tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32671574.post8027578904476146254..comments2024-03-22T14:47:42.501+02:00Comments on Tibeto-logic: Translator Trip-Ups 1 - ScriptUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32671574.post-42897193112355956362017-10-25T13:25:08.286+03:002017-10-25T13:25:08.286+03:00I put up (as an appendix) a general explanation of...I put up (as an appendix) a general explanation of the main principles of abbreviation practice, thinking it may help some people somewhat.Danhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10453904366382251766noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32671574.post-71545004743360563422017-10-12T15:19:26.850+03:002017-10-12T15:19:26.850+03:00Thanks, S.P., I hadn't really thought of that,...Thanks, S.P., I hadn't really thought of that, although I understand the point. In general, abbreviations are used together with the 'head-less' cursive script, which was developed by official scribes in late imperial period Tibetan empire. There's a great article about it by Sam van Schaik I could recommend for anyone interested in that. I'm not sure when, exactly, but abbreviations started being used even later. The primary motive, as I see it, is just the high cost of paper. By squeezing more text into a line, less paper was needed. And it's true that it's only horizontal space that was being saved, so the analogy of the 'train wreck' (my analogy only), imagining each syllable as one of the linked parts of the train, works fairly well. Nowadays most people refer to this shorthand as skung-yig, with apparent literal meaning of 'hiding letters.' Do you think there was a mental push-and-pull between the advocates of letter holiness and paper economy? Paper was quite precious, since it took a lot of work-hours by expert crafts-people to produce it. Thanks for writing, meanwhile I'll think some more. Yours as ever, D.<br /><br />Sam van Schaik, The Origin of the Headless Script (Dbu-med) in Tibet. IN: Nathan Hill, ed., Tibeto-Burman Languages IV, Brill (Leiden 2012), pp. 411-446.Danhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10453904366382251766noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32671574.post-19463792876363670872017-10-12T13:04:20.950+03:002017-10-12T13:04:20.950+03:00I am surprised that any abbreviation at all was pe...I am surprised that any abbreviation at all was permitted in a sacred text. I would think, not only that every word counts but also that the completed spelling-out of words and phrases is necessary.The Short Personnoreply@blogger.com