Tohu Hanga quduahglyphs were the formal writing system used in Iokeihiko. Quduahglyphs combined logographic, syllabic, and alphabetic elements, with a total of some 1,000 distinct characters. Cursive quduahglyphs were used for religious literature.
The use of quduahglyphic writing arose from symbol systems in the Age of Intikilla. Tohu Hanga developed into a mature writing system used for inscription in the Uncrossable Era. The use of this writing system continued through the Lē Gata Era but the system fell out of use sometime before the Enlightened Age. Although many partial translations exist, there is no definite consensus on the meanings within the language. Despite this, the oft-used Simulmotu is one quduahglyph that has adapted meaning in the contemporary era.
The glyphs themselves were called "the sacred engraved letters" or the "god's words". In late contemporary languages, Tohu Hanga was referred to as the writings of the magicians and mystics. It has long been associated with the Echtoan religion.
History and Evolution
Designs on some of the labels or tokens from Chikomo, carbon-dated to circa 4500 A.I. are among the earliest form of writing in Iokeihiko. The first full sentence written in mature quduahglyphs so far discovered was found on a seal impression on a tomb in Wahati Orus. Around 800 quduahglyphs are known to date back to the Uncrossable and Lē Gata Eras. As writing developed and became more widespread among the Iokeihikoian people, simplified glyph forms developed, resulting in the informal and formal scripts. Quduahglyphs became the inspiration for the original alphabet that was ancestral to nearly all others, including those in use today.
Quduahglyphs consist of three kinds of glyphs: phonetic, logographs, and determinatives, which narrow down the meaning of logographic or phonetic words.
The language did branch out into several distinct varients that likely reflected the spoken word as well. In the Onaƙa Period, Barra Hanga was widely used for what appear to be magical or religious purposes. Tohu, bombak, casual, and proper were further varients of the language.
Writing System
Visually, quduahglyphs are more or less figurative. However, the same sign can, according to context, be interpreted in diverse ways. The determinative was not read as a phonetic constituent but facilitated understanding by differentiating the word.
Most non-determinative quduahglyphic signs are phonograms, whose meaning is determined by pronunciation, independent of visual characteristics. Twenty-four uniliteral signs make up the so-called quduahglyphic alphabet. Iokeihikoian quduahglyphic writing does not normally indicate vowels. Not all vowels were written in Tohu Hanga; it is debatable whether vowels were written at all.
The Iokeihikoian quduahglyphic script contained 24 uniliterals (symbols that stood for single consonants). It would have been possible to write all Iokeihikoian words in the manner of these signs, but the Iokeihikoians never did so.
A quduahglyph used as a logogram defines the object of which it is an image. Logograms are therefore the most frequently used common nouns. In theory, all quduahglyphs would have the ability to be used as logograms.
Determinatives are placed at the end of a word. These mute characters serve to clarify to what the glyph represents. A number of determinatives exist; divinities, ‘Crede, animals, plants, etc. Certain determinatives possess a literal and a figurative meaning.
As in many ancient writing systems, words are not separated by blanks or punctuation marks. However, certain quduahglyphs appear particularly common only at the end of words, making it possible to readily distinguish words.
Examples
Classic, cursive, and simplified styles.
