the mapping relation between linguistic and orthographic elements. Based on the insights gained, Sproat then proposes a taxonomy of writing systems. The treatment of theoretical linguistic issues and their computational implementation is complemented with discussion of empirical psycholinguistic work on reading and its relevance for the computational model developed here. Throughout, the model is illustrated with a number of detailed case studies of writing systems around the world. This book will be of interest to students and researchers in a variety of fields, including theoretical and computational linguistics, the psycholinguistics of reading and writing, and speech technology.

A formal computational theory of writing systems relating to psycholinguistic results.
Reviews
"...this is easily the most original piece of writing in linguistics that I have read in the last ten years." Gerald Penn, Written Language & Literacy



Book Information
ISBN 9780521663403
Author Richard Sproat
Format Hardback
Page Count 256
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Weight(grams) 476g
Dimensions(mm) 237mm * 158mm * 20mm