Creating an alphabet may seem like a harmless pastime, and author-designers inventing conscripts for science fiction/alternative-reality novels or television series are probably only at risk of eyestrain and carpal tunnel syndrome. As soon as writing has a political or religious purpose, though, things change. It’s a sign of how powerful a force writing can be […]
This month, I’m starting a new monthly Endangered Alphabets feature that will be launched on this blog, and archived in the relevant page of the Atlas of Endangered Alphabets. It’s all about calligraphy and type design–in indigenous and minority writing systems. Here’s the point. If a script exists only in historical documents, engravings, and inscriptions, […]
This time last year I was getting ready to set up an Endangered Alphabets carving exhibition in the Vermont State House–an exhibition whose flagship carving was this tribute to the Native people of the region, the Abenaki. It says “People of the Dawn Lands”–the Abenaki name for themselves–in Abenaki. A lot has happened since then. […]
Our latest Carving of the Week video features the stunning Adinkra symbol system. You can check it out HERE. As always, I wish I knew more than I do, or than I sound as if I do. Anyone who has studied Adinkra–I’d love to hear from you!
What a pleasure and a privilege to deliver the latest of my Abenaki carvings to Shirly Hook, one of the Council of Chiefs of the Koasek Traditional Band of the Koas Abenaki Nation. This is the fifth carving I’ve done and donated to the Abenaki people, whose language is one of the most endangered in […]
Today, August 9, is Indigenous Peoples Day. The Endangered Alphabets Project works to support indigenous peoples all round the world, but I must confess that for the first few years of the project I knew nothing about the indigenous peoples living right here around me. (I was going to write “In my own back yard,” […]
The latest Carving of the Week video: Beria! An indigenously-created script for the Zaghawa language of Chad and Sudan, its symbols were originally based on the ownership marks branded on camels and other livestock. More information on the script at endangeredalphabets.net/alphabets/beria.
Our latest Carving of the Week is Coptic! Video is up on our YouTube channel here: More information and links can be found in the Atlas of Endangered Alphabets at https://www.endangeredalphabets.net/alphabets/coptic/. As always, send us more links, more information, more photos if you have ’em. Good work by Kate Heppner, our resident videographer; special thanks […]
Here we go with our second Carving of the Week! Each time we add a script to the Atlas of Endangered Alphabets we launch it with a short video of me carving text in that script and giving a brief introduction to it. This week: Syriac, and the video is HERE. The full Syriac profile […]
Announcing a new Endangered Alphabets video feature: Carving of the Week! Since the launch of the Atlas of Endangered Alphabets (www.endangeredalphabets.net), people have been contacting us from all over the world, sending us new scripts that should be included. So each time we add a new script, I’ll carve it, paint it, and talk about […]
