tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Jun 06 16:31:04 1996
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]
Re: Klingon writing
On Wed, 5 Jun 1996, Mark E. Shoulson wrote:
> >From: Terry Donnelly <[email protected]>
>
> >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.
>
Except you'd need a honking big piece of paper to write more than a few
words! (This reminds me of the old Buster Keaton routine where he'd take
a tiny square of paper out of his pocket and unfold it until it was the
size of a bedsheet)
> ~mark
- ter'eS