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What do modern languages with Scriptio Continua have in common? Cover

What do modern languages with Scriptio Continua have in common?

Open Access
|Feb 2022

Abstract

Theoretically, it is possible for any language to practice scriptio continua (a style of writing without spaces or any markers between the words/sentences) due to the very nature of language: a system of arbitrary and discrete elements. Two universal functions of sound: distinctive and delimitative, ensure that any language has boundary markers for meaning-bearing units that facilitate both language production and comprehension. We argue that some languages are more adaptive to this writing style than others. The languages that have predominantly isolating/analytic or agglutinative constructions with tones and limited combinatory rules (restricted phonotactic constraints) are more suitable to have scriptio continua than inflectional languages with complex phonotactic rules and free stress. This correlation is examined in three modern languages that to this day practice scriptio continua: Burmese, Thai, and Lhasa Tibetan.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jazcas-2022-0006 | Journal eISSN: 1338-4287 | Journal ISSN: 0021-5597
Language: English
Page range: 821 - 838
Published on: Feb 27, 2022
Published by: Slovak Academy of Sciences, Mathematical Institute
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
Publication frequency: 2 issues per year

© 2022 Marika Butskhrikidze, published by Slovak Academy of Sciences, Mathematical Institute
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.