Constructing syllabaries for complex syllables?

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MoonRightRomantic
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Re: Constructing syllabaries for complex syllables?

Post by MoonRightRomantic »

I just learned about the existence of the IsiBheqe script, which was devised by a group of linguists and programmers to write Southern Bantu languages because the Latin alphabet is unsuitable. It works on similar principles to Hangul.

I am still having trouble deciding on the graphemes for my script. For some reason I just cannot write something satisfying right now.
clawgrip
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Re: Constructing syllabaries for complex syllables?

Post by clawgrip »

I would be happy to help. Maybe you can check out my thread on how to design your own script.
MoonRightRomantic
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Re: Constructing syllabaries for complex syllables?

Post by MoonRightRomantic »

clawgrip wrote:I would be happy to help. Maybe you can check out my thread on how to design your own script.
I must have made at least a dozen different tables of graphemes by now. Featural and arbitrary alike. For some reason nothing really appeals to me.

I am wondering if I should use something like Briefscript until I can decide. I have been toying with the Greek, Latin and Cyrillic scripts like this recently.
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CMunk
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Re: Constructing syllabaries for complex syllables?

Post by CMunk »

I like the way mediæval latin abbreviations work: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scribal_abbreviation

Not exactly a syllabary, since it is based more around morphemes, but I think there is something to learn from this. Maybe you could start with a simple syllabary for CV syllables, and then modify the symbols so they can form the most common grammatical morphemes. Of course you will need a fallback method such as a virama diacritic for more complex syllables, if you don't want it to bee too logographic.

So if you have a symbol D /sa/ and a symbol E /ta/, and you need to represent a very common morpheme /sta/, you could create a ligature Ð. In cases, when the phonemes /sta/ do not represent the same morpheme, but are simply a part of a bigger word, you could use a dummy vowel DE or a virama diacritic ĎE.

What I am saying is: Taylor the script to the language, so that the most common syllables are the easiest to write, and leave the less common syllables to be written with multiple graphemes in order to save symbols.
Native: :dan: | Fluent: :uk: | Less than fluent: :deu:, :jpn:, :epo: | Beginner: Image, :fao:, :non:
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Keenir
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Re: Constructing syllabaries for complex syllables?

Post by Keenir »

MoonRightRomantic wrote:
clawgrip wrote:I would be happy to help. Maybe you can check out my thread on how to design your own script.
I must have made at least a dozen different tables of graphemes by now. Featural and arbitrary alike. For some reason nothing really appeals to me.
ultimately it is your decision.

that said, perhaps if you let us see some, you could tell us what you're looking for (or which of your graphemes you like more than the others), and we can help. we want to help.
At work on Apaan: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=4799
MoonRightRomantic
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Re: Constructing syllabaries for complex syllables?

Post by MoonRightRomantic »

Keenir wrote:ultimately it is your decision.

that said, perhaps if you let us see some, you could tell us what you're looking for (or which of your graphemes you like more than the others), and we can help. we want to help.
First I made a cross table with vowels in the columns and consonants in the rows. From there I played with various aesthetics. I always tried something vaguely featural. Vowels and consonants would generally be distinguishable individually and then I would go through handwriting iterations to make them different. I always used a ball point pen for this. I tried ligatures, distortions, geometric shapes, and perpendicular axes. I am stumped as to why I couldn't settle.

Here is my latest attempt, a direct adoption of the Brx quasi-syllabary (helpfully, the Briefscript site allows usage as long they're credited for it):

F P B /pi pa pu/
C T D /ci ta tu/
C K Q /ci ka ku/
X S Z /ši sa su/
V M W /mi ma mu/
G N H /ñi na nu/
I L R /ji la lu/
I J Y /ji ja ju/
I A U /ji 'a wu/
E O U /wi wa wu/

There are a high number of consonant allophones (e.g. palatalized consonants, no distinction of semivowels from vowels). The arrangement of graphemes is vaguely featural in some places, with similar sounds sometimes looking similar. It is easy to type on a standard keyboard.

Further distinctions like aspiration, voicing or sound shifting could be indicated with diacritics. For example, «°» could indication aspiration, «"» voicing, or «:» vowel lowering (making /i/ into /e/ or /u/ into /o/).
Last edited by MoonRightRomantic on 31 Mar 2017 14:44, edited 1 time in total.
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Ahzoh
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Re: Constructing syllabaries for complex syllables?

Post by Ahzoh »

Now I want to create a syllabary for my conlang... Though, I am rather displeased that there are only so few true syllabaries.
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Keenir
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Re: Constructing syllabaries for complex syllables?

Post by Keenir »

Ahzoh wrote:Now I want to create a syllabary for my conlang... Though, I am rather displeased that there are only so few true syllabaries.
you'll make a great true syllabary, Ahzoh, I'm sure of it.
At work on Apaan: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=4799
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Ahzoh
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Re: Constructing syllabaries for complex syllables?

Post by Ahzoh »

Keenir wrote:
Ahzoh wrote:Now I want to create a syllabary for my conlang... Though, I am rather displeased that there are only so few true syllabaries.
you'll make a great true syllabary, Ahzoh, I'm sure of it.
Onschen will have a syllabary even though the language has almost 1000 syllables.
Yes, a true syllabary, that means no echo vowels and stuff.
Image Śād Warḫallun (Vrkhazhian) [ WIKI | CWS ]
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