In a prior post we discussed language-as-virus, independent of its host.

For example, Korean and Turkish are related languages, even though both the scripts, and the genetics of the speakers, have diverged. See https://wordcraft.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/9326...066016555#2066016555


Now I've run across another divergence: Hindi is written in Devnagari script, while the related Urdu is written in the Persian variant of Arabic script.

I find the idea charming, of a language hitching a ride on any available carrier.

Are there other examples?

A similar sort of thing occurs in Serbian and Croatian, the former written in Cyrillic and the latter written in Latin. The reasons for this are mostly cultural and religious. The same is true of Hindi/Urdu. The reasons are similar to the reasons Americans race horses the opposite way around the track.

As for your idea, I tend to disagree with it. English is English, whether you write it in letters, Morse Code, or Ascii. Furthermore, languages without a written form are equally expressive as langauges with multiple written forms.

My view on language development is that it is developed by stationary cultures. Tribes of hunter-gatherers would have little use for language. My (probably poorly researched) hypothesis is that language was developed by the merchant class. Who owes who what is an important thing to be able to record.

Finally, the human brain is highly adaptable. Whether it be Egyptian heiroglyphics, the Mayan quipu(sp?), or the Phoneticians alphabet. I would say that all systems would end with an alphabet, the simplest way to do things, but I am certainly biased, as an English speaker and a computer programmer.

It's best to remember that the relationship between language and its script (if any) is arbitrary. Same with language and its speakers genetic makeup. (Think of all those Roman subjects who ended up speaking Latin.) We have many people in the States speaking English whose ancesters were speaking completely unrelated languages.