In part one I discussed how Ferengi writing works in
relation to mapping the spoken word to symbols. In this section, we will look
at how those words are put together to make coherent texts.
Ferengi is written
from the centre outwards in horizontal, diagonal and occasionally vertical
lines. Usually the centre of a text is marked with a hexagon, however, a
Ferengi alliance symbol or word may also mark the centre of a text. The
hexagons and the alliance symbol represent nine different categories of text;
they are:
- Ferengi government text or certification
- Uncategorised text (may also be written with no hexagon present)
- Important/urgent text
- Unimportant text
- Personal text/letters
- Inventory
- Receipt
- Danger/warning text
- List or informative text
Not all Ferengi text
has a central hexagon; some texts simply have a line of text serving as a title
in the centre. Labels generally consist of one line of text, read right to
left, or two lines on top of each other, radiating from the centre line, the
topmost read first.
Writing direction
The direction of
Ferengi writing is dependent whether or not text is radiating from one or both
sides of a centre point. Where text radiates from a central point in two
distinct blocks, the text on the left side of the centre point will be read
first, starting approximately from the top, reading outwards to the left and
downwards. Most lines of text are read away from the centre, however some
lines, radiating off a primary sentence, are read towards the centre (within the grammar of the Ferengi language, they are usually the objects of a sentence). On the opposite side of the centre point, text
is read in the opposite direction.
Part 3 (Which hopefully won't take as long to publish), will deal with the numbers.
