From: Peter T. Daniels
Message: 2775
Date: 2004-07-07
> I think ... that Tamil should be thought of as a syllabary for someNO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO
> purposes at least because
>
> 1. there is persistent and enduring use of a syllable table
> 2. there is no abstract analysis of consonants without inherent
> vowels (very different than teaching reading with an alphabet)
> 3. the primary structral unit is considered by native speakers to be
> the akshara (not consonants and vowels)
> 4. there is constant visual shape only at the syllable level
> 5. there is syllabic editing
> 6. there is a syllabic IME
>
> So I think that an abugida must somehow for some purposes fall
> within the greater category of syllabic writing systems