111–120 of 143 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Roman block lettering avoids curves because it was often curved. That's why the U and V sounds were represented by the same letter, and only later diverged. Norse runes are similar, and lack curves entirely.
sorry - what is "it" in your comment? Do you mean the medium was often curved, like on the sides of bowls?
The name of the ship's owner (mohayideen) is Arabic, transliterated into Tamil script. There is a well known history of the Arab trade network throughout Southeast Asia but it's fascinating that this artifact represents a fusion of Arab and Tamil culture. It makes me ponder whether the owner of the ship was himself cross cultural. The Arab presence in Southern India actually predates the advent of Islam, so even it's…
Edit: I followed the footnote to vol 1 of the NZ Journal of Science where the suggest a Portuguese origin, presumably because of Portuguese saying prowess. In fact of course Tamil Nadu was an initial colonization point of many European invaders, all of whom by definition were sailing nations.
In fact who's to say that the bell didn't arrive within the century preceding Colenso's seeing it?
Neither the Wikipedia nor a broader web search addresses this. And Colenso's own wikipedia page doesn't even mention the bell!
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Palm leaves were commonly used to write in Sinhalese as well, and the alphabet, similarly, is very curvy[1]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinhalese_alphabet
It's fascinating (to me) to think that the medium influences the script - something I had never considered. I wonder if we can find medium-based influences on other scripts, say, Roman and Arabic. My Archaeological/anthropological knowledge doesn't even extend to spelling those words correctly (thank you Chrome spell-checker), so I can't do more than wonder unless someone here... (nudge, nudge)
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Palm leaves were commonly used to write in Sinhalese as well, and the alphabet, similarly, is very curvy[1]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinhalese_alphabet
It's fascinating (to me) to think that the medium influences the script - something I had never considered. I wonder if we can find medium-based influences on other scripts, say, Roman and Arabic. My Archaeological/anthropological knowledge doesn't even extend to spelling those words correctly (thank you Chrome spell-checker), so I can't do more than wonder unless someone here... (nudge, nudge)
Two examples:
Serifs on Roman letters originated as a way to clean up the ends of the characters when carved in stone.
When I was a kid in California, you'd regularly see gang graffiti painted in square block lettering that imitated what it would look like carved in wood (e.g. a park bench).
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Palm leaves were commonly used to write in Sinhalese as well, and the alphabet, similarly, is very curvy[1]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinhalese_alphabet
It's fascinating (to me) to think that the medium influences the script - something I had never considered. I wonder if we can find medium-based influences on other scripts, say, Roman and Arabic. My Archaeological/anthropological knowledge doesn't even extend to spelling those words correctly (thank you Chrome spell-checker), so I can't do more than wonder unless someone here... (nudge, nudge)
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Sometimes in other languages, the way that you say something is different. I mean, in the english language and culture I agree your point has some sense but in old Tamil it may need to be described that way because of the language structure. The translation may not be perfect either as sometimes a concept that is expressed in one language just has no equivalent in another. edit: native Tamil speaker also contributing…
I think to soo. I was on a trip to Malaysia recently and met many native Chinese speakers who reply "Can" when you ask them something like "Can you meet me at 5 tomorrow?". I asked him why they don't say "Yes" and he said that in Chinese, that would sound really silly. I imagine it's similar to writing "Sword of so and so" on a weapon rather than just writing ones name. In some languages, it's more... regal.
> Translated, it says "Muhayideen Baksh’s ship’s bell". I like language, and this inscription makes me wonder. Why write on a bell that it's a bell? I'd be less surprised if the bell had said "Muhayideen Baksh’s ship". I mean, I get that school buildings say "School" because otherwise it's really just a building. But a bell? Isn't that a bit like writing "Headmaster's Office Door" on the headmaster's office door? I w…
>I like language, and this inscription makes me wonder. Why write on a bell that it's a bell? I'd be less surprised if the bell had said "Muhayideen Baksh’s ship".
I think it may mean "the bell from that particular ship" to distinguish it from any other ship's bell or any other bell.
Edit: Could be, in case of theft or loss of the bell (would make it easier to find and restore to the ship). Though of course, someone could possibly rub that writing off with a file or other tool.
> Translated, it says "Muhayideen Baksh’s ship’s bell". I like language, and this inscription makes me wonder. Why write on a bell that it's a bell? I'd be less surprised if the bell had said "Muhayideen Baksh’s ship". I mean, I get that school buildings say "School" because otherwise it's really just a building. But a bell? Isn't that a bit like writing "Headmaster's Office Door" on the headmaster's office door? I w…
I suppose it could be that in that language the ship bell and temple bell would have two different names, but obviously that nuance is lost when translated into English. It's like in English you have fingers and toes, and obviously fingers are not toes, and toes are not fingers. But for example in Polish, they are both called the same thing, so you need to specify which "fingers" you mean - so you could have a senten…
Just checked it in Google Translate:
finger - उंगली toe - पैर की अंगुली (finger of foot)
though you can see that they use two different spellings for ungali there - the latter one reads as anguli.
I used to think that the former was the right spelling, but on seeing the above now, remembered the story of Angulimala and Buddha, so maybe both are correct spellings:
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Palm leaves were commonly used to write in Sinhalese as well, and the alphabet, similarly, is very curvy[1]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinhalese_alphabet
It's fascinating (to me) to think that the medium influences the script - something I had never considered. I wonder if we can find medium-based influences on other scripts, say, Roman and Arabic. My Archaeological/anthropological knowledge doesn't even extend to spelling those words correctly (thank you Chrome spell-checker), so I can't do more than wonder unless someone here... (nudge, nudge)
Interesting question. Cuneiform may be one:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuneiform_script
Excerpt from above page:
Cuneiform script (/kjuːˈniːᵻfɔːrm/ kew-nee-i-form or /ˈkjuːnᵻfɔːrm/ kew-ni-form), one of the earliest systems of writing, was invented by the Sumerians.[1] It is distinguished by its wedge-shaped marks on clay tablets, made by means of a blunt reed for a stylus. The name cuneiform itself simply means "wedge shaped".[2]
I remember reading about it in Social Studies in school :) - along with the Indus Valley civilization and maybe one or two others.