Editing Rongorongo (section)

==Decipherment==
{{Main|Decipherment of rongorongo}}
As with most undeciphered scripts, there are many fanciful interpretations and claimed translations of rongorongo. However, apart from a portion of one tablet which has been shown to have to do with a lunar [[Rapa Nui calendar]] and [[Decipherment_of_rongorongo#Butinov_and_Knorozov|a possible genealogy]], none of the texts are understood. There are three serious obstacles to decipherment, assuming rongorongo is truly writing: the small number of remaining texts, the lack of context such as illustrations in which to interpret them, and the poor attestation of the Old Rapa Nui language, since modern [[Rapa Nui language|Rapa Nui]] is heavily mixed with [[Tahitian language|Tahitian]] and is therefore unlikely to closely reflect the language of the tablets.<ref>Englert 1970:80</ref>

The prevailing opinion is that rongorongo is not true writing but [[proto-writing]], or even a more limited [[mnemonic]] device for genealogy, choreography, navigation, astronomy, or agriculture. For example, the ''Atlas of Languages'' states, "It was probably used as a memory aid or for decorative purposes, not for recording the Rapanui language of the islanders."<ref>Comrie ''et al.'' 1996:100</ref> If this is the case, then there is little hope of ever deciphering it.{{refn|Other examples of protowriting, such as the [[Dongba script]] of China, have proved impossible to read without help. However, the original conclusion that rongorongo did not encode language may have been based on spurious statistics. See [[decipherment of rongorongo]] for details.|group="note"}} For those who believe it to be writing, there is debate as to whether rongorongo is essentially [[logographic]] or [[syllabary|syllabic]], though it appears to be compatible with neither a pure logography nor a pure syllabary.<ref name=P&P>Pozdniakov & Pozdniakov, 2007</ref>

{| class=wikitable style="margin: 1em auto;"
|+Inventory of possible Rongorongo characters{{refn|This basic inventory of rongorongo, proposed by Pozdniakov & Pozdniakov (2007), accounts for 99.7% of the intact texts, except for the idiosyncratic Staff.<ref name=P&P/>|group="note"}}
|- align=center
| {{Roro|001}} || {{Roro|002}} || {{Roro|003}} || {{Roro|004}} || {{Roro|005}} || {{Roro|006}} || {{Roro|007}} || {{Roro|008}} || {{Roro|009}} || {{Roro|010}} || {{Roro|014}} || {{Roro|015}} || {{Roro|016}}
|- align=center
! '''01''' || '''02''' || '''03''' || '''04''' || '''05''' || '''06''' || '''07''' || '''08''' || '''09''' || '''10''' || '''14''' || '''15''' || '''16'''
|- align=center
| {{Roro|022}} || {{Roro|025}} || {{Roro|027}} || {{Roro|028}} || {{Roro|034}} || {{Roro|038}} || {{Roro|041}} || {{Roro|044}} || {{Roro|046}} || {{Roro|047}} || {{Roro|050}} || {{Roro|052}} || {{Roro|053}}
|- align=center
! '''22''' || '''25''' || '''27AB''' || '''28''' || '''34''' || '''38''' || '''41''' || '''44''' || '''46''' || '''47''' || '''50''' || '''52''' || '''53'''
|- align=center
| {{Roro|059}} || {{Roro|060}} || {{Roro|061}} || {{Roro|062}} || {{Roro|063}} || {{Roro|066}} || {{Roro|067}} || {{Roro|069}} || {{Roro|070}} || {{Roro|071}} || {{Roro|074}} || {{Roro|076}} || {{Roro|091}}
|- align=center
! '''59''' || '''60''' || '''61''' || '''62''' || '''63''' || '''66''' || '''67''' || '''69''' || '''70''' || '''71''' || '''74''' || '''76''' ||  '''91'''
|- align=center
| {{Roro|095}} || {{Roro|099}} || {{Roro|200}} || {{Roro|240}} || {{Roro|280}} || {{Roro|380}} || {{Roro|400}} || {{Roro|530}} || {{Roro|660}} || {{Roro|700}} || {{Roro|720}} || {{Roro|730}} || {{Roro|901}}
|- align=center
! '''95''' || '''99''' || '''200''' || '''240''' || '''280''' || '''380''' || '''400''' || '''530''' || '''660''' || '''700''' || '''720''' || '''730''' || '''901'''
|}