From: vunzndi@vfemail.net
Date: Sat Feb 10 2007 - 17:52:04 CST
Yes, inpratice one canuse the script of any language to write another
language it is just a question of how big an adaption. Quite the
reverse is true a writing system is designed not to use certain
letters/ideogrammes so as to be different but at the same time is
related in some way. Having one's own writing system is often seen as
a matter of pride for many nations/ethnic-groups. I can think of few
cases where the primary reason for choosing a writing system was
praticality.
Quoting Peter Constable <petercon@microsoft.com>:
> Actually, I think actual adaptation of a script for use in other
> languages has less to do with its adaptability and more to do with
> things like prestige or regional importance by virtue of its use for
> some major language(s). E.g. Arabic script wasn't adopted for
> writing Turkish because the script was particularly adaptable for
> that language.
>
> Peter
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: unicode-bounce@unicode.org [mailto:unicode-bounce@unicode.org]
> On Behalf Of John Hudson
> Sent: Friday, February 09, 2007 10:06 AM
> To: Eric Muller
> Cc: Lokesh Joshi; Richard Wordingham; unicode@unicode.org
> Subject: Re: Query for Validity of Thai Sequence
>
> Eric Muller wrote:
>
>>> Successful writing systems tend to get adapted for multiple languages,
>
>> The term "successful writing systems" makes me nervous, especially with
>> the "tend to get adapted" part. Unless you define "successful" by "get
>> adapted" (in which case you have a tautology), the value judgment is at
>> best dubious. And anyway, your argument works equally well without
>> "Successful", so why go there?
>
> That's an entirely fair comment. I was writing quickly, but I
> suppose I was thinking of
> 'successful' in terms of demonstrated adaptability. Thinking of a
> script like Thai: this
> is a writing system that has already been adapted to a number of
> minority languages, ergo
> 'successful' in this sense, and it is reasonable to think that it
> might be adapted to
> others. In any case, the basic point is that one shouldn't make
> assumptions about how
> characters will be used in such adaptations.
>
> JH
>
> --
>
> Tiro Typeworks www.tiro.com
> Vancouver, BC john@tiro.ca
>
> Marie Antoinette was a woman whose core values were chocolate,
> sex, love, nature and Japanese ceramics. Frankly, there are
> worse principles of government than that. - Karen Burshtein
>
>
>
>
>
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