Setne &amp; Siosire: An Exploration of the Demotic Script

Casey, Christian Dane

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Year:: 2020
Contributor:: Casey, Christian Dane (creator); Allen, James (Advisor); Vinson, Stephen (Reader); Anderson, Deborah (Reader); Brown University. Department of Egyptology and Assyriology (sponsor)
Genre:: theses
Subject:: Egyptian language; Egyptian language--Writing, Demotic; Egyptian language--Demotic period (Egypt); Ptolemaic dynasty, 305-30 B.C.; Saite Period; Roman Egypt
Extent:: xviii, 185 p.

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Description

Abstract:: The Demotic script presents many unsolved challenges to the study of Egyptian writing, yet it holds the greatest promise for new insights into the phonology of ancient Egyptian languages. The tens of thousands of surviving texts written in Demotic would offer invaluable data to linguistic research, if they could be digitized and collected for further study. This prospect depends on a systematic method for representing the Demotic script as encoded text. The fact that no comprehensive sign list exists for this script attests to the difficulty of creating one and the additional difficulty at the heart of the broader problem of digitizing Demotic texts. In short, synchronic and diachronic variation make Demotic difficult to systematize. This dissertation will take on the problem of digitizing Demotic texts from a historical and linguistic perspective. The natural variability of Demotic will be explained as a result of the historical circumstances that led to its development. These contextualizing events set the stage for a broader analysis of script evolution and a consideration of its implications for Demotic specifically. Finally, an understanding of this foundation leads naturally to a strategy for advancing the project of digitizing Demotic texts. This strategy is implemented in two test cases, and the results are analyzed for indications of success or directions for future development.
Notes:: Thesis (Ph. D.)--Brown University, 2020

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Rights: In Copyright
Restrictions on Use: Collection is open for research.

Citation

Casey, Christian Dane, "Setne & Siosire: An Exploration of the Demotic Script" (2020). Egyptology and Assyriology Theses and Dissertations. Brown Digital Repository. Brown University Library. https://repository.library.brown.edu/studio/item/bdr:1129420/

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Egyptology and Assyriology Theses and Dissertations

Theses and Dissertations for the Egyptology and Assyriology department.
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Setne & Siosire: An Exploration of the Demotic Script