Spelling and Society: The Culture and Politics of Orthography Around the World Book

Illustrations     viii
Maps     ix
Diagrams     x
Tables     xi
Acknowledgements     xii
Note on transcription     xiii
Introduction: society and orthography     1
Approaching orthography     10
Orthography as social practice     26
Language contact, linguists and the emergence of orthographies     58
'Postcolonial' Orthographies     81
Between language and dialect: orthography in unstandardised and standardising vernaculars     102
Reform or revolution: where angels fear to tread     132
Why do we spell?     157
Glossary     168
References     172
General index     183
Index of language names     186
Index of surnames     188