Define "cypher", or "cipher", and I will either provide evidence that the Theban script is not one or accept that, on your definition, it is one. In the absence of a definition this discussion is meaningless. Similarly if the definition is simply a whim as you implied, so a personal subjective choice against which there can be no evidence. Was it a whim that Theban and Klingon were rejected?
There is a lot of philosophical ground between a 'whim' and something that is so clearly defined that it engenders no debate. I think a definition of cipher that focuses on a deliberate representation of a language with a set of signs that is different from that which is the conventional representation of the language by the vast majority of its users is sufficient. A working definition doesn't need to eliminate all grey areas: it is useful enough if it identifies what the grey areas are. We can add to this definition that ciphers are *often* intended to be a secret way of writing, even if cryptologically weak, or we can suggest that ciphers are *usually* used by people who are also familiar with and in other circumstance use the same conventional representation of the language as everyone else.
I think it is also important to note the presence in this discussion of three different phenomena:
1. Writing systems that appear to be constructed as ciphers, e.g. Theban.
2. Writing systems that are borrowed and used as ciphers, e.g. the Masonic use of Samaritan.
3. The use of an unconventional set of glyphs to represent Unicode characters, e.g. Philippe's proposed use of Latin letters to display Tifinagh characters.
Michael referred to the latter as a cipher, and so triggered the present discussion. I prefer the font developer term 'masquerade' for this phenomenon. Although the effect of Philippe's suggestion would be analogous to 2, above -- i.e. using the Latin writing system as a cipher for Tifinagh --, the intent is really transliteration. Ciphers are appropriately handled at the glyph processing level, which is why Theban doesn't need to be encoded, but transliteration should occur at the character level.
John Hudson
Tiro Typeworks www.tiro.com Vancouver, BC [EMAIL PROTECTED]
I sometimes think that good readers are as singular,
and as awesome, as great authors themselves.
- JL Borges
