Rediscovering the Deseret Alphabet
- Event Type
- Lecture
- Sponsor
- The Rare Book & Manuscript Library
- Location
- 346 Main Library, 1408 W. Gregory Dr.
- Date
- Sep 7, 2023 3:00 - 5:00 pm
- Speaker
- Professors Ryan Shosted and Neil Davis
- Contact
- Caroline Szylowicz
- szylowic@illinois.edu
- Views
- 278
- Originating Calendar
- Rare Book & Manuscript Library Events
Professors Ryan Shosted (Linguistics) and Neal Davis (Computer Science) will present their research on the Deseret Alphabet, a 19th-century writing system. This phonetic alphabet, created by leaders of the Mormon Church, may encapsulate pronunciations of English dialect that have otherwise disappeared over time. Shosted and Davis are developing a digital corpus to examine and explore these texts and their historical and cultural context. Join us for a discussion of these texts and their historical and cultural significance, and view some rare examples of Deseret imprints!