what the Speech looks like...

[wizardsrreal]

Well I was thinking the other day, and I was thinking about the Speech. The books say kinda what the Speech looks like, buteveryone has their different interpretations of it. I just wanted to know what people thought it looked like.

[semiramis]

I think there's actually an older topic where people talked about what they thought the written speech looked like, and someone even went and did a few samples...

...*checks* it's over here.

[wizardsrreal]

thanks I think I have gone to that befoe but I never read the whole thing.

[Agent M]

Isn't the Speech supposed to look Arabic?

[Magic Butter]

Hmmm...I've always thought that it was generally sinous like the arabic symbols, but considering the extent of the Speech, its symbols could probably find resemblance in a number of languages.

[Kathy Li]

Well, as i said in the old thread, I can't help thinking it looks something like a more cursive version of Linear B. Although I suppose Tai Lue or Tengwar might not be bad approximations.

Yes. You want to play at omniglot.com. Especially the second link listed in the Romulan section.

[Peter Murray]

Semiramis said:
I think there's actually an older topic where people talked about what they thought the written speech looked like, and someone even went and did a few samples...

Yeah, some nut did.
Dairine's viewpoint in High Wizardry described it as Arabic-looking, anyway.

I asked DD during the last online chat if the calligraphy exercise she's mentioned once might be included in the Concordance, either as an entry or as text decorations, and she answered that it had occurred to her. That'd be the only definitive answer to what the Speech looks like.

[RhyanonSorenson]

In my mind it's beautiful. There are all kinds of symbols. Boxy squarish ones, graceful elegant ones, and flowing spidery ones. With 418 of them, you've gotta have alot of different ones! And I think that it is spoken on a different level than what every language is spoken on. It's more of an awareness one. Hm...let me try to think of an analogy.......*thinking* Aha. Okay, so you are always concious of noise, right? There is no such thing as absolute stillness. Everything is always making noise no matter what. In my mind that noise is the Speech, and this silence has the power to bend things to whatever you want done. Call it the song of the cosmos, if you will (Which, I think in one of the books was described as the Speech...correct me if I'm wrong....)
Languages are developed when different cultures become cut off from one another, right? The cultures that have the most contact with each other are the ones that are going to retain the most similar languages. (Think of species that can speak the Speech, with whom the Speech has become the language.) Now, in those cultures that have no contact with other places, they are eventually going to forget the old tongue. (The Speech, Earth, yeah. ) I think I sort of got off topic, but oh well. I'm drawing a parallel between why humans lost the speech and what it looks like and what it sounds like!

Ah, peter peter, that nut was you!

[Wade Pedersen]

i think that the written Sppech would look like something between Quenya(language of the elves -J.R.R. Tolkien-) and something more boxy, like japanese

[Acousticat]

I seem to remember that in A Wizard Alone, the Speech was described as sharing some elements of calculus. Just a thought.
The Phaaaaaaantom of the violin is there ... Inside your mind.

[Lisa]

Hello Acousticat! I see this is your first post! Welcome to the YW forums, the place for people with no sanity! If you're wondering about rules and such, you can go to the Newbie Zone which explains all the nicknames, not-good things, etc. But I'll put some stuff here.

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And several other names that are either abbreviations or initials.

Welcome! Have fun!

[Kathy Li]

Acousticat: welcome to the boards! Yeah, I've always assumed the Speech and math were connected, given that it can be "run" by software. At any rate, I probably learned about half the Greek alphabet from math. I certainly learned &Sigma; that way!

Lisa, personally, #6 isn't that important, to me. Just be patient with the onset of my senility as an Extremely Ag&egrave;d Member.

[RhyanonSorenson]

That and chemistry. In one of the books or somewhere Nita was balancing something. Reminds me of chemical equations.....urgh......

[Nella]

Dai Acousticat!
Lisa... I see Acousticat with an avarter. Does he not have one to you? Anyways welcome to the forums!

Personally, what RhaynonSorenson said about the Speach in the 1st of her posts in this topic is how I think of the Speech, though I also agree that math is also part of the writen Speech, especially in spells I think. I think the math and the writen part of it are all combinded... (is that a word?)
Magic Butter
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I've always thought that it was generally sinous like the arabic symbols, but considering the extent of the Speech, its symbols could probably find resemblance in a number of languages.
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I agree, it also says in the fourth book ((correct me if I'm wrong)) that Irish language, ((sorry I don't know what it's called!)) reminded Nita of the Speech.

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Member of the DDFQOTW foundation
Commited Fratcha-bruta...

Forever and Always
Nella

[Rad]

Irish Gaelic

Hehe Magic Butter...haven't seen him around for awhile, except he does show up on MSN messenger sometimes.

Anyhow, I have an idea of what the speech should look like...see the pic of my "tattoo" for more details