On Tue, 16 Jan 2001, Samuel W. Heywood wrote:
> Do the Navajo have their own written alphabetic characters and symbols,
> or do they just "transliterate" their spoken language into phonetic
> spellings and symbols using the white man's character set?
>
> If they do not have their very own alphabet, and one that is sufficient
> for transcribing almost all spoken communications, then they do not have
> a written language.
Interesting reasoning there, Sam. So, according to your
definition, even English doesn't qualify as a written language
since its alphabet was simply adapted and modified from pre-existing
ones.
In that case, the only true written language I can think of
off-hand (one that had its own alphabet invented for it) is
Cherokee.
- Steve
