Pseudoglyphs

Pseudoglyphs   
Pseudoglyphs (Umu Đina)

Pseudoglyphs were created by Andrew Mendes in early 2004. As the name suggests,
it is actually a syllabary where words are assembled phonetically then morphed
into distinct glyph-like forms. Glyphs can be sounded out phonetically, but given
their complex nature, they must be memorized individually when learning to write.
This gives the writing system a semanto-phonetic-like nature.

Pseudoglyphs were inspired by several writing systems. The aesthetic is similar
to Mayan or Egyptian hieroglyphs. Glyphs can often resemble human forms, actions,
birds, fish, tools, supernaturals, abstract designs-which could be mistaken for
pictograms or ideograms.

Symbols (syllabograms) are written in four different orientations to indicate
different vowels. This feature is borrowed from the Ojibwe syllabary. Being
limited to four directions to represent Umu’s numerous vowels means that some
symbols take on a plurality of sounds (example: [a] and [e] are written with the
same symbol). This makes pronunciation ambiguous yet manageable. Liken this to
non-written vowels in Semitic languages or to Chinese, were you must memorize
both a glyph’s meaning and pronunciation.

Notable Features

  • Type of writing system: syllabic
  • Direction of writing: flexible.
  • Used to write: Umu, a language invented by Andrew Mendes
  • Most dialects of Umu can be written with just 13 basic symbols.
  • Over 1600 unique glyphs are build from just 10 basic syllabograms.
  • Syllabograms are written facing four different directions which indicate the
    vowel attached to it. As there are up to 7 vowels in some dialects of Umu,
    some sounds are not differentiated in writing.
  • Syllabograms are combined into words then morphed into a single glyph, as shown in the examples below:

    Examples of Pseudoglyphs morphing in single glyphs

Used to write

Umu, a constructed language under development. Umu is isolating in its
morphology, with flexible syntax, and influenced heavily by the Korean,
Irish Gaelic, Mandarin, and Mongolian languages. Umu simply means ‘language.’

Pseudoglyphs

Stone Glyphs

Pseudoglyphs (Stone Glyphs)

Flax Script

This is a shorthand version of the Stone Glyphs

Pseudoglyphs (Flax Script)

Vowel Harmony

The vowels a and e are allophones, as are the vowels u and o. If a word ends
with an a, all u’s within that word are pronounced o. If a word ends with u, all
a’s within that word are pronounced e.

A shift in vowel harmony indicates possession and is signaled in writing by
the addition of a small mark to the glyph. The position and style of this mark can vary.

Pseudoglyphs vowel harmony

Sample text in Pseudoglyphs

Part of the Tower of Babel story in Pseudoglyphs

Transliteration

Naktu, ‘i’u nwa’a’i, ‘umul kunk wew.

Gloss

that.time, all one.like, languge heven.under GEN/people

Translation

Now the whole earth had one language and the same words.
(from the Tower of Babel story)

Learn Pseudoglyphs
http://pseudoglyphs.wordpress.com/

  • Post category:Languages
  • Reading time:4 mins read