Editing Codex Seraphinianus (section)

==Writing system==

The false writing system appears modeled on Western writing systems, with left-to-right writing in rows and an alphabet with [[majuscule letter|uppercase]] and [[minuscule letter|lowercase]] letters, some of which double as numerals. Some letters appear only at the beginning or end of words, similar to [[Semitic languages|Semitic]] writing systems. The [[curvilinear]] letters are rope- or thread-like, with loops and even knots,<ref name=hidden /> and are somewhat reminiscent of [[Sinhala script]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Lost Classics |year=2003 |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Publishing]] |isbn=0-7475-6175-3 |author=Christian Bök |author-link=Christian Bök |editor=Michael Ondaatje |editor-link=Michael Ondaatje |chapter=Codex Seraphinianus}}</ref>

In a talk at the [[Oxford University Society of Bibliophiles]] on 11 May 2009, Serafini stated that there is no meaning behind the ''Codex''<nowiki/>'s script, which is [[asemic writing|asemic]]; that his experience in writing it was similar to [[automatic writing]]; and that what he wanted his alphabet to convey was the sensation children feel with books they cannot yet understand, although they see that the writing makes sense for adults.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://repository.lib.ncsu.edu/ir/bitstream/1840.16/6460/1/etd.pdf |author=Jeff Stanley |title=To Read Images Not Words: Computer-Aided Analysis of the Handwriting in the Codex Seraphinianus (MSc dissertation) |location=North Carolina State University at Raleigh |year=2010 |pages=8–9 |access-date=9 April 2012 }}</ref> However, the book's page-numbering system was decoded by Allan C. Wechsler<ref>{{cite web|url=https://groups.google.com/forum/#!msg/rec.arts.books/iZjm-ndNW30/HTyQcXdb5SUJ|title=rec.arts.books: Codex Seraphinianus|access-date=2014-07-20}}</ref> and Bulgarian linguist Ivan Derzhanski,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.math.bas.bg/~iad/serafin.html|title=Codex Seraphinianus: Some Observations|author=Ivan A. Derzhanski|date=2004-09-29|publisher=Math.bas.bg|access-date=2014-07-20}}</ref> as being a variation of [[Positional notation#Base of the numeral system|base 21]].<ref name=hidden />