Re: Onset/Rhyme Scripts

Hi John.

Pahauh Hmong is just such a script (which I've heard referred to as a
"demisyllabary"). Point your browser to
http://www.omniglot.com/writing/hmong.htm . The idea is elegant, but
the script itself I find to be rather ugly.

I don't know of any other "naturally occurring" script which works
quite this way (I had never heard of the Chinses zhuyin system you
mention), but its usefulness seems to be restricted to languages which
have a rather small number of syllable rhymes to choose from. English,
for example, doesn't strike me as a suitable language for such a
system.

Dirk

On 7/8/06, John Vertical <johnvertical@...> wrote:
> Hello List,
> With the script discussion goïng on currently, I thought I'd raise a
> question: does anyone have / kno' scripts based on two sets of caracters -
> onsets, and rhymes? Those seem to be vanishingly rare compared to alphabetic
> or syllabic systems; in fact, I don't think I've ever come across any others
> than the Chinese zhuyin system. Yet surely such a system would, for many
> languages, be more practical than a plain syllabary or abugida; in some
> cases, perhaps even more practical than a plain alphabet?
>
> The real-world rarity is probably due to historical reasons, but I'd expect
> to see at least some around in conscripts...
>
> John Vertical
>