Re: [lostlangs] Re: Hairo Script Brainstorming

On Sun, 4 Jul 2004 11:07:51 +1000, Tristan Mc Leay <kesuari@...> wrote:


> While I like the look, I didn't think, as a rule, Runes were allowed to
> have both vertical and horizontal lines. Something about engraving into
> wood, I understand.
>
It's not that they weren't "allowed" it's that it's easier to cut with
the grain, or slightly diagonally. And actually "runic" really just
refers to an alphabetic script with a very linear and angular style.
The Orkhon alphabet is considered "runic" in style, and there are
characters with curves, and horizontal, as well as vertical and
diagonal lines.

Most of the runes in Europe were cut with knives i believe, which made
it that more difficult to draw curved lines.

The South Indian alphabets also had their shapes dictated by the
materials used. In their case, palm leaves, which didn't hold up well
to straight lines (due to them being easily cut along the veins), but
curved lines seemed to do the less damage.

Note that the Hanuno'o script of the Philippines is also very linear
in character form, this is due to being written on slats of bamboo.
Although, the Tagbanwa script is also written on bamboo, it is more
curved. The old Tagalog script was curved as well (with bamboo it is
easier to carve curved letters into the cortex of the bamboo, due to
fine grain). One either uses a knife or an iron stylus to write on
bamboo. You then wipe it with soot to bring out the letters.

So, it is not so much as there is a rule to how Runic can be written,
but more like the material dictates how letters will often turn out.

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