Theiling Online    Sitemap    Conlang Mailing List HQ   

Re: Scripting was Re: Pablo is back, Job, Argentina, Relay, Lord of the Rings

From:And Rosta <a.rosta@...>
Date:Friday, January 18, 2002, 2:08
Peter Clark:
> - Scripting is an artform. The reason Tengwar looks nice is not > because it is combinatoric script, but because Tolkien had a good > aesthetic eye.
This is true, but it is obvious that Tolkien modelled the design of the Tengwar on roman miniscules, and Tengwar calligraphy on roman script calligraphy. In both design and calligraphy he was borrowing from and building on a tradition that had evolved through many centuries of selective pressures. With regard to combinatoric scripts, their appeal increases in proportion to the size of the character inventory. For example, for a large syllabary the learnability advantage of being combinatoric may outweigh the legibility disadvantage. (Livagian script is a combinatoric syllabary, with a character inventory in the thousands.) --And.