Tuesday, October 01, 2019
More semaphore
This semaphore was used by the English military around 1800. With six binary planks, it could form 2^6 = 64 characters with no ambiguity.
I haven't yet found an authoritative diagram of the actual code. The six-plank pattern irresistibly suggests Braille, so I've coded up Braille for the time being.
I hadn't paid close attention to Braille before. Turning an alphabet into a graphics control program forces you to pay close attention! Braille is a beautiful system, elegantly fitted to the needs of real language. It would have been IDEAL for parallel-wire telegraphy, with its smooth handling of common words and digraphs and morphemes along with single letters. It's more like stenography or syllabic writing.
Supposedly this military mechanism was usually mounted on crude shacks. The other semaphore systems I've modeled, though run by governments, were more commercial. Their buildings were intended to invite paying customers. I've given this mechanism a vaguely English-ish building toward the same end.
Labels: Language update, Morsenet of Things
¶ 11:25 AM
