N-glyphs are characterized by having a subglyph at the top that looks like a tilde (~), which I transliterate as N. The N subglyph has the following properties:
- It cannot occur on its own, but only in combination with other subglyphs
- It can only occur at the top of a glyph, or else directly under another N subglyph
- Though N cannot occur on its own, N.N frequently occurs on its own
The following are examples of all of the types of N-glyphs that I have identified:
If we assume that these glyphs represent syllables, then the observed properties of the N subglyph may give us a clue into what it represents.
The greatest challenge is to explain why N cannot occur on its own, but N.N can. However, many subglyphs can occur as pairs, and I think it is possible that pairs such as N.N, I.I and O.O may represent different subglyphs from the corresponding singles N, I and O. If we can accept that explanation, then two possibilities suggest themselves:
The greatest challenge is to explain why N cannot occur on its own, but N.N can. However, many subglyphs can occur as pairs, and I think it is possible that pairs such as N.N, I.I and O.O may represent different subglyphs from the corresponding singles N, I and O. If we can accept that explanation, then two possibilities suggest themselves:
1. N is a consonant that can only occur in syllable-initial position.
- It cannot occur on its own because it must be accompanied by a vowel to make a syllable
- It can only occur at the top of a glyph because it is a consonant (such as French b or d) that can only occur in syllable-initial position.
2. N is a marker of a vocalic feature
- It cannot occur on its own because it is a feature of another subglyph (in this case a vowel) which must be present.
- It only occurs at the top of a glyph because it is used as a suprasegmental mark
At the moment I'm favoring the idea that the N is a marker of nasalization, directly influenced by the use of the tilde in certain languages as a suprasegmental mark of nasalization (e.g. ã, ẽ, ĩ, õ, ũ). To test this theory, I will look at the frequency of the N subglyph in the cipher poem, and compare it to the frequency of nasalized syllables in a large set of French Alexandrine lines.
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