Monthly Archives: May 2011

Varang Chiti — 1963 AD?, India

Posted on May 16, 2011 by ducky

The Ho language is a minority language in northeastern India, but in India, minority languages can have a large number of speakers: there are over a million Ho speakers. At some point in the 20th century, a gentleman named Lako … Continue reading →

Posted in Abugida, inventor known, National pride, Rating: 4 "Huh, interesting!", revealed in a dream | Leave a comment

Ol Chiki — 1925 AD, India

Posted on May 15, 2011 by ducky

The Santali spoken language is not an Indo-European language, while  the majority spoken languages in northern India are Indo-Europeean.  (Santali is an Austro-Asiatic language, and hence more closely related to Vietnamese than to Sanskrit.)  The Indic writing systems designed for … Continue reading →

Posted in Alphabet, inventor known, National pride, previous script didn't quite work, Rating: 4 "Huh, interesting!" | Tagged | 1 Comment

Zolai — 1952 AD, India

Posted on May 12, 2011 by ducky

There is a small ethnic group on the border of India and Burma with many names.  They are called the Zo, Zou, Jo, Chin, and several other names. They speak a language that is in the same language family as … Continue reading →

Posted in inventor known, National pride, Rating: 4 "Huh, interesting!", Syllabaries | Leave a comment

Pau Cin Hau alphabet — 1931 AD, Mayanmar

Posted on May 11, 2011 by ducky

The Pau Cin Hau logographic script was reformed in 1931 AD, moving from a logographic language to an alphabet.  While it is not unusual for a phonetic writing system to evolve from a logographic writing system, it is very rare … Continue reading →

Posted in Alphabet, inventor known, Rating: 4 "Huh, interesting!" | 1 Comment

Pau Cin Hau Logograms — 1902 AD, Mayanmar

Posted on May 10, 2011 by ducky

In 1902 AD, a man named Pau Cin Hau had a dream where the characters of a logographic script were revealed to him.  He also developed the Laipian religion, and his script was used extensively in liturgical works.  Laipian actually … Continue reading →

Posted in inventor known, Logograms, National pride, now ceremonial, Rating: 3 "I did not know that" | 7 Comments

Mahajani — 1600 AD? <1850 AD?, India

Posted on May 9, 2011 by ducky

Mahajani, like the Punjabi Landa, was used as a mercantile script (and is sometimes classified with Landa).  Unlike Punjabi Landa, which dispenses with vowels altogether, Mahajani is sort of like a sloppy alphabet.  It is possible to show a vowel … Continue reading →

Posted in Abjad, Alphabet, mercantile script, Rating: 3 "I did not know that" | Leave a comment

Glossary

Posted on May 3, 2011 by ducky

I have wrestled a little bit with how to handle technical terms like abugida and virama.  The first time I use them, it’s a no-brainer: I explain them.  But what should I do the second time?  I didn’t want to … Continue reading →

Posted in Administration | 2 Comments

Tikamuli — 2005, Nepal

Posted on May 2, 2011 by ducky

As I mentioned in the Jenticha post, there is a language called Sunuwar which is spoken in both India and Nepal, and has been written in Jenticha in both Nepal and northern India. In 2005, Tikaram Mulicha developed the Tikamuli … Continue reading →

Posted in Abugida, inventor known, Rating: 4 "Huh, interesting!" | Leave a comment