THE HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF KIF WRITING The earlies forms of Kifish communication existed as territorial markings scratched on trees and other surfaces as a warning to others not to tresspass. Thus the original glyphs were representative signs for individuals, names if you would. As their social unit evolved so did the complexity of the signs. Not only did they simply have to denote what belonged to whom but who belongs to whom and what social position they maintained. Thus the original pictograms developed into ideograms that could express more complex issues. The next leap forward in Kifish writing came with the development from hunting to hearding. With a, relatively, more stationary base fortifications developed to protect territory and with it the ability to work clay and mortar. Having previously used their claws for marking wood and soft material this translated very effectively to writing on clay tablets. With this new medium an additional amount of variety was made possible, namely dots in addition to strokes, and we can date the age of certain word-forms by this. Writing seems to have been largely in the form of military instructions alternating with a complex arsenal of phrases for intimidation and suplication. The major archeological records for this period consist of courier tablets and engraved stone steles erected in praise of a regional Hakt, possibly at the entrance to the fortress/city. As Main Kiffish developed the written language became large and unwieldly as new ideograms and logograms were introduced as that culture expanded. Similar symbols had widely divergant meanings over different regions. A certain resentment began to develop toward scribes as professionals now needed to be used for communication and translation. The warrior elite could not afford to be without some literacy as to trust their scribes implicitly would weaken their position. Their fears were justified as there are several incidents told, possibly apocryphal, of warrior-scribes taking the leadership and the ensuing chaos that came of it. What developed from this was a more widespread use of a technique originally used to record foriegn names. As these names were quite diverse and it was impractical to represent them with unique logograms they were represented as concatenated logograms of Main Kiffish words of single syllables. Thus the name Tikkakkhun was represented by the three logograms for the Main Kiffish words tikk, akkh, and the modifier un. If the scribe-warrior tales are fictional they can be seen as stories promoting the use of the syllogramatic writing base on a wider scale. In any event it is this form that eventually won through. The basic syllograms were established at that time and, with a few simplifications and changes of pronunciation, are widely used today for formal Kifish documentation. The latest development in Kifish writing is realtively recent and has to do with its adaption to the digital computer and pixel orientated display. In their early days of computing the space and processing power of their devices and the resolution of their monitors was low. Too low to adequately express the large number of syllograms in common usage. Originally the basic syllograms, which by linguistic evolution were also the most common, were represented. This saw them through their initial experimental stage but as the use of computers became more widespread it proved insufficient. In a curious parallel to previous development these most common glyphs were used to represent individual sounds. As this developed into an alphabetic system the syllograms in turn became composed of these individual letter-glyphs. Although that was a transitory stage in their technological development the alphabetic system is still largely used for data entry and storage. Moving to the letter-glyphs themselves it can be redily seen that they display the general left-to-right and top-to-bottom nature of Main Kifish writing. Horizontal strokes always point right and vertial one always point down. Diagonal strokes usually draw from upper left to lower right but a few go from upper right to lower left. The least sophisticated data entry and display systems currently in use comprise of a keyboard, with claw-depression keys, consisting of the alphabetic glyps (see below). The display device displays the glyphs as they are entered. More advanced systems translate the glyphs into syllograms on-screen as they are typed. Thus typing "t" would produce that alphabetic glyph on the screen but when followed by the "ikk" keystroke it would coalesce into the "tikk" syllogram. These keyboards usually have two "space bars". One for explicitly signifying syllable breaks (as with all natural languages there are certain ambiguities that defy computer algorithyms) and another for explicitly speficying word breaks. More advanced systems consist of a data entry pad where the operator can literally claw out the letter or syllogram. On some a small area is reserved for tapping on to indicate that the character is done. On others it is purely done by time delay. On the most advanced systems the keyboard is both an input and output device changing to meet the data-entry requirements of the software being run. Here now follows the most basic representation of the Kiffish alphabetical system: A AK AKK SG ..@@@@@@@@@@.. ..@@@@@@@@@@.. ..@@@@@@@@@@.. ..@@@@@@@@@@.. ....@@@@@@.... ....@@@@@@.... ....@@@@@@.... ....@@@@@@.... ......@@...... ......@@...... @@....@@...... ......@@...... ......@@...... ..@@..@@...... @@@@@@@@@@@@@@ @@@@@@@@...... ......@@...... ..@@@@@@@@@@.. @@....@@...... ..@@..@@...... ......@@...... ..@@..@@...... @@@@@@@@@@@@@@ ..@@..@@...... ......@@...... ......@@...... @@....@@...... ..@@..@@...... SF SK SH TH ..@@@@@@@@@@.. ..@@@@@@@@@@.. ..@@@@@@@@@@.. ..@@@@@@@@@@.. ....@@@@@@.... ....@@@@@@.... ....@@@@@@.... ....@@@@@@.... ......@@...... ......@@...... ......@@...... ......@@...... ......@@@@@@@@ @@@@@@@@@@@@@@ ..@@..@@...... ......@@..@@.. ......@@..@@.. ..@@..@@..@@.. @@@@..@@...... ......@@..@@@@ ......@@..@@.. ..@@..@@..@@.. ....@@@@...... ......@@@@.... ......@@..@@.. ..@@..@@..@@.. ......@@...... ......@@...... TK R O OK ..@@@@@@@@@@.. ..@@@@@@@@@@.. @@@@@@@@@@@@@@ @@@@@@@@@@@@@@ ....@@@@@@.... ....@@@@@@.... ..@@@@@@@@@@.. ..@@@@@@@@@@.. ......@@...... ......@@...... ....@@..@@.... ....@@..@@.... ..@@..@@..@@.. ..@@@@@@@@@@.. ....@@..@@.... @@..@@..@@.... @@@@..@@..@@@@ ....@@@@@@.... ....@@..@@.... @@@@@@@@@@@@@@ ....@@@@@@.... ......@@...... ....@@..@@.... @@..@@..@@.... ......@@...... ......@@...... ....@@..@@.... ....@@..@@.... OKK K KK KKT @@@@@@@@@@@@@@ .............. .............. .............. ..@@@@@@@@@@.. .............. .............. .............. @@..@@..@@.... .............. @@............ .............. @@@@@@@@@@@@@@ ..@@.......... @@@@@@@@@@@@@@ @@....@@...... @@..@@..@@.... ..@@@@@@@@@@.. @@............ @@@@@@@@@@@@@@ @@@@@@@@@@@@@@ ..@@.......... @@@@@@@@@@@@@@ @@....@@...... @@..@@..@@.... .............. @@............ .............. T KT N M .............. @@............ ....@@........ ..@@....@@.... .............. @@@@@@@@@@@@@@ ..@@@@........ @@@@..@@@@.... @@....@@...... @@............ ......@@...... ....@@....@@.. @@@@@@@@@@@@@@ @@@@@@@@@@@@@@ ..@@....@@.... @@....@@....@@ @@....@@...... @@............ ..@@@@@@@@@@.. @@@@@@@@@@@@@@ @@@@@@@@@@@@@@ @@@@@@@@@@@@@@ ..@@.......... @@............ @@....@@...... @@............ .............. .............. F SKK V P .............. .............. ....@@@@@@@@@@ ....@@@@@@@@@@ ..@@.......... @@............ ......@@@@@@.. ......@@@@@@.. ..@@@@@@@@@@.. @@@@@@@@@@@@@@ ........@@.... @@......@@.... ..@@....@@.... @@....@@....@@ ........@@.... @@@@@@@@@@.... ......@@...... ....@@....@@.. @@......@@.... @@......@@.... ..@@@@........ @@@@..@@@@.... @@@@@@@@@@.... ........@@.... ....@@........ ..@@....@@.... @@......@@.... ........@@.... S H KKT ....@@@@@@@@@@ .............. .............. @@....@@...... ......@@@@@@.. ......@@...... .............. @@@@@@@@@@@@@@ @@......@@.... ....@@@@...... ....@@........ @@....@@...... @@@@@@@@@@.... ..@@....@@.... ..@@@@........ @@@@@@@@@@@@@@ @@......@@.... @@@@......@@.. ......@@...... @@....@@...... @@@@@@@@@@.... ....@@........ ........@@.... @@@@@@@@@@@@@@ @@......@@.... ......@@...... .............. @@....@@...... U UK UKK UKKT @@@@@@..@@@@@@ @@@@@@..@@@@@@ @@@@@@..@@@@@@ @@@@@@..@@@@@@ ..@@......@@.. ..@@......@@.. ..@@......@@.. ..@@......@@.. .............. .............. @@............ .............. .............. ..@@.......... @@@@@@@@@@@@@@ @@....@@...... .............. ..@@@@@@@@@@.. @@............ @@@@@@@@@@@@@@ .............. ..@@.......... @@@@@@@@@@@@@@ @@....@@...... .............. .............. @@............ .............. UT E EK EKKT @@@@@@..@@@@@@ ....@@........ ....@@........ ....@@........ ..@@......@@.. ..@@@@........ ..@@@@........ ..@@@@..@@@@@@ @@....@@...... @@@@@@........ @@@@@@........ @@@@@@....@@.. @@@@@@@@@@@@@@ ......@@...... ......@@...... ......@@..@@.. @@....@@...... ........@@.... ..@@....@@.... ........@@.... @@@@@@@@@@@@@@ ..........@@.. ..@@@@@@..@@.. ..........@@.. @@....@@...... ............@@ ..@@........@@ ............@@ EKK G GH I ....@@........ .............. .............. .............. ..@@@@..@@@@@@ .............. ......@@...... .............. @@@@@@....@@.. ..........@@.. ......@@@@.... ....@@@@@@.... ......@@..@@.. ..........@@@@ ....@@....@@.. ......@@...... ..@@....@@.... ........@@.... ..@@......@@@@ .............. ..@@@@@@..@@.. ......@@...... ........@@.... ....@@@@@@.... ..@@........@@ .............. ......@@...... ......@@...... IK IKK IKKT IT .............. @@............ .............. @@....@@...... ..@@.......... @@@@@@@@@@@@@@ @@....@@...... @@@@@@@@@@@@@@ ..@@@@@@@@@@.. @@............ @@@@@@@@@@@@@@ @@....@@...... ..@@.......... @@@@@@@@@@@@@@ @@....@@...... @@@@@@@@@@@@@@ .............. @@............ .............. @@....@@...... ....@@@@@@.... ....@@@@@@.... ....@@@@@@.... ....@@@@@@.... ......@@...... ......@@...... ......@@...... ......@@...... L HT CH J @@............ @@............ @@............ @@............ @@@@@@@@...... @@@@@@@@@@@@@@ @@@@@@@@...... @@@@@@@@@@@@@@ @@............ @@............ @@............ @@............ @@@@@@@@@@@@@@ @@@@@@@@...... @@@@@@@@...... @@@@@@@@@@@@@@ @@............ @@............ @@............ @@............ @@@@@@@@...... @@@@@@@@...... @@@@@@@@@@@@@@ @@@@@@@@@@@@@@ @@............ @@............ @@............ @@............ 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