Are there any experts in Mongolian script out there? I'm trying to
crack the Mongolian script, and I'm running into some questions.
Specifically I'm trying to implement a smart-font system to handle
the contextual shaping that Mongolian needs.
(1) I'm trying to figure out the relationship between q and k, and
gamma and g. The chart I have showing consonants is organized like
this:
a/e i o/u oe/ue
...
9. b
/ 10a. q
\ 10b. k
/ 11a. gamma
\ 11b. g
12. l
...
Which seems to imply that q and k are related, and gamma and g. My
chart shows ga/ge and ka/ke having identical forms, and neither ko
nor go occur. Qa/qe and gamma-a/gamma-e have distinct forms, and
neither qoe nor gamma-oe occur. Qi and ki are rendered identically,
and gamma-i and gi are identical. The forms that are different are
qa and ka, and gamma-a and ga. (Sorry, this is rather confusing; if
there is somebody out there who is familiar with this script, I
could send you a picture.)
Anyway, my theory is that the qa/qe block is actually showing qa,
and the ka/ke block is showing ke. Same with gamma and g. But I'm
not sure if that's right.
By the way, in the Unicode book there is a letter QA that looks like
q on my chart, and a letter GA that looks like the gamma on my
chart. There is also a Unicode letter KA letter that is not on my
chart at all and appears to be something quite distinct.
(2) Is it possible for words to end with consonants? My chart is
organized in such a way that makes me think that there is always an
implied or inherent vowel. If they type in a word with no final
consonant, should I automatically show the "a" form?
(3) Similarly, can words start with vowels? My chart makes me think
this is possible.