> > Julian asserted that it was idiographic and sparked of a fresh
> > skirmish,
>
> But I think that I'm in the 'Brithini Latin' camp nowadays, from
> info provided by Greg (although he was a bit wishy-washy
> admittedly) and arguments provided by Peter IIRC.
Actually, that's not 100% true : I *do* accept that the script(s) used by the 17th century Malkioni are alphabetic, and that the 'Brithini Latin' theory is the correct one for that century (and others).
BUT I am not so convinced that Ice Age Brithini (actually, pre-Ice Age : this is Golden Age Brithini, isn't it?) used an alphabetic script.
Remember that we're speaking of a writing system that's *at least* 2.500 - 3.000 years old (or 3.500 - 4.000 years older than comparable RW C20/21 writing systems ; if the 'Brithini Latin' camp is in the right).
The basic unresolved problem is whether the Malkioni continue to use the 'Core Runes' as idiograms or not : if so, then written "modern Brithini" isn't fully alphabetic (because key concepts would be routinely written with those idiograms, which are very basically unlike the abbreviations used in Latin manuscripts and early printed texts) and, more importantly, would seem to point to Golden and Ice Age Brithini (and perhaps 17th century Old Brithini) having a basically idiographic/logographic script, although such a script would have an alphabet attached (not a syllabary, because that wouldn't have developed into the modern Malkioni alphabet) for such concepts that lack an idiogram, and acronyms, etc, etc.
If such an ancient idiographic script existed (as I still believe) the attachment of an alphabet could only occur after the perfect Golden Age, when all concepts were known, and it would be a script that virtually no-one today would use or even understand, except for some particular purposes, such as magical rituals and the occasional shorthand (using the Sun Rune instead of writing "S.O.L.", or however it's spelt in Malkioni).
If this is wrong, then another interesting question arises : the Core Runes *are* idiograms. Where then would they come from ?
Which (prehistoric?) Gloranthan language and/or writing system was so culturally important that its Runes became the basis of the Runic systems of about half of Genertela?
Julian Lord
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