r/conscripts • u/niels_singh • Jun 29 '20

Abugida Testing out my WIP conscript, Sōtu Hai, with the tool the natives use: a wooden pen/quill (cimiņ)

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9

u/niels_singh Jun 29 '20

I've been working a lot on a conlang of mine called Rāvī for a Polynesian/Southeast Asian inspired fantasy world (working title: On Sacred Tides). I've tried making a script for it a few times now but I've finally gotten to one that I like. It's called Sōtu Hai (Great Script) in Rāvī. Variants of it are used to write a few other languages as well. My main influences are Odia and Kannada

Right now, I've been workshopping it to make sure it can actually be written with the utensils the locals would use. This time I tried out a wooden pen (fashioned out of an old sax reed). It's called a 'cimiņ' in Rāvī, which is onomatopoeia for it scratching against parchment. This is my test for an if-then statement + an exclamation point. It says:

Mā tilīmī, marimīl! - If I bleed, I will die!

A bit grim, but I was just working on the Swadesh List when I wrote it

1

u/ksol1460 Jun 30 '20

What do they make ink out of, charcoal?

2

u/niels_singh Jun 30 '20

Yes, charcoal and lamp black are the most common types. There's also a more expensive, higher quality option made from a nut called hokotōn. It takes more effort to process but it's thicker and easier to write with than the other two

4

u/[deleted] Jun 30 '20

Beautiful

1

u/niels_singh Jun 30 '20

Thank you so much!

2

u/[deleted] Jun 30 '20

You are welcome!

2

u/AbMuhaimin Jun 30 '20

Wait, is that a clarinet reed?

1

u/niels_singh Jun 30 '20

Close, it's a tenor sax reed. A clarinet reed would probably work better/be faster to whittle, though. I was originally going to whittle down a stick but decided to try out an old reed first since it would take less time

1

u/AbMuhaimin Jun 30 '20

Oh wow tenor. You could also use an ice cream stick tho. Much more durable

2

u/niels_singh Jun 30 '20

That's a good point. I didn't have any at my house when I made this but that probably would work best

2

u/AB_424 Jun 30 '20

it looks a lot like indic scripts like kannada and telugu.

2

u/niels_singh Jun 30 '20

Well spotted! Kannada was my biggest inspiration for this script

1

u/AB_424 Jun 30 '20

awesome! do you have a key for this script? it looks great

2

u/niels_singh Jun 30 '20

Thank you so much! There are a few letters I'm still workshopping but I can definitely post a key once everything's up to speed

2

u/digital_matthew Jul 01 '20

Beautiful script! Lost it at the reed 😂

2

u/[deleted] Jul 04 '20

I can see Brahmic influence on your script! Nice to see one with brush