sharon_correll@... wrote:

>
> Here at SIL International we are beginning to put together a project that
> involves the development of a website called ScriptSource. The goal is to
> provide an accessible place to share information about scripts and writing
> systems that will be useful at the policy level (e.g., government
> agencies), academic level, and implementation level (development of
> computer resources to support various writing systems). We want to make it
> collaborative, so that those of you out there with expertise in various
> scripts will be able to contribute your knowledge.
>
> One of the main components of the site will be a catalog database that is
> designed to hold fairly detailed information about how writing is used
> around the world. SIL's particular interest is in minority languages, so
> we'll pay particular attention to the ability to handle the various
> adaptations that are needed for these languages. Our current database model
> represents the following kinds of objects and their relationships to each
> other:
>
> * languages (these will be equivalent to items in SIL's Ethnologue
> database)
> * scripts (the major systems like Roman/Latin, Cyrillic, Arabic,
> Devanagari, etc)
> * writing systems (a script as it is used to write a particular language)
> * characters (i.e., as they are defined by Unicode)
> * graphemes (recognizable elements of writing systems), including
> multigraphs

Please don't use the non-term "grapheme" -- or else come up with a
definition that makes it equally useful in describing any sort of
writing system! (Just as phoneme, morpheme, etc. are equally useful in
describing any language.)

> In addition there will be ways to attach files (documentation, pictures,
> resources like fonts and keyboards) and bibliographic information at each
> level.
>
> We'd be interested in hearing how others might envision using such a
> system. What kind of information needs to be represented beyond what I've
> already described, and what kind of queries do you think would be useful?

--
Peter T. Daniels grammatim@...