1. A Report for ED 202E “ Writing and the Mind” by David Olson Lorna Gonzalez, Graduate Student 12 October 2009 University of California, Santa Barbara
6. Olson’s claim: We read and hear speech in terms of the categories expressed in scripts.
7. History of Writing: The [Misleading] Evolutionary Story The alphabet is economical (few signs) and complete (visually represents anything that can be spoken)
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9. Olson’s hypothesis : Writing systems are developed for communication, but they provide a model for language and thought because they can be read and interpreted.
13. History of the Alphabet: Borrowing Script A property of Semitic (Hebrew & Arabic) script /K/ /T/ /B/ katab “ he wrote” katabi “ I wrote” ketob “ write” koteb “ writing” All can be written “ktb” (vowels not necessary).
14. History of the Alphabet: Borrowing Script Borrowing and manipulating script for new & different linguistic purposes allowed for categories of speech to be seen and heard more precisely (and therefore, thought about as well).
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16. Read the sentence below: Oh, it’s you. Which words are emphasized? Is this a statement of disgust, surprise, fondness, or some other intention? (Our writing system represents part of the meaning)
