Words Out of Wood: Proposals for the Decipherment of the Easter Island ScriptTwo dozen or so wooden tablets discovered on Easter Island late in the nineteenth century are all that remain of rongorongo--a series of glyphs thought to be the writing system of the island's lost people. In Words Out of Wood, M. de Laat explores the construction and use of these enigmatic figures and makes a compelling case that rongorongo, despite its resistance to decipherment, constitutes nothing less than a fully developed script. Reproduced here in clear, full-page illustrations, the glyphs stand alongside the great moai statues as lasting monuments of the inventiveness and artistry of the remote Pacific island. |
Common terms and phrases
a-hu a-pa-nga aku-aku anga antig Apanga appears aringa Barthel body CAUS compound cursed e-ra Easter Island equi example eyes fragment fused fusions glyph glyph of fig going ha-u haka-ri haka-ri-ki hanga ro hauu ho-ki hu mea intercept jerk korua language lexeme ma-ta ma-ua maa-tou maaki marker mata me-a mea kee meaning Mét muscles NEG know ngaaha noho nominal frame noun occult occult signals particle pehe phonetic value plural possessive pronouns ra-ngi ra-ua Rapanui Rapanui language reduplicated reduplicated form rehe represent ri-va ro-ro ro'-glyph rongorongo roro script sentence of fig signal occult SPE NEG Sté syllables ta-e i-te ta-u Taea taha tahanga tahi tangata te-ta-hi thing ti-ngi tohu transliteration u-ha verb verbal frame ра