glossary

Quasi includes a glossary to help visitors navigate the projects, offering definintions and explanations of key linguistic terms and concepts.

Abjad

Alphabet where the letters represent only consonants; vowelless alphabet (e.g. › Arabic, Hebrew, Aramaic).

Abudiga 

Writing system structured with syllables (syllabary), where consonants are represented by symbols and vowels are indicated using secondary notations, also referred to as “alphasyllabary” (e.g. › Bengali, Thai, Tibetan).

Acrophony 

Practice of naming letters by words whose initial sound is the same as that which the letter represent (e.g. › letters in early Cyrillic alphabets, a, b, v, g, d, e, etc are named Az, Buky, Vedi, Glagol, Dobro, Est, etc).

Acrostic 

Word puzzle or poetic device in which certain letters within a set of words spell out a different word, phrase, or message when read in a particular order.

Alphabet

Writing system consisting of a set of symbols (letters), with each symbol uniquely representing a specific sound (e.g. › Latin, Greek, Cyrillic).

Alphasyllabary

Writing system structured around syllables (syllabary), in which consonants are represented by symbols and vowels are indicated using secondary notations, also referred to as “abugida” (e.g. › Bengali, Thai, Tibetan).

Asemic writing

Non-linguistic or illegible writing that lacks specific meaning but may contain artistic or expressive elements.

Automatic writing

Writing that occurs without conscious thought, often associated with spiritual or subconscious processes.

Boustrophedon

Written from right to left and from left to right, in alternate lines.

Character

Single written or printed symbol that represents a particular letter, word, or concept.

Character set

Complete collection of characters, symbols, and glyphs available in a specific font or typeface.

Cipher

Method of encryption that transforms individual letters into different characters or symbols, making the original message unreadable without the decryption key (e.g. › Caesar cipher, pigpen cipher).

Code

System of substituting words or phrases with symbols, often for covert or efficient communication, typically relying on a codebook for interpretation (e.g. › Morse code).

Conscript (constructed script)

Script that is intentionally created at a distinct point in time rather than originating graduall (e.g. › Elvish, Klingon, Kryptonian).

Cryptography

Science of secure communication through the use of codes and ciphers to protect information from unauthorized access.

Encode

To convert information into a coded or symbolic form for transmission or storage.

experimental

Process based on untested ideas or techniques that is not yet established or finalized.

Grapheme

Smallest unit of a writing system.

Glyph

Unique design of a character or symbol within a font or typeface, also referred to as “letterform.”

Hieroglyph

Character or symbol used in a system of pictorial writing, particularly when referring to the forms depicted on ancient Egyptian monuments.

Hieroglyphics

Writing system consisting of hieroglyphs.

Imaginarium

Place devoted to stimulating and cultivating the imagination.

Language

Principal method of human communication, consisting of words used in a structured way and conveyed by speech, writing, or gesture.

Letter

Symbol or character in an alphabet representing one or more of the sounds used in speech.

Letterform

Unique design of a character or symbol within a font or typeface, also referred to as “glyph.”

Linguistic

Related to the study or science of language and its structure.

Logosyllabary

Writing system in which symbols can be used as either logograms or syllables (e.g. › Chinese, Japanese).

Logographic

Writing systems with symbols representing meanings rather than sounds (e.g. › Cuneiform, Egyptian hieroglyphics).

Logogram

Symbol or character representing a meaning.

Natscript (natural script)

Script that has evolved organically through time, over generations of collective usage.

Neography

Practice of intentionally inventing new scripts.

Optophonetic

Relating to a writing system that uses symbols or characters to represent both sound and meaning.

Phoneme

Smallest distinctive unit of sound in a language.

Phonetic

Related to the sounds of speech or the study of pronunciation.

Pictograph

Symbol or character, usually simple and stylized, that represents a concept.

Quasi

Seemingly; apparently, but not really.

Re-worlding

Creative practice of imagining and building worlds alternative to ours as a powerful means to initiate change.

Script

Set of symbols or characters that represent sounds, words, or other elements of spoken language, with embedded rules for usage and orthography (e.g. › Cyrillic, Arabic).

Syllabary

Writing system in which characters represent syllables rather than individual sounds or letters (e.g. › Hangul, Cherokee, Vai).

Syllable

Unit of pronunciation consisting of a vowel sound and sometimes one or more consonant sounds.

Symbol

Visual or written representation that stands for a specific concept or idea.

Speculative

Process of discovery based on hypothesis, guesswork, or supposition rather than concrete evidence or facts.

Torus

The point at which data turns to noise.

VERISIMILITUDE

The property of seeming true, of resembling reality. Faithfulness to its own rules; internal cohesion.

Writing System

Standardized approach to representing spoken language in written form, organized for the formation of words and sentences through combinations of symbols (e.g. › alphabet, syllabary, alphasyllabary, logosyllabary, etc.).