Different languages different scripts but why Gaston Dorren

Different languages, different scripts - but why? Gaston Dorren, language writer Polyglot Gathering Bratislava, 30 -05 -2019

The World of Sockets

The World of Religions

The World of Traffic Handedness

Roman script: also used elsewhere In Japan: : In the Arab world

Roman script: also used elsewhere In China: • In India:

Roman alphabet, geographically (light green: also other scripts in use, often dominant)

world population. . . and script

Genuine alphabets Main characteristic: 1 sound 1 letter Can be pronounced without knowing the language (in principle) Number of characters: 20 - 40 ‘Market share’: approx. 50% (Roman 45%)

Genuine alphabets (1) Georgian

Genuine alphabets (2) Armenian

Genuine alphabets (3) Greek

Genuine alphabets (4) Korean 여자

Genuine alphabets (5) Cyrillic женщина

Genuine alphabets (6) Roman wieuwmoanske

Near-alphabetic scripts (1): abjads Main characteristic: 1 consonant sound 1 letter Can’t be pronounced entirely without knowing the language Number of characters: 20 - 30 ‘Market share’: close to 10% (Arab world, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan; Israel)

Near-alphabetic scripts (1): abjads Arabic Hebrew

Near-alphabetic scripts (2): abugidas Main characteristic: characters for consonants, smaller signs for vowels

�(k) + vowel

Near-alphabetic scripts (2): abugidas Main characteristic: characters for consonants, smaller signs for vowels Can be pronounced without knowing the language (in principle) Number of characters: a few dozen; sometimes hundreds ‘Market share’: over 20% (S and SE Asia, Ethiopia)

Near-alphabetic scripts (2): abugidas सत र ন র �� ሰበይቲ �� South Asia Ethiopia Canada

Nowhere near alphabetic scripts: logograms Basic feature: characters reflect meaning; pronunciation may vary Cannot be pronounced at all without knowing the language Number of characters: thousands ‘Market share’: approx. 20% (China, Japan)

Nowhere near alphabetic scripts: logograms Chinees: Japans:

The World of Religions

The World of Traffic Handedness

The World of Sockets

-3500 -3000 -200 -1200

Early Mesopotamian Writing

Early Central American Writing

Early Chinese Writing

Early Egyptian Writing (Hieroglyphs)

Early Indian Writing (? )

1 correlation number

slm English • slim • slam • slime • slum • salami • Islam Semitic languages ‘peace, submission’ as-salām (shalóm) • ʔislām • muslim • Salmān (Solomon) •

1 correlation number : abjad emerges

Phoenicians

aeírō eúnoia

2 correlation number : alphabet emerges

3 correlation number : abugida emerges

alphabet laboratory

alphabet laboratory abjad lbrtr

alphabet laboratory abugida lbrtr ゝ ゝ ㇳ 〃 〃.

4 correlation number : logograms remain (in a few places)

In a world ruled by logic, languages with. . . invariable words could use logograms. . an emphasis on consonants could use abjads. . simple syllables could use abugidas. All others had better use an alphabet.

wahine kuña abafazi

Are Roman characters best? Both alphabets and abugidas have advantages over abjads and logographic scripts. There’s nothing superior about the Roman variety. It’s like MS Windows or the English language: not better than others, but more widely known.

Any questions? Gibt’s Fragen? ¿Hay preguntas? Vragen?