Ilaksh: A Philosophical Design for a Hypothetical Language

	Home	4 Case Morphology	9 Syntax
	Introduction	5 Verb Morphology	10 Lexico-Semantics
	1 Phonology	6 More Verb Morphology	11 The Writing System
	2 Morpho-Phonology	7 Suffixes	12 The Number System
	3 Basic Morphology	8 Adjuncts	The Lexicon

Chapter 11: The Writing System

[This page still partially under construction. Hopefully, I will finish it sometime in 2009.]

The Ilaksh writing system is utterly different from the Ithkuil writing system, the only similarity being that they are both morpho-phonemic scripts, although the phonological information presented in the Ilaksh script is minimal, making the script nearly a pure morphography.

The Ilaksh writing system comes in two related varieties:  a formal “ornamental” writing system, and an informal cursive (i.e., handwritten) script derived from the formal writing system.  The formal system is two-dimensional and graphically non-linear.  It operates somewhat like an abstract morphological “map” of a sentence and is illustrated below left.  The informal cursive version of the same sentence appears on the right.  A horizontal variant of the informal cursive script (used optionally for short passages or sentences that can be written on one line) is also shown immediately below the formal version of the sentence.  Below all of them is the romanized transliteration and English translation of the sentence.

Andmùt  žiëlùimäv  asavéwöc  ukšu’ŭs  ujgălärň  žö’äàcërb.
The incompetent tailor began crying after finding out about the clowns’ new directive on nakedness.

11.1 The Formal (Ornamental) Writing System

We will first analyze the formal writing system.  The formal writing system utilizes combinations of various elements to distinguish the hundreds of morphological categories and thousands of roots/stems.  These elements are indicated in the following diagram of a written Ilaksh sentence.

En-nà  ççwačotëērbïkç  ukšëěuh  çéitëpš  äirei’wuŧ  a’läçewöóřzah  žie.
If only the troupe of clowns had gotten together and destroyed their musical instruments just after performing that lovely recital for us.

The following explanations explain the purpose of each part of the writing system as illustrated in the above diagram.

1. Geometrically-shaped two-dimensional containers or “cartouches” of the following varieties:
1. Both vertically-oriented and horizontally-oriented cartouches whose long edges are parallel lines, but whose short edges consist of various straight-edged and/or curving contours.
2. Triangular cartouches which be either equilateral triangles or right-angled triangles, oriented so that at least one side is either flat/horizontal or perpendicular/vertical.
3. Hexagonal cartouches.

2. Glyph-like symbols based on portions cut out from one-half of a hexagonal form.  The two halves of the hexagon-based glyphs are juxtaposed opposite each other to complete the hexagonal form.  These glyphs are placed inside the geometric cartouche shapes

3. A four-way “color” distinction consisting of any light, mid-tone, and dark color, reduceable in grayscale to dark/black, light/white, and mid-tone gray (to allow color-blind persons to distinguish them).  The fourth “color” is actually a pattern of texture, consisting of any pattern of striation, mottling, cross-hatching, etc., as long as it is distinguishable from the mid-tone gray when reduced to gray scale.  These colors are applied to both the geometric shapes and the hexagon-based glyphs (NOTE:  there is only a three-way color distinction for the hexagon-based glyphs, as the mottling/texture is applied only to the cartouche shapes.)   

4. Layering of the cartouche shapes one upon the other in partially overlapping fashion to create a “stacking” order from forward-most to back-most.

5. Positioning of the glyphs within the cartouches in terms of a upper-mid-lower and left-center-right orientation.

6. Switching of the “axis” of the hexagonal glyphs (i.e., the orientation of the partition between the two halves of the glyph) from vertical to horizontal to oblique.

11.2 REPRESENTING NOMINAL FORMATIVES

The above six elements are manipulated to create a morphological “picture” or “map” of a sentence.  We will start by explaining how the formatives within a sentence are written (see Sec. 2.6 for an explanation of formatives).

11.2.1 Representing the 3600 Roots

The 3600 Ilaksh roots are shown by means of the “cartouche”-like shapes within which the glyph-like symbols are placed.  It is the edge-shape of the “ends” of the cartouche, along with the color of the cartouche as a whole, which indicates which root is being represented. 

When a root is written as a horizontally-oriented cartouche, it represents a nominal formative.  By horizontally-oriented is meant that the cartouche is wider than it is tall, and it is the left and right edges that change, while the top and bottom edges are simple parallel lines.

There are thirty different edges used in writing the cartouches.  The thirty edges are shown in Table 35 below, first as they appear when used as the left-hand edge of a nominal formative, which may be considered the “default” form of each edge, secondly when they appear as the right-hand edge.

Table 35(a): Left-Hand Cartouche Edge Shapes

When used as the right-hand edge of a nominal formative, the default shapes are horizontally reversed, as follows:

Table 35(b): Right-Hand Cartouche Edge Shapes

As was explained in Chapter 2, an Ilaksh root consists of one of 120 Cr consonantal forms, plus one of five Vr vowels, plus one of six tones.  These phonological elements correspond to the following written elements:

The 120 Cr forms are represented by the 30 left-hand (or top) cartouche edges in conjunction with the four colors (black, white, gray, textured) of the cartouche as a whole, as shown in Table 36 below:

TABLE 36: 120 Cr radicals shown by 30 lefthand edges X 4 cartouche colors (white, grey, textured, black)

The five Vr vowels and six tones are represented by the 30 right-hand (or bottom) cartouche edges, as shown in Table 37 below.

Table 37: 6 tones X 5 vowels shown by 30 righthand edges of cartouche

11.2.2 Representing Specific Stems

The default glyph is simply two halves of a hexagon joined side-by-side into the full hexagon shape, with the “axis” separating the two halves in a vertically-oriented position, i.e.,

As explained in Chapter 2, each Ilaksh root generates three Patterns (corresponding to the holistic stems plus two groups of complementary stems).  In turn, each of the three Patterns contains three stems. 

The three Patterns are shown via the color of the left-hand half of this first glyph, while the three stems within each Pattern are shown via the color of the right-hand half of this glyph. The specific patterns are indicated in Table 38 below.

Table 38: Colors of Lefthand and Righthand Glyph-Halves Representing Pattern and Stem

11.2.3 Representing Case

The 96 cases (see Chapter 4) are represented by 96 modifications to the shape of the left half of the first glyph within the cartouche.  These modifications are essentially portions of the default glyph (Glyph No. 1).  The 96 different glyph-halves are shown in Table 39 below.

Table 39: The 96 Glyph Halves (only lefthand forms shown)

The 96 cases are mapped directly to the 96 glyph halves, as indicated in Table 40 below:

Table 40: Glyph Half numbers Representing the 96 Cases

11.2.4 Representing Configuration

The nine configurations (see Section 3.1) are represented by the positioning of the first glyph within the cartouche relative to the edges.

There are three horizontal positions (left, center, right) and three vertical positions (top, mid, bottom).  These correspond to the nine configurations as indicated in Table 41 below.

Table 41: Position Within Cartouche of First Glyph as Indicator of Configuration

11.2.5 Representing Affiliation, Perspective, and Extension

The four affiliations, four perspectives, and six extensions (see Chapter 3) are shown via the right-hand half of the first glyph (as opposed to the left-hand representing case).  Being in the right half of the glyph, the forms are necessarily reversed horizontally in comparison to their form used in the left half of the glyph.  The specific morphological correspondences to the 96 glyph-halves are shown in Table 42 below.

Table 42: Glyph-Half Numbers Representing Affiliation, Extension, and Perspective

11.2.6 Representing Designation and Essence

The categories of Designation and Essence are both shown by a reversal in the vertical orientation of the left-hand and right-hand glyph halves respectively.  As an illustration of such a vertical reversal, here are Glyph Nos. 10 and 82 shown in their lefthand forms, then the same vertically reversed.

The morphological correspondences are as follows:

Designation: 
IFR (INFORMAL) = default orientation; FRM (FORMAL) = lefthand glyph-half vertically reversed

Essence: 
NRM (NORMAL) = default orientation; RPV (REPRESENTATIVE) = righthand glyph-half vertically reversed

The following glyph-halves, being vertically symmetrical (i.e., the top and bottom halves of the symbol are mirror images of each other), have specialized forms when required to be vertically “reversed.”  Those forms are:

11.2.7 Representing Context

As stated earlier, the default “axis” (the line splitting the two halves of the hexagonal glyph) is vertically oriented.  It is possible to shift this axis to be horizontal, as well as at an oblique angle.  Such axis shifts as applied to the first glyph in the cartouche are used for representing the four contexts (see Sec. 3.X), as follows:

Note on Axis Shifting:  When a “bivalve”-like hexagonal glyph undergoes a shifting of the axis from the vertical, then it becomes necessary to reinterpret what is meant by the “left-hand” and “right-hand” glyph halves.  The correspondences are illustrated as follows:

Note that the two oblique axis shifts shown above also entail a rotation of the glyph as a whole so that the six vertices are all horizontally parallel to each other (i.e., so that the hexagon has a top side and a bottom side).  There are two additional axis shifts which appear in limited contexts.  These are similar to the oblique-descending and oblique-ascending orientations but with the hexagon not rotated, i.e., like the default (vertical) orientation, the hexagon has top and bottom vertices rather than top and bottom sides.  These two axial orientations are labelled upright-descending and upright-ascending and are illustrated below.

11.2.8 Representing Suffixes

[this section is under construction]

11.3 WRITING VERBAL FORMATIVES

As explained above, nominal formatives are written with a horizontal orientation, the thirty different edges being applied to the left and right sides of the cartouche.  To represent a verbal formative, the cartouche is written in a vertically-oriented manner. Vertically-oriented means the cartouche is taller than it is wide, and it is the top and bottom edges that change, while the left and right edges are simple parallel lines.  It is actually easier to think of written verbal formatives as simply being the same as nominal formatives, but tipped 90 degrees to the right, so that the left and right edges of a nominal formative cartouche correspond respectively to the top and bottom edges of a verbal formative.

When used as the top edge of a verbal formative, the default shapes from Table XX above are tilted 90 degrees to right, as follows:

When used as the bottom edge of a verbal formative, the default shapes are horizontally reversed, then tilted 90 degrees to the right, as follows:

Note that the glyphs within a verbal formative operate independently of the vertical orientation of the cartouche, i.e., they do not tilt 90 degrees to the left simply because the cartouche containing them has tilted.  Thus, for example, the word shown below on the left is a nominal formative, while its equivalent as a verbal formative is shown on the right.

11.3.1 Representing Pragmatic Relations

In Chapter 9, it was explained how Ilaksh uses word order to indicate pragmatic relations, i.e., the marking of topic and focus on formatives.  Formatives functioning as the topic of a sentence will appear first in a sentence, while formatives which are the focus of a sentence will appear immediately preceding the verb.  Neutral sentences with no specific topic or focus will be verb initial. 

In the formal writing system, this word ordering is conveyed by “layering” the various cartouches to overlap one another from front to back in a quasi-three-dimensional order relative to the point of view of the reader.  In neutral, verb-initial sentences, the vertically-oriented verb cartouche will be forward-most in the “stack” of cartouches, while in sentences with topic and/or focus formatives, these cartouches will overlap the verb cartouche, with a topic being placed higher up along the length of the verb cartouche than a subsequent focus formative.  This layering of cartouches is illustrated by the following examples:

[examples forthcoming - under construction]

11.3.2 Representing Mood

The following morphological categories specific to verbs are shown by means of special triangular-shaped cartouche which is placed behind the verb cartouche:  Mood, Function, Illocution, Format, Phase, Version, Valence, Modality, Validation, Sanction, Aspect and Level.  In this section and the sections which follow, we will examine how each of these categories are displayed in this triangular cartouche.  We will begin with Mood.

The eight moods are represented by the shape and directional orientation of the triangular cartouche, as follows:

11.3.3 Representing Function and Illocution

Either the eight Functions or the eight Illocutions can be shown by a combination of cartouche color plus axial orientation of the first glyph within the cartouche.  If the axial orientation of the glyph is either vertical or horizontal, then it is Function which is being represented.  If the axial orientation is oblique (whether descending or ascending), it is Illocution being conveyed.  The specific morphological correspondences are as follows:

OR

NOTE:  If the verb contains non-default information for both Function and Illocution (i.e., the verb’s Function is not OPERATIVE and the Illocution is not DECLARATIVE, then it will be Function that is represented by the cartouche color and glyph axis.  Illocution in turn will be conveyed via an alternate means explained below in Sec. 11.3.8.

11.3.4 Representing Format, Phase, and Version

The combination of 8 Formats, 9 Phases, and 6 Versions (see Sections XX and XX respectively) is conveyed by the value, vertical orientation, and color of the left-hand half of the first glyph within the triangular cartouche underlapping a verbal formative cartouche. 

11.3.5 Representing Valence and Modality

The combination of thirty modalities and the fourteen valences (see Sections XX and XX respectively) is conveyed by the value, vertical orientation, and color of the right-hand half of the first glyph within the triangular cartouche underlapping a verbal formative cartouche.

11.3.6 Representing Validation and Sanction

The combination of fourteen validations and nine sanctions (see Sections 6.3 and 5.4 respectively) is shown by the value and vertical orientation of the left-hand glyph half of the second glyph within the triangular cartouche underlapping a verbal formative cartouche.

11.3.7 Representing Aspect

The thirty-two aspects (see Section 5.6) are conveyed by the colors and axis shift of the second glyph within the triangular cartouche underlapping the verbal formative cartouche.

11.3.8 Representing Level and Alternative Illocution

The eight illocutions (see Section 5.7) and eighteen levels (see Section 5.8) are shown by the value and vertical orientation of the right-hand glyph half of the second glyph within the triangular cartouche underlapping a verbal formative cartouche. This combination results in a grid of 152 possible glyph-halves in the position (76 glyph-halves plus their vertically reversed counterparts). The specific values and vertical orientation are shown in the following table.

Table: Glyph Values Representing the Combination of Level and Illocution

* (“r” after glyph value = vertically reversed)

11.3.9 Representing Incorporated Stems

Incorporated stems (see Section 5.7) are shown by placing the stem-cartouche of the incorporated stem in a position underlapping the triangular verbal mood cartouche introduced in Section 11.3.2 above. This is illustrated in the following example:

[example forthcoming - under construction]

11.4 ALTERNATIVE REPRESENTATIONS OF VERBAL CATEGORIES

[this section is under construction]

 

11.5 REPRESENTING PERSONAL REFERENCE ADJUNCTS

[this section is under construction]

 

11.6 THE INFORMAL (CURSIVE) SCRIPT

The cursive script is designed to be handwritten.  Unlike the formal script, it is written in a sequential linear fashion like most writing systems.  The direction of writing is a vertical boustrophedon (zig-zag) pattern in columns starting from the top left, read downward for the first column and subsequent odd-numbered columns, then upward (i.e, from bottom to top) for the second and subsequent even-numbered columns.  The vertical orientation of the characters themselves does not change in the even-numbered columns (i.e., they are not vertically reversed despite being read in reverse (i.e., upward) sequence.  As it is always possible to visually determine the start of a new word (by means of specialized characters corresponding to the cartouche edges of the formal script), there is no need for spacing between words.  Spacing is used to separate different sentences within a paragraph.

The following figure presents an analogy with English writing as to how the Ilaksh cursive script is read.

T	W	A	R	S	E	N
H	E	Y	U	I	T	A
I	H	T	C	V	T	N
S	T	H	H	E	I	D
R	S	A	S	S	R	R
E	T	T	K	C	W	E
P	N	T	A	R	S	A
R	E	H	L	I	I	D
E	S	E	I	P	T	.

When writing the cursive script, it is usual to allow the various characters to partially overlap each other to create “ligature”-like effects, as long as the degree of overlap is not so much as to be unable to distinguish the individual characters from each other.  This is seen in the sample shown at the outset of the chapter, repeated here.

As stated (and illustrated) at the outset of this chapter, it is also possible to write the Ilaksh cursive script horizontally left-to-right for short passages which do not exceed a single line in length.  When written this way, only the characters representing cartouche edges normally overlap into ligatures; the remaining characters are written without overlapping, as seen below in the horizontal version of the same Ilaksh passage from above.

11.6.1 Cursive Equivalents to the 96 Glyph-Halves

Each of the 96 half-hexagonal glyph-halves from the formal/ornamental writing system has a corresponding character in the informal script, shown in the table below.

As in the formal writing system, these characters become laterally reversed (i.e., mirror-imaged) when functioning as the right-hand half of the corresponding hexagonal glyph and can be vertically inverted as well. However, where the formal writing system allows the hexagonal glyphs to undergo “axis” shifts from vertical to horizontal to oblique (as explained in Section 11.2.7 above), the informal cursive script indicates the equivalent of these axis shifts via the use of diacritic marks, which also are used to convey the equivalent of the various color shifts for both cartouches and glyph-halves. These diacritic marks are explained in Section 11.6.3 below.

11.6.2 Cursive Representation of the Cartouche Edges

As for the cursive equivalent of the cartouches from the formal writing system, these are represented in the informal script by characters which are essentially small representations of the cartouche edges themselves, i.e., the symbols shown in Tables 35(a), 35(b), and the two tables in Section 11.3 above. This can be seen in the example text from Sec. XX above where the five formative cartouches used in the sentence...

...are represented in the in the informal script by the following five character combinations:

These cartouche characters are written as the first characters of a word, followed by the characters representing the internal glyphs.

Non-formative cartouches (i.e., the triangular and hexagonal cartouches representing personal reference adjuncts and additional verb morphology) are shown as follows:

11.6.3 Using Diacritics to Represent Axis Shifts and Color Shifts

[this section under construction]