What to think about...

What to think about...
...when setting out to make a script. 1. First and foremost, the type of writing utensil that is intended to be used. The reason for this is quite simple:

Utensil thickness and shape can greatly influence the overall appearance of the script. 2. The type of script desired is also of paramount importance. Logographic is nice due to the uniqueness of each glyph and the calligraphic possibilities. The main drawback to logographs is the massive number of them needed. Syllabaries can be nice in that they reduce the number of glyphs needed to write...great for languages that turn out large words because morphological add ons. They have a similar drawback to logographies based on the number of glyphs needed. Of course this depends greatly on the number of possible syllables the language has/will have. Alphabets are great for beginners and pros alike, the one thing to watch out for is avoid making a cipher for the Latin alphabet. Abugidas are much like syllabaries and can be easy to come up with, again the thing to avoid is copying existing ones, unless that is your goal. Abjads (my personal favorite) can be really great for langs that either use a consonantal root system, or that uses few vowels. Hangul style scripts are a lot of fun to try...but avoiding the re-invention of Hangul can be a challenge. 3. The phonology of the lang is not near as important as some may think, that being said, one should strive to have a full grasp on X-sampa and/or IPA so that s/he can fully describe the script. Things like allophony, stress, tone and phonotactics can effect the visual outcome of a script. 4. Non-linear scripts are a topic I will cover later.

<*>What is the minimum number of vowels a word must have?<*>Words don't have to contain a vowel. <*>Words have to contain at least one vowel. <*>Words have to contain at least two vowels (this would be weird). <*>What is the minimum number of consonants that a word must have?<*>Words don't have to contain a consonant. <*>Words have to contain at least one consonant. <*>Words have to contain at least two consonants (this would be weird). <*>What is the maximum number of consecutive consonants that can appear at the beginning of a word before the first vowel?<*>Words can't begin with a consonant (this would be weird). <*>There can be at most one consonant before the first vowel. <*>There can be at most two consonants before the first vowel. <*>There can be at most three consonants before the first vowel. <*>There can be at most four consonants before the first vowel. <*>There can be five or more consonants before the first vowel (this would be weird). <*>What is the maximum number of consecutive vowels that can appear at the beginning of a word before the first consonant?<*>Words can't begin with a vowel. <*>There can be at most one vowel before the first consonant. <*>There can be at most two vowels before the first consonant. <*>There can be at most three vowels before the first consonant. <*>There can be at most four vowels before the first consonant. <*>There can be five or more vowels before the first consonant (this would be weird). <*>What is the maximum number of consecutive consonants that can appear at the end of a word after the last vowel?<*>Words can't end with a consonant. <*>There can be at most one consonant after the last vowel. <*>There can be at most two consonants after the last vowel. <*>There can be at most three consonants after the last vowel. <*>There can be at most four consonants after the last vowel. <*>There can be five or more consonants after the last vowel (this would be weird). <*>What is the maximum number of consecutive vowels that can appear at the end of a word after the last consonant?<*>Words can't end with a vowel (this would be weird). <*>There can be at most one vowel after the last consonant. <*>There can be at most two vowels after the last consonant. <*>There can be at most three vowels after the last consonant. <*>There can be at most four vowels after the last consonant. <*>There can be five or more vowels after the last consonant (this would be weird). <*>What is the maximum number of consecutive vowels that can appear inside a word between two consonants?<*>Vowels can't appear in a word between two consonants (this would be weird). <*>There can be at most one consecutive vowel inside a word between two consonants. <*>There can be at most two consecutive vowels inside a word between two consonants. <*>There can be at most three consecutive vowels inside a word between two consonants. <*>There can be at most four consecutive vowels inside a word between two consonants. <*>There can be five or more consecutive vowels inside a word between two consonants (this would be weird). <*>What is the maximum number of consecutive consonants that can appear inside a word between two vowels?<*>Consonants can't appear in a word between two vowels (this would be weird). <*>There can be at most one consecutive consonant inside a word between two vowels. <*>There can be at most two consecutive consonants inside a word between two vowels. <*>There can be at most three consecutive consonants inside a word between two vowels. <*>There can be at most four consecutive consonants inside a word between two vowels. <*>There can be at most five consecutive consonants inside a word between two vowels. <*>There can be at most six consecutive consonants inside a word between two vowels. <*>There can be at most seven consecutive consonants inside a word between two vowels. <*>There can be eight or more consecutive consonants inside a word between two vowels (this would be weird). <*>Which, if any, consonants can be used as nuclei of syllables? <*>What diphthongs, triphthongs, tetraphthongs, and longer polyphthongs (weird if there are any longer ones) occur as single phonemes, nuclei of single syllables? <*>Which, if any, consonants can appear in a syllable onset but cannot appear in a syllable coda? <*>Which, if any, consonants can appear in a syllable coda but cannot appear in a syllable onset? <*>What is the maximum number of consecutive consonants that can appear together in the onset of a syllable?<*>Syllables can't have onsets (this would be weird). <*>There can be at most one consonant in a syllable onset. <*>There can be at most two consonants in a syllable onset. <*>There can be at most three consonants in a syllable onset. <*>There can be at most four consonants in a syllable onset. <*>There can be five or more consonants in a syllable onset (this would be weird). <*>What is the minimum number of consonants that a syllable onset must contain?<*>Syllables don't need onsets. <*>There must be at least one consonant in a syllable onset. <*>There must be at least two consonants in a syllable onset (this would be weird). <*>What is the maximum number of consecutive consonants that can appear together in the coda of a syllable?<*>Syllables can't have codas. <*>There can be at most one consonant in a syllable coda. <*>There can be at most two consonants in a syllable coda. <*>There can be at most three consonants in a syllable coda. <*>There can be at most four consonants in a syllable coda. <*>There can be five or more consonants in a syllable coda (this would be weird). <*>What is the minimum number of consonants that a syllable coda must contain?<*>Syllables don't need codas. <*>There must be at least one consonant in a syllable coda (this would be weird). <*>Which if any pairs of consecutive consonants can appear together within a single syllable? <*>Which if any pairs of consecutive consonants can appear together in a syllable onset but cannot appear together in a syllable coda? <*>Which if any pairs of consecutive consonants can appear together in a syllable coda but cannot appear together in a syllable onset? <*>Are there any triplets of consecutive consonants which cannot appear together within a single syllable, even though each pair of them can appear together within a single syllable? <*>Are there any triplets of consecutive consonants which cannot appear together within a single syllable onset, even though each pair of them can appear together within a single syllable onset? <*>Are there any triplets of consecutive consonants which cannot appear together within a single syllable coda, even though each pair of them can appear together within a single syllable coda? For instance, you've stated that if a syllable coda consists of two consonants of which the last is a /t/, then the first must be /l/ or /n/ or /s/.

Re: What to think about...
...when setting out to make a script. 1. First and foremost, the type of writing utensil that is intended to be used. I would add that thinking about the material the script is primarily written on - at least at the time it's being developed - will also have an influence. Cuneform was developed as a method of recording information on hand-held lumps of clay, hence the reason why a poking stick was used to form the letters rather than a dragging stick (which is a lot more difficult). Other examples could include: - rock - straight lines are easier to carve than curved ones - cloth - ink tends to spread out on such surfaces, making small detailed differences in glyphs less useful - skin - possible shrinkage issues etc. For example, if someone wanted to develop a magical conscript, then why not try developing it using the computer screen as the initial writing surface - the effects (fading, shading, moving, morphing, etc) could offer the script a "magical" reality which would be far more difficult to convey on, say, paper. Just some thoughts to add to the pile.

Re: What to think about...
(that preliminary questionnaire)I'm glad you thought it useful, Sano. This thread has updates (some from other people). And this thread has more that might be interesting. ...when setting out to make a script. 1. First and foremost, the type of writing utensil that is intended to be used. I would add that thinking about the material the script is primarily written on - at least at the time it's being developed - will also have an influence. I agree. Thanks, Sano. Thanks, Rik.

In the chart you have supplied, which blocks correspond to which writting styles? Is it organized in a graph of storts? I found the links very useful.

In the chart you have supplied, which blocks correspond to which writting styles? Is it organized in a graph of storts? I found the links very useful. This article gives a helpful chart to compare the Hanzi styles.

View Full Version: What to think about...