Alphabet

2011-08-22T17:36:32Z

69.159.255.125: /* Maximal alphabet */

{{disambig3|Languages}}
{{bigthumb|Alphabeta greco-sol.png|200px|''Alpha Beta'' as written in an unnamed Cybertronian script.}}

An '''alphabet''' (from the Greek ''Αλφάβητος'', "alpha beta") is a collection of written characters used to represent sounds or graphemes. Alphabets differ from ''logographies'' (Where each character represents a word or idea) and ''syllabaries'' where characters represent syllables.

Simply put:
* English is written in the Latin Alphabet
* Chinese is written in the Mandarin Logography
* Japanese can be written in the [[hiragana]] syllabary

See also: [[Cybertronian languages]], [[Cybertronian argot]]

==Alphabets and Transformers==
For the purposes of Transformers, "alphabet" most frequently refers to a '''[[Wikipedia:Substitution_cipher|Substitution Alphabet]]''' based on the Latin Alphabet where English words are written using an 'alien' alphabet whose characters have a 1:1 correlation to the Latin Alphabet.

The use of such Substitution Alphabets in Transformers dates from 1996's [[Beast Wars (cartoon)|Beast Wars]] which featured Alphabets developed for use in both the [[Maximal]] and [[Predacon (BW)|Predacon]] computer displays.
[[Image:Marvel23 mountrushmore.jpg|thumb|Decepticon graffito-tags from the 1986 comic book story "[[Decepticon Graffiti!]]" later evolved into a substitution alphabet.]]
Fan-produced fonts created around the same time (loosely) based on Transformer writing which appeared in the [[Marvel Comics|US comic]] and [[The Transformers (cartoon)|cartoon]] in 1985-86 would later (beginning in 2007) begin creeping into official Transformers productions, though the substitution-alphabet they represent does not, of course, work for the original stories they were based on.

[[Cyberglyphics]], an 'ancient' Transformers script created for the original 2007 movie, is particularly subject to dissonance... originally developed and presented as a quasi-syllabary used to subtitle Decepticon dialog, it was later declared to be an ancient logography no one used anymore, and then promptly turned into a Substitution Alphabet. ''*sigh*'' Since only this last system is used to encode meaningful content...

Finally, there are Substitution Alphabets originating ''outside'' of the Transformers mythos, such as [http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Aurebesh Aurabesh]. (Aurabesh appeared on a monitor in [[...For All Mankind]].)

==List of alphabets==
===Generation 1 alphabets===
====Autobot script====
Originally based on samples of Autobot writing from the [[1986]] ''[[The Transformers (cartoon)|Transformers ]]'' episode "[[Cosmic Rust (episode)|Cosmic Rust]]" and [[1987]]{{fact}} ''[[Headmasters (cartoon)|Headmasters]]''<nowiki></nowiki>'s "[[I Forget Generic Episode Title]]"{{fact}} which represented '''[[Ancient Autobot]]''', a script no longer in common usage on Cybertron, but still used on colony worlds such as [[Antilla]] and [[Master (planet)|Master]].
[[Image:Autobot_Translations.jpg|600px|center]]

A fan-font based on this script was used by the [[AllSpark Wars]] "mini-ARG" in [[2007]] <small>(again associated with an Autobot colony, and not the 'main' Transformer language)</small> and its use has since proliferated as a de-facto 'default' Autobot written language. Generally carries a slight ethnocentric connotation.

====Decepticon script====
Originally based on scraps of Decepticon language from the [[1986]] comic book [[Decepticon Graffiti!]], a fan-font based on this script was used by the AllSpark Wars "mini-ARG" in 2007 and its use has since proliferated across many media as a Decepticon written language.
[[Image:Decepticon Translations.jpg|600px|center]]

===Cybertronix (Beast Era) alphabets===
Both these alphabets are nominally held to represent [[Cybertronix]] the common spoken language used by both [[Maximal]]s and [[Predacon (BW)|Predacon]]s in the 23rd century.
====Maximal alphabet====

Juan Carlos Bernal

====Predacon alphabet====

===Live-Action series alphabets===
===''Animated'' alphabets===
===="Greco-Sol" Greecian====
An (incomplete) Substitution Alphabet created to represent ever-prominent Greek letters (from [[Alpha Trion (Animated)|Alpha Trion]] to [[Omega Supreme (Animated)|Omega Supreme]]) rather than the usual Latin Alphabet substitute, "Greco-Sol" first appeared in the [[2010]] <u>[[Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac II]]</u> book, used to label Omega Supreme and his comrades.
[[Image:Greco-sol.png|600px]]

This alphabet lacks an official designation. Its unofficial placeholder name "Greco-Sol" ''could'' mean Grecian-by-way-of-Sol (the human Solar System) but it's ''really'' a corruption of the phrase ''"I'''t's all Greek''' to me!"''

===Other alphabets===

MediaWiki - User contributions [en]

Alphabet