Re: Interesting Brain/Language Nugget of Info

At 08:12 25/06/99 -0700, you wrote:
>John Cowan wrote:
>>
>> Ed Heil scripsit:
>>
>> > The vast vast majority of vowelless scripts write right-to-left.
>> >
>> > The vast vast majority of scripts with vowels write left-to-right.
>>
>> I think the standard view, that this is essentially a coincidence,
>> is correct.
>
>Ah, but this theory is so fascinating, and coincidence is not! ;-)
>
>> The alphabet developed at a certain time and place,
>> and was not independently reinvented elsewhere (unlike syllabic and
>> morpho-syllabic writing); it happened to descend from a vowelless
>> script.
>
>But if it's just coincidence, then why the switch with a voweled script
>to LTR?  Actually, I think the smudge theory is the soundest.
>
        In fact, there was a long period of boustrophedon writing (one line RTL
and the next one LTR, etc... very useful because you don't have to go back
to the beginning of the line to continue the next line). So the filiation is:
RTL->boustrophedon->LTR.

        I wonder why is that.


>Sally
>
>
                                                        Christophe Grandsire
                                                |Sela Jemufan Atlinan C.G.

"Reality is just another point of view."

homepage : http://www.bde.espci.fr/homepage/Christophe.Grandsire/index.html