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- Abjad
- Abugida
- Administration
- Alphabet
- Commentary
- developed by illiterate(s)
- Evolved slowly from parent
- first in its area
- government-mandated
- inventor known
- language unknown
- Logograms
- mercantile script
- National pride
- now ceremonial
- Numbers
- previous script didn't quite work
- private or secret
- probably developed by illiterate(s)
- probably first in its area
- Rating: 1 "Dull, only here for completeness"
- Rating: 2 "Not all that interesting"
- Rating: 3 "I did not know that"
- Rating: 4 "Huh, interesting!"
- Rating: 5 "Whoa!!"
- revealed in a dream
- significant female influence
- spiritual or supernatural
- stupid
- Syllabaries
- technology influenced
- Uncategorized
- Undeciphered
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Category Archives: Alphabet
Old Uyghur — 700 AD, China
The Old Uyghur script descended from the “Uyghur” version of the Sogdian script, and was used from around 700 AD to around 1700 AD. Woodblock printing and movable type printing was developed by Uyghurs in around 1250, around 200 years … Continue reading
Posted in Alphabet, Rating: 5 "Whoa!!"
2 Comments
Sogdian — 200 AD, Uzbekistan
Sogdiana was an important nation on the Silk Road in Central Asia from around 400 BC to 1000 AD. Sogdian traders went far and wide as merchants, similar to the Phoenicians; like the Phoenicians, they spread their language and their … Continue reading
Old Nubian — 700 AD, Sudan
Old Nubian script started around 700 BC in Sudan, but it wasn’t common (especially at first). Most official and/or formal writing was in Greek or Coptic for quite some time. Old Nubian script is mostly Coptic, but with three additional … Continue reading
Posted in Alphabet, Rating: 4 "Huh, interesting!"
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Coptic — 150 BC or 300 AD, Egypt
Coptic is an alphabet which was and is used to write Egyptian. Around 150 BC, Egyptians were writing Egyptian using the Greek script, occasionally with some Demotic characters for sounds that weren’t in Greek. By around 300 AD, they had … Continue reading
Posted in Alphabet, Rating: 4 "Huh, interesting!"
1 Comment
Shorthands — <300 BC, Greece?
Shorthands — forms of writing that sacrifices accuracy and/or shared orthography for speed — are very old. The earliest example of shorthand comes from Greece, and was sort of an inverse abugida: the vowels were primary, and consonants were noted … Continue reading
Posted in Abjad, Abugida, Alphabet, inventor known, Logograms, Rating: 5 "Whoa!!"
3 Comments
Venetic — 690 BC, Italy
Venetic was an Indo-European language related to Latin, spoken on the Italian peninsula in the vicinity of what became Venice. Venetic was one of several scripts in what is now Italy, representing quite a few languages: Latin, Etruscan, Venetic, Faliscan … Continue reading
Posted in Alphabet, Rating: 4 "Huh, interesting!"
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