Constructed writing system
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A constructed writing system or a neography is a writing system specifically created by an individual or group, rather than having evolved as part of a language or culture like a natural script. Some are designed for use with constructed languages, although several of them are used in linguistic experimentation or for other more practical ends in existing languages. Prominent examples of constructed scripts include Korean Hangul and Tengwar.
Constructed scripts and traditional "natural" writing systems
All scripts, including traditional scripts ranging from
In the rare cases where a script evolved not out of a previous script, but out of proto-writing (the only known cases being the
Overview of constructed writing systems
For previously unwritten languages
Some scripts were invented for spoken languages that did not have adequate writing systems, including the
For religious and mystical purposes
Many scripts are created for religious or mystical purposes. Missionaries and religious scholars may be motivated to devise new scripts for previously-unwritten languages to facilitate the translation of religious writings, as was the case for several of the scripts mentioned in the previous section. Religious leaders may promulgate new writing systems among their followers for liturgical use and/or the promotion of cultural identity and unity, as with Sorang Sompeng,[3] Medefaidrin[4] and the script invented by the Zomi religious leader Pau Cin Hau,[5] among many others. Relatedly,
Several of these scripts are described by their creators as having been revealed during or developed in response to visionary experiences.[3][4][6]
In fictional works
The best-known constructed scripts dedicated to
Other works stop short of creating entire languages, and instead use constructed scripts as
.For technical purposes
Several writing systems have been devised for technical purposes by specialists in various fields. One of the most prominent of these is the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), used by linguists to describe the sounds of human language in exhaustive detail. While based on the Latin alphabet, IPA also contains invented letters, Greek letters, and numerous diacritics. Other scripts, such as John Malone's Unifon,[10] Sir James Pitman's Initial Teaching Alphabet,[11] and Alexander Melville Bell's Visible Speech[12] were invented for pedagogical purposes. Yerkish, a communication system created for use by non-human primates, involves a system of lexigrams- visual symbols corresponding to various objects and ideas.[13] Shorthand systems may be considered constructed scripts intended to facilitate speed and ease of writing.
Language reform
Some constructed scripts are intended to replace existing writing systems. In the mid-1800s, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints promoted the Deseret alphabet as an alternative writing system better suited to English phonology;[14]: 65–66 roughly a century later, the estate of Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw commissioned the Shavian alphabet (later developed into Quikscript) to serve similar aims.[15][16]: 9–11 Graphic Designer Bradbury Thompson's Alphabet 26 represents a similar project. (see also: English-language spelling reform). Taking language reform further, various proposed philosophical or auxiliary languages- such as aUI, Solresol, and the language outlined in John Wilkins' 1668 An Essay Towards a Real Character, and a Philosophical Language have associated writing systems. Charles K. Bliss's Blissymbols represent a proposed international auxiliary language whose primary mode is written rather than spoken.[17]: 89–90
Other
Several constructed scripts serve unique purposes not outlined above. Ong Kommandam's Khom Script, in addition to serving a religious role, was used to conceal military communications during the Holy Man's Rebellion.[18] Around the turn of the 18th century, Frenchman George Psalmanazar invented a purported 'Formosan' alphabet to further his fraudulent claims of being the first Taiwanese visitor to Europe; the Coelbren y Beirdd alphabet invented by Iolo Morganwg is another such example of linguistic forgery.[19] Braille[20]: 161–162 and most other tactile alphabets were invented to serve the needs of the visually impaired, or, in the case of Lewis Carroll's Nyctography, of sighted people without access to light.[21]
Encoding
Some neographies have been encoded in
Some of the scripts have identifying codes assigned among the ISO 15924 codes and IETF language tags.
See also
- List of constructed scripts
- Asemic writing
- Voynich Manuscript
- Fictional alphabet
- Conlang
References
- ISBN 3-11-016284-9.
- ISSN 0029-3652.
- ^ a b Everson, Michael (2009-06-08). "Proposal for encoding the Sora Sompeng script in the UCS" (PDF). Working Group Document. International Organization for Standardization.
- ^ a b Rovenchak, Andrij; Gibbon, Dafydd; Ekpenyong, Moses; Urua, Eno-Abasi (2016-04-18). "L2/16-101R: Proposal for encoding the Medefaidrin (Oberi Okaime) script in the SMP of the UCS" (PDF). ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2/WG2.
- ^ Pandey, Anshuman (2011-04-27). "N4017: Proposal to Encode the Pau Cin Hau Alphabet in ISO/IEC 10646" (PDF). Working Group Document, ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2/WG2.
- ISBN 978-0738714905.
- ^ "Writing Klingon – Klingon Language Institute".
- S2CID 16084255.
- ^ McKalin, Vamien (November 27, 2015). "Google Translate's 'Star Wars' Easter Egg Adds Support For Aurebesh". Tech Times. Retrieved July 26, 2016.
- ^ Everson, Michael. "Preliminary proposal to encode "Unifon" characters in the UCS" (PDF).
- ^ "What is ITA?". Initial Teaching Alphabet Foundation. ITA Foundation. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
- ISBN 978-1-56368-018-2.
- Great Ape Trust. 2010. Archived from the originalon May 20, 2010.
- ^ Moore, Richard G. (2006). "The Deseret Alphabet Experiment" (PDF). Religious Studies Center. Brigham Young University. Archived (PDF) from the original on 31 January 2017. Retrieved 2017-01-06.
- required.)
- ^ Shaw, Bernard (1962). The Shaw Alphabet Edition of Androcles and the Lion. Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England: Penguin Books Ltd. pp. 9–11.
- ^ Bliss, C. K. (1965). [Semantography (Blissymbolics). 2d enlarged edition. A simple system of 100 logical pictorial symbols, which can be operated and read like 1+2=3 in all languages (...)] "Semantography - A Logical Writing for an illogical World, by CK BLISS". Archived from the original on October 4, 2011. Retrieved July 18, 2022.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link). Sydney: Semantography (Blissymbolics) Publications. OCoLC: 1014476. - ^ Sidwell, Paul. 2008. The Khom script of the Kommodam Rebellion. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 192.
- ^ "Coelbren y Beirdd - The Bardic Alphabet". Amgueddfa Cymru — National Museum Wales. Archived from the original on Nov 17, 2010.
- ISBN 978-0-9822721-9-0. Retrieved 4 December 2011.
- ^ “The Life And Letters Of Lewis Carroll (Rev. C. L. Dodgson)” by Stuart Dodgson Collingwood B.A. Christ Church, Oxford