I've been learning to harvest clay and I used my very first batch to write something in Proto-Seraphic! It was a writing system originally meant to be written in clay so I'm very glad it came out so clear. On the left is the unfired tablet and the write is the fired tablet. It ended up cracking and breaking (first time firing greenware whoops) but I don't mind because it gives it an archaeological feel to it!

Ndeytğĺ pr-afwék ju-Tawawí, qe pr-vim ju-Kirawí, qe pr-jahwúvim ju-Tlad.

[ˌn̩.dɛjtˈɣl̩ pr̩ ɑˈfwɛk ʒu ˌtɑ.wɑˈwɪ qɛ pr̩ vim ʒu ˌki.rɑˈwi qɛ pr̩ ʒɑˈhwuv.im ʒu ˈtlɑd]

PFV.FUT.RES=that.[DIST] by (o).HEAT.[SG] of tëwėlwī and by (t).light.[SG] of cīralwī and by (m).crop-PL of tlāod

Tepatic glyphs originated in pre-Tepatic Milim times as images, such as those found in Milim rock paintings. Presumably, all of the glyphs used in Yuk Tepat originated as pictures - either depictions of things, or iconic representations of concepts. Although many glyphs have been stylized to the point that their appearance does not immediately suggest their meaning, they still continue the image of something, and in that sense are “representational.”

Some cases are metonymic - a picture of a part stands in for the whole. For example, the glyph for nap ‘man’ was originally just a stylized penis, the most important part of a man.

Sometimes the image is less clear because of cultural ideas of representation. For example, “sun” was typically imagined as having curved rays radiating from it, in a swastika-like pattern, hence producing a “sun” glyph very different from an English-speakers idea of what “sun” should look like, perhaps with spiky “rays.” Stars were little crosses (or asterisks).

Some glyphs are more abstract - not really representational, but iconic - but still in a sense show what they mean. For example. thôy ‘be located.’ It shows a circle (object) on a horizontal line (some surface), with a pointer under the line, marking the location of the object.

Then there are some glyphs that as yet have no “etymology.” They are used phonetically or for spelling abstract words. Although it is presumed they were originally representations of some object or other, the connection has been obscured by the millennia, and we still don’t know what they might have represented. Possibly, they represented words in the Milim language which no longer exist in Yuk Tepat.

Rauzooxaxxu puuxetaavum ata duožox tšohaa’a. Xiyipkeip nooqaavum ataas sooyoongaasot tšı’iida.

The chain of silver to bind him tight.

Or, almost. I forgot that I didn’t actually have a word for “door,” but now I do: ntfüri It’s derived from the word for “swing,” as in “something that swings open” (or really “something that is swung open”).

Lbahwi zaku kinksi bigamuftara, ra ga mirgngi tu kiksuftara twashi kintfüri.

“Before I went outside to shovel, I saw a wren on the shovel just outside the door.”

I haven't made any grammar or actual phonology or some words, but I did make some glyphs.

The script above is designed with the assumption that Viltrumites carve their glyphs onto objects with their raw fingers. Imagine a metal slab. A Viltrumite would use their index finger to carve almost-perfectly straight lines onto the scripture in the shape of these glyphs.

This can also be done on the land of a planet on a larger scale, by using their whole bodies. or theoretically with ink, but ever since Argall banned all art, literature, and things that give meaning to life that aren't combat arts, that's almost never happened.

Direction and orientation theoretically do not matter, since the script has been used mostly for military purposes and marking planets, but the standard orientation would be up-to-down, and every line break is reverse of that (ie. up-to-down, and the next line is down-to-up, and then the next line is up-to-down again, like how very very Ancient Greek worked).

Tėbāo Ëjėo Mīrret • The Three Sacred Roots

Trying to work out all the stylistic elements of Tepatic glyphs.

These are distinct from glyph radicals, which are the smallest distinctive meaningful elements of the writing system, which are combined to spell words.