Author Archives: ducky

About ducky

I'm a computer programmer professionally, currently working on mapping applications. I have been interested non-professionally for a long time in the effect on society on advances in communications technology -- things like writing, vowels, spaces between words, paper, etc.

Takri — 1550 AD, India

Posted on April 11, 2011 by ducky

Takri — also called Takkari, Takari, and Tankri — descended from Sharada.  Sharada evolved gradually, and at some point it started being called Devasesa; in the sixteenth century, a version called Takri (used for commerce) became distinct enough from Devasesa … Continue reading →

Posted in Abugida, Rating: 1 "Dull, only here for completeness" | Leave a comment

Still sick-ish

Posted on April 10, 2011 by ducky

No, I haven’t lost interest, I am still getting over this cold.  I thought I was better; I went in to the office WThFri… but that took a lot more out of me than working from home.  I just couldn’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Administration | 1 Comment

Khojki — 1350 AD, Pakistan

Posted on April 10, 2011 by ducky

Khojki was developed in around 1350 AD by Pir Sadardin in the Sindh region of Pakistan for recording Ismaili (a branch of Shia Islam) religious literature, mostly in the Sindhi language.  As with its sibling Gurmukhi, it is very similar … Continue reading →

Posted in Abugida, now ceremonial, Rating: 4 "Huh, interesting!" | Leave a comment

Gurmukhi — 1539 AD, India/Pakistan

Posted on April 10, 2011 by ducky

In about 1539 AD, the second Sikh Guru Angad Dev Ji developed a script, Gurmukhi, from Punjabi Landa.  While he used this script to write religious works in several different languages, it came to be a symbol of Punjabi — … Continue reading →

Posted in Abugida, inventor known, National pride, Rating: 4 "Huh, interesting!" | 4 Comments

Punjabi Landa — 900 AD, India

Posted on April 5, 2011 by ducky

As I mentioned in the Khudawadi post yesterday, merchants simplified Sharada, presumably to let them write more quickly.  In addition to dropping the vowel diacritics, they also used the same character for aspirated (“breathy”) and non-aspirated consonants, and dropped punctuation … Continue reading →

Posted in Abugida, mercantile script, private or secret, Rating: 2 "Not all that interesting" | 2 Comments

Khudawadi — 900 AD, Pakistan

Posted on April 4, 2011 by ducky

In the tenth century AD, merchants simplified the Sharada script for quick note-taking.  There were a number of common features in their scripts, common enough that the name “Landa” was given to all of these scripts.  However, as Landa was … Continue reading →

Posted in Abugida, mercantile script, Rating: 3 "I did not know that" | 1 Comment

Sharada — 800 AD, India

Posted on April 3, 2011 by ducky

Sharada — also called Sarada and Sharda — is descended from Gupta through Kutila (a writing system so obscure that I wasn’t able to find enough to write about, and I have pretty low standards).  Sharada’s use centered in Kashmir, … Continue reading →

Posted in Abugida, now ceremonial, Rating: 2 "Not all that interesting" | 3 Comments

Gupta — 400 AD, India

Posted on April 2, 2011 by ducky

Gupta was an immediate descendant of Brahmi, used in Northern India from about 400-800 AD, and the forerunner of many important scripts of Northern India and the Himalaya. The Gupta empire was very powerful and important.  “Gupta” is still a … Continue reading →

Posted in Abugida, Rating: 1 "Dull, only here for completeness" | 5 Comments

Gibberish font — ~2000 AD, USA

Posted on April 1, 2011 by ducky

There is a highly entertaining site “Hanzismatter” which is dedicated to helping people figure out just what exactly that tattoo they got really says in Chinese or Japanese. The authors of that site were somewhat puzzled by the number of … Continue reading →

Posted in Rating: 4 "Huh, interesting!", stupid | 2 Comments

Update: sickness, next scripts, ratings

Posted on March 29, 2011 by ducky

I have not decided to cease work on Glyph of the Day, I’ve just been down with a really nasty cold.  Posting should resume soon, probably tomorrow or the next day. I am going to launch into the Brahmi-derived languages … Continue reading →

Posted in Administration | 1 Comment