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{{culture
  
{{culture
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|image=OB Endnote.jpg
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|related= [[Vorinism]]
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|related=[[Vorinism]]
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|world= Roshar
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|world=Roshar
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|books= [[The Stormlight Archive]]
  
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|universe=[[Cosmere]]
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|books=[[The Stormlight Archive]]
 
}}
  
}}
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'''Women's script''', sometimes called Alethi script, is a writing system used in [[Vorin]] nations, such as [[Alethkar]], [[Jah Keved]], and [[Kharbranth]], on [[Roshar]]. The script is a phonetic alphabet. Each letter is determined by both shape and size. As is indicated by the name, it is a system only used by women, as writing is considered a feminine pursuit. Women's script is distinctly different from [[glyphs]], which are a combination of pictograms and phonetics, and are what men read.
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The '''women's script''' is an alphabetic writing system used in [[Vorin]] nations, such as [[Alethkar]], [[Jah Keved]], and [[Kharbranth]], on [[Roshar]]. The script is a phonetic alphabet, meaning each symbol, or "grapheme", denotes a particular sound, or "phoneme", and is written left to right starting in the top left hand corner of a page.{{book ref|sa1|28}} Each letter is determined by shape and size, and can be modified by the presence of one or two small lines after it. As is indicated by the name, it is almost exclusively used by women, as writing is considered a feminine pursuit. The women's script is distinctly different from [[glyphs]], which are a more logographic writing system (albeit with a phonetic component), which men are also allowed to learn.
   
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== Design ==
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== History ==
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Women's script is known to date back to at least 1800 years before the True Desolation, as the protoscript. The protoscript was an old form of Women's script which eventually took on the modern form.{{book ref|sa2|77}} This script took shape before various sound changes, and thus preserved historical place of articulation.{{wob ref|11464}}
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Brandon Sanderson's main stipulation for the design of women's script was that it look like sound waves.{{qa ref|987|29|Can you read Alethi script?|date=Nov 6th, 2012}}
  
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=== Translation ===
  
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It should be noted that all current examples of women's script exist in illustrations in the books, as pages from [[Navani's notebook]] or [[Shallan's sketchbook]]. A few dedicated fans translated them into a close approximation of English. {{http://twg.17thshard.com/forum/index.php?topic=7882.0 ref}}
  
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Since there are only twenty-five letters in women's script, not every letter in English has a counterpart. The letter C is written as either K or S, depending on the sound it makes. X is made with a K and S, W is made with a U and sometimes another vowel, and Q is written with a K and U.
 
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== Organization ==
  
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=== Phenomes ===
  
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There are twenty-five letters, organized in five phenomes: E, T, S, P, and K. Each phenome has a distinctive shape, with five letters that follow a specific pattern.
 
   
  +
== Structure ==
 
=== Characters ===
  
=== Characters ===
  +
The twenty-five known letters in the women's script can be arranged into five sets of five letters each. Each set is defined by the basic shape of the characters within it: the "vowel set" is a vertical line, the "T set" is a curved triangle pointing to the left, the "S set" is a curved triangle pointing to the right, the "P set" is a curved diamond, and the "K set" is a jagged triangle pointing to the left.
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The first letter in a phenome is full height, the second is of medium height, and the third is the smallest. The fourth is full height again, but with two lines of the smallest height, and the fifth is small with one line after it.
 
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Within each set the characters are defined by height and the addition of shorter lines. The first character is the maximum height, the second is two-thirds the height of the first, and the third is one-third the height of the first. The fourth is the same height as the second with the addition of two short lines to the right, and the fifth is the same height as the third with the addition of one short line to the right.
   
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=== Punctuation ===
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The E phenome contains all the vowels: E, A, O, U, and I, the T phenome consists of T, D, R, Th, and L, the S phenome is made up of S, Z, N, SH, and H, the P phenome has P, B, M, F, and V, and the K phenome has K, G, Y, CH, and J.
 
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Women's script has only one known character for punctuation. It is a single vertical line with two small, horizontal lines at the top and bottom. It is written at the beginning of a sentence and it defines the maximum character height. Questions are marked by adding “ha” at the end of the last word in the sentence. There is also a question mark present in Navani's sketch in ''Oathbringer'' on page 447, but judging by the handwriting this was added later by [[Nazh]] and is not part of the women's script. There is also a diacritic mark denoting if a letter in an otherwise symmetrical word is pronounced “h,” but it is currently unknown what this looks like,{{book ref|WoR|47}} only that it is present both above and below the letter. It is unknown what other punctuation exists, if any, as no other examples have been observed.
   
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=== Punctuation ===
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=== Women's Script Characters===
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{| class="infobox" width=100%
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Women's script has only one character for punctuation. It is a line of full height, much like the character E, but it has a small, horizontal line at the top and bottom. It is written at the beginning of each sentence to denote maximum character height. It is assumed that the language that the script would be used to write in does not use or need other punctuation.
 
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|-
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! Set !! Starting Punctuation !! First !! Second !! Third !! Fourth !! Fifth
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|-
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| rowspan=2 | Vowel set || [[File:Women's script ruler.svg|center]] || [[File:Women's script E.svg|center]] || [[File:Women's script A.svg|center]] || [[File:Women's script O.svg|center]] || [[File:Women's script U.svg|center]] || [[File:Women's script I.svg|center]]
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|- style="text-align:center;"
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| Height Marker || '''E''' || '''A''' || '''O''' || '''U or W''' || '''I'''
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|-
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| rowspan=2 | T set || [[File:Women's script ruler.svg|center]] || [[File:Women's script T.svg|center]] || [[File:Women's script D.svg|center]] || [[File:Women's script R.svg|center]] || [[File:Women's script TH.svg|center]] || [[File:Women's script L.svg|center]]
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|- style="text-align:center;"
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| Height Marker || '''T''' || '''D''' || '''R''' || '''Th''' || '''L'''
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|-
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| rowspan=2 | S set || [[File:Women's script ruler.svg|center]] || [[File:Women's script S.svg|center]] || [[File:Women's script Z.svg|center]] || [[File:Women's script N.svg|center]] || [[File:Women's script SH.svg|center]] || [[File:Women's script H-letter.svg|center]]
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|- style="text-align:center;"
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| Height Marker || '''S''' || '''Z''' || '''N''' || '''Sh''' || '''H'''
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|-
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| rowspan=2 | P set || [[File:Women's script ruler.svg|center]] || [[File:Women's script P.svg|center]] || [[File:Women's script B.svg|center]] || [[File:Women's script M.svg|center]] || [[File:Women's script F.svg|center]] || [[File:Women's script V.svg|center]]
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|- style="text-align:center;"
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| Height Marker || '''P''' || '''B''' || '''M''' || '''Ph''' || '''V'''
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|-
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| rowspan=2 | K set || [[File:Women's script ruler.svg|center]] || [[File:Women's script K.svg|center]] || [[File:Women's script G.svg|center]] || [[File:Women's script Y.svg|center]] || [[File:Women's script CH.svg|center]] || [[File:Women's script J.svg|center]]
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|- style="text-align:center;"
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| Height Marker || '''K''' || '''G''' || '''Y''' || '''Ch''' || '''J'''
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|}
   
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== Examples of women's script ==
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<gallery heights=350px widths=175px>
  
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<gallery mode="packed" heights=300px>
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Women's script E.svg| e
  
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Navani1.jpg | [[Navani's notebook]] - pain knife
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Women's script A.svg| a
  
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Navani2.jpg | [[Navani's notebook]] - mood bracelet
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Women's script O.svg| o
  
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Navani's Notebook p. 406.png | [[Navani's notebook]] - elevator
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Women's script U.svg| u
  
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Ship Designs.jpg | [[Navani's notebook]] - airship designs
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Women's script I.svg| i
  
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Vambrace.jpg | [[Navani's notebook]] - [[Stormclock]] and [[fabrial]] watch vambrace
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Women's script T.svg| t
  
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Navani's Notebook - The Fourth Bridge.jpg | [[Navani's notebook]] - The ''[[Fourth Bridge]]''
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Women's script D.svg| d
  
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Navani's Notebook - The Arnist Method.jpg | [[Navani's notebook]] - The Arnist Method for capturing [[spren]]
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Women's script R.svg| r
  
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Navani's Notebook - The Crystal Pillar Room.jpg | [[Navani's notebook]] - The [[Sibling]]'s heart
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Women's script TH.svg| th
  
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Navani's Notebook - Experiments.jpg | ''[[Rhythm of War (in-world)|Rhythm of War]]'' - Experiments on [[Lights]]
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Women's script L.svg| l
  
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Navani's Notebook - Dagger.jpg | ''[[Rhythm of War (in-world)|Rhythm of War]]'' - The [[Herald]]-killing dagger
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Women's script S.svg| s
  
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Lait.jpeg | [[Shallan's sketchbook]] - [[lait]]
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Women's script Z.svg| z
  
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OB Endnote.jpg | [[Jasnah]]'s [[ketek]], written for [[Shallan]]'s wedding
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Women's script N.svg| n
  
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Women's script SH.svg| sh
  
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Women's script H-letter.svg| h
  
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Women's script P.svg| p
  
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Women's script B.svg| b
  
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Women's script M.svg| m
  
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Women's script F.svg| f
  
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Women's script V.svg| v
  
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Women's script K.svg| k
  
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Women's script G.svg| g
  
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Women's script Y.svg| y
  
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Women's script CH.svg| ch
  
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Women's script J.svg| j
  
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Women's script ruler.svg| symbol used to denote maximum character height
  
 
</gallery>
  
</gallery>
   
 
== Trivia ==
  
== Trivia ==
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* The only samples of Alethi script currently available are three excerpts from [[Navani's notebook]] and on a sketch depicting a lait in [[Shallan's sketchbook]]
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* The only samples of the women's script currently available are eight excerpts from [[Navani's notebook]], two excerpts from ''[[Rhythm of War (in-world)|Rhythm of War]]'', some faded text on a sketch depicting a lait in [[Shallan's sketchbook]], and a [[ketek]] by Jasnah.
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* It was designed by [[Isaac Stewart]], to look like waveforms.
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* It was designed by [[Isaac Stewart]], to look like waveforms.{{wob ref|9902}}
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* Neither [[Brandon]] nor Isaac can read the women's script without reference.{{qa ref|987|29|Can you read Alethi script?|date=Nov 6th, 2012}}
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* Neither [[Brandon]] nor Isaac can read the women's script without reference.{{wob ref|9902}}
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* The mapping between the women's script and the Latin script was first discovered by Harakeke on the [[Timewasters Guide]] forum.{{twg ref|7882|0|Navani's Notebook Translation|date=Sep 20th, 2010}}
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* The women's script is often erroneously referred to as the "Alethi script" among fans. This term is never used in the books, and is demonstrably false as the script is also used in places such as Jah Keved and Kharbranth, at the very least.
  
   
 
== Notes ==
  
== Notes ==

Latest revision as of 23:47, 10 April 2024

Women's script
OB Endnote.jpg
by Isaac Stewart
Related to Vorinism
World of Origin Roshar
Universe Cosmere

The women's script is an alphabetic writing system used in Vorin nations, such as Alethkar, Jah Keved, and Kharbranth, on Roshar. The script is a phonetic alphabet, meaning each symbol, or "grapheme", denotes a particular sound, or "phoneme", and is written left to right starting in the top left hand corner of a page.[1] Each letter is determined by shape and size, and can be modified by the presence of one or two small lines after it. As is indicated by the name, it is almost exclusively used by women, as writing is considered a feminine pursuit. The women's script is distinctly different from glyphs, which are a more logographic writing system (albeit with a phonetic component), which men are also allowed to learn.

HistoryEdit

Women's script is known to date back to at least 1800 years before the True Desolation, as the protoscript. The protoscript was an old form of Women's script which eventually took on the modern form.[2] This script took shape before various sound changes, and thus preserved historical place of articulation.[3]

StructureEdit

CharactersEdit

The twenty-five known letters in the women's script can be arranged into five sets of five letters each. Each set is defined by the basic shape of the characters within it: the "vowel set" is a vertical line, the "T set" is a curved triangle pointing to the left, the "S set" is a curved triangle pointing to the right, the "P set" is a curved diamond, and the "K set" is a jagged triangle pointing to the left.

Within each set the characters are defined by height and the addition of shorter lines. The first character is the maximum height, the second is two-thirds the height of the first, and the third is one-third the height of the first. The fourth is the same height as the second with the addition of two short lines to the right, and the fifth is the same height as the third with the addition of one short line to the right.

PunctuationEdit

Women's script has only one known character for punctuation. It is a single vertical line with two small, horizontal lines at the top and bottom. It is written at the beginning of a sentence and it defines the maximum character height. Questions are marked by adding “ha” at the end of the last word in the sentence. There is also a question mark present in Navani's sketch in Oathbringer on page 447, but judging by the handwriting this was added later by Nazh and is not part of the women's script. There is also a diacritic mark denoting if a letter in an otherwise symmetrical word is pronounced “h,” but it is currently unknown what this looks like,[4] only that it is present both above and below the letter. It is unknown what other punctuation exists, if any, as no other examples have been observed.

Women's Script CharactersEdit

Set Starting Punctuation First Second Third Fourth Fifth
Vowel set
 
 
 
 
 
 
Height Marker E A O U or W I
T set
 
 
 
 
 
 
Height Marker T D R Th L
S set
 
 
 
 
 
 
Height Marker S Z N Sh H
P set
 
 
 
 
 
 
Height Marker P B M Ph V
K set
 
 
 
 
 
 
Height Marker K G Y Ch J

Examples of women's scriptEdit

TriviaEdit

NotesEdit

  1. ↑ The Way of Kings chapter 28#
  2. ↑ Words of Radiance chapter 77#
  3. ↑ Miscellaneous 2017
    — Arcanum - 2017-10-12#
  4. ↑ Words of Radiance chapter 47#
  5. ↑ a b Salt Lake City signing 2012
    — Arcanum - 2012-11-06#
  6. ↑ Navani's Notebook Translation
    — Timewasters Guide forum - Sep 20th, 2010#
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