Re: Shukaraz - new script

On Wed, 14 Jul 2004 18:51:00 +0200, Benct Philip Jonsson <bpj@...> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       Constructed Languages List <CONLANG@...>
> Poster:       Benct Philip Jonsson <bpj@...>
> Subject:      Re: Shukaraz - new script
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Wow!  How do you do it?  Invent scripts just like that, I mean!
>
> I've been trying to design a script for Sohlob for four years...
>
Maybe i should write a primer on inventing what i consider elegant conscripts?

Anyway, i typically do the following:

1. Start out with an idea of what i'd like the script to look like, be
it Aramaic style, Indic style, Alphabet style (either Roman, Cyrillic,
or Greek),  East Asian Style, etc. (note that these categories are
simply esthetics, not how they work)

2. Take a look at scripts that follow that style. For Shukaraz i
looked at Aramaic, Mandaic, and Arabic (three Semitic scripts with the
cursiveness i was going for). For Kuraw (For the Saalangal) I looked
at different South East Asian scripts: Burmese, Tagalog, Thai, etc.

3. Start to draw letter forms in a similar style. Don't be afraid to
take from existing scripts (really, i mean if not given the same value
who's to know... well i guess if you copied all of your letter forms
from one alphabet i suppose :)).

4. Write your letter forms in a variety of speeds. This is how i get
rid of certain forms and keep others. If writing a letter fairly
quickly slows me down i throw it out, or simplify

5. Simplify your letters if they are overly florid or ornate. I guess
this is why i dislike conscripts that have lots of curlicues (no
offense meant, it's just my personal esthetics here). Of course if
your conscript is meant to be overly florid, go for it, but i've found
it's hard to do this without letter forms beginning to look like
cursive Latin, or looking like those "magickal" scripts which are
horrible in esthetics (Let's not discuss Enochian, mmmkay?!)

6. Decide which ones appeal to you the most. I've found for me that
it's a nice mix of glyphs with staight and curved lines, such as with
Shukaraz, Arabic, Aramaic, and Mandaic all appeal to me because
they're a nice mix of angles and curves (well, Arabic doesn't have
angles really, but it does have straight lines). This is why i avoid
Runic alphabets, or those that look like burmese (Saalangal in book
hand does tend to have more curves, but it's not like repeating
circles).

7. Keep writing your glyphs, and combine them to see how they look. I
got rid of a few preliminary glyphs in Shukaraz because i didn't like
how they looked with other glyphs. Invent new ones and see how they
work.

8. Start assigning sounds to the glyphs. Write short words (even if
the words mean nothing) to see how the glyphs look. I had to change
the vowels in Shukaraz from upright ascenders because in a word like
kalamansi, it looked like the "fence board effect" (as if i wrote the
word like kAlAmAnsI), where you began to see the repeat of vowels
rather than the word. Of course if your system is a true Arabic or
Hebrew style abugida where vowels aren't typically shown (yes i know,
long vowels do get shown, it's the short ones that don't) then this is
no problem.

Eventually as i wrote and rewrote various glyphs and tried out short
words, i came up with something quite elegant, in my opinion. I think
it's "Arabic" looking enough that it may just fool your average
ignorant person :).


--
Something gets lost when you translate,
It's hard to keep straight, perspective is everything

- Invisible ink - Aimee Mann -

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