Introduction
The Srianese writing system can be thought of as a syllabic alphabet written from top-to-bottom in lines going the right-to-left. Each syllable forms a single block or spider which is made up of smaller parts that contain phonetic information about the syllable. The legs indicate the initial and final consonants of the syllable while the body indicates the vowel or nucleus of the syllable. There are three different calligraphic script types: the traditional script, the block script, and the cursive script. The traditional is the oldest form of the Srianese writing system and is based off of the older tradition of communication through messenger spiders, which were gifted to the Sri by the Goddess Sorrows and most commonly used in ritual sacrifices for communication with the Goddess. The traditional script is most often used for religious and sacred purposes and is commonly seen adorning the walls of temples and sacred places. In addition, the traditional script is also commonly used for calligraphy. The block script is mainly used for decorative engraving and block printing. And the cursive script is used for writing by hand and for calligraphy.
Consonants
The following table shows the consonant letters of the Srianese script. The left legs represent the initial or onset form while the right legs represent the final or coda form. The neutral vowel <a> is used for the body. The tone of a syllable is dependent on the tone class of its final consonant, a low class final resulting in a low tone and a high class consonant resulting in a high tone. The transliteration is based on historical values of the consonants.
Vowels
The table below shows the vowel letters of the Srianese script. Historically different features of the spider body (spinneret, hourglass, eyes, etc.) were used to systematically encode specific medial-vowel combinations, but these have changed over time into the modern vowels and diphthongs detailed below. The neutral or “silent” consonant <‘> is used for the legs, and the transliteration is based on historical values of the vowels.
