ع - Arabic script for Toki Pona poetry

Signs and symbols: Writing systems (hieroglyphs, nail writing) and Signed Toki Pona; unofficial scripts too
Signoj kaj simboloj: Skribsistemoj (hieroglifoj, ungoskribado) kaj la Tokipona Signolingvo; ankaŭ por neoficialaj skribsistemoj
jan-ante
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Joined: Fri Oct 02, 2009 4:05 pm

ع - Arabic script for Toki Pona poetry

Post by jan-ante »

I was looking for the script suitable for tokiponic poetry and surprisingly found that the Arabic is probably an ideal one. My requirements were following: (i) one letter per one syllable (including those ending with -n) for clear syllabic structure; (ii) vowels marks should be optional for controlled ambiguity; (iii) the spaces between the words should be optional for graphical adjustment. Arabic script fits all these demands.
Consider the hokku:

waso li tawa
li lukin e moku sin
pipi lili o!

In consonant writing it looks:

WS L TW
L LK * MK S
PP LL *

, where * denotes a vowel. One could read this as

waso li tawa
li luka e moku sin
pipi lili a!

, or like this:

waso li tawa
li lukin. o moku sin!
pipi lili a!

Arabic letters of Toki Pona are consonants and have isolated, final, middle and beginning shapes:

none - ععع ع
j - ييي ي
k - ككك ك
l - للل ل
m - ممم م
n - ننن ن
p - ببب ب
s - صصص ص
t - ططط ط
w - ففف ف

The hokku above looks like this:

فص ل طف
ل لك ع مك ص
بب لل ع

This is without vowel marks. The 6 Arabic vowel marks mean a i u an in un:

ma - مَ
mi - مِ
mu - مُ
man - مً
min - مٍ
mun - مٌ

In toki pona there are two more vowels - e and o. o (on) could be marked exactly as u (un). e (en) is more difficult: in a first syllable it is like a (an), otherwise it is like i (in), i.e


tenpo - طًبُ
ken - كً
kin - كٍ
seme - صَمِ
lete - لَطِ
ala - عَلَ
al(e/i) - عَلِ

Now the hokku with full set of vowel marks:

فَصُ لِ طَفَ
لِ لُكٍ عَ مُكُ صٍ
بِبِ لِلِ عُ

Note, that e looks like a. This is the only exception, but it could not make a mess, as the e could never be used at the end of sentence, while a is never used in the middle. Moreover, e is apparently more abundant than a, so i suggest to use it just without vowel marks.

Now some answers to expected questions
Why `ain, not 'alif; why fa', not waw? Because with waw and alif in initial position, the letters of a single word are not joined together.
Why Sad, not sin, why Ta, not ta? For stronger graphical contrast with some other letters.
Are the middle and final forms of ain usable? May be only in exclamations like "aaa!" or "muu!".
Which words could be written without vowel marks? All trisyllabic (11 old + 4 new = 15); the following bisyllabic words: tawa, kama, toki, moku, mute, nimi, taso, tomo, tenpo, mama, lawa, lili, wawa, weka, awen, tenpo, nanpa, nena, pipi, waso, kasi, lete, lape, mani, mije, sike, telo kiwen, jelo, laso, noka, jaki, kute (33, did i miss anything?); and monosyllabic ni, sin and wan could never be confused with another official word even without vowel mark. Also, some other words could be used without vowel marks if they are apparently mor abundant than the words they could be confused with, like pi versus pan, also li, e, tan, jan, anpa, and may be something else.

PS does someone know, how could i align the text to the centre of the page?
janMato
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Location: Takoma Park, MD
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Re: ع - Arabic script for Toki Pona poetry

Post by janMato »

I like it. It fits in with the pimitivism principle in toki pona, i.e. that we should write in a style that is evocative of how things used to be when times were simpler. I recently read a book on the invention of writing and it was emphasized what a revolution it was to start writing down the vowels.

Here is the TP boards documentation on BBCode
Here is the BBCode "standard" tag list: BBcode reference

Hmm, it seems that this forum doesn't support the full set of BBcode tags.
This text is centered
jan-ante
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Joined: Fri Oct 02, 2009 4:05 pm

Re: ع - Arabic script for Toki Pona poetry

Post by jan-ante »

This text is centered
bad news.in poetry the proper aligment is strongly desirable
janMato
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Location: Takoma Park, MD
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Re: ع - Arabic script for Toki Pona poetry

Post by janMato »

I had another idea-- using BBCode tables, but... not supported on this forum.

That leaves only the [ Code ] tag for controlling layout.

Code: Select all

                     Indented.
            Indented less so.
                                                                Indented more so.
User avatar
jan Josan
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Re: ع - Arabic script for Toki Pona poetry

Post by jan Josan »

Here's how to add custom codes in phpBB including
, but it requires site administrator access.
janMato
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Joined: Wed Dec 02, 2009 12:21 pm
Location: Takoma Park, MD
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Re: ع - Arabic script for Toki Pona poetry

Post by janMato »

Testing center
Ah, it works now. I'll see about adding some more layout codes.

I've added
This text is justified. This text is justified.This text is justified. This text is justified. This text is justified.This text is justified. This text is justified. This text is justified. This text is justified. This text is justified. This text is justified. This text is justified. This text is justified. This text is justified. This text is justified. This text is justified. This text is justified. This text is justified. This text is justified.
This text is not justified. This text is not justified. This text is not justified. This text is not justified. This text is not justified. This text is not justified. This text is not justified. This text is not justified. This text is not justified. This text is not justified. This text is not justified. This text is not justified.

This text is left
This text is right
jan-ante
Posts: 541
Joined: Fri Oct 02, 2009 4:05 pm

thank you, jan Mato and jan Josan

Post by jan-ante »

waso li tawa
li lukin e moku sin
pipi lili o!


فص ل طف
ل لك ع مك ص
بب لل ع



Image
janKipo
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Joined: Fri Oct 09, 2009 2:20 pm

Re: ع - Arabic script for Toki Pona poetry

Post by janKipo »

errh. Since Arabic has final ns, why not use them? And why are the final ns left off in the consonant-only spelling (which gives rise to the 'luka'/'lukin' confusion)? I don't know enough (anything) about Arabic writing to know of reasons for this omission.
jan-ante
Posts: 541
Joined: Fri Oct 02, 2009 4:05 pm

Re: ع - Arabic script for Toki Pona poetry

Post by jan-ante »

janKipo wrote:errh. Since Arabic has final ns, why not use them? And why are the final ns left off in the consonant-only spelling (which gives rise to the 'luka'/'lukin' confusion)?
toki pona is a game in words. why not add one more option? if the meaning is clear form the context, then no need in additional marks. if the meaning is not clear, you can make it clear (add mark) or keep playing (not add) and see how the people read this. it is probably not a good idea for textbook of chemistry, but in poetry it could be beneficial
janSilipu
Posts: 288
Joined: Tue Aug 09, 2011 9:21 am

Re: ع - Arabic script for Toki Pona poetry

Post by janSilipu »

Well, yes, but ...
On the other hand, it is beautiful.
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