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

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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