writing systems are categorized into alphabets, abugidas, abjads, syllabaries, and logographies
but in theory it should be possible to devise some form of writing system that isn't any of those
what would that look like, i wonder?
@Felthry it's a bit weird, and not really human-compatible, but what if each "word" manifested as a matrix, with each element being a specific symbol that has no real lingustic meaning on its own, and part of the word's meaning being derived from the "layout" of the matrix, such as where [1][3] is in relation to [4][5], and [0][4]?
or maybe a language where things like "tempo" plays a role, like how a music composition would change if the spacing between notes was altered?
sorry if this is too long, or incorrect.
@windyorigami There are languages where the equivalent of tempo plays a role, actually! quite a few languages have what's called phonemic length, where the meaning of a word changes depending on how long a given phoneme is pronounced; in short, there are plenty of languages where e.g. /a/ and /aː/ are phonetically distinct
Your matrix idea is interesting, but I fear I can't seem to wrap my head around it just now--perhaps after lunch or something it'll be easier to focus.
@Felthry i never knew that before! thanks!
sorry about the matrix thing.
@windyorigami That's not your fault, we've been having problems focusing lately!
actually, English used to have phonemic length too, that's why we still have the terms "long vowel" and "short vowel" for two different sounds--they were originally the same sound held for different lengths, then sound change happened
@Felthry first tthought is something along the lines of musical notation. does it count as a script if the thing it encodes isn't spoken language?
like if you sketched the (idealized) waveform of the sound of the utterances read out loud? you'd be encoding pitch, tempo, tone, even accent at the same level as consonants or vowels added. or using hex notation to directly transcribe an audio file
possible scripts for a sign language could be categorized a lot of different ways. represent motion vs. position, or encode some of finger/hand/arm but leave the others implied?
otherwise I think you need to go to a higher level and have letters for things that aren't consonants/vowels/morphemes. like if mandarin had an alphabet except with additional letters for the different tones?
a script that had a explicit characters for duration of pauses?
or affect? using emoji to represent neither sounds nor semantics but the affect accompanying the text
I may be confusing script and orthography here, but maybe elevating punctuation to first-class script elements? encoding syntax like clause boundaries (as distinct from, say, pauses)
or an outright code, like using symbols for numbers/digits & then having those go to something. chapter/verse/word in a society where everyone has memorized the same holy book?
latitude/longitude of meaningful landmarks? the globe theater for "to be", or repeated twice for "not to be". any train station for "to go", kennedy space center for future tense, stonehenge for past tense