NationStates Jolt Archive

Just out of random curiosity, what is your favorite alphabet?

I like the Cyrillic alphabet because it is broad, but still simple. Btw, has anyone seen alphabet soup in another way than Roman letters. I know Campbell's makes other languages, but I've never seen them.

The l33tsp34k alphabet. :)

Greek is pretty neat.. didn't take long to learn, and looks pretty sweet in longhand.. lots of lateral pen-motion.. it's fun to write.

Sanskrit, by far.

The l33tsp34k alphabet. :)
I forgot that and Esperanto. I feel like an idiot now.
Sanskrit, by far.
I think that would count as Hindustani, not sure.

by Roman do u mean Latin alphabet?

Since when do the Chinese and Japanese have an Alphabet and secondly since when do they share the same form of writing? The Japanese have distinguished themselves from the chinese a long time ago.

But your formal mistakes aside I'll have to chose Chinese for writing and truelly understanding it is an art form in itself.

Since when do the Chinese and Japanese have an Alphabet and secondly since when do they share the same form of writing? The Japanese have distinguished themselves from the chinese a long time ago.

But your formal mistakes aside I'll have to chose Chinese for writing and truelly understanding it is an art form in itself.


ひらがなとカタカナは何だおもうか？　　”リックマル”　？？？？？？？？？？？？？？

Roman. The only one I use or could even recognise.

Since when do the Chinese and Japanese have an Alphabet and secondly since when do they share the same form of writing? The Japanese have distinguished themselves from the chinese a long time ago.

But your formal mistakes aside I'll have to chose Chinese for writing and truelly understanding it is an art form in itself.
Chinese and Japanese characters look almost exactly the same. Japanese looks more modern. What the characters mean in the different languages is another story. But you are right, I did make it up poorly.

I can't believe Hangul was omitted from the list. It is superior to all.

Chinese and Japanese characters look almost exactly the same.

*They Are Completely Different* I would go so far as to say they're as different as the countries themselves.

I chose Arabic, 'cos I love the flowing lines and calligraphic opportunities. The script, afterall was a big factor in convincing me to study Arabic at university. I also do Armenian, and am quite a fan of that alphabet, which, although not as flowy and pretty as Arabic, has a certain oomph.
I am, in general, a self-confessed writing system geek. I love nothing more than a good old alphabet/abjad/sylabbary/whatever. Those of you similarly inclined may enjoy: http://www.omniglot.com

HEBREW, cause my IQ is Aleph-null, no Aleph-1, no Aleph-2, no Aleph-3... no Aleph-Omega, no... wait.

Chinese and Japanese characters look almost exactly the same. Japanese looks more modern. What the characters mean in the different languages is another story. But you are right, I did make it up poorly.

I find this to be rather short sighted. Mind you to the people in China and Japan there seems to be little difference between the Greek and Latin way of writing things.

But assuming you are of a western background I can understand your lack of knowledge upon the matter.

*They Are Completely Different* I would go so far as to say they're as different as the countries themselves.
That is absolute poopoo. I've looked at one of those "Please help us save resources..." cards at hotels and identified Japanese and Chinese characters that are identical. They may be used for completely different sounds, but they are still the same form. I'll try to find an example.
I find this to be rather short sighted. Mind you to the people in China and Japan there seems to be little difference between the Greek and Latin way of writing things.

But assuming you are of a western background I can understand your lack of knowledge upon the matter.
I am indeed from the US, and there is little difference between Latin and Greek alphabets.

For English? Anglo-Saxon Futhork. It's the native alphabet. Latin sucked 1500 years ago and hasn't improved any for representing the sounds of the language. Look at our spelling. If anything it's gotten worse. Even though it hasn't been widely used since the "adoption" of the Latin alphabet, it is still better for writing English consistently.

I'm an ESL teacher in Russia. There was also a Slavic rune-row used before the development of Cyrillic. It too was better than the foreign script which replaced it. Cyrillic was at least developed for Russian using Greek, Latin, and Hebrew and is phonetic... When they ask me about spelling... I find myself apologizing.

aardvark, bear, cat, dog, elephant, frog, gnu, hyena, ibex, jaguar, koala, llama, mouse, newt, ocelot, panda, quokka, rat, snipe, toad, umbrella-bird,
vervet, wildebeest, xylophagan, yabbie, zebra ;)

That is absolute poopoo. I've looked at one of those "Please help us save resources..." cards at hotels and identified Japanese and Chinese characters that are identical. They may be used for completely different sounds, but they are still the same form. I'll try to find an example.

I am indeed from the US, and there is little difference between Latin and Greek alphabets.


Both you and "rikkumaru" are wrong.

He is wrong in that japanese does in fact have an alphabet (two in fact) and you are wrong in that while a small number of characters are shared 'verbatim' between the japanese and chinese languages, a chinese person would have difficulty reading a japanese sentance and vice-versa.

Chinese and japanese are not related languages, their only connection is that the japanese adopted and altered the chinese writing system long ago and borrowed a number of words.

I'm an ESL teacher in Russia. There was also a Slavic rune-row used before the development of Cyrillic. It too was better than the foreign script which replaced it. Cyrillic was at least developed for Russian using Greek, Latin, and Hebrew and is phonetic... When they ask me about spelling... I find myself apologizing.
Ooooh cool job. Anyways...
Japanese (http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%A1%E3%82%A4%E3%83%B3%E3%83%9A%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B8):（大ジハード）
Chinese (http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%A6%96%E9%A1%B5):有容乃大

EDIT: Those are links to the sources.

Both you and "rikkumaru" are wrong.

He is wrong in that japanese does in fact have an alphabet (two in fact)


Ah, point taken. It has indeed slipped my mind. I'll refrain from posting facts at midnight next time.

Ooooh cool job. Anyways...
Japanese (http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%A1%E3%82%A4%E3%83%B3%E3%83%9A%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B8):（大ジハード）
Chinese (http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%A6%96%E9%A1%B5):有容乃大

EDIT: Those are links to the sources.


Did you write "Dai Jihad" like "great jihad" ??

The Aramaic Alphabet, which you have miscorrectly called the "Hebrew" Alphabet. The pictographic characters once meant stuff, but now they're just sounds.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f7/Hebrewblockandscript.png

^pwns all^

The one used in this (http://compsoc.dur.ac.uk/whitespace/index.php) programming language..!

The Burmese alphabet.

I love how its basic form is the circle. It's beautiful. That beauty alone was enough to make me study Burmese.

Here's a random example I just found. Sadly, I don't even know what it means, because I stopped studying it years ago & have forgotten everything, except maybe saying thank you :( . But it's still beautiful.

http://www.omniglot.com/images/langsamples/smp_burmese.gif

I like cyrillic just because of the overlap with the latin alphabet. I keep thinking I should compile a list of words that can be written in the latin alphabet, but make more sense in cyrillic:

TAPAKAH
CTPEKO3A


those are my favorite ones though

I like cyrillic just because of the overlap with the latin alphabet. I keep thinking I should compile a list of words that can be written in the latin alphabet, but make more sense in cyrillic:

TAPAKAH
CTPEKO3A


those are my favorite ones though
I've been transliterating random words into Cyrillic. Probably part of my recent Slavic Nationalist Revelation.

There is this indian alphabet I've seen my coworkers use.

Roman, it's the only one I know.

For English? Anglo-Saxon Futhork. It's the native alphabet. Latin sucked 1500 years ago and hasn't improved any for representing the sounds of the language. Look at our spelling. If anything it's gotten worse. Even though it hasn't been widely used since the "adoption" of the Latin alphabet, it is still better for writing English consistently.

I'm an ESL teacher in Russia. There was also a Slavic rune-row used before the development of Cyrillic. It too was better than the foreign script which replaced it. Cyrillic was at least developed for Russian using Greek, Latin, and Hebrew and is phonetic... When they ask me about spelling... I find myself apologizing.

Yeah, I'm seriously with harstead. runes are so much better, with their straight lines and natural sounds. i used to take notes in them and it went so much faster and was much easier with sticky ballpoint pens.

Other. English

I assuming it's Roman I mean, but I'm not entirely sure, so whichever I'm using right now lol

Yeah, I'm seriously with harstead. runes are so much better, with their straight lines and natural sounds. i used to take notes in them and it went so much faster and was much easier with sticky ballpoint pens.
Really? I might try that...
Other. English
That's Roman.

http://www.omniglot.com

It's funny watching English speakers try to read Cyrillic.

It's funny watching English speakers try to read Cyrillic.

Heheh yes i have the trouble of explaining to a history class why CCCP actually means SSSR

як

http://www.omniglot.com

Meh, you beat me by about two hours with that link. Good on ya.

Lots of very very pretty alphabets and abjads in there. A fast cruise around the site reveals Dhives Akuru (http://www.omniglot.com/writing/dhivesakuru.htm), Avestan (http://www.omniglot.com/writing/avestan.htm), Georgian (http://www.omniglot.com/writing/georgian.htm), and Inuktitut (http://www.omniglot.com/writing/inuktitut.htm) for starters.

It's funny watching English speakers try to read Cyrillic.
A while ago, on CBC (Canadian Brodcast Corporation), I saw "Canada: A People's History" brodcasted in English, French, and with Russian subtitles. I thought it was pretty cool.

Arabic because it's absolutely beautiful, no matter what's being written.

Lots of very very pretty alphabets and abjads in there. A fast cruise around the site reveals Dhives Akuru (http://www.omniglot.com/writing/dhivesakuru.htm), Avestan (http://www.omniglot.com/writing/avestan.htm), Georgian (http://www.omniglot.com/writing/georgian.htm), and Inuktitut (http://www.omniglot.com/writing/inuktitut.htm) for starters.

Inuktitut! The first & only time I saw it it was carved in green jade a few years ago in a museum in Ottawa where they had an exhibition of Inuit art. I think my mouth literally hang open there for a second. I'd never seen writing like that. I still think it looks like science fiction with all those triangles. Here's a sample from your link:

http://www.omniglot.com/images/langsamples/smp_inuktitut.gif

The perfect "alien" alphabet. And, thanks to that link, now I know that it's actually derived from Ojibwe and Cree. Live and learn.

Sanskrit, by far.
Yeah, Hindustani is very flexible. I prefer Gujurati.

I can't believe Hangul was omitted from the list. It is superior to all.

I concur. Probably the most logical ever generally employed.

*They Are Completely Different* I would go so far as to say they're as different as the countries themselves.
That is absolute poopoo. I've looked at one of those "Please help us save resources..." cards at hotels and identified Japanese and Chinese characters that are identical. They may be used for completely different sounds, but they are still the same form. I'll try to find an example.

There are thousands of symbols found in Chinese that are not found in Japanese writing. And vice versa.

Your train of thought is like a Chinese or Japanese person thinking that the Latin and Cyrillic alphabets are the same because he sees the words "Pocket" and "Росси́я".

I find this to be rather short sighted. Mind you to the people in China and Japan there seems to be little difference between the Greek and Latin way of writing things.

But assuming you are of a western background I can understand your lack of knowledge upon the matter.
I am indeed from the US, and there is little difference between Latin and Greek alphabets.

So why didn't you combine Latin/Greek/Cyrillic into one poll option?

Heheh yes i have the trouble of explaining to a history class why CCCP actually means SSSR

як
Yeah, I had this problem when explaining what the CCCP on the shirt I made meant.
A while ago, on CBC (Canadian Brodcast Corporation), I saw "Canada: A People's History" brodcasted in English, French, and with Russian subtitles. I thought it was pretty cool.
Are there really many Russian-speakers in Canada?

So why didn't you combine Latin/Greek/Cyrillic into one poll option?
I had thought that Japanese and Chinese alphabets were very similar. They are as similar as Greek and Roman. However, our arguments are pretty pointless considering few people voted for Chinese/Japanese and most voted for Cyrillic, Roman, and Greek. 60% actually.

I'd have to say the Devanagari script (Sanskrit) is probably my overall favorite, though Glagolitic is pretty close.

Other. English

*stifled laugh*

linear a

or maybe rongorongo - if that actually counts

I think Glagolithic is wonderful! we should bring it back!
I also noted no mention of the Celtic alphabet which far better fits Celtic languages than conventional Latin does.

http://www.nwave.com/largeformat/alienadventure/synopsis/alphabet.gif

Yes!
Bring back ogham stones!
Ogham pwns all. That and elvish
Ogham (http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y239/NuGo1988/ogham.gif)
Elvish (http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y239/NuGo1988/alphabet.gif)

Runic.

I forgot that and Esperanto. I feel like an idiot now.

I think that would count as Hindustani, not sure.
Not really there are some differences

You guys really make me feel ignorant. I mean, I've been reading this and I realied that I couldn't recognize any of the alphabets you mentioned.
But at least I know the Roman characters. lol

In order

Etruscian
Latin
Arabic
Greek
Cyrillic


Ogham is awsome too.

Yes!
Bring back ogham stones!
Ogham pwns all. That and elvish
Ogham (http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y239/NuGo1988/ogham.gif)
Elvish (http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y239/NuGo1988/alphabet.gif)

Yah, I want ogham too.

That, or mystery northumbrian petroglyphs. (If that even is an alphabet).

Chinese and Japanese are NOT the same, mainly because Japanese has Hiragana and Katakana (which are a hell of a lot easier to read than Kanji, which is a royal pain in the arse.) Frankly, Japanese is a hard language, and of course it's unique as far as languages go (being isolated from the world on a bunch of islands for hundreds of years will do that.)

I pick the syllabaries in Japanese as the best ones, though I will say this - Hebrew and Arabic can get an entire syllable into one character, and similar sounds seem to have similar characters. The advantage here goes to Hebrew, since Arabic looks like it all runs together.

Inuktitut!

Inuktitut is fun! Are you sure about the derivation, though? I am positive I heard somewhere that it is only recently that it has been written down, a result of so many writing people showing up and demanding a way to script the spoken language. Either the same symbols are used in Ojibwe and Cree, or the spoken language is related. I am not convinced that it would be both.

Braille is neat, too. I think the Braille number-prefix thingy is brilliant. It is very straightforward.

I do not understand why English-speaking people do not dot the uppercase I, as they do in Turkish. It makes so much sense. I/ı and İ/i are not the same letter... In fact, assuming that one counts diacritics, I would say that the Latin alphabet is a great script overall.

If Bill Gates has his way, though, we will all be communicating via emoticon in the future though... :cool:

~ᒫᑎᐅᓯ (If this did not show up, get the Inuktitut font here (http://www.gov.nu.ca/font.htm)).