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Writing Systems of the World
Writing systems can be confusing
because they can represent something besides sound and be composed of marks
that do not represent sound-signs or phonograms. The traditional
English writing system, for instance, contains logograms for numbers and
punctuation marks, A capital letter is a sound sign but the use of largely
redundant capital letters to represent proper nouns or the start of a new
sentence is logographic. Some sound representations are actually
etymological [word origin] references rather than references to sound.
The use of a morphological principle for plurals and past tenses conflicts
with the phonological principle. z-sounds are often represented with
an S. t-sounds are often represented with [ed].
Sound-sign systems are popular because most languages have about 30 sounds compared to 1000's of ideas. Most logographic systems are hybrids: They include some phonological cues.
Logographic systems are more
difficult to learn but quicker to read since each
Types of Writing Systems
Logograms [word marks] are typically arbitrary. The numbers are generally regarded as logograms or concept signs. The numbers 5 through 9 seem arbitrary. Numbers 1-3 are pictograms of tally marks. 4 may be related to the 4th letter of the alphabet, delta. At one time delta (and daleth) were both letters and numbers. The digamma [F] was the fifth letter in ancient Greek and retained as the number sign long after the letter was replaced by phi. It is probably no accident that the word five starts with an F. The prototype appears to be the Egyptian lazy F phonogram representing the horned viper [fej] When there is an obvious relationship between the mark and the refererent such as B for Bee, the mark is usually called a pictogram or ideogram [acorphonic iconic representation]. Most of the
letters in our alphabet began as acrophonic iconic representations.
They were simplified representations of common objects that happened to
start with the appropriate sound. ayin/ain (eye in
most Semitic languages) was originally a circle and related to an,
the Egyptian word for pupil.
What is writing?There are a number of different ways to describe
writing and writing systems.
In the world's writing systems, Peter T. Daniels defines writing as:
In The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Writings Systems,
Florian Coulmas defines a writing system as:
a set of visible or tactile signs used to represent units of language in a systematic way, with the purpose of recording messages which can be retrieved by everyone who knows the language in question and the rules by virtue of which its units are encoded in the writing system. All writing systems use visible signs with one exception:
braille, the system of raised
dots used by blind and visually impaired people. Hence the need to include
tactile signs in the above definition.
In A History of Writing, Steven Roger Fischer argues that no one definition of writing can cover all the writing systems that exist and have ever existed. Instead he states that a 'complete writing' system should fullfill all the following criteria:
FUTHARK Anglo-Saxon Futhorc
Runic inscriptions are mostly found on jewellery, weapons, stones and other objects. Very few examples of runic writing on manuscripts have survived. The ur looks a little like ^, eoth [sedge] x, tiw [tuesday], and
ing are gods. snake is sun S
The mystery of the runic alphabet - discusses the connections between Scandinavian and Turkish runes: www.antalyaonline.net/futhark Your name in runes www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/vikings/runes.html Writing systems are typically alphabets or syllabaries: They are ways of transcribing the fleeting sounds of speech to a semi-permanent two dimensional surface. The process could be called grafo-fonology since it involves the conversion of phonemes to graphemes. The important realization is that the writing system or orthography has little to do with a particular language. This concept is difficult because most of the major languages are associated with a particular writing system. It is possible to write English using Chinese or Egyptian phonograms. The only problem that one encounters is that a conventional sign for some phonemes may not be available. The problem is no worse than the scribes encountered when trying to use the Roman character set to transcribe English. Latin had 10
vowels represented with 5 vowel letters, Germanic languages such as English
had 12 vowels and needed at least 6 vowel letters.
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Romaji and PMF Pictographic
Monofon
With 25 vowels and 25 consonants, Romaji
has more than enough graphemes for the represent
all of the phonemes in English speech. Romaji references the 12 pure
vowels by doubling the long vowels:
[ei, ii, ai, ou, uu - aa=ah, ee=eh, e=schwa, ii=ee,
oo=awe, uu=oo]
Spanglish references the 12 vowels by placing an grave accent over
the short vowels.
[ei, i, ai, ow, u ] - á = uh, é = schwa,
í=ih, ó=awe, ú=short u or w
| Romaji by David Kelly
GEETIZBERG EDREES Four skour end seeven yiirz egou aur faadherz broot fourth on dhis kontinent, e nyuu neishen, kensiivd in liberti, end deedikeitid tuu dhe propezishen dhaet ool meen aar krieitid iikwel. Nau wii aar ingeijd in e greit sivel woor, teestiq weedher dhaet neishen, our eeni neishen sou konsiivd end sou deedikeitid, kaen looq indyuur. Wii aar meet on e greit baetel-fiild ev dhaet woor. Wii haev kam tuu deedikeit e pourshen ev that fiild, aez e fainel reestiq pleis four dhouz huu hiir geiv dheer laivz dhaet dhe neishen mait liv. It is ooltegeedher fitiq end proper dhaet wii shud duu dhis. Bat, in e laarjer seens, wii kaenot deedikeit -- wii kaenot konsikreit -- wii kaenot haelou -- dhis graund. Dhe breiv meen, liviq end deed, huu strageld hiir, haev konsikreitid it, faar ebav aur poor paur tuu aed our ditraekt. Dhe werld wil litel nout, nour looq rimeember wat wii sei hiir, bet it caen neever fergeet wat dhei did hiir. It iz four as dhe liviq, raadher, tuu bii deedikeitid hiir tuu dhi anfinisht werk wic dhei huu foot hiir haev dhas faar sou noubli edvaanst. It iz raadher four as tuu bii hiir deedikeitid tuu dhe greit taask rimeiniq bifour as -- dhaet frem dhiiz onerd deed wii teik inkriist divoushen tuu dhaet kooz four wic dhei geiv dhe laest ful meezher ev divoushen -- dhaet wii hiir haili risolv dhaet dhiiz deed shael not haev daid in vein -- dhaet dhis neishen, ander God, shael haev e nyuu berth ev friidem -- end dhaet gaverment oov dhe piipel, bai dhe piipel, four dhe piipel, shael not peerish frem dhi erth |
Spanglish by Steve Bett
There are two versions of Spanglish - spelling pronunciation and phonemic. The first system only respells words that cannot be pronounced as spelled in the traditional writing system. Spanglish restores the Saxon augmented Latin alphabet. The new writing system eliminates ughly spellings, drops silent letters, uses [ai] for [I], [rey for ray], and the ambiguous [i] for [ee]. The goal is to have no more than two sounds per spelling but in the case of [A] four sounds are merged: are, ago, at, ace, This results in the spelling pronunciations of - ahr, ahgaw, aht, ahs Phonemic Spanglish respells 60% of the words and serves as a pronunciation guide. In this system [ are, ago, at, ace-day and air ] would be spelled [ ar, àgoù, æt, és/eis-dey, er ]. New sound signs: Ð ð ñ ü Š c - æ à ì è é ò o' ù Gettyzberg Adres For scor and seven yearz ago our fatherz
The werld wil litl nowt nor long remember wat wi sey hir, but it can
never forget wat they did hir. It iz for us the living, rathr, tu
bi dedicated hir tu the unfinisht werk wich they hu fot hir hav thus far
so nobly advanst. It is rathr for us tu bi hir dedicated tu the gret
task remaning befor us -- that from this onerd ded wi tak incrist devosion
tu that coz for wich they gav the last fwl mezhur ov devosion -- that wi
hir haily resolv that thiz ded shal not hav daid in vein -- that this nasion,
under God, shal hav a new berth ov fridom -- and that govrnment ov the
peopl, bai the pipl, for the pipl shal not perish from the erth.
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| Hangul
What if English were written in Korean Hangul? To make the transition, words have to be stacked as shown inthe first line. 
Another one of David Kelley's transcriptions
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Getizberg Adres
When a phonemic transcription of the kind found in the pronunciation guide of a dictionary is tried, 60% or more of the words have to be respelled. The following is written in phonemic Saxon-Spanglish. For scor ænd sevèn yirz àgoù aur faðèrz
Wi ar met on à greit batl-fild àv thæt wor. Wi hæv càm tu dedikeit à poršèn ov ðæt fild, æz à fainal resting pleis for thoùz hu hir geiv ðer laivz ðæt ðè našèn mait lìv. 'It ìz oltugethèr fiting ænd propèr ðæt wi šùd du ðìs. Bàt, ìn à larjèr sens, wi canot dedìkeit wi canot consicreit -- wi cænot haloù ðhìs graund. Ðè breiv men, lìving ænd ded, hu stràgeld hir, hæv consìkreitèd ìt far àbàv aur pur paur tu æd or dìtract. Ðè wèrld wil lìtl noùt nor long rìmembèr wat wi sey hir, bùt ìt can nevèr forget wat ðey dìd hir. 'It ìz for às ðè lìving, rathèr, tu bi dedìkeitèd hir tu ðè ànfinìšt wèrk wìch ðey hu fot hir hæv ðàs far so nobly ædvænst. 'It iz rathèr for às tu bi hir dedìkeitèd tu ðè greit tæsk remeining bìfor ùs -- ðæt fràm ðìs onèrd ded wi teik ìncrist devošèn tu ðæt coz for hwìch ðey geiv ðè læst f'ul mezhur ov dìvoušèn -- ðæt wi hir haily rìsolv ðæt ðiz ded šæl not hæv daid ìn vein -- ðæt ðìs næšèn, àndèr God, šal hæv à nu berth ov fridèm -- ænd ðæt government ov ðè pipl, bai ðè pipl, for ðè pipl šæl not perìsh fràm ðè èrth.
The German ä is probably preferable to the Saxon æ. Both refer to the same sound. The a umlaut is less visually disruptive. The crossed d needs some additional refinement to fit with the other characters. š is another character that doesn't quite fit. The IPA swish S would look better were it available. The IPA turned e [schwa] is probably also preferable to the accented e and a - but as close as we can get is the turned epsilon in SYMBOL ['] Pronunciations are from Longman's Dictionary of American English. General American differs from Educated British speech in several minor ways such as with respect to [or] which is pronounced as noted above [faw-r] instead of [four]. what was the pronounciation of eo as in people? |
GETTYSBURG ADDRESS (Original) Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that the nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
Address in various scripts
References
Omniglot http://www.omniglot.com/bibliography.htm
Writing
The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Writing Systems, by Florian Coulmas
- an excellent reference for all major writing systems, and many minor
ones, and one of
the main sources of information for this site
The Writing Systems of the World, by Florian Coulmas
- a linguistic study of writing and writing systems
The world's writing systems, edited by Peter T. Daniels & William Bright
- covers just about all writing systems, with illustrations and text samples
of most of
them. More detailed than the Blackwell Encyclopedia.
Writing Systems, by Geoffry Sampson
- a linguistic introduction to writing systems
The Story of Writing, by Andrew Robinson
- a general introduction to writing with limited coverage of individual
writing systems
The History of Writing, by Steven Rodger Fischer
- an fascinating overview of the history of writing
The Alphabetic Labyrinth, by Johanna Drucker
Breaking the Maya Code, by Micheal D. Coe
- the fascinating story of the decipherment of the Maya script
The Keys of Egypt - The race to read the hieroglyphs, by Lesley and Roy
Adkins
- the fascinating story of Jean-François Champollion and his struggle
to decipher ancient
Egyptian writing
Language - General
Dictionary of Languages, by Andrew Dalby
- an excellent reference for all major languages, and many minor ones,
and a major
source of information for this site.
The Loom of Language, by Frederick Bodmer
- a wide-ranging study of all aspects of language
Your Mother's Tongue, by Stephen Burgen
- a book of European invective.
Language - English
A History of the English Language, by N. F. Blake
English - Its life and times, by Robert Claribone
The Story of English, by Robert McCrum, William Cran & Robery McNeill
The English Languages, by Tom McArthur
The English Language, by David Crystal
The Cambridge Encycolpedia of the English Language, by David Crystal
Talk Talk Talk, by Jay Ingram
Mother Tongue, by Bill Bryson
- a humorous look at English
Made in America, by Bill Bryson
- a humorous look at American English
Crazy English, by Richard Lederer
Depraved English, by Peter Novobatzky and Ammon Shea
- a collection of disgusting, offensive and obscence words.
Semitic Letter Shapes, Names, and associated meanings.
Hotsuma Syllabary |
Sam sound, different symbol - Dual Sinage - Some people learn two scripts |
Winglish
- World English
a aa ai ar air
e 'r ei er
i ii oi ir
o oo ou or
u uu iu ur
'a 'e au aur
David, Ze, Ian, Paul, Corrado, and others
When this group was started about two years ago, the goal was to come up with an ascii-ipa based world english notation.
At present, we have a half dozen related notations but no compromise notation we can advocate as a group.
I want closure on a compromise script comparable to RITE but based on international letter-sound conventions.
Are we at a point now where we can come to some agreement on what we are going to call World English?
As you know, my preference is to keep the Latin conventions [a for aa, i for ii] but this would not necessarily be the easiest notation to write or explain to those unfamiliar with Spanish and Italian.
The rest of you have other equally valid preferences in some other part of the notation.
I also like [a] for 'a because it is the most common sound in English. If this were done, however, [ae] would have to be written out, capitalized, followed by a double consonant or marked in some other way.
This prototype of WEnglish suggests that the two most needed characters are for schwa ['e] and schwer ['r].
We do have Ian's 3 and SAMPA's @ as workable alternatiaves. her = h3 or h3r = h@r.
The advantage of the marked a and e is that all of the vowels can be marked to indicate a schwa pronounciation or
We could also use the cap R. her=hR herder = hRdr, hrrdr,
h3rdr. The at sign looks fine in some fonts and horrible in others.
"h@r w@rds w@r gold@n"
hrr wrrdz wrr goldn. hr w'rdz wr goldn.
World English - A proposal
short long i/u-comb r-comb
a aa ai ar air
e 'r ei er
i ii oi ir
o oo ou or
u uu yu ur
'u 'a 'e 'i au
aur
I am not going to list all of the alternatives
but here is one - Saxon Spanglish
Spanglish experimented with y for the short i
which works fine for sympathy but looks a little strange in other words.
As a checked vowel, word
forms such as h'yly would not conflict since as a
terminal, it could not be the short I. In the initial position
when followed by a vowel, y is a consonant.
yist is therefore clearly no an initial short I.
DOUBLE DUTY CONSONANTS
It makes more sense when you think about it.
If it is not followed by a consonant, then it
is a consonant. quality = consonant, qx=vowel.
Spanglish without double consonants
aet = at = qt upp=vp oops=wps
chkt free i/u-comb r-comb
q aa ai-ay/'y aar air
e er ey eyr
y i-y oy ir
o o-ao ow or
w u yu ur
v a au [qw] au
hwen an aogmented noteyshan yz yuzd, the semi-vaul consonants cqn bi repleyst wyth tha nu chqractarz.
Semagrams [meaning-signs] do not have to be arbitrary logograms.
Writing
systems use semagrams [semantic symbols] or phonograms
[sound
symbols]. Semagrams or logograms are associated directly with
a concept. The number 4, for example, is associated with a
number concept not a sound. Attempts to use it as in "4 Sale" would be
interpreted as "qua-tro saa-leh"
by a Spaniard.
