An alphabet is never merely a set of letters.
An alphabet is never merely a set of letters.
An alphabet is never merely a set of letters.
It establishes rules. Hierarchies. Relations. A specific way of organizing thought.
All writing is a system before it is a language.
All writing is a system before it is a language.
All writing is a system before it is a language.
Inventing a sign is not enough. One must decide how it will relate to all the others. Writing emerges when these relations become shareable.
There are no universal alphabets.
There are no universal alphabets.
There are no universal alphabets.
There are coherent systems. Each culture invents its own architecture for organizing sounds, concepts, and memories.
A writing system also defines what remains invisible.
A writing system also defines what remains invisible.
A writing system also defines what remains invisible.
Every language illuminates some relations and obscures others.
Between two alphabets, more than appearance changes.
Between two alphabets, more than appearance changes.
Between two alphabets, more than appearance changes.
An entire hypothesis about how thought can be organized changes.
Translation is never a substitution of words.
Translation is never a substitution of words.
Translation is never a substitution of words.
It brings cognitive architectures into proximity. Some equivalences are possible. Others will never exist.
No graphic system is neutral.
No graphic system is neutral.
No graphic system is neutral.
Every form of writing incorporates political, technological, and cultural decisions. Even the direction in which one writes changes the experience of thought.
A language disappears. Its writing system remains.
A language disappears. Its writing system remains.
A language disappears. Its writing system remains.
Sometimes the opposite happens. The survival of a culture never depends on words alone. It also depends on the architecture that sustains them.
Perhaps every civilization can be described by its system of inscription.
Perhaps every civilization can be described by its system of inscription.
Perhaps every civilization can be described by its system of inscription.
More than by what it wrote. By the way it chose to write.