tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Jun 05 11:44:04 1996
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]
Re: Klingon writing
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
>Date: Mon, 3 Jun 1996 09:55:21 -0700
>From: Terry Donnelly <[email protected]>
>I finally got around to asking my wife, a professional calligrapher and
>occasional graphic artist, her opinion of the pIqaD relative to some of
>the discussion on the list recently. Her comments:
Oooh, great! It's nice to have input from someone with insight.
>2. pIqaD probably were not stamped out. Stamping only works well for
>letterforms made from one or two standard elements (eg., cuneiform, which
>uses only wedges [one end of your stylus] and circles [the other end]).
>The pIqaD don't seem to be made of such simple elements.
I see the point. FWIW, whoever it was who proposed the "stamped out"
theory way back when (I don't remember who it was) suggested that the
actual hand of the writer, in various positions, was the stamping tool, and
stamped in ink, not pressed into clay. Using one's hand(s) and ink could
produce a great many more simple elements than most normal writing tools,
so there may still be room to defend this theory.
>3. It's traditional to base fonts on admired "exemplars": the Times
>Roman font, for example, is based on the Roman Capitals of Trajan's
>Arch. It's likely that the pIqaD we have are the type version of some
>admired calligrapher's work from the past. It could even be a
>deliberately "archaic" version, like English Gothic (ye olde pIqaD). The
>average Klingon's writing need bear no more resemblence to it than my
>handwriting resembles a typewriter's output. Besides, I would be
>surprised if the average klingon wanted to spend a lot of time in forming
>letters.
Well said.
~mark
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: 2.6.2
Comment: Processed by Mailcrypt 3.4, an Emacs/PGP interface
iQB1AwUBMbXVbMppGeTJXWZ9AQEm9gL/TXbUsTXXADCMIkpRc3xYCaCeCcKG+jfj
INCyGPoEdK8GhidN5ehWzGC30S6vxrmHlrjbQKi+O1WDyo6esMwH0x1qIyciPMi+
LG/wej4It+NxWF/q6rJ/1fdR2/rokerk
=7499
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----