Re: Atlantis II

On Thu, 14 Jun 2001, John Cowan wrote:

> Danny Wier scripsit:
>
> > | 4) It is read zig-zag, 1st line is Left to Right, 2nd line is read Right to
> > Left, 3rd line is Left to Right, 4th line is Right to left and so on....
> >
> > Boustrophedon.
>
> Strictly speaking, it is only boustrophedon if the letters on the RTL lines
> are mirror images of the ones on the LTR lines.
Huh.  It was either in some book on the history of writing (mainly
methods of, like pens and paper and papyrus and stuff) or _The Cambridge
Encyclopedia of Language_ (2nd ed., David Crystal), and I'm sorry I can't
remember which, that it said there were several kinds of boustrophedon,
of which the definition you give was only one.  Perhaps there's a
"technical" definition of boustrophedon and a "layman's" definition of
boustrophedon?

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