The Idea of Writing
The Idea of Writing is an exploration of the versatility of writing systems.
It presents the playful and artistic use of writing and highlights the complexity of writing systems rather than that it provides a first introduction.
The Idea of Writing has been a theme in a series of colloquiums held at Leiden University. A group of specialists on the topic continues to meet in order to explore themes that are relevant to most if not all writing systems.
Current research on the Meroitic script as it was used in Sudan between 300 BCE and 400 CE but also on the modern use of script in Sudan and elsewhere continue to address the question on how writing systems developed by speakers of a language that was not written before.
For more information on writing systems research, please, go to: www.devoogt.info/writing
2010 The Meroitic script and the understanding of alpha-syllabic writing. Bulletin of SOAS 73(1):101-105.
2008 Book review: La langue du Royaume Meroe. Journal of the American Oriental Society, 128(4):762-763.