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Re: Hmong and semi-syllabic writing

From:Kristian Jensen <kljensen@...>
Date:Wednesday, October 13, 1999, 18:57
dirk elzinga wrote:
> >I've always thought that having separate characters for onset >and rhyme was an interesting compromise between an alphabet and >a syllabary. This kind of system would be useful for a language >which allowed onset clusters, like Hmong, but nevertheless had a >fairly limited range of syllable types. I'm trying to develop >something similar to it for my new project, Shemspreg.
This is sorta like how the Boreanesian script works. Its ultimately=20 of Indic origin, closely related to the Kavi script of ancient=20 Southeast Asia. Hence it is a syllabic alphabet. But two kinds of=20 characters have evolved. One type, which evolved from the aksara=20 characters, represents onsets or minor C@ syllable. Another type,=20 which evolved from diacritics representing vowels, represents only=20 rhymes. A development of an Indic type script parallel to the=20 Dehong script of Yunnan province in Southern China. An interesting consequence of this development is that each=20 Boreanesian character represents a mora, much like Japanese=20 katakana and hiragana scripts. BTW, roman letters were experimented in the past with the Dehong=20 script to represent tones. Now they use Western diacritics instead. -kristian- 8)