Maytak Wa Tekitak Henne Anay Itak Okay.

Maytak wa tekitak henne anay itak okay.

(Braille & sign languages aren’t the same as languages.) Because of these differences, it’s easier to connect with braille than with print, but sign language is the opposite case in relation to print. As such, it’s much harder to record signed speech than with spoken tongues & would be at least part of why signed languages are much more likely to truly go extinct from the difficulty or even inability to revive them instead of reconstructing & revitalising dormant spoken tongues.

PSA: Braille and Sign Language aren’t languages.

Braille is a writing system which uses other verbal languages e.g. English or Korean. If someone who only understood French tried to read German Braille, the writing system would be almost exactly the same (with slight differences due to German’s extra letters) but the words would be foreign.

Sign is a language family or type of language. There are over 130 sign languages in the world because they all developed over time in completely separate places and they are all as different as verbal languages. Someone who uses ASL (American Sign Language) is much more likely to understand LSF (French Sign Language) than BSL (British Sign Language) even though the verbal language of America and Britain are the same.

So uhhhh stop saying that you “want to learn sign language” or that “braille is an underrated language” because neither of those are languages. Instead say “I want to learn [insert your chosen sign language likely based on your location or culture]” or “braille is an underrated writing system”

thanks!

My point still stands, especially with how differently this kind of braille works from most other kinds. I think this form could possibly work with Ainu, with even the consonants being shown as above in standalone form (meaning sans the vowels) as unlike the kana form, this would have an easier time handling the phonetics inside. The ‘ye’ syllable would of course be written as -y- and then the kana e from its row. This may even hold true if a few new vowels were added into the equation, albeit in new combos. The one question is how to handle the allophony between s/sh & c (ch/ts).

Japanese Braille (and why it’s easier than written Japanese)

Okay, so I thought I’d write a post about a topic that’s really close to my heart, being a Legally Blind person: Japanese Braille. 

There are 1.64 million people in Japan with an Uncorrectable Vision Impairments, 187,000 of which are listed as Blind.

Japanese Braille sounds really difficult, but in reality it’s not actually that hard! Especially once you get a few hundred Kanji in, learning Japanese Braille is honestly super simple. 

First of all, a note: Japanese Braille (99% of the time, at least) is completely phonetic; there’s no differentiation between Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji like there is in Written Japanese.

Additionally, it follows really basic patterns; with the exception of a few Punctuation-type characters, you basically only have to learn 21 basic pieces, as everything else follows basic patterns beyond that. 

First off, the vowels: 

All other Syllables use these same Vowels, in the same places

Following this, there comes all of the Consonants

Note that the vowels are in the exact same spot as in the AIUEO characters, just with an added mark for the Consonant.

Here is probably a good place to point out: Dakuten is marked by a single dot on the middle of the right side of the cell, placed BEFORE the character that gets changed by the Dakuten (Handakuten is the same, except the dot was lowered to the bottom right of the cell)

You’ll note that this brings us up to 14 characters…. where are all the rest?

If you’re observant, you’ll note that Ya, Yu, Yo, and Wa and (W)o are missing from the chart here. That’s because these 5 characters break the rules, just a little bit.

(Note that the Wi & We characters are only there for Ancient Japanese; don’t worry if you never learned them before, they’re gone from Japanese now)

Note that the -y- character there is placed BEFORE another consonant to make it a _y_ version of it (i.e. put it before Ka to make Kya), and that the -w- character is used to make all the irregular Little Characters (i.e. put it before Ha and you’ll get Fa).

There’s 2  more characters to learn, and they’re pretty easy. 

They’re made for doubling consonants, and doubling vowels respectively

For example, putting a Sokuon before Ka makes Kka, and a Chouon AFTER A makes Aa

Anyways, that covers all the fundamentals of Japanese Braille, hopefully enabling even more people to make Blind Literacy possible, in an entire other language!

This should make writing & worldbuilding significantly easier to handle for referencing. My editor would love this. Here’s a few from my home culture: https://mongols.mrdonn.org/myths.html 

https://www.culturev.com/mongol/mythology.html 

Myths, Creatures, and Folklore

Want to create a religion for your fictional world? Here are some references and resources!

General:

General Folklore

Various Folktales

Heroes

Weather Folklore

Trees in Mythology

Animals in Mythology

Birds in Mythology

Flowers in Mythology

Fruit in Mythology

Plants in Mythology

Folktales from Around the World

Africa:

Egyptian Mythology

African Mythology

More African Mythology

Egyptian Gods and Goddesses

The Gods of Africa

Even More African Mythology

West African Mythology

All About African Mythology

African Mythical Creatures

Gods and Goddesses

The Americas:

Aztec Mythology

Haitian Mythology

Inca Mythology

Maya Mythology

Native American Mythology

More Inca Mythology

More Native American Mythology

South American Mythical Creatures

North American Mythical Creatures

Aztec Gods and Goddesses

Asia:

Chinese Mythology

Hindu Mythology

Japanese Mythology

Korean Mythology

More Japanese Mythology

Chinese and Japanese Mythical Creatures

Indian Mythical Creatures

Chinese Gods and Goddesses

Hindu Gods and Goddesses

Korean Gods and Goddesses

Europe:

Basque Mythology

Celtic Mythology

Etruscan Mythology

Greek Mythology

Latvian Mythology

Norse Mythology

Roman Mythology

Arthurian Legends

Bestiary

Celtic Gods and Goddesses

Gods and Goddesses of the Celtic Lands

Finnish Mythology

Celtic Mythical Creatures

Gods and Goddesses

Middle East:

Islamic Mythology

Judaic Mythology

Mesopotamian Mythology

Persian Mythology

Middle Eastern Mythical Creatures

Oceania:

Aboriginal Mythology

Polynesian Mythology

More Polynesian Mythology

Mythology of the Polynesian Islands

Melanesian Mythology

Massive Polynesian Mythology Post

Maori Mythical Creatures

Hawaiian Gods and Goddesses

Hawaiian Goddesses

Gods and Goddesses

Creating a Fantasy Religion:

Creating Part 1

Creating Part 2

Creating Part 3

Creating Part 4

Fantasy Religion Design Guide

Using Religion in Fantasy

Religion in Fantasy

Creating Fantasy Worlds

Beliefs in Fantasy

Some superstitions:

Read More

‘Nahuel and the Magic Book’ Feels Like a Studio Ghibli Film Based on Mapuche Mythology

We are used to "movies and comic books—with ninjas, samurais, cowboys and medieval knights, but very little with our own mythologies, which are vastly rich."

If only this became available in full online.

At least this can provide a flicker of hope, & this can provide possibilities of team efforts between them & the Ainu. In all of these cases, modernisation & adaptation will be needed to ensure long term survival.

Ohak imeruhu Ninociw mukke ne. Tan pitapehe pe wa pasippo orwa hepicimena ek na.

(Shallow lightning of Jupiter is mysterious. This electrical discharge is from a unique solution of water and ammonia.) The pitaeyukke (solvent) isn’t yet clear, though the water is likely the pitaye (solute) in this one as one would expect.

New results from our Juno mission suggest the planet is home to “shallow lightning.” An unexpected form of electrical discharge, shallow lightning comes from a unique ammonia-water solution. ⁣

⁣It was previously thought that lightning on Jupiter was similar to Earth, forming only in thunderstorms where water exists in all its phases – ice, liquid, and gas. But flashes observed at altitudes too cold for pure liquid water to exist told a different story. This illustration uses data obtained by the mission to show what these high-altitude electrical storms look like. ⁣

Understanding the inner workings of Jupiter allows us to develop theories about atmospheres on other planets and exoplanets! ⁣

Illustration Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Gerald Eichstädt/Heidi N. Becker/Koji Kuramura⁣

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