Re: Look what I found!

-----Original Message-----
From: Barry Garcia <Barry_Garcia@...>
To: CONLANG@LISTSERV.BROWN.EDU <CONLANG@...>
Date: Tuesday, June 06, 2000 8:29 PM
Subject: Re: look what I found!


>CONLANG@LISTSERV.BROWN.EDU writes:
>>_Essang (Talaud)_ had an interesting script, no transcription, apparently
>>R
>>to L-- maybe similar to Old Tagalog script.  Barry??
>
>
>Nah, it doesnt look at all like old Tagalog does. Like Kristian says, it's
>most likely a syriac script (for instance, Tagalog script didnt connect
>glyphs together (AFAIK). This one most definately looks like it does).
>Though it's a bit odd that it would end up there, unless missionaries were
>from syria.
Puzzling indeed.  The usual missionary suspects for this area are Dutch
Reformed or (Dutch) RC-- there was some pre-Dutch contact with Spanish and
Portuguese, but they didn't hang around for long.  Possible pre-Dutch
Islamization via either Tidore/Ternate or Southern Celebes
(Bugis/Makassar)-- in which case you might expect that script--but more
likely Arabic.  Contacts with Mindanao also very likely, but again Arabic,
not Syriac.
The northern tip of Celebes (town: Manado) and environs are among the
staunchest Christian (Dutch Reformed) areas of Indonesia.