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That was cool; and thanks very much for making it so that I didn't have to sign in. The minute somebody tries to make me do something, I start to dig my heels in; if they (anybody) tell me I'm gonna have to sign in before I can read their dumb old article, then I'm just going to have to do without it.
Can anyone explain to me why my computer refuses to let me copy anything that I'm looking at in Acrobat Reader? And whether there's a way around it?
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Maybe you have to download it, Jackie?
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you have to get it out of the default Hand Tool mode (basically scroll mode, with the clever "hand" icon) into Text Select mode -- look for the big T on the tool bar. once you've clicked on that you can drag the mouse over the desired text and cut and paste in your usual manner (pull-down-edit or Ctrl-C/Ctrl-V). HTH.
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Pooh-Bah
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you have to get it out of the default Oh oh, don't tell her that, she'll dig her heels in. 
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Thanks for that, bro - very interesting, and typically kind in the trouble you went to on our behalf.
Curious to think that the burgeoing monotheistic faith led to the death of cuneiform script. I guess it's the natural corollary of the growth of power invested in a language by the social prestiege of the dominant social group that favours it. In other words, when a language no longer serves the interests of a powerful group it is likely to decline. I had just never thought so clearly of that process applying to a whole script system.
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Ohmigawd--magic! YES, it works! Thank you thank you thank you! That lack of ability/knowledge has caused much frustration in this house, as my kids were trying to apply for various things, and told to fill in forms and print them out.
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Jackie, a word of caution. Some PDF files may have been created with document security that prevents any copying. So, if you try to copy using the method tsuwm outlined, and it doesn't work, that will be why.
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In other words, when a language no longer serves the interests of a powerful group it is likely to decline. Maybe in some cases, but I bet not in every one. I should think this would also occur when the powerful group was very small in number, compared to the general population. People would just go on talking among themselves, their language would change, and eventually the written form wouldn't correspond very much to actual conversational words. Or, as the article says, the powerful group could simply be overrun by outside invaders.
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>In other words, when a language no longer serves the interests of a powerful group it is likely to decline. I had just never thought so clearly of that process applying to a whole script system.
This is an interesting thought. Urdu, the language, apparently, of the socially and politically powerful minority in Pakistan, is in decline. Ismail Merchant, a native Urdu speaker, has written books and produced films on this subject. Here a language that does serve the purpose of a powerful group is declining. Of course, its script, Arabic, is definitely not.
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socially and politically powerful minority [e.a.]
Yes, I think clearly the balance of causative processes is likely to be complex in many social systems. In some examples (perhaps including the one you suggest?) a point is reached where the 'net social energy' has transferred out of the dominant elite's hands, and at that stage the language is likely to start to follow new paths. An analogy from the earlier states of English language development might be the Middle Ages: the narrow elite of King and Court spoke French, but the social shifts were creating a new mercantile middle class, and their vigour and increasing power drove the creation of ME, incorporating much French and Latin into the substructure of Old English. Chaucer was the leading exponent of this process. And as in your example, the script took a slower path to change, though change it did.
I guess Arabic script still has one or two vested interest groups keeping it alive... ;)
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I don't have anything to contribute, but I do want to say "Thanks."
k
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socially and politically powerful minority [e.a.]
It seems to me that the socially and politically powerful also have different needs and expectations of a language than the general population. They can put in the time and energy to use a complex and visually attractive script for ceremonial purposes simply because they have time and energy to spare as well as the ceremonies to organize. When the average Mary or Joe (Maria or Josephus?) becomes literate they want a stripped down functional script that is appropriate for grocery lists, contracts and instruction books. Preferrably one that is relatively quick to learn and "tolerent ov misstaks" A phonetic script would fit that better than a heiroglyphic one, wouldn't it?
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They can put in the time and energy to use a complex and visually attractive script for ceremonial purposes simply because they have time and energy to spare
Good point, my Dear!
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a stripped down functional script
Excellent point, yes; this is certainly borne out too by the quoted example of Middle English development - the merchants wanted language appropriate to use in a contract for cod futures rather than god's future ;)
I am sure the same must apply to the basic orthographic system too: simple is more functional. This can surely be one of the few things to hold back the spread of Chinese in the years ahead. It will be fascinating to see if any abrasion or simplification of their current system starts to happen, driven by economic ties with the West (I seem to remember reading sumtin' about this already starting but can't remember where!) Anyone got anything on this or related examples?
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Simpler scripts.
Curiously, Hebrew seems to have bucked this trend. The post-Exilic script is much more complex than Ancient Hebrew, IMO. The script on the Moabite Stone, basically Hebrew, looks like a sort of alphabetic cuneiform almost, and would, for the non-calligraphers among, be much easier to write than the modern style.
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Mainland Chinese uses a simplified version of the ideographs, but simplified is a relative term.
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Hebrew seems to have bucked this trendmmm, yeah - surprised at that?! Don't want the darn furriners knowing what's going on, do we? 
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Hebrew seems to have bucked this trend Oh, I dunno. Modern Hebrew Cursive seems pretty simple. http://www.omniglot.com/writing/hebrew.htmScroll down to the bottom.
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Thanks for that link, Faldage. I hadn't seen cursive Hebrew before, but figgered the Red Sea pedestrians would have to have simplified things by now.
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Parbly the calligraphic Hebrew suffers from the let's-keep-it-just-among-us syndrome. There's even a religious thang about carefully writing letters according to strict rules.
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