Re: Scripts

On Friday 05 July 2002 09:02 pm, Jeremy Louzao wrote:
> 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?
        Personally, I could stare at Tibetan until my eyes go dry. :) I also find
Chinese "grass writing" beautiful and artistic (as it is meant to be) but am
thankful that I am not called upon to decypher it! But tastes vary, which
means that there is no one "best" type. Logographic systems do not suffer
from sound shifts, but they have a rather steep learning curve. Syllabic and
alphabetical systems are easier to learn, but can result in unusual spellings
as time goes on. (If you think English spelling is a nightmare, try Tibetan!)
        As for creative ways of developing a new script...first, choose your primary
writing instrument, be it brush, reed, quill, pen, etc. If you have a
conculture, consider what they would be writing upon. Carvings on stone or
wood are best suited if they involve straight lines; writing in clay is
clearer if it is punched or pressed, rather than dragging the writing
instrument across it. My writing instrument of choice is a fountain pen,
since it cleaner than a quill or a reed but can approximate the same effect.
Plus, it just looks much better than the mono-width lines produced by a
regular pen or pencil.
        Next, look for inspiration. As Tim May said, omniglot.com is a great place to
start. There used to be a great site called "All the scripts of the world"
but that has passed into the netherworld. Perhaps the Wayback Machine
preserved it; I'll have to check one of these days. For my own script (sorry,
no web presence yet...hopefully soon), I found that if I flipped Tibetan
upside-down, I could achieve some interesting shapes. I found that if I used
the head-less form of Tibetan, the shapes became even more interesting. That
was my jumping-off point.
        The next thing you will want to do it scribble like mad. Toy with shapes. Try
to develop families of shapes. Notice how the Latin script has such similar
shapes as b, d, p, q, or C, G, O, or R, P, F? There is a fine line between
familiarity and excessive convergence. Not enough familiarity, and your
script will look like a bunch of random shapes thrown together. Too much
familiarity and the letters will be more difficult to pick out. See, for
instance, Cyrillic or Tengwar (The system is genius, but _really_!) There are
some times when I come across a Russian word and I have to stop and pick out
each letter, one by one, before I can pronounce the word. (I would like to
know if native Russians have such problems, too. Or perhaps its the
typography--yikes, but it looks bad sometimes.)
        Which brings us to my next point: word shapes. Once you have a collection of
possible letters, start combining them and see how the word looks. AS SOMEONE
POINTED OUT EARLIER, IT IS HARDER TO READ ALL CAPS LETTERS. Why? Because the
words are no longer distinct shapes, but rectangles. Notice how the word
"script" has ascenders (the "i" and the "t") and decenders (the "p"). These
combinations make it easier to sight-read a word. When you read a body of
text, you do not read the words letter for letter, but shape for shape.
        Create paragraphs of text, to see how it looks when it is all together. See
if your eye can pickout any shape that stands out too much. See if you
confuse a pair of letters that are too similar. Lather, rinse, repeat.
        Additional tips (I can never end on "finally"): If your attempts are looking
too much like Hindi, Arabic, or Cyrillic, turn the shapes 45 degrees, 90
degrees, 180 degrees. In doing so, you will end up having to draw them
differently. The first script I ever created looked way to much like Tengwar,
even though I had never studied it, just because I was in love with bows and
curves. I still am. :)
        Finally, keep writing the same shapes over and over again. Letters get "worn
down"; for example, just look at the evolution of the Phonecian script.
Excessively complex shapes will get simplified; shapes that are too similar
will be made dissimilar. If it takes you less than a month to invent a
script, you have not even started. If it takes you a year, then you are well
on your way. But if it takes you five years (like *cough* your humble
narrator), get off your rocker and delcare it "good enough" already! :)
        :Peter