From: Alex Ferguson (abf@cs.ucc.ie)
Date: Thu 19 Oct 2000 - 17:40:48 EEST
Peter Larsen:
> Letters are pretty rare in the RW compared to
> writing based on ideograms and syllabic characters;
Rare in what sense? Number of different systems, or numbers of users?
Also, it's misleading to categorise logographic and syllabic systems
together, as they have entirely different 'issues' with them.
Arguably, alphabetic and syllabic systems are more similar. Digesters
seem to have a mania for suggesting logographic systems for this and
that language, with skant regard to the practicalities. Not every
language is Chinese (though a fair few of them are, it must be said),
and not very language would work remotely as well as Chinese does
with a logographic script (however well that is, which is debateable).
Though one might argue that some languages are an odd fit, and do it
anyway (like Japanese), but that's a matter of degree. Imagine
a logographic script for English, say. (Syllabic would be pretty
bad too.)
> I realize there is some material on
> lettered Pelorian in GRoY, but the Dara Happa seem so hieroglyphic to me,
> it seems a pity not to give them an elaborate sacred written language.
T'other way around: Dara Happan is alphabetic, and "Old Pelorian"
is logographic.
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