Linear1
by Thomas Heller
Description
Linear1 is an experimental script that can be used to represent alphabets with up to 23 distinct characters. Its main properties are:
- All characters can be written in one continuous line, without taking pen/pencil/brush off the paper.
- Lines are drawn once – they are never repeated. (Except for sticks, see extension notes below.)
Linear1 is written left to right, top to bottom here, but can be used to write from right to left as well, especially since its characters are vertically symmetrical. See also Linear2 and Ringscripts, Starscripts and Tunnelscripts for more experimentation with writing direction.
Example text
"The history of Linear1 script is very long and complicated. Many tried to decipher its meaning, but very few have succeeded. May you, blessed traveller, grasp its secret!"
Characters
No. | Glyph | English name | Symbol | Position | R/A | O/C | Shifts | Latin |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | upper circle | circle | upper | round | closed | 1 | a | |
2 | lower circle | circle | lower | round | closed | 1 | b | |
3 | double circle | circle | symmetrical | round | closed | 2 | c | |
4 | upper double circle | double circle | upper | round | closed | 2 | d | |
5 | lower double circle | double circle | lower | round | closed | 2 | e | |
6 | double double circle | double circle | symmetrical | round | closed | 4 | f | |
7 | hill | curve | upper | round | open | 2 | g | |
8 | valley | curve | lower | round | open | 2 | h | |
9 | double curve | curve | symmetrical | round | closed | 2 | i | |
10 | upper heart | heart | upper | round | closed | 3 | j | |
11 | lower heart | heart | lower | round | closed | 3 | k | |
12 | double heart | heart | symmetrical | round | closed | 5-6 | l | |
13 | upper braid | braid | upper | round | closed | 3 | m | |
14 | lower braid | braid | lower | round | closed | 3 | n | |
15 | peak | tip | upper | angular | open | 3 | o | |
16 | mirrored peak | tip | lower | angular | open | 3 | p | |
17 | diamond | tip | symmetrical | angular | closed | 5 | q | |
18 | upper box | box | upper | angular | open | 4 | r | |
19 | lower box | box | lower | angular | open | 4 | s | |
20 | double box | box | symmetrical | angular | closed | 6 | t | |
21 | inverse pyramid | triangle | upper | angular | closed | 4 | u | |
22 | inverse pyramid mirrored | triangle | lower | angular | closed | 4 | v | |
23 | hourglass | triangle | symmetrical | angular | closed | 6 | w | |
- | space | - | - | - | - | 0 |
Stick extension
To represent all 26 letters of the Latin alphabet, 3 more characters are needed. To compensate for this, the following stick symbols can be used in addition to the 23 main characters:
No. | Glyph | English name | Symbol | Position | R/A | O/C | Shifts | Latin |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
24 | upper stick | stick | upper | angular | - | 3 | x | |
25 | lower stick | stick | lower | angular | - | 3 | y | |
26 | double stick | stick | symmetrical | angular | - | 4 | z |
These characters do not fulfill Linear1's second property of not writing over the same line again, but they fulfill Linear1's first property that all text is written as a continuous line. Because sticks are fairly easy to write, they are nonetheless presented here as the recommended way for writing additional letters.
Download
Sorry, there is no vector font of Linear1 yet, but if you want to experiment with Linear1 yourself, you can download PNG files for all characters in the following formats:
- linear1-png.tgz (gzipped tarball)
- linear1-png.zip (ZIP archive)
Images are in the png
subdirectory of the archives.
HTML Generator
The following helper can be used to generate HTML code that makes
use of the PNG "font". Enter some Latin characters (from
the "Latin" columns above), click
"generate" and corresponding <img>
tags will
appear.
Input
Preview
Output
Copyright © 2021 by Thomas Heller [ˈtoːmas ˈhɛlɐ]