One of the three primary languages used by the modern Nation of Schultaria Prime Igwentara Alspkata, or Schultarian Symbolic in modern academic circles, is largely regarded as the oldest and most widespread Schultarian language system with verifiable physical records dating back approximately three millenia. The modern variation of the language uses approximately thirty logographic symbols and thirteen punctuation marks to organize an ideographic sentence structure. Primarily written with charcoal-based ink on either parchment or papyrus until the importation of wood-pulp paper in the early 19th century C.E., it shows one of longest continual progressions of non-runic character development south of the equator.

Schultarian Symbolic is one of the most misunderstood written languages by modern linguists due to an apparent lack of supporting vocalization or otherwise nonsensical organization of the characters in a conventional sentence structure. From traditional historical sources dating back to as early as 7th century B.C.E., the language was meant to be read and understood without the transmission of the human voice, though characteristic sounds were attached to phrases, and ultimately a conventional alphabet (Schultarian Alphabetic) by the 8th century C.E.

It has been conventionally accepted by most historians of Schultarian culture that Schultarian Symbolic was developed as a thought implied language where shared experiences or history with the writer were essential in order to completely understand the written word. This development suggests the development and diffusion of this language was either tightly controlled, or once reduced to an extremely limited number of literate members due to some unforeseen isolation-inducing event. The language's diversity stems from the fact that each logographic symbol and punctuation progression possesses an individual meaning that's specific to a local tribe or profession based on shared history. Such development has created a significant number of written dialects and language isolates within short spans of time, thus suggesting the origins of this language came from a homogeneous society. Though the meanings of the individual symbols are easy to learn and understand through traditional literary analysis, general attempts to comprehend the language without some experience in Schultarian culture often renders the language flat or unreadable.

History and Evolution

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An example of Complex Schultarian Symbolic: (The Full Name of Merle Elliot Schultz, the First Central Director of Schultaria Prime)

While the exact origins of the symbolic language are unknown, the general consensus from most archaeologists and scholars on ancient Schultarian culture is that the existing written language was more or less fully developed as a literary system circa 1000 B.C.E. Although little is known about the precise context of the language at this stage in its development, common Schultarian myth has suggested the language originated as a method of secure bureaucracy from King Igwen Yidantica (~ 15th century B.C.E.) to protect his fortunes. Most scholars do not deny that the language must have possessed some unique qualities for the transmission of sensitive government information, but common theories in academia suggest the language's origins reside with the rise of secretive, insular, cults seen in the archaeological record between 2000 and 1700 B.C.E, but have not produced any verifiable physical evidence up until this point.

Fragments taken from the ruins of coastal villages within Schultaria Prime and further inland show the language took nearly two thousand years to progress and overtake other indigenous writing systems, suggesting the Igwentara system was both slow to acquire and technically complex to master. Despite the incorporation of large numbers of peoples from the Mediterranean region since 500 B.C.E., as well as significant portions of their languages into the Schultarian lexicon, the more straightforward and easier to handle alphabets of these immigrants did not replace the Schultarian writing system. A significant contribution to the resiliance of the Igwentara symbolic system was its successful implementation by a lengthy series of successful rulers and political courts between 750 B.C.E and 1000 C.E., where the language was a necessity for the military, court, and financial bureaucracy and constantly in contact with the rest of Schultarian society.

Since 1000 C.E. the symbolic form of the Schultarian language has been transformed into a language of status and uniqueness, denoting levels of education, occupational prestige, and shared history, but has since been heavily regulated by successive governments in order to maintain coherent communication amongst large groups of people. In 1475 C.E., the leaders of Schultaria Prime created the first universal form of the Igwentara symbolic system known today as the Aliem (or “all living under man”) dialect, and corresponding literature designed to form a new national language identity. This also represents the first time the symbolic system was paired with vocal groupings, as primer books from the era show the earliest Aliem dialects corroborated with a form of middle Schultarian Alphabetic as a teaching vocabulary.

Writing System

Basic Symbol Analysis

Schultarian Symbolic is composed of three major sections:

Declaration

Often composing a minimum of three or more logographic symbols, the declaration identifies the primary subject, actors, and setting as determined by the writer's dialect and emphatic intent. Often the subject in question has an implied history in Schultarian culture, which may be directly addressed through the extensive usage of punctuation marks.

Implication Punctuation

This component of the Igwentara system includes 6 different kinds of demarcations which include derivations of time, space, and personalization. Often these additive symbols will change a logogram's inherent meaning, if not the entire baseline structure of the whole declaration.

Closing Punctuation

The most subjective component of Schultarian Symbolic, the closing punctuation for an ideogram contains two underlying components known as the pronouncement and reverence; both of which are essential for defining the final characteristics of a word. A closing pronouncement usually states a conjunction, of which there are only three that the Igwentara system employs: and, or, and “and I state”, while the reverence (which usually follows the pronouncement in most dialects) states the personal or collective emotional significance of the ideogram.

A Case Example: The National Flag of Schultaria Prime

The first set of seven symbols of the Schultarian flag represent an average declaration. There are thirty individual symbols ranging from concrete concepts (such as fire) to abstract thoughts (such as nationalism and the passage of time) which are permissable in the declaration.

One form of implication punctuation can be seen in the form of two dots the fifth symbol from the right. In the case of this particular punctuation instance the two dots represent a thumb and forefinger as seen head on in a pincer, meaning the particular logogram is “within grasp”, or nearby.

The closing punctuation marks (last five symbols) can be seen as categorized into two separate areas with the pronouncement and reverence shown from left to right respectively.

Complex Symbol Analysis

When composed in phrases and ideas longer than two standard ideographic sentences, Schultarian Symbolic adopts what is known by linguists of the Igwentara system as "velinas stratum" (lattice structure). The language, when composed in such a format, is more akin to a modern crossword puzzle than standard paragraph structure; however, it is still organized along standard conventions for conventional Indo-European languages (read from left to right and top to bottom) but with a few minor additions in the case of formal political and technical dialects.

To best understand the conventions in a comparable example from a standard alphabetic tongue, the Historiania Ark'ibila Sooltaria composed a similar form using English.

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The first paragraph of Genesis as exemplified within a Schultarian “velinas stratum”.