[EMAIL PROTECTED] scripsit:
> Although nobody denies the
> greatness of J.R.R. Tolkien as an author and scholar, it is extremely
> unlikely that he intended the beautiful and carefully designed Tengwar and
> Cirth scripts to be used by real humans to write real languages for use in
> everyday life.
Well, real humans *have* done so, starting with JRRT and his son Christopher,
and going on to lots of enthusiasts, and if they are not exactly used for
laundry lists, the same is true of many other scripts as well.
(Elfling is just discussing whether we know how to write *Gandalf Tea Wednesday*
in Elvish.)
Furthermore, the Tengwar and the Cirth have been used and are being used
to write English as well as JRRT's invented languages, and in such a way
that (unlike Pigpen, e.g.) they cannot be taken as mere ciphers.
> This goes double for some of the other scripts
> listed in the ConScript registry. Some appear *only* on the author's Web
> pages, alongside elaborate descriptions of fantasy worlds.
I don't think that anyone, certainly not Michael or I, ever intended the
CSUR as a sort of vestibule or waiting area for Unicode registry. Lots of
the scripts there should never move from it. But some few have Real
World justifications which ought not to be dismissed out of hand.
> I do believe that "original intent" has something to do with the legitimacy
> of a script for consideration in Unicode.
Something, but not everything; how the script has come to be used is
also relevant. The original intent of Americai Spek was the same as
Shavian, but it didn't take off even in the limited way that Shavian
has, and it should stay in the CSUR.
> Remember that all scripts, including Latin, Arabic, Han, Shavian, and
> Klingon, were invented by humans.
Hear, hear.
--
John Cowan [EMAIL PROTECTED]
One art/there is/no less/no more/All things/to do/with sparks/galore
--Douglas Hofstadter
