neography

Neography is the art and practice of creating new writing systems. These systems can range from simple modifications of existing alphabets to entirely novel scripts designed for aesthetic, functional, or fictional purposes. People who create neographies are known as neographers.

Neographies can be developed for a variety of reasons. Some are created for artistic expression, exploring the visual possibilities of letterforms and symbols. Others are designed to be more efficient or logical than existing writing systems, perhaps to better represent a particular language or to simplify the process of learning to read and write. Fictional neographies are common in literature, film, and gaming, often used to add depth and authenticity to invented worlds and cultures.

The development of a neography typically involves defining the set of characters, their shapes, and the rules for their arrangement and use. This can include creating individual letters, diacritics, punctuation, and even entirely new ways of structuring text. Some neographies are phonetic, aiming to represent the sounds of speech, while others might be logographic, where symbols represent words or concepts, or syllabic, where symbols represent syllables.

While neography is often a personal or artistic pursuit, some invented writing systems have gained wider recognition, particularly those created for constructed languages (conlangs) that have achieved a significant following. The creation of new writing systems, whether for practical, artistic, or fictional reasons, remains a niche but active area of creative endeavor.