Graphic Information Design: The Function of Visible Speech

Visible speech or writing is one of humankind’s greatest inventions. Found in clay tablets from ancient Sumer in Mesopotamia and slightly later tablets from neighboring Iran (ancient Elam) – a partially deciphered script known as proto-Elamite details lists of raw materials and products, such as barley and beer, lists of laborers, and their tasks, lists of fields and their owners, the income and outgoings of temples etc. All calculations concerning production levels, delivery dates, locations, payments and debts. Read more…

The Study of the History of Languages

Philology is the study of language in written historical sources. It involves the analysis of literary texts, written records, where they have come from, who wrote them, and what meaning they hold. The philological community has differing beliefs as to many aspects of the history of language, and often these differences have given rise to heated debates. The history of language can also be viewed as involving a debate about the meaning of things which have been written that have shaped whole cultures and ultimately the way we have come to behave in certain contexts. Read more…