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Re: Non-linear / full-2d writing systems?

From:J. 'Mach' Wust <j_mach_wust@...>
Date:Wednesday, May 4, 2005, 14:31
On Tue, 3 May 2005 23:47:29 -0700, Sai Emrys <saizai@...> wrote:

>Has anyone other than me attempted to make one, or theorized about how >one would do so & the consequences thereof? I'm fairly sure this is >true, but I can't find any examples thereof via Google..
You might have a look at that discussion we had some months ago (and I have still the feeling I participated in another similar discussion before...): http://listserv.brown.edu/archives/cgi-bin/wa?A1=ind0501A&L=conlang&D=0#59 My main argument is the following: Writing systems are systems of fixing languages. Therefore, their essential structure should mach with the essential structure of the languages they are intended to fix. Human languages are essentially linear (they are sequences of "words"). Ergo, writing sytems for human languages are essentially linear as well. We could consider human languages and scripts to be bidimensional: the dimension of different movements (of the vocal tract in the case of spoken languages or of signing organs in the case of sign language) and the dimension of time (also known as the paradigmatic and the syntagmatic dimensions); scripts have the dimension of different signs and the dimension of the writing line (which might also be called the paradigmatic and the syntagmatic dimensions). It may be different with non-human languages. [kry@s:] j. 'mach' wust

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Sai Emrys <saizai@...>