Re: Q's Re: A conlang idea rolling around in my head

On 3 Dec, David Peterson  wrote:

> Still, I never once ever even dreamt of such a language like this--
> even though (and this is what's even more maddening to me)
> I've SEEN one--those Bliss pictowhateverographs in an
> elementary linguistics text book, in the section on writing system.
FWIW: a quick google for "Bliss symbols" turned up an interesting
site:

http://home.istar.ca/~bci/b-learning.html

with some details about the Bliss system.

This system relies heavily upon compounding symbols.
Examples given include:

machine = wheel + sun
teacher = person + container + up + knowledge

Syntactic info is expressed by small symbols on top of the
main symbols.

    Bliss symbols are one type of what is known as
Augmented (or Assisted) Communication, used
with people whose motoric abilities are severely
limited.
    Under the Bliss system, as far as I recall my
experience with it,
only the disabled person is obligated
to learn the symbols.
(Bliss symbols were never intended as an
auxlang.)
     In the old days, on the charts of Bliss symbols,
each symbol had the word it stood for printed underneath
it so that anybody could understand what was being
expressed, whether or not they knew the Bliss system.
(Of course, one had to be
    a) literate
    b) literate in the lang which was written underneath
in order to understand a Bliss user)
    Nowadays, AFAIK, things can be computerized.
The disabled person still must point to ("enter into the
computer") the symbol, and then the silicon does its
magic and words are either printed or even spoken
via a speech synthesizer.

Dan Sulani
----------------------------------------------------
likehsna rtem zuv tikuhnuh auag inuvuz vaka'a.

A word is an awesome thing.