Favourite Writing Systems from Omniglot Ian James © April 2009

Since the invention of writing 5,000 years ago, there have been many outstanding achievements in both the conceptual and aesthetic forms of the writing systems used. Many examples can be found at Simon Ager’s website Omniglot of writing systems which had an inherent ability to satisfy the needs of writers and their readers for very long periods of time. Omniglot also has many examples of writing systems invented in the last few years by hobbyists. Both of these groups were of special interest to me as I developed SIGIL for the book Language for the World. Here are some of my favourites, from each group:

For Natural Languages

Lanna (Tua Mueang) is one of many SE Asian scripts evolving from Pallava and the Brahmi family of South India. It features nice curly strokes and consonant-cluster stacking. It is still used as an alternative to the slightly more recent Thai script for the northern dialects of Thailand, centred around Chiangmai and Chiangrai. My book Thai: serious yet simple has a chapter on this.

Balinese (Carakan script) is another of the Pallava-Brahmi line of scripts. Its forms are more homogeneous than Lanna, but it has nice long curly tails. It is similar to Javanese and I think improves upon it by having less fussy forms.

Georgian (Mxedruli script) is a phonetically consistent invention, of relatively recent times (11th century). It has some very interesting letter forms, most of them without any historical precedent. It is called the Horsemen script, and I wonder if the shapes were not inspired by the accessories of a knight’s stable. See also my page of Georgian script info.

Tamil (Vatteluttu) of South India is another of the Brahmi family. Unlike the exuberant curly scripts of its neighbours, Tamil has both curly letters and letters of simple form, the combination of which gives an overall sophistication. While I think Sinhala is more attractive, Tamil is less fussy in the details. The match of some Tamil letters to phonemes is not consistent, however.

Sinhala of Sri Lanka remains a wonderful inspiration. Its only problem (for me at least) is the fussiness involved in the actual writing of it.

Tibetan (Bod Yig) is also derived from Brahmi, but I think has nicer forms than say Devanagari or other northern descendants. It also uses consonant-cluster stacking, a consistent vowel system, and attractive punctuation symbols. It does however use many letters which are no longer sounded in speech.

Recent Inventions

Qohenje was invented by Colin Harrison. It is especially interesting because of the way it makes vowels the main element, adding consonants as diacritics. After all, consonants can be heard as mere stopping points within a flow of musically clear sounds (which are the vowels).

Ayeri Ornament Script is by Carsten Becker. A lovely idea, taking inspiration from natural linear forms, in this case vines. It is a simple cypher, but because of its decorative nature does not look dull.

Nari alphabet is by Thomas Slawson. When written out in lines it forms a nice organic pattern. Again, a simple cypher without being dull.

The qosta writing system was created by Adam Heurlin. It reminds me of some Tai scripts, and indeed looks as convincing and complete as any natural language script, while still being logically efficient.

Tciaar alphabet is by Ricardo Reséndiz Maita and Cialy Saturno Maita. An attractive development of Arabic-style scripts, in this case written L-to-R and designed for European languages. The letters sit well together, and there are no unwritten phonemes.

Details at Omniglot

[script-name images except Tamil, Georgian, Tibetan and Avestan taken from Omniglot]