Re: $.02 on Vulcan Writing
Rob Zook 
Mon, 21 Sep 1998 08:43:52 -0500

Ryan McReynolds wrote:
> 
> I think that, even though it would make transliteration nearly 
> impossible,  the "treble clef" writing has to be the standard metho 
> used when writing Modern Vulcan.  Why?  Because it is featured 
> prominantly on the Deep Space Nine directory display in the Promenade. 
> Naturally, this doesn't make our jobs any easier, and makes writing 
> in Vulcan nearly impossible unless someone really clever can come up 
> with a way to make Modern Vulcan words match up to a bunch of spirals 
> and curvy lines around a shaft...

Well, they do seem to have broader use than I thought..,I don't
remember seeing them at all in ST:DSN, do you remember which 
episode(s) you can see them on the Promenade display directory? 

As far as writing in vulcan goes, it looks like someone has made them
represent whole words. As the examples always use a very small number
of letters. In fact trying to get much of how they use the letters
will likely prove useless since the ST Art people just use them at
random, rather in any directed intelligent manner.

But frankly, it's likely to be a cold day in hell before the ST
Production people start making Vulcan a useful living language. As
much as we'd like to keep in step with the canon stuff, there is no
way to do that with the canon material in existance now.

So, I think we should just proceed as best we can. The display directory
on DS9's promenade is the only example of the staff/treble clef writing 
used in a modern setting to my knowledge. The only other examples we
have are bottle of some Vulcan liquor, and a book of ancient Vulcan
wisdom. So the use of the writing on DS9 seems pretty anachronistic.
 

> As for the thinkened squiggly line version seen on the various robes, 
> I think that this would probably be the standard writing form of Old 
> High Vulcan, because the robes are likely ceremonial in nature.  

Call Spock's robe in ST:TMP "ceremonial" does not seem likely, it was
just something he was travelling in. Sarek's robes might be ceremonial
except that he sure has a lot of really different ceremonial robes.
I would think that those robes would more likely corresponde to the
Vulcan "formal suit", or tuxido.

Especially, one should note that the symbols on the Vulcan's ceremonial
robes on Mt. Seleya in ST:TSFS for the most part look very different 
from the "swiggle line" vulcan lettering that we see on Spock's and
Sarek's robe. There is a further more cursive lettering that appears
on Spock's and Sarek's robes in ST:TVH.


> Although not an exact parallel, you may note that here on Earth 
> diplomas and other such  documents are typically printed in an "Old 
> English" font.

Which up to this point has looked like the "staff" writing. I think
that the two archaic examples outweigh the one rather anachronistic
example of it's use on DS9 display monitors.


> And lastly, the blocky font seen on the shuttlecraft Surak (and also 
> on the three Vulcan vessels in "Unification," based on some shots of 
> the model I've seen, but don't quote me, my memory may be faulty on 
> this point).  That would obviously be what I think is like an 
> "outsider" writing system, probably phonetic, to allow foreigners 
> easier access to reading as opposed to the OHV writing (which was 
> described in "Unification" as based on syllables rather than letters) 
> or the seemingly impossible to master MV writing.

Possibly, but in what context is Vulcan writing described as syllabic?
And which version of the writing, we've uncovered at least four
styles now. At least three of which look completely unrelated.


Rob Z.