Off topic: Unknown language - need help identifying it 投稿者: Oana Dorobantu
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The text in the picture is handwritten on the back of a painting (contemporary art). Please help me identify the language in which it is written (and what it says, if you know the language). Any help would be greatly appreciated.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151255336417811&set=a.10150228808512811.317958.128436607810&type=1&theater
Thank you!
| | | | An Baeyens 
ベルギー
Local time: 19:04
フランス語 から オランダ語
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| Link does not work | Feb 20, 2013 |
I'm sorry, I can't see the picture: the link does not work...
| | | | Oana Dorobantu
ルーマニア
Local time: 20:04
英語 から ルーマニア語
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TOPIC STARTER |
Hi Oana,
This is definitely an interesting topic. I had a look at the picture and it looks as though the script for this language either writes from top to bottom left to right, assuming the 1994 comes at the end of whatever it says, or from bottom to top right to left, assuming the date comes first. It doesn't look like any of the Asian languages that write vertically that I'm aware of so I can't fathom what language it could be. It's certainly unusual. Presumably you have no idea ... See more Hi Oana,
This is definitely an interesting topic. I had a look at the picture and it looks as though the script for this language either writes from top to bottom left to right, assuming the 1994 comes at the end of whatever it says, or from bottom to top right to left, assuming the date comes first. It doesn't look like any of the Asian languages that write vertically that I'm aware of so I can't fathom what language it could be. It's certainly unusual. Presumably you have no idea as to where this painting might come from?... ▲ Collapse
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Oana Dorobantu
ルーマニア
Local time: 20:04
英語 から ルーマニア語
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | no idea of origin of painting | Feb 20, 2013 |
Dear Marie-Helene,
Thank you so much for taking interest in this topic. The origin of the painting is unknown, however the owner has undergone some research himself (he is a client of our translation company, so unfortunately I do not have many personal details) and has come to a conclusion that it may come from some region in China. The text is definitely not in any variant of Chinese, however, and I didn't take this information too seriously!
The text is accompanied (to the ... See more Dear Marie-Helene,
Thank you so much for taking interest in this topic. The origin of the painting is unknown, however the owner has undergone some research himself (he is a client of our translation company, so unfortunately I do not have many personal details) and has come to a conclusion that it may come from some region in China. The text is definitely not in any variant of Chinese, however, and I didn't take this information too seriously!
The text is accompanied (to the right) by a kind of cat drawing, like the artist signature (the client unfortunately asked for it to be deleted before we posted the picture online). The text is definitely written top to bottom, left to right.
This is one of the biggest challenges we received in the office for the past 11 years. I have already done a lot of research and am now quite intrigued. Any help would be really really appreciated!
Thanks ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Roman numerals | Feb 20, 2013 |
It's quite interesting that Roman numerals are used because, as far as I know, Asian languages (which are the ones that most commonly write from top to bottom) tend to use Hindu-Arabic or Chinese numerals and I'm pretty sure here that the 1994 relates to the year. As you mentioned it was contemporary art, I reckon the painting was painted in 1994...hmmm I'll see if I can dig anything up.
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The first thing that came to my mind was Mongolian, and it seems that there aren't many languages written in this direction. Check out this link:
http://www.omniglot.com/writing/direction.htm#ltrv
It doesn't look much like Mongolian as it appears on the computer screen, but written scripts are often quite different. You should definitely ask a Mongolian special... See more The first thing that came to my mind was Mongolian, and it seems that there aren't many languages written in this direction. Check out this link:
http://www.omniglot.com/writing/direction.htm#ltrv
It doesn't look much like Mongolian as it appears on the computer screen, but written scripts are often quite different. You should definitely ask a Mongolian specialist - even if it's not Mongolian, they may be able to point you in the direction of Uighur or Manchu (?!) or whatever. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | My thought too | Feb 20, 2013 |
Phil Hand wrote:
The first thing that came to my mind was Mongolian, and it seems that there aren't many languages written in this direction.
Indeed this is what Akira Nakanishi reports about this writing direction in "Writing systems of the world". What puzzles me is that Mongolian has its characters for the numbers, so the use of "1994" looks a bit out of place. I am only guessing, of course.
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| Brahmic script | Feb 21, 2013 |
It looks to my (albeit very non-expert in the field) eyes to be handwritten Brahmic script. Perhaps something like Khmer. Although Khmer is generally written horizontally, it seems that it can be written vertically too and it appears to contain the letters that to me look like an 'm' and a 'g'... perhaps something else to look at...
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