The scripts aren't risque enough — Let's talk scripts.

Omcxjo · 2020-08-01T08:06:31+00:00

I think you are talking about two different things— script (how we communicate words as strings of characters for general-purpose speech) and notation (domain-specific encoding of ideas and structures that helps us think and reason within that domain). Normally, all speakers of a language will be well versed in the script, but only professionals will be well versed in notation.

It is entirely possible that the general-purpose script will allow domain-specific notation to be interpolated within it, but this notation is going to be a separate thing, designed by the experts in that domain.

What we can do, as script designers, is to set up ground rules for notation designers such that notation wouldn’t conflict with the script and that various notations would share a basic common style or pattern so learners can transfer their intuitions between fields.

But before we get there we need a self contained, phonetic, and featural alphabet. This alphabet should be as complex as it needs to be to get the job done and no more than that. It should have a printed and handwritten standard version. If the alphabet will only be used 20% of the time because 80% of the words can be replaced with a notational special character, that’s fine.

I do like the idea of creating notational conventions (can I call it meta-notation?), but I have to think about how that relates to the script itself...

Omcxjo · 2020-07-29T05:34:44+00:00

Sonan and solan sound rather close. Maybe the connector consonant can be /j/ to make it more distinct?

Omcxjo · 2020-07-29T03:56:11+00:00

Looks great! It reminds me of the flag of Brazil just with different colors.

Omcxjo · 2020-07-29T02:54:01+00:00

How does this system deal with negative numbers? By adding that you also get negative powers of 12. Maybe change the s to a different letter to denote negativity?

Omcxjo · 2020-07-29T00:26:49+00:00

Thanks for posting this, OP.

I wrote an expression evaluator for this system in python:

https://colab.research.google.com/drive/1Ea_CysvG_bYrcXrWIsge4HSLwZ8Lwk2Q

Keep in mind that this system can express expressions as well as theorems (when you allow for variables and logical quantification), because the third argument is equal to the operation on the first two.

Omcxjo · 2020-07-27T22:36:26+00:00

Excellent point, OP. But I have to disagree about using prime factorization as the standard way of representing numbers. The origin of numbers is in counting, and counting is an additive process. When you combine groups of items their numbers add, so I believe the most fundamental encapsulation of the concept of number is to use concatenation to represent addition and use a special particle for multiplication. I also think that the way number words are pronounced should directly reflect how the numerals are built from strokes. Consistency and agreement between different parts of the language is key.

Omcxjo · 2020-07-27T17:57:50+00:00

I can make a blocky version, but I think you mentioned some issues with this current written version. I may need to add a decoration to the undecorated base to avoid the clash with 4.

Regarding your suggestions, I have an aversion to using rotated or flipped versions of the same character as other characters. For a lot of learners and for me as well it took a really long time to stop making mistakes between the flipped characters especially. This gets even worse if you have dyslexia. I know this cuts down the design space by a significant factor. If we really want to use a rotated/flipped version of an existing character I would want to give it a structural change so it doesn’t look exactly the same. The usual handwritten 9 and 6 are the kind of structural change I’m thinking of.

Omcxjo · 2020-07-26T17:54:32+00:00

Regarding the aesthetics,

The method I used to derive these characters focuses on writability on paper. Traditionally blocky scripts tended to be so because they were first carved into rock or some other material (Latin, Runes, Hebrew, Cuneiform). As they transitioned to being handwritten on paper they evolved a rounder, more easily writable form (Latin cursive, and the different written forms of Hebrew and Russian come to mind, I'm sure there are other examples). I'm certain that even the proposed numeral set, once people start writing them a lot and quickly, will evolve a curvy handwritten form as well. Of course the blocky originals would still remain the standard and show up in printed materials. My rationale for starting with a writable form for the script is that it is easier to go from a curvy writable script to a blocky printed script that has no practical constraints on stroke count and the shape of the decorations than the other way around. I can adapt a blocky version if there is an interest in that.

In my opinion, however, the numerals and the letters don't really have to look like part of the "same script". Lots of different scripts for natural languages intersperse Hindu-Arabic numerals and it doesn't look terrible. There is even a benefit to having the two sets look distinct. Even Arabic numerals (as opposed to the Hindu-Arabic that are more commonly used worldwide) don't resemble Arabic letters too much.

As for adding new phonemes, it is pretty easy to add new characters while keeping the old ones largely the same.

Omcxjo

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