Encoding ConScripts

[William_J_G Overington]

James Kass wrote:

> 1)  I am an inventor and I have designed a brand new writing system 
> for my people.  I would like for it to be in Unicode so that it will 
> be standard.  Once it is in the Standard I will have something to 
> point to, which might help me persuade my people to use it.

...

> Most everyone here will agree that proposal 1 is a complete 
> non-starter ...

The inclusion of the word "Most" is good.

Please note in particular the inclusion of "for my people". So we are 
not talking here of someone putting together what might be called a work 
of art, just as some people write novels, some paint pictures, some make 
clay pottery.

So if someone proposed a well-designed script based on well-researched 
potential use in a culture, set forth in a  substantial thesis at a 
level of around that of a thesis for a Master degree, I opine that it 
would be good to seriously study that thesis, conduct the equivalent of 
a viva voce examination, with the clear possibility of encoding that 
proposed script, notwithstanding there being no evidence of existing 
substantial use. I opine that if someone has put in that amount of 
effort and enthusiasm for his or her dream, he or she should be 
applauded and assisted to fulfil his or her dream.

William Overington

Monday 11 October 2021


------ Original Message ------
From: "James Kass via Unicode" <unicode at corp.unicode.org>
To: unicode at corp.unicode.org
Sent: Saturday, 2021 Oct 9 At 18:36
Subject: Re: Encoding ConScripts

On 2021-10-09 5:03 AM, Anshuman Pandey via Unicode wrote:
At IUC 45 next Thursday, Deborah Anderson and I will be presenting on 
“Negotiating Neographies: Approaches for Encoding Newly-Invented 
Scripts”.
I’ll be discussing some metrics that may be used for evaluating 
neographies (nod to Ken W for that term), conscripts, or whatever you’d 
like to call them.
Such metrics, as James pointed out, are necessary, especially 
considering the influx of proposals to encode newly-invented scripts, 
particularly those of Africa and South Asia.
Neography is a splendid coinage.
This is a fascinating topic and I hope that there will be a video of the 
presentation.
Consider the following two imaginary proposals:
1)  I am an inventor and I have designed a brand new writing system for 
my people.  I would like for it to be in Unicode so that it will be 
standard.  Once it is in the Standard I will have something to point to, 
which might help me persuade my people to use it.
2)  We have developed a new writing system for our people.  We are using 
this new writing system to publish books and periodicals.  Our new 
writing system is being taught in our schools and our people have 
embraced the writing system wholeheartedly.
Most everyone here will agree that proposal 1 is a complete non-starter 
and that proposal 2 would be given due consideration with a high 
probability of eventual acceptance.
But many proposals will probably be somewhere in between those two 
scenarios.  Where does one draw the line?  I expect that the upcoming 
presentation will thoughtfully address this matter.


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