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Category: Writing Systems
Why do I have to place an emphasis mark on some vowel in every Greek word on writing, even if the meaning might not even change if you just leave it?
Well there’s the simple reason, and there’s the historical justification for it. The simple reason is: BECAUSE THOSE ARE THE RULES. 🙂 And if it were up to me, you’re not putting enough accents on Greek words. The blanket rule that all monosyllabic words are unstressed, whether they are function words or content words, does […]
Does our alphabet encompass almost all possible sounds?
The question details ask for a meticulous and specific answer (though the question itself is neither). The original 24 letter alphabet used for Latin did not even encompass the sounds of its daughter languages, let alone the sounds of other languages. Centuries of often messy digraph and diacritic solutions ensued. But any language using a […]
What does this emoji mean “U0001f60b”?
There are several online dictionaries of emoji meanings. The intended meaning of [math]unicode{x1f60B}[/math] is “Face Savouring Delicious Food”, which is the Unicode name of the emoji. U0001f60b Face Savouring Delicious Food Emoji (Emojipedia) offers “Used to indicate a silly happiness; goofy; hungry.” U0001f60b (Urban Dictionary) offers “thirsty; desperate” Face Savouring Delicious Food Emoji (Emojibase) notes […]
How many letters does Unicode currently include in the Latin script, no matter the language, but ignoring upper vs. lower case differences?
Latin script in Unicode – Wikipedia As of version 9.0 of the Unicode Standard, 1,350 characters in the following blocks are classified as belonging to the Latin script Let’s remove the uppercase letters; and that leaves us with your answer. From eyeballing: 26+30+128+104+14*8+12+12+67+26 = 517 That leaves 833. If I’m wrong, I’m not wrong by […]
As a non-Latin script writer, how often do you use Latin script?
It was only when I read Dimitris Almyrantis’ response, that I realised the question refers to the ad hoc use of ASCII romanisations online—such as Greeklish for Greek, Finglish for Persian, Arabic chat alphabet, Informal romanizations of Cyrillic, and so on. So my answer will be along the same lines as his and Alice Tsymbarevich’s: […]
Can the U0001f4a6 emoji be used to represent semen?
Yes; see Why is the splashing sweat emoji associated with semen? For evidence that this is happening: Definitions offered by the public under: U0001f4a6 Sweat Droplets Emoji Urban Dictionary: U0001f4a6 A boy sends this emoji when he is horny. ” Hey send nudes?? [math]unicode{x1F4A6}unicode{x1F4A6}[/math]” A girl would send this to her man, basically telling him […]
Why is the splashing sweat emoji associated with semen?
For obvious iconic reasons. It is the Emoji that looks the most like ejaculate. Even if it takes some imagination. And food dye. [math]unicode{x1F4A6}[/math] What I find amusing, and of course semiotically inevitable, is how thoroughly this secondary meaning has become conventionalized. You’ll see the Emoji used to refer to ejaculate, without it being disambiguated […]
If you were allowed to add a symbol to unicode, what symbol would it be, and what would it mean?
I should be recusing myself from this question, because in fact I have added dozens of symbols to Unicode, both as an employee of the Thesaurus Linguae Graecae, and as a tapped on the shoulder expert. When Asmus Freytag tapped me on the shoulder, though, and said to me “We want to finalise Greek: Suggest […]
Why doesn’t Mongolia use the Uighur script again and leave out Cyrillic?
Read the fine print of the caption in the image of what Wikipedia would look like in Mongolian script, at Mongolian script – Wikipedia. Mongolian Wikipedia preview. A representation of what mn.wiki would look like if Mongolian script support was properly implemented. Mn.wiki already exists, but support has not been implemented. Not all text is […]
What is the historical significance of the International Phonetic Alphabet?
In the 19th and early 20th century, there were several phonetic alphabets and spelling reform proposals in circulation; Romic alphabet was one instance. Linguists working on different languages had their own transliteration conventions in place, for use not only in citing non-Roman languages, but also for dialectal transcription. The International Phonetic Association was initially founded […]