#logosyllabary

[lamegtu-larsa]

The sun shone.

Obviously a visual realization this ornate would usually be used for something less prosaic lol

[linguaphiliax]

[vividdreamsrock]

It’s the only video that looks good

Im going to cry I’m going to cry I’m going to cry I’m-

[frogpaste]

How do people make syllabaries?? I'm trying to construct a logosyllabary for my balto-slavic conlang, and my mind is melting.

Mine would have separate vowels for ь, ъ, and ѣ alongside hard and soft versions of all the normal vowels... even if I group some together, there are very few single-syllable words in any of the swadesh lists I've been looking at which allow for a convenient pictograph to start with.

My brain is a little wyrm in a metal cage, and every time I learn something new, I bash my head against the bars.. the cage gets bigger, but I get a headache.

[flockrest]

wow. finally here to talk about my take on forms of rito languages!! it's a doozy, folks. there will be four i'll be exploring: rito script, rito shorthand, rito key, and birdsong. all under the cut, so here we go!

RITO SCRIPT

i believe this would most likely be cuneiform in nature, if only due to the constraints of rito morphology. i doubt they have any innate, very fine motor control in their wings ( "hands" ) given how big their feathers ( "fingers"? ) are, so impressions and/or inked signs that can be made with wedge-tipped styluses seem a little more logical than the more motion-heavy strokes needed for, say, something like hylian script — which they still use around the village for the sake of non-rito visitors ( notably carved into wood ), but many rito are better readers than they are writers of hylian script! not all, but that's the general trend!

okay, now...i am not a linguist. but i'm thinking the old system ( like. prior to, during, and a little after dineli's time ) was more logographic, and was used way, WAY less than rito was spoken. over the millennia, through language contact ( especially applicable to the rito, who were traditionally nomads and a bulk of whom are still travellers by nature ) and the natural evolution of their spoken analogue, rito script has developed into more of a logosyllabary! still used notably less than its verbal equivalent, but not to the extent of back then; all fledglings in rito village are taught to a decent level of literacy now.

i don't have a physical demonstration in mind because i don't have the brain juices for creating a whole conlang...but i want to emphasise that this script is reflective of spoken rito, which is a tonal language ( THIS IS IMPORTANT ) and not alphabetical.

RITO SHORTHAND

rito stenography of rito script! finds even rarer cases of use than its longhand, but that's just how it is with most shorthands, isn't it? penn is especially proficient in this — his draft notes for reporting are exclusively in this shorthand. makes it harder for those who might want information when he isn't willing to give it to read, and speed is a critical thing when you're on the field! also his notebook is tiny. his pen when it's in his "hand"? tiny. he is not writing longhand in that thing.

i have a more concrete image in my head about this system! it's primarily informed by and based on modern musical notation!! it would still vaguely resemble rito script ofc, but i think this would be neat given how music-entrenched rito culture is...and it's fun to think about possible uses for it as a code! is it sheet music or a message? it will be obvious to rito ( even to those unfamiliar with shorthand, if only in that "huh, this does not read like music" sense ), but to most non-rito? a mystery they don't even realise is a mystery slkfjkdf

RITO KEY

separate from any scripts; this is nonverbal rito communication! misleading title, i know ( <- weak for connecting music to the birdies in any way i can ). their signed language, so to speak, in that words and meanings are conveyed through manual/physical articulation rather than verbal — but there are still some vocal aspects to it as well? very little, and less defined in that it's just like...whistles, trills, warbles, and other actual bird noises ( almost dipping into birdsong ). these aren't necessary most of the time; they're used to accentuate or clarify signs, not outright replace them.

i like to think that their signs, when grounded, place heavy emphasis on wings, shoulders, head positions, etc. there's not a lot of individually bending wingtips/"fingers" — "hand" movements are mostly ( but not all ) fully splayed or fully clenched, if that makes sense? and facial expressions would be very important too, as it is with most signed languages.

and signs when flying...i'm thinking maybe flight patterns? possibly whole flight motions? this is where the vocal side of rito key might really come into play, but again isn't strictly necessary — especially if you're a good flier. does convey less specifics than its grounded form though.

most grown travellers and warriors know rito key. it's a useful language to learn! can offer the advantage of subtle but active coordination on the battlefield and such.

BIRDSONG

this is, essentially, "birdspeak". natural language of birds, including rito! penn proved that rito can speak to birds to such a depth that they are his primary informants, and even though literally nothing in the game indicates this is a universal thing, i am RUNNING with this tidbit and saying yeah. this is an inherent thing for the rito. not in that they're born with an automatic understanding of it, but in that it's the easiest thing for them to learn. like their first language! do you see my vision? do you see it! i get to decide this, it's my sleepover!! ( affectionate )

this is much more simplistic than any other language a rito would know; there are no specific words that would equate to specific meaning. it's all ( bird ) sounds! no nuance to this language. it's very direct, straightforward, and in-the-moment. a major case of interpretation =/= translation, which is why an actual rito language naturally arose sdlfsjdfk

[lesbian-eunuch]

I'm doing great stuff over here sometimes, check out my newest conlang project Yevakadziha, and its logosyllabary writing.

[nonprojectspecific]

Tumblr Create Conlang - Poll 13

The image below, is borrowed from r/neography's guide to scripts because it is a useful break down of the forms scripts can take.

TumblrCreatedConlang has a maximal proto-syllable of CAVC or (S/F)N̩C, and a 5 vowel system as described here. Which makes an abjad, abugida or true syllabary unlikely to have developed. So having eliminated those:

[lamegtu-larsa]

Astrological temple text! Some individual phrases up top, then assembled into a whole text block at the bottom! (With script form underneath)

J'atok tam, nanungaluk: ankuru shak, s'ogal eb jedru, dacci untaradu.

"The great mountain, it is climbed: the fiery Ram, a pivot of Heaven, sulphur of Fire"

[lamegtu-larsa]

amrathak anheb amag, jedar serun

holy venus spirit, sky ruler

The logogram for anheb, used here, features the hexagonal /h/ radical, as well as the two cupping dagra (5) hands which make up part of the amag 'spirit' logogram [which should have a dot under it, oop]

[lamegtu-larsa]

Translating the beginning of the Old English nine herbs charm into Lamegtu Larsa.

Absaradu ramath, abjadithesh

2SG.ERG-vow-POSS mugwort-VOC 2SG.ERG-remember-SUPP (It has the jussive ending -su in the image above but the supplicative is more apt)

-actually I don't have the energy to gloss all this rn lol

[lamegtu-larsa]

Initial CV syllables use 'decapitated' CVC syllables emplaced into a special skull-shaped cartouche, which silences the final consonant.

[lamegtu-larsa]

[lamegtu-larsa]

I have about 100 glyphs drawn so far, having fun 😊

[lamegtu-larsa]

a verb! ablebdu, you guard/hide

The far left element with the long tail is ab-, the 2SG prefix for verbs, the Dugtrio-ass dude in the middle is the logograph for the verb lebdu, to guard (with the dot underneath that makes it read as a logograph instead of the syllable leb), and the element on the far right is the verbal suffix -eg, silent in this case, which prompts the word to be read as a verb not a noun. The vertical stripe with two diagonal bars along its far right edge is a silencer mark. (Many verbs do end in the syllable -eg, causing it to become a conventional verb marker.) The word is also spelled out in ruby script below the glyphs.

The leb glyph represents two helmeted guards, with their swords held in front of them, guarding a third person behind them.

[lamegtu-larsa]

re uneg, abru anungtesh

om abnadu ek om abedar

om ed tabdu rek hebdra ablebdu

[lamegtu-larsa]

The first two lines of the plantain verse (see #nine herbs charm): ek ama, sabak, sojuneth abccegradu, kabarag agebeg, kuluk abma'du abodun

Ek, the conjunction "and" looks like a salmon head

Most of my VC and CV syllables stem from playing with the shapes of the alphabet, and I usually try to make them into little creatures (although most of them are more abstract than this)

The 2SG.ABS pronoun and prefix aga/ag- is is this little swan/ship/snail:

At the top of the far right column you can see the word abma'du, "your face", formed from the five-crest ab 2SG.ERG prefix, the logogram MAT, "face", with the skull suffix that elides the final consonant, and the three upward curls of the possessive suffix -du.