Old Code
Old Code was invented in about 2001 by Ronan Hindle to pass notes
in class. It is designed to confuse teachers. The letters have evolved
a lot over the course of four years, for example the symbol Nail used
to look like 'zz' and the symbols Hox and Eye were shaped 'I' and '(-)'.
Several of the names have also changed; Hox was called 'Hii', Eye
was called 'Hodash' and Nail was called 'Zidum'. Kaxe was also once
called 'Kixpa'.
Notable features
- Each symbol represents a letter of the latin alphabet. These
could be easily modified to include accents (which go above other
symbols) or special letters, for example ß in German could
be done with relative ease.
- Old Code is based on the Latin alphabet in order to be easy to
remember, but distorted enough so that the letters cannot be guessed.
For most letters there is a way of remembering them from their shape
in relation with the latin alphabet.
- Spaces are indicated with a raised dot/circle.
- Punctuation marks are placed above the letter (or space) that the
punctuation should follow, and then the specific symbol for that
punctuation is placed under the first letter of that word (or directly
underneath in the case of a space). One type of punctuation requires
one punctuation symbol above the preceding symbol, and additional
punctuation of the same is shown by adding it's specific punctuation
more than once (stacking downwards).
- The symbols were given names to be easier to remember.
- Numbers are written from left to write (as is text) and should be
preceded by a #.
Old Code alphabet
Old Code numerals
Old Code punctuation
Old Code stand-alone punctuation marks
Sample text
Transliteration
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)
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