The 'Chinese' Theory: For and Against

[Jorge_Stolfi]

I’m curious if anyone has found a historical document where a foreign explorer didn’t use their own script when first learning the language of the indigenous locals. I think every instance from North America, the Latin alphabet was used. This is where a lot of borrowed words in North America come from and quite a number of place names.

The You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.  and You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. syllabaries are example of a non-Latin-based script for a foreign language that was developed recently (mid 1800s) by European missionaries. 

The You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. was developed locally in what is now Liberia, but it seems to have followed attempts by American or European missionaries to adapt the Cree/Inukitut syllabaries to the local languages.  

Going back some time, there are the examples of Greek-literate priests or monks developing the Cyrillic, Glagolitic, Armenian, and Georgian scripts for the speakers of those languages.  While Cyrillic shows clear influence from the Greek alphabet, that is not the case of the last two.

The You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.t formerly used in Somalia was invented by a prince who was literate in Arabic.

All the best, --stolfi