Fluxus Editions

Abstract. Unicode encoding, even after 23 years of development since the release of version 1.0, continues to reflect the limitations of analog and alphabetic typography, emphasizing a linear and analytic structure where characters are arranged in a mechanistic sequence based on the arbitrary segmentation of speech inherent in alphabetic systems. In critically assessing this aspect, at the same time we address the main problem of avoiding the bias of extit{homo alphabeticus!alphabeticus@alphabeticus}}, and of course extit{typographicus!typographicus@typographicus}}.
As several scholars argued, Aztec, Mixtec, and other non-Maya Mesoamerican pictographic writing systems (often considered as basically non-glottographic systems) cannot be reduced to linear sequences of isolated characters; rather, their graphic plasticity conveys semantic (and linguistic) contents through conventional patterns of units arranged in graphic space according to non-linear principles. This, in fact, explains the enduring opposition to accepting such a notation as writing “proper”; however, this account still suffers from a theoretical bias according to which only more or less systematic phoneticism defines “true writing”. In contrast, any accurate consideration of the ways in which writing works in specific visual artifacts shows that writing, unlike speech, does not need to represent phonetically an utterance in order to provide a complete encoding of linguistic content.
We argue that the relevant visual values in this system are ordered in subsets (topological, spatial, and logical) according to the variables devised by Bertin. We suggest then that each unit is a “character” (in the Unicode vocabulary), but it could be coded either as a positive unit (i.e., a graphic sign) or as an “empty” spatial, topographical relation between visually expressed and coded signs. Following the digital method aimed at processing sets of basic graphic features as non-linear combinations of variables, we pointed out that Aztec pictorially agglutinated complexes (or multi-unit arrangements forming perceptually autonomous units, e.g., a toponym or a proper name) display an overall structure similar to Unicode encoding of emoji since it is a combination of different layers of variables. However, as more complex and higher-ranked coded variables are needed to account for broader textual compositions, we suggested that the coding systems available so far in the Unicode standard (including the one devised for emojis) are still not flexible enough to accommodate an appropriate encoding of Aztec textual units, above all the spatial arrangement.
In this paper, we will sketch the guidelines for an exhaustive coding of the perhaps most iconic page of Codex Mendoza: the folio 2r, which relates the founding of Mexico-Tenochtitlan and has been studied extensively by Joaquín Galarza and his research group at the beginning of the 1980s.

References References in BIB How to cite How to cite in BIB

Berdan, Frances F., and Patricia R. Anawalt. 1992. Codex Mendoza: Four-Volume Set. University of California Press.

Bertin, Jacques. 2011. Semiology of Graphics: Diagrams, Networks, Maps. Redlands, CA: Esri Press.

Bleichmar, Daniela. 2015. “History in Pictures: Translating the Codex Mendoza.” Art History 38 (4): 682–701.

Brokaw, Galen. 2022. “Homo Alphabeticus, Glottographic Exceptionalism, and the Ethnocentric Definition of Writing.” PMLA 137 (1): 163–70.

Consortium, Unicode. 2024. “Unicode® Technical Standard #51: Unicode Emoji.” https://unicode.org/reports/tr51/.

Dombrowski, Quinn, Manish Goregaokar, Ben Joeng, and Abeera Kamran. 2024. “Encoding Multilingualism: Technical Affordances of Multilingual Publication from Manuscripts to Unicode and OpenType.” The Journal of Electronic Publishing 27 (1).

Fedorova, Liudmila L. 2009. “The Emblematic Script of the Aztec Codices as a Particular Semiotic Type of Writing System.” Written Language & Literacy 12 (2): 258–75.

Fedorova, Liudmila L., and Antonio Perri. 2022. “Emblematic techniques as textual strategies in non-linear and linear scripts.” In Proceedings of Grapholinguistics in the 21st Century, 2022, edited by Yannis Haralambous, 9:75–99. Grapholinguistics and Its Applications. Brest: Fluxus Editions. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.36824/2022-graf-perr.

Galarza, Joaquín et al. 1983a. “Codex Mendoza, 1 Page, f. 2r. Lecture Nahuatl.” Paris: Institut d’Ethnologie.

——— et al. 1983b. “Codex Mendoza, 1 Page, f. 2r. Méthode d’analyse.” Paris: Institut d’Éthnologie.

Harris, Roy. 1986. The Origin of Writing. Chicago; La Salle, IL: Open Court.

———. 2000. Rethinking Writing. London: Athlone Press.

Klinkenberg, Jean-Marie, and Stéphane Polis. 2018. “On Scripturology.” Signata. Annales Des Sémiotiques/Annals of Semiotics, no. 9, 57–102.

Launey, Michel. 1994. Une Grammaire Omniprédicative: Essai Sur La Morphosyntaxe Du Nahuatl Classique. Collection Sciences Du Langage. CNRS Éditions.

Lussu, Giovanni. 2007. “The Form of Language.” Typography Papers 7:139–47.

Perondi, Luciano. 2012. Sinsemie. Scrittura Nello Spazio [Synsemiae. Writing in the Space]. Viterbo: Nuovi Equilibri.

Perondi, Luciano, Antonio Perri, et al. 2018. “Configurare Lo Spazio Nella Scrittura Azteca: Il Codice Mendoza Come Modello Di Trasposizione e Oltre [Framing Space in Aztec Writing: The Codex Mendoza as a Model of Transposition and Beyond].” XY 3 (5): 40–53.

Perondi, Luciano, and Leonardo Romei. 2010. “Letture Da Recuperare [Readings to Retrieve].” Il Sole 24 Ore 245:12–13.

Perri, Antonio. 2006. “Dire o Mostrare? L’immagine-Testo Ei Paradossi Della Pittografia-Come-Notazione [To Say or to Show? The Image-Text and the Paradoxes of Pictography-as-Notation].” Centro Internazionale Di Semiotica e Linguistica-Università Di Urbino-Documenti e Pre-Pubblicazioni 350:51–75.

Perri, Antonio, Luciano Perondi, Daniele Capo, Roberto Arista, Giampiero Dalai, et al. 2024. “Alternative Graphemics. Aztec Writing System as a Case Study Towards an Integrated, Digitalised Model of Non-Typographic Graphemics.” Ocula 24 (30): 43–64.

Vaillant, Pascal. 1999. Sémiotique Des Langages d’icônes. Bibliothèque de Grammaire Et de Linguistique. Paris: Éditions Honoré Champion.

Zamora Corona, Alonso Rodrigo. 2022. “Towards a Complex Theory of Writing: The Case of Aztec and Mixtec Codices.” Signata 13. https://doi.org/10.4000/signata.3866.

@BOOK{berdan1992,
   AUTHOR = {Berdan, Frances F. and Anawalt, Patricia R.},
   TITLE = {Codex Mendoza: Four-Volume Set},
   PUBLISHER = {University of California Press},
   YEAR = {1992},
}

@BOOK{bertin2011,
   AUTHOR = {Bertin, Jacques},
   TITLE = {Semiology of {Graphics}: {Diagrams}, {Networks}, {Maps}},
   PUBLISHER = {Esri Press},
   ADDRESS = {Redlands, CA},
   YEAR = {2011},
}

@ARTICLE{bleichmar2015,
   AUTHOR = {Bleichmar, Daniela},
   TITLE = {History in pictures: translating the {Codex} {Mendoza}},
   JOURNAL = {Art History},
   YEAR = {2015},
   VOLUME = {38},
   NUMBER = {4},
   PAGES = {682--701},
}

@ARTICLE{brokaw2022,
   AUTHOR = {Brokaw, Galen},
   TITLE = {Homo {Alphabeticus}, {Glottographic} {Exceptionalism}, and the {Ethnocentric} {Definition} of {Writing}},
   JOURNAL = {PMLA},
   YEAR = {2022},
   VOLUME = {137},
   NUMBER = {1},
   PAGES = {163--170},
}

@MISC{unicode2024,
   AUTHOR = {Consortium, Unicode},
   TITLE = {Unicode® {Technical} {Standard} \#51: {Unicode} {Emoji}},
   YEAR = {2024},
   URL = {https://unicode.org/reports/tr51/},
}

@ARTICLE{dombrowski2024,
   AUTHOR = {Dombrowski, Quinn and Goregaokar, Manish and Joeng, Ben and Kamran, Abeera},
   TITLE = {Encoding {Multilingualism}: {Technical} {Affordances} of {Multilingual} {Publication} from {Manuscripts} to {Unicode} and {OpenType}},
   JOURNAL = {The Journal of Electronic Publishing},
   YEAR = {2024},
   VOLUME = {27},
   NUMBER = {1},
}

@ARTICLE{fedorova2009,
   AUTHOR = {Fedorova, Liudmila L},
   TITLE = {The emblematic script of the {Aztec} codices as a particular semiotic type of writing system},
   JOURNAL = {Written Language \& Literacy},
   YEAR = {2009},
   VOLUME = {12},
   NUMBER = {2},
   PAGES = {258--275},
}

@INPROCEEDINGS{fedorova2024,
   AUTHOR = {Liudmila L. Fedorova and Antonio Perri},
   EDITOR = {Haralambous, Yannis},
   TITLE = {{Emblematic techniques as textual strategies in non-linear and linear scripts}},
   BOOKTITLE = {{Proceedings of Grapholinguistics in the 21st Century, 2022}},
   SERIES = {{Grapholinguistics and Its Applications}},
   PUBLISHER = {Fluxus Editions},
   ADDRESS = {Brest},
   YEAR = {2022},
   VOLUME = {9},
   PAGES = {75--99},
}

@MISC{galarza1983b,
   AUTHOR = {Galarza, Joaquín and {others}},
   TITLE = {Codex {Mendoza}, 1\up{re} page, f.~2r. {Lecture} nahuatl},
   PUBLISHER = {Institut d'Ethnologie},
   ADDRESS = {Paris},
   YEAR = {1983},
}

@MISC{galarza1983a,
   AUTHOR = {Galarza, Joaquín and others},
   TITLE = {Codex {Mendoza}, 1\up{re} page, f.~2r. {Méthode} d'analyse},
   PUBLISHER = {Institut d'Éthnologie},
   ADDRESS = {Paris},
   YEAR = {1983},
}

@BOOK{harris1986,
   AUTHOR = {Harris, Roy},
   TITLE = {The origin of writing},
   PUBLISHER = {Open Court},
   ADDRESS = {Chicago and La Salle, IL},
   YEAR = {1986},
}

@BOOK{harris2000,
   AUTHOR = {Harris, Roy},
   TITLE = {Rethinking {Writing}},
   PUBLISHER = {Athlone Press},
   ADDRESS = {London},
   YEAR = {2000},
}

@ARTICLE{klinkenberg2018,
   AUTHOR = {Klinkenberg, Jean-Marie and Polis, Stéphane},
   TITLE = {On scripturology},
   JOURNAL = {Signata. Annales des sémiotiques/Annals of Semiotics},
   YEAR = {2018},
   NUMBER = {9},
   PAGES = {57--102},
}

@BOOK{launey1994,
   AUTHOR = {Launey, Michel},
   TITLE = {Une grammaire omniprédicative: essai sur la morphosyntaxe du nahuatl classique},
   SERIES = {Collection sciences du langage},
   PUBLISHER = {CNRS Éditions},
   YEAR = {1994},
}

@ARTICLE{lussu2007,
   AUTHOR = {Lussu, Giovanni},
   TITLE = {The {Form} of {Language}},
   JOURNAL = {Typography Papers},
   YEAR = {2007},
   VOLUME = {7},
   PAGES = {139--147},
}

@BOOK{perondi2012,
   AUTHOR = {Perondi, Luciano},
   TITLE = {Sinsemie. {Scrittura} nello spazio [{Synsemiae}. writing in the space]},
   PUBLISHER = {Nuovi Equilibri},
   ADDRESS = {Viterbo},
   YEAR = {2012},
}

@ARTICLE{perondi2018,
   AUTHOR = {Perondi, Luciano and Perri, Antonio and others},
   TITLE = {{Configurare} lo spazio nella scrittura azteca: il {Codice} {Mendoza} come modello di trasposizione e oltre [Framing space in {Aztec} writing: the {Codex} {Mendoza} as a model of transposition and beyond]},
   JOURNAL = {XY},
   YEAR = {2018},
   VOLUME = {3},
   NUMBER = {5},
   PAGES = {40--53},
}

@ARTICLE{perondi2010,
   AUTHOR = {Perondi, Luciano and Romei, Leonardo},
   TITLE = {Letture da recuperare [{Readings} to retrieve]},
   JOURNAL = {Il sole 24 ore},
   YEAR = {2010},
   VOLUME = {245},
   PAGES = {12--13},
}

@ARTICLE{perri2006,
   AUTHOR = {Perri, Antonio},
   TITLE = {Dire o mostrare? {L}'immagine-testo ei paradossi della pittografia-come-notazione [{To} {Say} or to {Show}? {The} {Image}-{Text} and the {Paradoxes} of {Pictography}-as-{Notation}]},
   JOURNAL = {Centro internazionale di Semiotica e linguistica-Università di Urbino-Documenti e pre-pubblicazioni},
   YEAR = {2006},
   VOLUME = {350},
   PAGES = {51--75},
}

@ARTICLE{perri2024,
   AUTHOR = {Perri, Antonio and Perondi, Luciano and Capo, Daniele and Arista, Roberto and Dalai, Giampiero and others},
   TITLE = {Alternative graphemics. Aztec writing system as a case study towards an integrated, digitalised model of non-typographic graphemics},
   JOURNAL = {Ocula},
   YEAR = {2024},
   VOLUME = {24},
   NUMBER = {30},
   PAGES = {43--64},
}

@BOOK{vaillant1999,
   AUTHOR = {Vaillant, Pascal},
   TITLE = {Sémiotique des langages d'icônes},
   SERIES = {Bibliothèque de grammaire et de linguistique},
   PUBLISHER = {Éditions Honoré Champion},
   ADDRESS = {Paris},
   YEAR = {1999},
}

@ARTICLE{corona2022,
   AUTHOR = {Zamora Corona, Alonso Rodrigo},
   TITLE = {Towards a {Complex} {Theory} of {Writing}: {The} {Case} of {Aztec} and {Mixtec} {Codices}},
   JOURNAL = {Signata},
   YEAR = {2022},
   VOLUME = {13},
}

Antonio Perri (2024), “Rethinking Unicode: how to digitally encode non-linear written artefacts? A tentative encoding of Codex Mendoza, folio 2r,” in Proceedings of Grapholinguistics in the 21st Century, 2024 (Yannis Haralambous, Ed.), Grapholinguistics and Its Applications, Vol. 12, Brest: Fluxus Editions, 633–660.


@INPROCEEDINGS{gla12-perr,
   AUTHOR = {Antonio Perri},
   EDITOR = {Haralambous, Yannis},
   TITLE = {{Rethinking Unicode: how to digitally encode non-linear written artefacts? A tentative encoding of Codex Mendoza, folio 2r}},
   BOOKTITLE = {{Proceedings of Grapholinguistics in the 21st Century, 2024}},
   SERIES = {{Grapholinguistics and Its Applications}},
   VOLUME = {12},
   PUBLISHER = {Fluxus Editions},
   ADDRESS = {Brest},
   YEAR = {2024},
   PAGES = {633--660},
   DOI = {https://doi.org/10.36824/2024-graf-perr},
}