Eslabónico

Eslabónico is an alternative alphabet for Spanish invented by Ernesto Borio from Argentina. The idea of this alphabet is to get rid of ambiguity and redundancy be having a 1 to 1 relationship between graphemes and phonemes, and to do so with a little style.

Notable features

Type of writing system: alphabet
Direction of writing: can be written 'alphabetically' - left to right in horizontal lines; or 'syllabically' - each word is written vertically but the text runs from left to right.
Designed to write: Spanish. Could also be adapted to write English.

Eslabónico alphabet

The last four letters were added for English sounds.

Most of the consonants were inspired by Hangul:

Examples of Eslabónico consonants modelled on hangul jamo

Examples of how the letters go together

Examples of how the letters of the Eslabónico alphabet go together

Notes

Vowels are written vertically (1), and consonants are written across its descending line.
The form of the vowels is CCCVVCCC with a minimum of 1 vowel and 0 consonants after and before the vowel(s)
The consonants go in two rows, the first row holds the consonants that come before the vowel, and the second row, the consonants that come after (4)
If no consonant comes after the vowel, the first row is occupied by a horizontal line (3)
Up to three consonants can be arranged in a row (5)
When writing diphthongs, the second vowel goes at the bottom (6)
Stress is marked with a horizontal line over the first vowel or under the second vowel (7)

Sample text in Eslabónico

Alphabetic
Sample text in Eslabónico (alphabetical)

Syllabic
Sample text in Eslabónico (syllabic)

Transliteration

Todos los seres humanos nacen libres e iguales en dignidad y derechos. Están dotados de razón y conciencia y deben interactuar con un espíritu de hermandad.

Translation

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

If you have any questions about Eslabónico, you can contact Ernesto Bario at:

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