Proquest Dissertations

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Proquest Dissertations Computer-assisted Japanese vocabulary learning: The choice of script in CALL Item Type text; Dissertation-Reproduction (electronic) Authors Okuyama, Yoshiko Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 28/09/2021 19:58:28 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/284198 INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy sut)mitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quaRty illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author dkj not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to t>e removed, a note will indicate the deletkxi. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand comer and contirKiing from left to right in equal sections with small overiaps. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6' x 9' black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. Bell & Howell lnformatk>n and Learning 300 North Zeeb Road. Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 USA 800-521-0600 COMPUTER-ASSISTED JAPANESE VOCABULARY LEARNING: THE CHOICE OF SCRIPT IN CALL by Yoshiko Okuyama Copyright O Yoshiko Okuyama 2000 A Dissertation Sutxnitted to the Faculty of the INTERDISCIPLINARY PH.D. PROGRAM IN SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION AND TEACHING In Partial Fulfillxoent of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR IN PHILOSOPHY In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 2 0 0 0 UMI Number 9983874 Copyright 2000 by Okuyama, Yoshiko All rights reserved. UMI ® UMI Microform9983874 Copyright 2000 by Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. Bell & Howell Information and Leaming Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 2 THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA ® GRADUATE COLLEGE As members of the Final Examination Committee, we certify that we have read the dissertation prepared by Yoshiko Okuyama entitled Computer-Assisted Japanese Vocabulary Learning: The Choice of Script in CALL and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Date Robert Ariew x ^ ,, 7 Date Dr. Doug]^s It.^Adamsoi "• , (J Date Dr. Mary Wildner-Bassett ,, ^ y-'fj y Date Dr. Keiko Koda Date Final approval and acceptance of this dissertation is contingent upon the candidate's submission of the final copy of the dissertation to the Graduate College. I hereby certify that I have read this dissertation prepared under my direction and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement. V/ < Dissertation Director Date Dr. Robert Ariew 3 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at The University of Arizona emd is deposited in the University Libreury to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this thesis are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgement of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this meuiuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the copyright holder. 4 ACKNOWLEOGMEMTS Many people have helped me to complete this dissertation. Although I cannot mention everybody's name here, I'd like to acknowledge the following major contributors. My strongest gratitude goes to Dr. Robert Ariew for his persistent guidance and encouragement as the dissertation chair. Special thanks emd appreciation cure also extended to the rest of my committee. Dr. Douglas Adamson, Dr. Keiko Koda, and Dr. Mary Hildner-Bassett. In addition, I thaxik Dr.Seurah Dinham for her statistical consultation. I would also like to thank several institutions and individuals for their wonderful assistance during my software development emd data collection. First, the University of Arizona Center for Counting and Information Technology (CCIT) allowed me to use its con^uters. Second, Arizona State University and Northern Arizona University kindly permitted me to access students of Japanese at their institutions. Most noteibly, Mrs. Miko Foard (Arizona State University) and Mrs. Noriko Rich (Northern Arizona University) made my data collection possible by helping my negotiation with each school emd asking their students to participate in my research project at their respective locations. Another invalueible contributor is Dr. Naoki Yoshioka, who made audio recordings of memy words and dialogue sentences that appeeured in the CALL material. Last but not least. The Learning Ccxnpemy provided a copy of Leam to Speak Japanese and allowed me to adapt a portion of the software for this research. Needless to say, my family has been very supportive of my dissertation work. I cannot express enough appreciation for their patience emd love. 5 Me ka mahalo piha kaupalena 'ole i na kupuna Hawai'i no lakou mai ke kako'o poina 'ole 'la e ho'oikaika a e kupa'a pono ma hope o neia hana ma na wa 'o'ole'a a ko kupono maila. 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE LIST OF FIGURES 9 LIST OF TABLES 9 ABSTRACT CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 17 1.1 Background 17 1.1.1 Historical Trends in L2 Vocabulary Research..18 1.1.2 Growing Si^ificance of Vocabulary 21 1.1.3 Problems with L2 Voc«d>ulary Research 23 1.2 Other Theoretical Considerations 26 1.2.1 Learner-Related Variables 26 1.2.2 The Coo^uter as a Research and Instructional Tool 27 1.3 The Scope of the Current Study 29 1.3.1 Nation's Model 30 1.3.2 A Revised Model for the Current Study 31 1.3.3 Goals of This Study 33 1.4 Conclusion 34 CHAPTER 2; LITERATURE REVIEW 36 2.1 Introduction 36 2.2 Vocabulary Learning 36 2.2.1 Models of Ll Lexical Access 37 2.2.2 Limitations of the Ll lexical models 46 2.2.3 Models of L2 Vocabulary Learning 48 2.2.4 Evaluation of the L2 VoceUsulary Models 71 2.3 Learning of L2 Orthography 75 2.3.1 Different Types of Orthography 75 2.3.2 Japanese Orthography and Its Teaching 78 2.3.4 Importance of L2 Orthographic Reseeurch 81 2.3.4 Findings about Japanese Orthography 85 2.4 Learner-Related Variables 90 2.4.1 Leeumer Backgrounds 90 2.4.2 Leeuming Strategies 93 2.4.3 Other Learner-Related Vari«U>les 101 2.5 Computer-Assisted Language Learning 103 2.5.1 Overview of CALL Development 103 2.5.2 CALL emd L2 Vocabulary Instruction 104 2.5.3 CALL and L2 Reseaurch Methodology 107 2.6 Conclusion 110 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY Ill 3.1 Introduction Ill 3.2 Reseeurch Design Ill 3.3 The Pilot Study 113 3.3.1 Description of the Pilot Study 113 3.3.2 Limitations of the Pilot 115 3.4 Modifications for the New Study 117 3.5 Reseeurch Questions and Hypotheses 118 3.5.1 Research Questions 119 3.5.2 Hypotheses and Key Variables 119 7 TABLE OF CONTENTS - Continued 3.6 Research Sites 121 3.6.1 Computer Laboratory at ASU 122 3.6.2 Coo^uter Laboratory at NAU 123 3.7 Selection of Subjects 124 3.7.1 Subject Population 124 3.7.2 Sampling and Assignment Procedures 127 3.7.3 Demographic Cheuracteristics of the Sample...131 3.8 Research J^paratus 133 3.8.1 Type of Hardware 135 3.8.2 Selection of Software: The Original CALL Program 136 3.8.3 Modification of the CALL Program 138 3.9 Instxructional Materials 148 3.9.1 L2 Lessons 148 3.9.2 Vocabuleury Items 150 3.9.3 The Treatment: The Use of Romaji 157 3.10 Assessment Types 159 3.10.1 Preliminary Assessment 159 3.10.2 Posttests 161 3.10.3 The Questionnaire 163 3.11 Experimental Procedures 165 3.11.1 Pre-^xperimental Work: Steps 1-3 167 3.11.2 Experimental Work: Steps 4 and 5 167 3.11.3 Post-experimental Work: Step 6 167 3.12 Summary of the Methodology 168 3.13 Conclusion 169 CHAPTER 4: RESULTS 172 4.1 Introduction 172 4.2 Sample Description (Subject Demographics) 173 4.2.1 School-Based Comparison of Backgrounds 173 4.2.2 Group-Based Coa^)arison of Backgrounds 181 4.2.3 Summary of the Pre-experimental Condition...186 4.3 Research Questions and Hypotheses 186 4.4 Script and Vocabulary Retention 189 4.4.1 Research Question and V2irieU>les 189 4.4.2 Data Descriptions euid Measurement Techniques190 4.4.3 Data Analysis: Statistical Tests 191 4.5 Learner Background euid Vocabuleury Retention 195 4.5.1 Reseeurch Question and Variables 195 4.5.2 Data Descriptions euid Measurement Techniques196 4.5.3 Data Analysis: Statistical Tests 198 4.6 Leeuming Strategies and VoceUsulary Retention 214 4.6.1 Research Question euid Veu'iables 214 4.6.2 Data Descriptions and Measurement Techniques215 4.6.3 Data Analysis: Statistical Tests 217 4.7 Other Results 233 4.7.1 Overall Vocabulary Gain from CALL 233 4.7.2 Responses to Q.
Recommended publications
  • On the Origin of the Indian Brahma Alphabet
    - ON THE <)|{I<; IN <>F TIIK INDIAN BRAHMA ALPHABET GEORG BtfHLKi; SECOND REVISED EDITION OF INDIAN STUDIES, NO III. TOGETHER WITH TWO APPENDICES ON THE OKU; IN OF THE KHAROSTHI ALPHABET AND OF THK SO-CALLED LETTER-NUMERALS OF THE BRAHMI. WITH TIIKKK PLATES. STRASSBUKi-. K A K 1. I. 1 1M I: \ I I; 1898. I'lintccl liy Adolf Ilcil/.haiisi'ii, Vicniiii. Preface to the Second Edition. .As the few separate copies of the Indian Studies No. Ill, struck off in 1895, were sold very soon and rather numerous requests for additional ones were addressed both to me and to the bookseller of the Imperial Academy, Messrs. Carl Gerold's Sohn, I asked the Academy for permission to issue a second edition, which Mr. Karl J. Trlibner had consented to publish. My petition was readily granted. In addition Messrs, von Holder, the publishers of the Wiener Zeitschrift fur die Kunde des Morgenlandes, kindly allowed me to reprint my article on the origin of the Kharosthi, which had appeared in vol. IX of that Journal and is now given in Appendix I. To these two sections I have added, in Appendix II, a brief review of the arguments for Dr. Burnell's hypothesis, which derives the so-called letter- numerals or numerical symbols of the Brahma alphabet from the ancient Egyptian numeral signs, together with a third com- parative table, in order to include in this volume all those points, which require fuller discussion, and in order to make it a serviceable companion to the palaeography of the Grund- riss.
    [Show full text]
  • The Personal Name Here Is Again Obscure. At
    342 THE FIRST ARAMAIC INSCRIPTION FROM INDIA 1. 10 : " his conduct " ? 1. 11 : " and also his sons." 1. 12 : the personal name here is again obscure. At the end of the line are traces of the right-hand side of a letter, which might be samekh or beth; if we accept the former, it is possible to vocalize as Pavira-ram, i.e. Pavira-rdja, corresponding to the Sanskrit Pravira- rdja. The name Pravira is well known in epos, and might well be borne by a real man ; and the change of a sonant to a surd consonant, such as that of j to «, is quite common in the North-West dialects. L. D. BARNETT. THE FIRST ARAMAIC INSCRIPTION FROM INDIA I must thank Mr. F. W. Thomas for his great kindness in sending me the photograph taken by Sir J. H. Marshall, and also Dr. Barnett for letting me see his tracing and transliteration. The facsimile is made from the photo- graph, which is as good as it can be. Unfortunately, on the original, the letters are as white as the rest of the marble, and it was necessary to darken them in order to obtain a photograph. This process inti'oduces an element of uncertainty, since in some cases part of a line may have escaped, and in others an accidental scratch may appear as part of a letter. Hence the following passages are more or less doubtful: line 4, 3PI; 1. 6, Tpfl; 1. 8, "123 and y\; 1. 9, the seventh and ninth letters; 1. 10, ID; 1.
    [Show full text]
  • Ancient Indian Mathematical Evolution Since Counting
    Journal of Statistics and Mathematical Engineering e-ISSN: 2581-7647 Volume 5 Issue 3 Ancient Indian Mathematical Evolution since Counting 1 2 Sankar Prasad Mukherjee , Sandip Ghanta* 1Research Guide, 2Research Scholar 1,2Department of Mathematics, Seacom Skills University, Kolkata, West Bengal, India Email: *[email protected] DOI: Abstract This paper is an endeavor how chronologically since inception and into growth of mathematics occurred in Ancient India with an effort of counting to establish the numeral system through different ages, i.e., Rigveda, Yajurvada, Buddhist, Indo-Bactrian, Bramhi, Gupta and Devanagari Periods. Ancient India’s such contribution was of immense value helped to accelerate the progress of Mathematical development up to modern age as we see today. Keywords: Brahmi numerals, centesimal scale, devanagari, rigveda, kharosthi numerals, yajurveda INTRODUCTION main striking feature being counting and This research paper is an endeavor to evolution of numeral system thereby. synchronize all the historical research with essence of pre-historic and post-historic Mathematical Evolution in Vedic Period respectively interwoven into a texture of Decimal Number System in the Rigveda evolution process of Mathematics. The first Numbers are represented in decimal system form of writing human race was not (i.e., base 10) in the Rigveda, in all other literature but Mathematics. Arithmetic Vedic treatises, and in all subsequent Indian what is today was felt as an essential need texts. No other base occurs in ancient for day to day necessity of human race. In Indian texts, except a few instances of base various countries at various point of time, 100 (or higher powers of 10).
    [Show full text]
  • 16-Sanskrit-In-JAPAN.Pdf
    A rich literary treasure of Sanskrit literature consisting of dharanis, tantras, sutras and other texts has been kept in Japan for nearly 1400 years. Entry of Sanskrit Buddhist scriptures into Japan was their identification with the central axis of human advance. Buddhism opened up unfathomed spheres of thought as soon as it reached Japan officially in AD 552. Prince Shotoku Taishi himself wrote commentaries and lectured on Saddharmapundarika-sutra, Srimala- devi-simhanada-sutra and Vimala-kirt-nirdesa-sutra. They can be heard in the daily recitation of the Japanese up to the day. Palmleaf manuscripts kept at different temples since olden times comprise of texts which carry immeasurable importance from the viewpoint of Sanskrit philology although some of them are incomplete Sanskrit manuscripts crossed the boundaries of India along with the expansion of Buddhist philosophy, art and thought and reached Japan via Central Asia and China. Thousands of Sanskrit texts were translated into Khotanese, Tokharian, Uigur and Sogdian in Central Asia, on their way to China. With destruction of monastic libraries, most of the Sanskrit literature perished leaving behind a large number of fragments which are discovered by the great explorers who went from Germany, Russia, British India, Sweden and Japan. These excavations have uncovered vast quantities of manuscripts in Sanskrit. Only those manuscripts and texts have survived which were taken to Nepal and Tibet or other parts of Asia. Their translations into Tibetan, Chinese and Mongolian fill the gap, but partly. A number of ancient Sanskrit manuscripts are strewn in the monasteries nestling among high mountains and waterless deserts.
    [Show full text]
  • A STUDY of WRITING Oi.Uchicago.Edu Oi.Uchicago.Edu /MAAM^MA
    oi.uchicago.edu A STUDY OF WRITING oi.uchicago.edu oi.uchicago.edu /MAAM^MA. A STUDY OF "*?• ,fii WRITING REVISED EDITION I. J. GELB Phoenix Books THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS oi.uchicago.edu This book is also available in a clothbound edition from THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS TO THE MOKSTADS THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS, CHICAGO & LONDON The University of Toronto Press, Toronto 5, Canada Copyright 1952 in the International Copyright Union. All rights reserved. Published 1952. Second Edition 1963. First Phoenix Impression 1963. Printed in the United States of America oi.uchicago.edu PREFACE HE book contains twelve chapters, but it can be broken up structurally into five parts. First, the place of writing among the various systems of human inter­ communication is discussed. This is followed by four Tchapters devoted to the descriptive and comparative treatment of the various types of writing in the world. The sixth chapter deals with the evolution of writing from the earliest stages of picture writing to a full alphabet. The next four chapters deal with general problems, such as the future of writing and the relationship of writing to speech, art, and religion. Of the two final chapters, one contains the first attempt to establish a full terminology of writing, the other an extensive bibliography. The aim of this study is to lay a foundation for a new science of writing which might be called grammatology. While the general histories of writing treat individual writings mainly from a descriptive-historical point of view, the new science attempts to establish general principles governing the use and evolution of writing on a comparative-typological basis.
    [Show full text]
  • The Slow Deaths of Writing
    News Focus A diverse group of scholars ponders not just why scripts vanish, but why they sometimes survive so long The Slow Deaths of Writing OXFORD,U.K.—The biblical God punished ing Egyptian hieroglyphics, Mayan glyphs, the Sumerian language of Mesopotamia. humanity for its arrogance by creating in- and Sumerian cuneiform, plus some less tra- More than 3000 years later in 75 C.E., a numerable languages—nearly 7000 at lat- ditional recording systems (see sidebar, Babylonian scribe in a crumbling temple est count. Writing systems, however, es- p. 32), in order to discern larger patterns in completed an astronomical tablet written in caped the curse. During the 5 millennia the scripts’ last gasps. “Their decline is as wedge-shaped symbols impressed in wet since writing first emerged on the same worthy of investigation as their origin,” says clay with a reed stylus. This work, the last Mesopotamian plain as the legendary Tower Oxford Egyptologist John Baines. He and dated example of cuneiform, was completed of Babel, fewer than 100 major scripts his colleagues believe that the death of in the same way as the earliest known have appeared. But once born, they can be scripts can provide new insight into cultural tablets. Scholars have long marveled that surprisingly durable. A handful of re- collapse and the relationship between a script this awkward and difficult system, which re- searchers are now taking a closer look at and its culture. But they also differ in how far quired years of training, survived for so long how scripts vanish to glean insight into to go in comparing script disappearance.
    [Show full text]
  • Early Chinese and Middle-Eastern Objects from Archeological Sites in Thailand Reflecting Cultural Exchange Tarapong Srisuchat
    Early Chinese and Middle-Eastern objects from archeological sites in Thailand reflecting cultural exchange Tarapong Srisuchat Thailand is located on the Southeast Asian mainland with its southern and eastern parts adjoining the Andaman and South China seas. This country is a land bridge between the mainland to the north and the archipelagos to the south. Evidence exists reflecting cultural interaction, migration and the settlement of various ethnic groups from time to time. According to archeological evidence, early settlement in the country can be dated back from the prehistoric period, 40,000 B.P. e.g.. The cave site Tham Rong Rian in Krabi in the South (Anderson, 1986). Later on at a well-known Bronze Age site, Ban Chiang in the Northeast, which is dated 3,000 B.P. a civilized community developed, having a social standard close to that of an early historical state (Charoenwongsa, 1987). A real historical state in which the inhabitants adopted a foreign script and religious concepts was built up around the 1st century B.C.; Indians are considered to be the first foreigners to have made contact with the local people and to have brought to them the attributes of what we consider the historic world. Legends and historical records indicate that Indians came to Thailand for two main purposes, commerce and the dissemination of their faiths, Buddhism and Hinduism; other navigators such as the Chinese and the Middle Easterners made contact with Thailand later. While the early interaction between these nations by the sea-route is indisputable, contact with the land route should be considered as well.
    [Show full text]
  • Prof. P. Bhaskar Reddy Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati
    Component-I (A) – Personal details: Prof. P. Bhaskar Reddy Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati. Prof. P. Bhaskar Reddy Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati. & Dr. K. Muniratnam Director i/c, Epigraphy, ASI, Mysore Dr. Sayantani Pal Dept. of AIHC, University of Calcutta. Prof. P. Bhaskar Reddy Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati. Component-I (B) – Description of module: Subject Name Indian Culture Paper Name Indian Epigraphy Module Name/Title Kharosthi Script Module Id IC / IEP / 15 Pre requisites Kharosthi Script – Characteristics – Origin – Objectives Different Theories – Distribution and its End Keywords E-text (Quadrant-I) : 1. Introduction Kharosthi was one of the major scripts of the Indian subcontinent in the early period. In the list of 64 scripts occurring in the Lalitavistara (3rd century CE), a text in Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit, Kharosthi comes second after Brahmi. Thus both of them were considered to be two major scripts of the Indian subcontinent. Both Kharosthi and Brahmi are first encountered in the edicts of Asoka in the 3rd century BCE. 2. Discovery of the script and its Decipherment The script was first discovered on one side of a large number of coins bearing Greek legends on the other side from the north western part of the Indian subcontinent in the first quarter of the 19th century. Later in 1830 to 1834 two full inscriptions of the time of Kanishka bearing the same script were found at Manikiyala in Pakistan. After this discovery James Prinsep named the script as ‘Bactrian Pehelevi’ since it occurred on a number of so called ‘Bactrian’ coins. To James Prinsep the characters first looked similar to Pahlavi (Semitic) characters.
    [Show full text]
  • Universal Scripts Project: Statement of Significance and Impact
    Universal Scripts Project: Statement of Significance and Impact The Universal Scripts Project expands the capabilities of the Internet by providing digital access to text materials from a variety of modern and historical cultures whose writing systems are not currently included in the international standard for electronic representation of scripts, known as Unicode. People who write in these scripts find it difficult to use email, compose and send documents electronically, and post documents on the World Wide Web, without relying on nonstandard fonts or other cumbersome workarounds, and are therefore left out of the “technological revolution.” About 66 scripts are currently included in the Unicode standard, but over 80 are not. Some 40 of these missing scripts belong to modern linguistic minorities in Africa, the Indian subcontinent, China, and other countries in Southeast Asia; about 40 are scripts of historical importance. The project’s goal for 2007–2008 is to provide the standards bodies overseeing character sets with proposals for 15 scripts to be included in the Unicode standard. The scripts selected for inclusion include 9 modern minority scripts and 6 historical scripts. The need is urgent, because the entire process, from first proposal to acceptance, typically takes from 2 to 5 years, and support among corporations and national bodies for adding more scripts to Unicode is uncertain. If the proposals are not submitted soon, these user communities will not be able to use their scripts in the near future. The scripts selected for this grant have established scholarly and user-community connections, which will help guarantee that the proposals meet the users' needs.
    [Show full text]
  • General Historical and Analytical / Writing Systems: Recent Script
    9 Writing systems Edited by Elena Bashir 9,1. Introduction By Elena Bashir The relations between spoken language and the visual symbols (graphemes) used to represent it are complex. Orthographies can be thought of as situated on a con- tinuum from “deep” — systems in which there is not a one-to-one correspondence between the sounds of the language and its graphemes — to “shallow” — systems in which the relationship between sounds and graphemes is regular and trans- parent (see Roberts & Joyce 2012 for a recent discussion). In orthographies for Indo-Aryan and Iranian languages based on the Arabic script and writing system, the retention of historical spellings for words of Arabic or Persian origin increases the orthographic depth of these systems. Decisions on how to write a language always carry historical, cultural, and political meaning. Debates about orthography usually focus on such issues rather than on linguistic analysis; this can be seen in Pakistan, for example, in discussions regarding orthography for Kalasha, Wakhi, or Balti, and in Afghanistan regarding Wakhi or Pashai. Questions of orthography are intertwined with language ideology, language planning activities, and goals like literacy or standardization. Woolard 1998, Brandt 2014, and Sebba 2007 are valuable treatments of such issues. In Section 9.2, Stefan Baums discusses the historical development and general characteristics of the (non Perso-Arabic) writing systems used for South Asian languages, and his Section 9.3 deals with recent research on alphasyllabic writing systems, script-related literacy and language-learning studies, representation of South Asian languages in Unicode, and recent debates about the Indus Valley inscriptions.
    [Show full text]
  • Ancient Indian Numerals 5.1 Do You Know 5.2 Timeline
    Ancient Indian Numerals 5.1 Do you know Description Image Source The Brahmi numerical system of notation with twenty symbols was first of all used in rd Rock Edicts of Asoka. the rock edicts of Asoka in the 3 century BCE. The decimal system of notation with nine unit figures and a zero was used in India as early as the 6th century CE. The Indian astronomers and mathematicians are given the credit of inventing this system sometime in the 5th-6th Hindu astronomical texts and century CE. Later on it was popularized in inscriptions of different ruling the royal courts for writing inscriptions and dynasties. by merchants and common people for counting. The system was borrowed by the Arabs and from the Arabs it was transmitted to Europe. The decimal system was used in the epigraphs of Cambodia and Indonesia in the 7th century CE. The dates are mentioned as Saka 605 (683 CE), Saka 606 (684 CE) and Inscriptions of South-east Asia. Saka 608 (686 CE). The use of the Saka era and the decimal place value makes it fairly apparent that the system originated in India and transmitted to other parts of the world. 5.2 Timeline Timelines Image Description Earliest occurrence of Brahmi and Kharosthi numerals in 3rd century BCE the rock edicts of Asoka. The Brahmi numerical symbols were used in the epigraphs of many ruling dynasties of India like the 1st century BCE Satavahanas, the Saka-Ksatrapas and the Kushanas. In to 3rd century CE the coins of the Ksatrapas we also come across the use of the symbols.
    [Show full text]
  • BRAHMI Rediscovering the Lost Script
    BRAHMI Rediscovering the Lost Script Ankita Roy Why Brahmi ? Attraction Translating Text to visuals Understanding the subject The indic scripts are an decendent of Brahmi. Target Audience A person deeply interested in scripts Type enthusiasts, Font designers, Research Information Available: •Through Books, •Visits, •Websites. Source: Self Clicked Chronology Source: Self Clicked Chronology Source: Self Clicked Origin of Brahmi Source: Self Clicked Origin of Brahmi Origin of Brahmi Indus Valley Civilization One of the highly developed and cultured civilization. The earliest scripts in India so far is the Indus Valley pictographic script. Two great cities of over 5000 yrs old have been discovered in the excavation of Harappa and Mohenjodaro. Over 3000 seals have been discovered in the Indus Valley. Source: Self Clicked Indus Valley Seals Pashupati seal : This seal shows a three headed deity, many have identified it with Bhagwan Shiva also known as Pashupati, seated in an advanced yogic position of Mul Bandhana Asana Gilgamesh seal : This seal shows a man with two tigers. Many scholars say that this is the Mesopotamian priest king Gilgamesh who was 16ft tall and could fight two tigers all alone. Source: Self Assembled Indus Valley Script Source: Self Clicked Kharosthi Script Source: Self Clicked Brahmi Script Source: Self Clicked Strokes added to indicate different vowels following the consonants Source: Self Clicked Brahmi Brahmi script is one of the earliest scripts known to India. It came into existence in the form of stone inscriptions during the reign of Asoka, in 4th - 3rd century B.C Pillar showing Suvanna Kartaka Jataka Story, Sunga 2nd Century B.C, Bharhut M.P Source: Self Clicked Maurya Dynasty The 4th century B.C witnessed the rise of Magadha Empire ( present day Bihar ) under the rule of Chandragupta Maurya in 323 B.C.
    [Show full text]