Re: Mayan numerals

So, why would we not want to encode Mayan numerals now?

First, a quick overview of Mayan hieroglyphs. I'm not an expert; this is
just what I've gleaned from such resources as
http://www.famsi.org/mayawriting/calvin/glyph_guide_i.pdf , and I'm sure to
make some mistakes. Also, this deals with petroglyphs; for handwritten
glyphs in codices, there are similar issues and probably some additional
ones.

Mayan hieroglyphs are primarily syllable glyphs, combined into blocks, and
usually stacked into a two-column arrangement. However, there are some
non-syllabic logograms and ideograms, among which I think the numbers
count.

Columns typically read like this:

AB KL UV
CD MN WX
EF OP YZ
.. ..

Note that this 2-by-2 format is not purely a matter of visual layout. The
Popol Vuh is only known from the Latin transcription of the K'iche'
(although the text itself asserts the existence of an "original",
presumably hieroglyphic codex, version), yet it is easy to hear the echoes
of this two-by-two (and occasionally three-by-three) layout in its poetic
rhythms, even in translation.

A single block (just one of the letters above) combines multiple parts,
reading in an approximately left-to-right and top-to-bottom order, just as
a single Hangul character combines several jamo. However, unlike Hangul,
the combining rules were not canonical (or if they were, they were
extremely complex). Aesthetic and poetic issues come into play. But
unsurprisingly, rules for writing dates, a common use of numbers, were more
stereotyped/canonical than other writing.

Here are a few intrablock orderings in crude ascii format:

122233
122233
122233
144444
144444

Or:

11122
11122
11122
33333

Or even:

12559
33559
33679
44889

Typically, numbers are rectangular, so they'd tend to fit into the blocks
above in positions 1, 3, or 9, respectively. (In modern spoken Mayan
languages, numbers go along with numeric classifiers, similar to east asian
languages. However, I don't think that those classifiers were written out
phonetically, as any reader would know intuitively which one would fit in
context.)

Furthermore, I think there are special rules for "face glyphs", which can
combine incomplete versions of certain other glyphs at the forehead(?),
cheek, and chin(?) positions. Also, each of the digits 0-10 has a "face
form" unrelated to the standard digit, and for 11-19 hybrid forms are used
(for instance 10/3 for 13)

I don't speak any CJK language, but I've briefly skimmed over the unicode
rules for those languages, especially Korean. As far as I can see, the
facilities that have been built there will help with full Mayan
hieroglyphs, but it seems likely that further tricks will be needed.

Given the complexity of the block-combining possibilities, I don't think
it's possible that each glyph element will have multiple code points for
each of its possible positions within a block.

CONCLUSION:

Therefore, I don't think it's premature to encode a single,
horizontal-barred version of each of the digits 0-19. As I've said, these
glyphs would see usage far, far beyond the rest of the hieroglyphs,
including in math teaching and page numbers. Vertical-barred and face-based
digits and combining rules can be left for later.
Received on Wed Aug 22 2012 - 08:36:58 CDT