This handbook gives a comprehensive overview of the writing systems of the Germanic languages. Divided into four parts, its chapters cover a wide range of aspects, bridging different disciplines and their theories, perspectives, and methods – from linguistics to psychology and sociology.

Part I provides synchronic grapholinguistic analyses of the alphabets in use for different Germanic languages, focusing not only on their inner systematics but also their relationships with the spoken and signed modalities. Part II traces the history of the different branches of Germanic literacy and underlines the relevance of a diachronic foundation. Part III addresses vital psycholinguistic questions including literacy instruction and acquisition and the processes involved in healthy and impaired spelling and reading. Part IV adopts sociolinguistic perspectives and touches upon different issues arising from the fact that literacy is embedded in specific cultural contexts. Its chapters underline the paramount societal and political dimensions of writing.