Re: Scripts

Jeremy Louzao writes: >

>So, what do folks think are the most beautiful scripts?  What are the
>best different types (cursive, block, consonantal, logoraphic,
>whatever)?  What are some creative things that could be tried in
>constructing new scripts?  Each time I try, my conscripts always look
>like the Hindi alphabet, Arabic, or Russian?  Is there any possibility
>for an innovative, original looking writing system?
A _completely_ original script, which looks nothing like any existing
model, is fairly unlikely (well, I have seen some out-there things
which resembled waveforms, but they weren't very satisfying).  There
have been a lot of scripts, and there are only so many ways to arrange
lines/brush-strokes/wedges (although, if you were prepared to produce
a script which was hopelessly impractical for handwriting but good for
electronic and printed media, you could experiment with areas of solid
black).

I did think Duke Keenan's new script for Ok was rather interesting.

There was a big discussion not so long ago on the theoretically
optimal number of characters for a script, and therefore the _best_
system (that is, alphabetic/alphasyllabic/syllabic/logographic).  It
was fairly inconclusive.


As to what scripts I like myself... Japanese kana, Malayalam, Hebrew,
Arabic, Mongolian, Avestan, Devanagari, Tocharian, Tibetan and Mayan
are nice.  It's not a short list, I know...  I like curving lines,
enclosed shapes with things inside them, and certain types of stroke
that I can't define well.  Curved, but pointy.

You can see all these and many more at www.omniglot.com, if you don't
know that already.