From: John Hudson (tiro@tiro.com)
Date: Mon Nov 10 2003 - 20:47:15 EST
At 05:17 PM 11/10/2003, Peter Kirk wrote:
>OK, let's use this as a tentative working definition. But first we need to
>clarify: how vast is a vast majority? As a hypothetical (I think) example,
>suppose that a community of 100 Chinese-speaking Jews is found which
>writes Chinese in Hebrew script, mainly for liturgical and religious
>purposes. Quite a tiny majority of the users of Chinese. Is this using
>Hebrew script as a cipher (obviously not one-to-one!) for Chinese? Or is
>it a recognised use of a different script? Then, how is the use of Theban
>script different?
I think there is a difference between adapting an existing script to write
a language normally written in another script, and inventing a script
specifically for that purpose. That is, there is a difference between using
a writing system as a cipher and a cipher per se. So the Hebrew script is
going to be encoded because it is used for the Hebrew language and others
that have developed distinct identities in that script (e.g, Ladino,
Yiddish). So your hypothetical Chinese Jewish community is in the same
situation as your Masons: they are using an existing script to write a
language more commonly written in another script. Since both scripts are
legitimately encoded, it is a matter of implementation whether this
community uses one or the other to encode their texts. Presumably, they
will use whichever is easier.
John Hudson
Tiro Typeworks www.tiro.com
Vancouver, BC tiro@tiro.com
I sometimes think that good readers are as singular,
and as awesome, as great authors themselves.
- JL Borges
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