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The Mayan language was not even believed to be a language for a long time, or at least not believed to be a complete language. This changed with a declaration that the language was indeed a phonetic language by Yuri Valentinovich Knorosov in 1950s.
examples of glyphs/Mayan syllabary
One interesting thing about the Mayan language is simply how it is read. It is read in double columns, meaning that you read two columns at once. It is read starting at the top left and proceeding to the bottom of the same double column and then zigzagging through it. The squares that make up the glyphs are arranged into a grid pattern to make this easier.
Some food for thought/provocative questions:
Is it important for a language (or anything for that matter) to have a high aesthetic value? What effect on their ancient society and on modern society would the Mayan's having a visual appealing written language? One thought on this question is that I believe that the visual appeal/design nature of the glyphs cause modern archeologist and linguists to not consider it a language or a full fledged language until the 1950s. Does the design nature of the language act to increase the already hyped (due to their civilization's mysterious disappearance)cultural attention and study.
Further reading:
A blogpost I found researching. It is about the history of graphic design and connecting it to the Mayan language.
Some food for thought/provocative questions:
Is it important for a language (or anything for that matter) to have a high aesthetic value? What effect on their ancient society and on modern society would the Mayan's having a visual appealing written language? One thought on this question is that I believe that the visual appeal/design nature of the glyphs cause modern archeologist and linguists to not consider it a language or a full fledged language until the 1950s. Does the design nature of the language act to increase the already hyped (due to their civilization's mysterious disappearance)cultural attention and study.
Further reading:
To go along with what you mentioned in your last paragraph, I agree that the Mayan written language is very aesthetically pleasing. I think one of the effects that such an appealing language has is that it makes it more desirable to understand and provides a culture with a greater sense of unity. Especially, when the glyphs used are symbolic of an event or object particular to that culture or area.
ReplyDeleteI think it is interesting how the aestheticism (i dont' even know if that is a word) of this language made it possible to use writing as art. When I was in mexico I went to palenque. It was not only amazing to see their picture carvings but also that the writing all around them.
ReplyDeleteSomething I just randomly knew about these glyphs from watching shows on pbs or something but each square is not actually its own letter. It is a few different glyphs put into one that could mean a whole word. For example they would put the letters Mi Ku and L to write my name or something like that all into one square. I don't know why but I just think that is a fascinating system.
Aesthetics are an interesting topic mainly because every genre and time frame has its own rules. The aesthetics of a painting are different than the aesthetics of a poem are distinct from what makes a beautiful sculpture or landscape. Written language crosses many of the media. It can be visually appealing like the Mayan writing or the illuminated Bibles or Chinese calligraphy. It can also be secondary to the aesthetic of the writing; it acts simply as a tool to convey the meaning. I find it particularly beautiful when the message of the writing and the aesthetic of the writing itself work in harmony to produce a single beautiful product. I do calligraphy so will try to put up a full post about this because it is awesome and has great pictures keep your eyes peeled over the next day or so.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of aesthetics of the Mayan writing system, and to me it sort of transforms the focus of the writing into more of an art, than just communication of the daily hum drum. I imagine that because the writing is so intricate and beautiful, the carvers or writers or whoever would be more careful and pa more attention to the meaning of the writing. The same is true of an illuminated Bible: its purpose was to highlight and emphasize the important moral messages of the text. So I agree with Alicia, that when the beauty of the word form itself, and the beauty of the meaning of the words combines it is a magical thing. Thanks for bringing up this cool aspect of writing.
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