A writing system based on ideograms and a grammar

A forum for all topics related to constructed languages
Post Reply
Squall
greek
greek
Posts: 526
Joined: 28 Nov 2013 14:47

A writing system based on ideograms and a grammar

Post by Squall »

This is my first attempt of creating a writing system that uses ideograms and is not phonetic.

This writing system represents the expression of a human language. It does not represent the phonology. The grammar is part of the writing system, therefore the users do not follow the grammar of the spoken language. Its structure is rigid and it cannot represent any spoken sentence. Therefore, it cannot be used to write what to say in a formal speech or theater. However, the system is better to be processed by computers. It is expected to make someone understand a text written 3000 years later.

It contains two types of ideograms, the keywords and the concepts. The keywords represent grammatical functions and work like prepositions or particles. They represent pronouns, numbers, determiners, TAM and other grammatical words. The concepts are the real vocabulary, they are registered in a dictionary that contains pictures of the represented object. The concepts are always nouns (beauty and explanation instead of beautiful and explain). They can become adjective or verb according to the grammatical use.

Since I cannot type my characters, I will illustrate the use of the characters by using katakana as keywords and kanji as concepts. The katakana characters will receive random meanings. The kanjis were obtained from Wikipedia; they were found with Ctrl+F and copied with Ctrl+C. I will also use a representation with mnemonics.


Keywords

Some keywords are:
ア - [OBJ] - Direct object
イ - [ABL] - Indirect object (origin)
ウ - [DAT] - Indirect object (destination)
エ - [ADV] - Adverb
オ - [GEN] - Genitive
カ - [LOC] - Locative
キ - [DEF] - Definite article (singular). It is also used with pronouns.
ク - [DEF-PL] - Definite article (plural).
ケ - [AND] - And
コ - [REL-EXPL] - Restrictive relative clause
サ - [REL-REST] - Explicative relative clause
シ - [COMPL] - Nominal complement
ス - [SUBD] - Subordinating conjunction
セ - [GVN] - Given name article
ソ - [IDE] - It creates an identifier.
タ - [REF] - Referenced term in relative clauses
チ - [IPRN] - Determiner that marks the use of an identifier.
ツ - [INSTR] - Instrumental
テ - [WITH] - Having, carrying
ト - [ADJ] - Adjective
ハ - [CLOS] - It is used to mark the end of relative clauses, nominal complements, list of adjectives and subordinated clauses.
ヒ - [INDF] - Indefinite article (singular)
フ - [INDF-PL] - Indefinite article (plural)
ヘ - [INDF-UNC] - Indefinite article (uncountable)
ホ - [1SG]
マ - [2SG]
ミ - [3SG]
ム - [PST-PRF] - Perfective past
メ - [FUT-PRF] - Perfective future
モ - [PST-PRG] - Progressive past
ナ - [PRS-PRG] - Progressive present
ニ - [FUT-PRG] - Progressive future
ヌ - [PST-HAB] - Habitual past
ネ - [PRS-HAB] - Habitual present
ノ - [FUT-HAB] - Habitual future
ラ - [DES] - Desiderative mood
リ - [NEG] - Negation
ル - [INT] - Interrogation
レ - [IMME] - A near moment in the past or future
ロ - [ABLE] - To be able to
ヤ - [BECAUSE] -
ユ - [THEREFORE] -
ヨ - [HOWEVER] -
。 - [END] - End of the sentence.


Grammar

The word order cannot be changed. The basic sentence is:
<CONJ>[verb]<TAM><DET>[noun][OBJ]<DET>[noun][ADV]...[ADV]...[END]

<CONJ> is an optional conjunction. Conjunctions are keywords.
<TAM> is one of the keywords that represent aspect-tense-mood. Additional modifiers can be added between the main verb and the main TAM particle.
<DET> is a determiner. A keyword that represents a determiner has to be used.

[OBJ] is inserted before the object.
[ADV] is inserted before each adverb.

The subject and the object can be omitted when they are unknown or are not important.


[AND] is used to add terms to a list. Example:
[verb]<TAM><DET>[noun][AND]<DET>[noun][AND]<DET>[noun][END]


Noun with adjectives and adnominals:
<DET>[noun][ADJ][adjective][CLOS]
<DET>[noun][ADJ][adjective][AND][adjective][CLOS]
<DET>[noun][ADJ][LOC]<DET>[noun][CLOS]


Some grammatical terms must be finished with the character [CLOS], which marks its end.


Noun with relative clause:
[REL-REST][REL-EXPL]
<DET>[noun][REL-REST][verb]<TAM><DET>[noun][OBJ][REF][CLOS]
<DET>[noun][REL-REST][verb]<TAM>[REF][OBJ]<DET>[noun][CLOS]

[REF] is used to show the place where the main term would be inserted.


Subordinated clauses:
[verb]<TAM><DET>[noun][OBJ][SBD][verb]<TAM><DET>[noun][OBJ]<DET>[noun][CLOS][END]


Nominal complement:
<DET>[noun][COMPL]<DET>[noun][CLOS]
<DET>[noun][COMPL][SBD][verb]<TAM><DET>[noun][OBJ]<DET>[noun][CLOS][CLOS]


Nested terms are like mathematical terms and are not speakable. An ending mark must be written for each term that requires it.
<DET>[noun][REL-REST][verb]<TAM>[REF][OBJ]<DET>[noun][REL-REST][verb]<TAM>[REF][OBJ]<DET>[noun][CLOS][CLOS].


Compound terms can be used sometimes. Only two concepts can be used to form a compound term. They have the semantics of "related to", therefore they are vague and depends on the context. The forms with adnominals are preferred to improve the clarity. Examples:
[stone][box] - It may be a box with stones inside or a box made of stone.
[sun][flower] - It may be a sunflower or anything that seems to be a flower related to the sun. If one thinks that the solar crown looks like a flower, the solar crown can be a meaning of this compound.

Compound terms can be used with nouns that represent adjectives. The change is still vague. Example: "beauty" will mean "of the beauty", "beautiful" or "for beauty". Compound terms can be used with nouns that represent verbs too. Example: "observe" will mean "observer", "observed" or "for observing".


The given names of the users of the language mean common concepts.
Example: The Japanese name 七海 ("seven seas", Nanami)
It is written in this writing system with the determiner [GVN]:
[GVN][seven][seas]
セ七海

There is no good way to represent foreign names with a writing system that is completely non-phonetic. The solution is to explain the foreign name in the beginning and use references, such as identifiers.


Identifiers are numbers that are used to refer to terms and avoid repetition. They are used to create third-person pronouns and include multiple terms in the same pronoun. It is also used to define an unknown concept and use the defined identifier in the text to refer to the defined concept. The latest definition of an identifier cancels the previous definition of the identifier with the same number.

The create a identifier:
[IDE]<number><DET>[noun][END]
[IDE]<number><DET>[noun][AND]<DET>[noun][END]

To use a identifier:
<DET>[noun]
[IPRN]<number>


Examples of texts

These are some real kanjis that I used:
犬 - [dog]
猫 - [cat]
家 - [house]
七 - [seven]
海 - [sea]
拒 - [repel]
幸 - [happiness]
食 - [eat]
旨 - [delicious]
物 - [thing]
況 - [conditions]
多 - [much][many][lots]

The dog repelled the cat in my house.
[repel][PST-PRF][DEF][dog][OBJ][DEF][cat][ADV][LOC][DEF][house][GEN][DEF][1SG][CLOS][END]
拒ムキ犬アキ猫エカキ家オキヒハ。

I am so happy because I am-about-to be-able-to eat some thing delicious.
[conditions][PRS-PRG][DEF][1SG][OBJ][INDF-UNC][much][happy][ADV][BECAUSE][SUBD][eat][ABLE][IMME][FUT-PRF][DEF][1SG][OBJ][INDF][delicious][thing][CLOS][END]
況ナキヒアヘ多幸エヤス食ロレメキヒアヒ旨物ハ。


The characters
Image

The concept characters always use the base with the lower horizontal line and the lower central vertical line. Different characters can be represented with different combinations of lines. It is required that the resulting character be contiguous.

The keyword characters always use the upper horizontal line and never use the lower horizontal line.

In order to know the alphabetical order, you have to check if each possible line is used or is not. Following the numbered order of the lines, write 1 if the line is being used and 0 if it is not. The sequences composed with 0's and 1's can be used to alphabetically order the sequences.

The number system is hexadecimal. There are 16 digit characters (0 to [15], or 0 to F) whose characters are keywords. They are represented by the combinations of the lines 10, 11, 12 and 13 when no other line is used. 10 is the most significant bit.


Example:
I want to eat an apple.
[eat][DES][PRS-PRG][DEF][1SG][OBJ][INDF][apple][END]
Image
English is not my native language. Sorry for any mistakes or lack of knowledge when I discuss this language.
:bra: :mrgreen: | :uk: [:D] | :esp: [:)] | :epo: [:|] | :lat: [:S] | :jpn: [:'(]
Post Reply