At 11:42 -0700 2001-06-25, Kenneth Whistler wrote:
>From what I have seen, there is some question whether Nushu should
>just be treated as a cipher of the existing Han characters.
Or maybe it's just a dictionary.
>The
>analytic lists seem to consist of lists of glyphs, each equated to
>a standard Han character, so it is unclear whether this should not
>just be treated as just another style of the Han characters. (Although
>its sociological function was obviously quite distinct.)
One source (Orie Endo) says that the script has 1000-1500 characters.
Then he says it has about 500.
>Also, Nushu is profoundly moribund at this point. The few remaining
>practitioners were persecuted during the Cultural Revolution,
>apparently. And serious study wasn't picked up until the 1980's:
Well. So is Deseret. Carian. Nabataean....
-- Michael Everson
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