Wondrous site: http://omniglot.com/
"The online encyclopaedia of writing systems and languages".
So what?
I knew that many minor languages exist, but this collection blew my mind. There are sooooo many languages and scripts within the neighbourhood of one region. It is also interesting to compare between proximally close languages.
Above all, foreign scripts are just so pretty. How many of us are aware that there are writing such as these in northern China? Or even that Manchurians have their own script?
Some pages to get started:
http://omniglot.com/writing/types.htm
Difference between abjad, abugida, alphabet, syllabary, and semanto-phoenetic writing systems.
http://omniglot.com/language/articles/index.htm
Articles, articles, and articles. About anything really.
http://omniglot.com/writing/direction.htm
Writing directions can be so odd you just have to see it to believe it.
The Ancient Berber script (in Morocco) runs from bottom to top.. hurhur!
Language is one of the many aspects of life that we take for granted. It is strange to think of the voices we never get to hear, of the records of past civilizations that are no longer intelligible, or simply legacies that no longer exist.. as well as current cultures that are heading down this path.
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