Seen-Script
From Rice Boy Wiki
Seen-Script is a constructed writing system made by Evan Dahm in late 2007, first for use in Rice Boy and then later in Order of Tales. Nearly all the information on Seen-Script was discovered by fans of Dahm's comics; he has shared very little officially about the writing system.
Seen-Script is a phonetic script,[1] which is to say, it should have a 1:1 correspondence of phonemes (sounds) to graphemes (written symbols). Thus, a word like "Seen", written in Seen-Script, would have three symbols-- an "s", an "i" (since the double-"e" only makes one sound, written "i" for clarity), and an "n"-- which matches exactly the number of sounds articulated in the pronunciation of "Seen".
The International Phonetic Alphabet (or IPA) is the standard phonetic alphabet for transcribing Earth languages. Since it, like Seen-Script, is a phonetic writing system, it can thus be used to label the letters of Seen-Script with minimal fuss. However, the IPA is often unfamiliar to non-linguists, so useful reference materials will be linked throughout this article.
Translations of instances of Seen-Script in Rice Boy and Order of Tales can be found on Seen-Script translations.
Contents |
Name
The name "Seen-Script" was coined by members of the Koala Wallop forums, used first as a shorthand to refer to this writing system, but later as an accepted name for the script itself. At first, the writing system was called the "Seen Library Script",[2] since it was first observed in Kerküsk's book in the Seen library. This was then shortened to "Seen script", with the hyphenated form first appearing in July 2008.[3]
While Dahm sometimes uses "Seen-Script" (or some variant) to refer to this writing system,[4] that is not its "official" name. In fact, the script itself has not been referenced by name in the comics nor has Dahm publicly named it. It might more properly be called "Acircan", since the writing system has appeared in many areas across Acirca, and does not seem to have any special tie to Seen. Nonetheless, for sake of consistency and lack of canonical alternative, "Seen-Script" has stuck.
Appearance
Seen-Script is easy to recognize, as it is often written between two guide-lines known as trunks.[5] Vowels, such as "a", "e", or "i", are represented by semi-circles with diacritic marks, and sit on the outside of the trunks. They can be either on the top or bottom trunk, as their placement is entirely aesthetic (there is no difference in pronunciation). Consonants, such as "p", "t", or "k", are contained mostly within the trunks, and often incorporate prominent vertical lines. If a consonant extends past the trunk, that means it is voiced (this will be explained more in the Consonants section).
Each written word in Seen-Script is separated by a small dot. There are no known symbols for periods or commas, which would signify breaks or pauses in sentences. In fact, the only observed punctuation marks are parentheses, which appear on p326. Considering the lack of long-form Seen-Script-- most existing samples are only a few words long at most-- it is not too surprising that very little punctuation has appeared.
Dahm has revealed that the shape of Seen-Script symbols are meant to reflect "their mode of articulation, whether they are vocalized, and sometimes the position of their point articulation in the mouth".[6] This approach is similar to that taken by King Sejong the Great in his design of the jamo for Hangul, another notable phonetic writing system which is used in Korea and Indonesia.
Vowels
For those unfamiliar with the IPA, the table to the right is known as a table of vowels. It is one way of arranging vowels based on their location of articulation in the mouth. Since this is a much easier task for consonants, tables of vowels should be read more loosely.
Like many other writing systems, the representation of vowels with Seen-Script symbols is relatively haphazard. Each symbol, written as a semi-circle with diacritic marks, can stand for a number of different phonemes, and in some cases symbols overlap with others (in terms of represented sounds). Thus, while the writing system is "phonetic", clearly it is not perfectly so. Nonetheless, there is some regularity among instances of usage of Seen-Script within the comic, even if different instances disagree. This could be explained by differing accents among areas of Acirca, or simply changes in Dahm's preferred spelling.
One notable difference between Rice Boy and Order of Tales Seen-Script is the use of symbols for diphthongs, seen at the bottom of the table. While the /aɪ/ ("i" as in "white") and /ɔɪ/ ("oy" as in "boy) symbols are used in the Seen Library excerpt, they are written with two separate symbols when those phonemes occur in Order of Tales. Since Order of Tales is set 600 years before Rice Boy, it could indeed be that the diphthong symbols were only created in the middle Red Age.
For English speakers, one confusing aspect of Seen-Script's vowel system is that it does not account for vowel tenseness. Thus, while "bit" and "beat" sound very different, both would be written with the same "i" symbol.
Consonants
The following is a table of consonants for Seen-Script. Each consonant is followed by an unmarked "a" vowel, which should help ease recognition of letters when written as part of words. Additionally, this helps show that some consonants are written more naturally when the vowel flows smoothly from the vertical stem.
While the table of consonants organizes symbols by voicing, that is almost unnecessary for Seen-Script, as its voiced and unvoiced symbols differ only by whether or not the vertical stem extends past the trunks. However, collapsing the table and eliminating voiced (or unvoiced) variants of symbols would likely hurt the table's ease of use by non-linguists.
Not included in the table is a third variant for "r", as it appears in Rice Boy (two Order of Tales variants are included on the table). This "r" can be seen on p326, but it is more obvious as the symbol for the Torch, as shown on tentpoles[7] and clasps[8].
The letters "r" and "l" can sometimes be difficult to distinguish, due to the different variants. The "l" is written with one cross-bar, and an extended stem, which can be easily mistaken for the "r" variant with a single cross-bar without an extended stem. However, since there are cases where "r"s and "l" have been swapped, while also including the double cross-bar "r" (such as p014), it is possible that there are contextual rules at play that distinguish between the different letters. Also, it might also be the case that the one cross-bar "r" instead should stand for the approximant /ɹ/, instead of the trill /r/. This, however, would mean that an extended stem, in the case of this letter, does not distinguish voicing, but rather manner of articulation.
Alternate Forms
Seen-Script can be written in other styles, which often are only variants in appearance with solely aesthetic results. The style of Seen-Script as it appears in the Seen Library, on signs in Themb's Castle, and in T-O-E's note[9] should be considered the "proper, exacting, book form".[10]
- Illuminated: As seen in the first panel of p326, there is an "s" with two teardrop shapes to its left. While these could signify the beginning of a section or sentence, since they have been observed nowhere else they are most likely purely decorative. This would be consistent with the design of initials in ancient illuminated manuscripts, of which the Seen Library book is probably an instance.
- Carved: When it is carved into stone, Seen-Script adopts an angular character, which can be seen on p205, p216, p225, and alongside the interstitial illustrations in Nom's Saga.
- Vertical: Seen-Script can be written vertically as well as horizontally, as it just requires changing the orientation of the trunks. This form was seen first on a piece of concept art of Koark (where his name was written /ko.aɹk/ instead of /koɹk/), and it later accompanied the story Negat the Tall.
- "Limited": This is a more vulgar form of Seen-Script, as it is written without trunks. Thus, it is difficult to determine the voicing of a symbol, and context must be used as a guide.[11] It has so far only be shown used on p46, on the signs for Olo's Bar in Dorl.
Forum Threads
Seen-Script was first deciphered in December 2007 by Philippe on the Koala Wallop forums. The page featuring Seen-Script (p326) went up on 27 December, and two days later, the combined effort of the forums had rendered the script readable.
- Decoding the Seen Library Script: The thread where Seen-Script was first discussed and deciphered.
- OOT Translations: A compilation of translations from Seen-Script and Machine-Script in Order of Tales.
References
- ↑ http://riceboyart.livejournal.com/2007/12/27/
- ↑ http://forums.koalawallop.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2440
- ↑ http://forums.koalawallop.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3347&p=110139#p110139
- ↑ http://www.formspring.me/evndahm/q/132044597
- ↑ http://forums.koalawallop.com/viewtopic.php?p=78159#p78159
- ↑ http://www.formspring.me/evndahm/q/132044597
- ↑ http://www.rice-boy.com/order/index.php?c=485
- ↑ http://www.rice-boy.com/order/index.php?c=600
- ↑ http://www.rice-boy.com/order/index.php?c=104}}
- ↑ http://forums.koalawallop.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3388&p=115914#p115914
- ↑ http://forums.koalawallop.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3388&p=117038#p117038
