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rueyeet — Proof of utter dorkhood
Published: 2006-04-20 22:46:12 +0000 UTC; Views: 14878; Favourites: 303; Downloads: 425
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Description
Problem: I wanted to include Hylian script in my Legend of Zelda fanart, but as it turns out, the Japanese game designers (reasonably enough) based Hylian on Japanese katakana. Thus, to spell anything in English--including some of the character names--caused the same problems as trying to render it in romanji. Example: Link becomes "Rinku", because there's no "L" in Japanese, and katakana is not an alphabet but syllabic, meaning words can't end in consonants.Solution: Create an English localization of the Hylian script, based as closely as possible on the syllabic script. I used the Wind Waker script (modern Hylian) rather than the Ocarina of Time/Majora's Mask one (old Hylian) because it's prettier--the old one looks obviously pixel-ish.
This deviation shows my logic in choosing which characters to use for each letter, and the final alphabet.
Request: If there is anyone out there who can make this a font, I would love you forever.
EDIT: =pettyartist , I will love you forever.
Font is here -- [link] Admission: I have GOT to be the biggest nerd on the planet for spending nearly two hours on this.
Disclaimer: The Legend of Zelda series and the original Hylian script are the property of Nintendo.
Credits: Source material used for this project can be found at the most excellent Omniglot: [link]
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Comments: 146
Aww, you're not a dork... I can read Twilight Princess Hylian. It's proof of being a Zelda fan!
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Twilight Princess Hylian's almost the English alphabet, with some curlicues and extra bits added for decoration, so yeah, it's eminently readable. Unless you have the Wii version, in which case it's backwards.
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holy crap man....
my brain cant comprehend this...
but it's pretty sweet, nice job
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Thanks! Feel free to use the alphabetic set in any Zelda-type stuff you want.
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No, I'm the biggest nerd for actually being able to READ Hylian. I learned the language while playing OoT and WW, and stemmed from there. Give me anything in Hylian I can tell you what it says.
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*hands over the nerd trophy* You got me there.
The signs and whatnot are still all in Japanese once the Hylian's translated, though, right? My aim was to have Hylian letters that could be used with plain ol' English, since (despite a semester of Japanese in college) I don't speak more than a couple words in Japanese.
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Hehe I've looked at many hyrulian fonts online and I've decided that yours seems the most like english as it can get.... I wanted to learn it lol... *ish a geek like that*
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Me too, that's why I did it!
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I like things simple, so I just wanted an alphabet I could use. My ultimate goal is to make a font of this, but my OS is too outdated to run it.
I wouldn't want to lay claim to the title of Biggest Zelda Geek...but I think I can safely say I am A Big Zelda Geek. I merely substitued a whole lotta research for the games I haven't yet played, so while I don't have a large collection of Zelda stuff, I *do* have multiple timeline theories.
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Haha, that's awesome! See, it's thinks like your stuff that really intersts me, when people don't just look at it as "oh, it's just a stupid game" but in a more creative way like you! I don't think I've put that much thought into timeline theories, but it's a fun thing ti think about!
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I have this unfortunate driving need to try and force consistency onto things that weren't really meant to be.
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Yes! Now I can learn how to speak Hylian! I'm one step closer to becoming the hero of time! 
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Heh, maybe you can borrow one from that dude that walks around Seattle dressed up as Link.
The Hylian in the games is actually just Japanese with funky symbols instead of katakana; they didn't actually bother with a separate language. Geek that I am, I'd learn it too.
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Except Seattle's kinda a long way to go just for a sword and tunic, not to mention expensive airfares. lol
Yeah. Lots of the Hylian kinda looks similar to the katakana it's meant to represent as well. Still cool though.
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This is very cool, thanks for posting!
--feverwreck
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I have to tell you...
i love you XD
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I think you'll understand if I favorite this for being utterly kickass.
In video game circles, utter dorkhood, coincidentally, is directly proportional to utter awesomehood. One must always keep this in mind.
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Now it's time to learn Hylian class ^.^
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That's the most amazingest (is that a word?) thing ever!
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Hey, I'll run with amazingest. Thanks!
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......Kasuto? I think that's the website name...
I'm not accusing you of stealing or anything, but I think there's this website called Kasuto.net that also has a full translation of English to Hyrulean. They also had a downloadable font of both old and new Hyrulean. If you're looking for a way to include it in your art, maybe you should check it out?
Hehe, you probably already know all of the things I'm saying, don't you? Sorry to waste your time.
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The Omniglot page I referenced does include a link to Kasuto.net, which I have seen. And I was going to download their Hylian fonts, but there's still the problem that they're going by the full Japanese-oriented syllabary, instead of an alphabet that could be comfortably used with English letters. That's the problem my "localization" is intended to solve.
And yeah, technically this could be regarded as stealing, but then, we're both kinda stealing from Nintendo, so... *shrug*
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You are my hero. Seriously.
Alright, I think my current goal in life is 'learn to write in Modern Hyrulian.'
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If you pull it off, you will officially have more patience than me! ...I just wanna make this a font, and I'd be good.
Weirdly enough, I believe this has garnered more faves than anything else I've ever put up at DA. Go figure!
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Such is the power of video game geekdom!
I'm very patient with languages, actually. To prove how much of a loser I am: I used to know how to write in 3 different rune styles and could speak some elvish. I was a very sad child
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Heh. I'd made a start on the dwarven runes and can still tell you what some of the names in LotR mean. I'm forgetting my Theban alphabet, though. Tengwar's a bitch to write in, though. Like Hylian, the characters don't really correspond to English sounds.
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Dwarven runes were always really easy. I haven't used any runes in ages, so I've forgotten a lot. It made attempting Japanese a hell of a lot easier, though!
Ah, I'm not alone in the world. This is good to know ^_^
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Thanks! 
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Oh man. I am so glad I am the only one who doesn't obsess over technically non-existant languages.
And there is free software, though I don't remember what it is off the top of my head. Do you have a Mac?
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Yessss, I do. Apparently this fact keeps surprising Zarla.
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Exactly what Mme. Crow-Sensei said. I couldn't agree more. This is completely awesome.
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Behold my twisted logic! Whoo! ...but like I said, I didn't make up the characters themselves, just stole them from Nintendo's set.
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Holy shit, wow. In case you hadn't noticed, dorkhood concentrates down into propensity for awesomeness. Proven fact.
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or was that INSANITY?? I can never tell.
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To do this, you mean? The time between "so done with working today" and "being able to go home". About two hours, I think. But I didn't create the characters themselves--just appropriated them from the set already created by Nintendo. This is basically a hack cut-and-paste job in MS Paint with some explanatory text added.
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This just makes you all the more cooler, Rue. Seriously..
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Now I just have to figure out how to create a font from it. Preferably without having to shell out cash for font-creation programs.
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Hoo boy, praise to you if you do figure that out.
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