Sui script
{{Short description|Logographic writing system}}
{{Citation style|date=June 2023}}
{{Infobox writing system
| name = Sui script
| altname = Shuishu
| type = Logographic
| typedesc =
| creator =
| date =
| published =
| time = Unknown — present
| official script =
| languages = Sui language
| fam1 =
| sample = File:Liùjiǎ Fǎnshū, Page 3.JPG
| imagesize =
| caption =
| direction = Top-to-bottom, columns right to left
| direction comment =
| unicode = U+1B300 to U+1B4FF
| iso15924 = Shui
| iso15924 note =
| footnotes =
| ipa-note = }}
The Sui script (Sui: le1 sui3,{{Cite journal |date=2005 |title="Shuǐshū" jíqí zàozì fāngfǎ yánjiū |script-title=zh:“水书”及其造字方法研究 |journal=Qiánnán mínzú shīfàn xuéyuàn xuébào |volume=25 |issue=1 |script-journal=zh:黔南民族师范学院学报}} Simplified Chinese: 水书, Traditional Chinese: 水書, Pinyin: Shuǐshū) or Shuishu, is a logographic writing system with some pictographic characters that can be used to write the Sui language (Wei 2003:xxix).{{Cite book |last=Zhou |first=Minglang |title=Multilingualism in China: The Politics of Writing Reforms for Minority Languages, 1949–2002 |date=2003 |publisher=Mouton de Gruyter |location=Berlin |pages=132–135 |language=en}} However, traditionally only shamans were familiar with the writing system, and it is not utilized for everyday use by ordinary Sui people. This system is used for geomancy and divination purposes. There are at least 500 different Sui characters, known as le1 sui3 in the Sui language (Wei 2003:xxix). According to tradition, these characters were created by ljok8 to2 qong5 (Chinese: Lù Duógōng 陸鐸公). Some of these characters are pictorial representations, such as of a bird or a fish, and a few are schematic representations of a characteristic quality, such a snail represented by a drawing of an inward curving spiral. Many of these characters appear to be borrowings from Chinese characters and are written backwards, apparently for increased supernatural power.
History
It has been proposed by some that the Sui script bear somewhat similarities to the Xia Tao symbols in the Erlitou site, Yanshi, Henan. The Sui script can be used to roughly interpret its meaning, which has attracted the attention of the archaeological community. Furthermore, the possibility has risen that the ancestors of the Sui people originally came from more to the north or that the Xia Tao symbols influenced the Sui script.{{Cite web |date=2006-07-09 |title=Gǔlǎo Shuǐshū: Jiǎnshí wénmíng de jìyì |script-title=zh:古老水书：捡拾文明的记忆 |url=https://www.chinafolklore.org/web/index.php?NewsID=4752 |website=Zhōngguó mínsúxué wǎng |language=zh |script-website=zh:中国民俗学网}}{{Cite news |last1=Ren |first1=Chaoliang 任朝亮 |last2=Sui |first2=Xuan 穗宣 |date=2014-04-09 |title=Zhūjiāng shàngyóu de Shuǐzú shì Zhōngyuán guìzú hòuyì (tú) |script-title=zh:珠江上游的水族是中原贵族后裔(图) |language=zh |work=news.163.com |url=http://news.163.com/14/0409/07/9PCEC8FN00014AED.html |url-status=dead |access-date=2017-07-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180726072121/http://news.163.com/14/0409/07/9PCEC8FN00014AED.html |archive-date=2018-07-26}}{{Cite web |date=2005-03-14 |title=Zhuānjiā zài pòyì "Shuǐshū" guòchéng zhōngzhōng zhǎodào 18 gè xià táo wénzì |script-title=zh:专家在破译“水书”过程中中找到18个夏陶文字 |url=http://news.qq.com/a/20050314/000121.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180726104136/https://news.qq.com/a/20050314/000121.htm |archive-date=2018-07-26 |access-date=2017-07-19 |website=news.QQ.com |language=zh}}{{Cite web |last=Zhou |first=Furong 周芙蓉 |date=2004-09-15 |title=Xiàngxíng wénzì huóhuàshí "Shuǐshū" chuánchéng shuǐzú lìshǐ |script-title=zh:象形文字活化石"水书"传承水族历史 |url=http://www.huaxia.com/20040915/00243087.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041028224836/http://www.huaxia.com/20040915/00243087.html |archive-date=2004-10-28 |access-date=2017-07-19 |website=huaxia.com |language=zh}}
The Sui script is in acute danger of extinction, although the Chinese government is currently attempting to preserve it.{{Cite news |date=April 1, 2004 |title=Books in Rare Ancient Characters of Shui Group Retrieved |language=en |work=People's Daily |agency=Xinhua |url=http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200404/01/eng20040401_139182.shtml |access-date=2008-09-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121003065208/http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200404/01/eng20040401_139182.shtml |archive-date=2012-10-03}} In 2006, Shuishu was placed on the Chinese intangible cultural heritage list.{{Cite web |date=August 8, 2006 |title=Shui Included in China's Intangible Cultural Heritage List |url=http://www.ipr.gov.cn/ipr/en/info/Article.jsp?a_no=10296&col_no=99&dir=200608 |access-date=2008-08-28 |publisher=National Working Group for IPR Protection, Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China}} {{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}}
File:EAP143 1 1 3 Shuishu manuscript from Libo.jpg|19th-century Shuishu manuscript from the Shui archives in Libo, Guizhou
File:水书 吉凶经.jpg|Manuscript in Sui script
File:水书抄本 4119.jpg|Manuscript in Sui script
Characteristics
The Sui script was handed down from generation to generation, and its shape is similar to the Oracle bone script and the Bronze script. It is mainly used to record cultural information such as astronomy, geography, religion, folklore, ethics, philosophy and other cultural information. The Sui script is not phonetic and one needs special knowledge to interpret a text.{{cite web |title=水书习俗详细介绍 |trans-title=Detailed introduction to Shuishu customs |url=http://fy.folkw.com/view.asp?id=843 |website=中國非物質文化遺產名錄數據庫系統 (China Intangible Cultural Heritage List Database System) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012140614/http://fy.folkw.com/view.asp?id=843 |archive-date=2007-10-12 |date=2006 |url-status=dead |access-date=2021-09-23 }}
The script is written mostly vertically downward and from right to left, and does not employ punctuation. The script cannot fully represent the Sui language.{{Citation |title=Preliminary Proposal for Encoding Shuishu in the SMP of the UCS |date=2015 |url=https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2015/15285-n4696-prelim-shuishu.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190614230345/http://www.unicode.org/L2/L2015/15285-n4696-prelim-shuishu.pdf |language=en |access-date=2021-09-23 |archive-date=2019-06-14}}
=Characters=
The Sui script contains three types of characters: Chinese variants, primitive pictographs and abstract symbols. Each character expresses a concept and stands for a syllable. The characters can be classified in three categories: logographs, dubbing characters and prompting characters. About half of the Sui characters are derived from mirrored, upside-down or slightly twisted Chinese characters. The other half of the characters are original creations and some are primitive pictographs. Lastly, dubbing characters supplement syllables in a sentence, while prompting characters indicate that the reader should read or sing the sentence aloud.
Unicode
As of 2018, discussion on Sui script integration into Unicode were ongoing.{{Citation |last1=West |first1=Andrew |title=Analysis of Shuishu Character Repertoire |date=2018 |url=https://unicode.org/wg2/docs/n4956-Shuishu-repertoire.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210613101315/https://unicode.org/wg2/docs/n4956-Shuishu-repertoire.pdf |language=en |access-date=2021-09-23 |archive-date=2021-06-13 |last2=Chan |first2=Eiso |author-link=Andrew West (linguist)}}
References
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External links
- [http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90782/90872/6499870.html "Cracking the Chinese code"], People's Daily Online, September 16, 2008
- [http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200512/28/eng20051228_231381.html "China to hold int'l symposium on rare ancient characters of ethnic Shui group"], People's Daily Online, December 28, 2005
{{list of writing systems}}
Category:Obsolete writing systems