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| Mark Making to Create an Alphabet |
Numbers and letters are so ordinary, aren't they? We don't think much about their origins. We all accept that "2" means two of something, but the symbol 2 doesn't utilize counting marks to show us the value. Most of the world uses the Hindu-Arabic numerical system even in places such as China, and Japan, where numbers were originally written differently.
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The trading routes through China, India, and the Middle East helped to develop the Hindu-Arabic system and moved away from tally marks to notations that were quicker to write. You can see how the tally could easily be changed to the symbol 2 by someone in a hurry.
Writing with different instruments, such as a piece of bamboo, which I used to make both "Mark Making to Create an Alphabet" and "Finding Letters," could also change the character and form of letters and numbers. On a busy trading route, someone's version of counting or writing could travel along with the traders. More and more people would see the symbols and accept what they represent.
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| Finding Letters |
I was intrigued by an article in Scientific American that explains how Inuit students and their teacher developed a new written form of the oral Inuit counting system, which was suppressed in North American schools in the 19th and 20th centuries as was much of their culture. Their number system is based on the human body and is grouped into 5, 10, 15, and sets of 20 (think of counting on fingers and toes). The students call their new written system Kaktovik after their village. The result is elegant and easy to use and is now being adapted to computer systems. The Kaktovik method seems to incorporate both tally marks and quick notation symbols. Maybe we all should give it a try.
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| Variations of Number Symbol Systems |
Looking at the Kaktovik numbers, I was reminded of Douglas McClellan, a college art professor, who studied alphabets in order to design a stained glass window that became part of the Scripps Library. His research included the idea that our alphabets are based on the development of weaving. Without weaving, we wouldn't understand how to cross one line over another. For a class assignment, he proposed that we design an alphabet from another planet without the grains or plant life we have on Earth. What would inspire beings from the other planet to create a written language? Looking at the alphabet I made and the numerical system by the Kaktovik students, I was struck by the similarities in design and how often we human beings think alike even when we are from different cultures.
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| An alphabet based on a planet of silicone, with faceted, crystalline structures |
Read more about the Inuit students who developed a written version of the Inuit counting system:
From MP by email: Fascinating - especially the influence of weaving. Because I was writing a book set in Mycenaean Greece, I became interested in Linear B which they etched on tablets. There's a good book about an American woman who was instrumental in decoding the tablets: The Riddle of the Labyrinth. A man got the credit until this book came out in 2013! Thank you for the link to the Inuit article!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the book to read. I'm always looking for a good history book, including yours!
DeleteFrom Mary by email: I learned a lot from this. You always manage to come up with very interesting topics. I can understand why you’re a teacher, you always pull something out of your hat!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Mary. I sometimes have to reach deep into the hat but the rabbit usually jumps out!
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