Questions tagged [writing-systems]
A writing system is a system to record spoken language visible on a permanent medium.
178 questions
1 vote
1 answer
229 views
Is ancient Hebrew readable to a generic speaker of Hebrew today?
As I was reading some lightweight (i.e., not historical) articles about Judaism, it stroke me that some texts from ancient copies of the Talmud looked very much like contemporary Hebrew. I do not ...
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5 votes
1 answer
417 views
What is a linguistic term that describes alphabet/abjad/abugida trichotomy?
What is a linguistic term that serves as a hypernym for the following categories: alphabet adjad abugida English Wiktionary lists "signary" as a hypernym for all three terms, however when ...
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What is the category name for cursive vs. block letter dichotomy?
What is the linguistic (or typographic) term that would contain cursive (hand-written) and block (typed) letters as two particular sub-categories? As a mater of analogy, for upper and lower case ...
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-1 votes
2 answers
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Could an universal semasiographic writing system be created?
Since sign language is considered a type of language this means a full semasiographic writing system could be created representing itself a new type of language and not directly tied to speech.
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5 votes
1 answer
678 views
Are some Semasiographic systems considered writing systems? Is Japanese party semasiographic?
Are systems like the Aztec script or the Nsibidi considered writing systems? Apparently there seems to be an open debate about this.
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2 votes
1 answer
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About Yajnadevam's decipherment of the Indus Valley Script
As far as I'm concerned, and given the information I read (which includes the Wikipedia article about this very topic), the Indus Valley Script is still undeciphered. Adding to it, the government of ...
- 1,504
2 votes
0 answers
146 views
Abjads, Alphabets, reading direction, and brain hemispheres
This question is motivated by this blogpost in German language where the following bold claim is made (my translation from German to English): The Abjads of Hebrew, Aramaic, and Arabic are completed ...
- 32k
5 votes
3 answers
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Examples of logographic writing systems evolving into non-logographic ones?
I'm aware of the Coptic script descending from Egyptian hieroglyphs, but that's it. Are there any other examples of a primarily logographic writing system becoming primarily non-logographic over time? ...
Frog♦
- 161
2 votes
2 answers
196 views
What is the term for letter strings with set sound patterns in a particular language?
As I am going through my old notes, I can't seem to find a term that I am trying to call to mind. For example, the letter string "sh" is usually realized as [ʃ], ph as [f], ng as [ŋ], "...
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3 votes
0 answers
87 views
Why do humans associate letters/characters with phonology when reading? Do people born with hearing impairment make that association?
In the video “Reading in the brain” from the MOOC “Miracles of human language”, the professor says that humans choose to store letters and characters in the 3D vision area of the brain because it is ...
- 301
0 votes
1 answer
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Is there a writing norm in Occitan in which [y] is written as <ü> and [u] as <u>?
Maybe also [y] as <ù> or [u] as <ò>?
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15 votes
2 answers
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Was cuneiform ever drawn on a surface, as opposed to carved?
Cuneiform's glyphs are well-known for the odd way they were made; stamping. I wonder though, given that it remained in used for thousands of years, was this the only way it was ever utilized? Was ...
user43283
5 votes
1 answer
753 views
How unpredictable must vowels be for a writing system to classify as an abjad?
I've been pondering a conlang with a rather unusual orthography. I'm only stating this because no natural language has this sort of writing system. Essentially, its a system that only writes ...
user43283
26 votes
1 answer
7k views
Why do many Arabic letters look exactly like other letters except for dots, yet have no similarity in sound?
Why do many Arabic letters look exactly like other letters except for dots, yet have no similarity in sound? Examples:
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-4 votes
1 answer
124 views
Origins of the alphabets for Arabic, Hebrew and Aramaic languages
I am working on a program to learn some of the most popular non-Western languages: first, Arabic and Hebrew, second, Bengali and Hindu whose scripts are based on Sanskrit, and third, Chinese, Japanese,...
