Proposed script codes for the ConScript Unicode Registry

The following is a suggested assignment of ISO 15924 script codes to the 40 “constructed” scripts registered in, or proposed for, the ConScript Unicode Registry (CSUR) and the 10 additional scripts registered in Rebecca Bettencourt’s Under-ConScript Unicode Registry. These user-defined alphabetic and numeric script codes fall within the ISO 15924 range marked “Reserved for private use,” just as the characters in the scripts are assigned to code points within the Private Use Area of Unicode.

In this scheme, codes are assigned as follows:

• The set of available codes is restricted to the range from Qaaa to Qabx. Only 50 codes are available to represent 49 script names. (I thought you said 50 scripts...)
• The fourth letter of the code is equal to the first letter of the name of the script, when possible. Another letter in the script name was chosen when the first choice was unavailable. Twelve of the script codes are completely non-mnemonic.
• The code Qaai was formerly reserved as a synonym for Zinh, which has the meaning “inherited script” in Unicode Standard Annex #24, “Unicode Script Property.” The transition to Zinh is now complete and Qaai is no longer reserved here.
• The code Qaap for Phaistos Disc has been withdrawn, as the script was withdrawn from CSUR in 2008.
• Numeric codes are assigned directly from the alphabetic codes. That is, Qaaa = 900, Qaab = 901, and so on up to Qabx = 949.
• Scripts that already have a code officially assigned in ISO 15924 are not assigned a private-use code.

49 or 50?   There are 40 scripts in CSUR and 10 in UCSUR. One of them (Kinya) exists in three variant forms and is assigned three script codes here, analogous to the assignment of separate ISO 15924 codes for the Fraktur and Gaelic variants of Latin. On the other hand, three CSUR scripts (Cirth, Tengwar, and Visible Speech) already have “real” ISO 15924 codes. So there are (40 + 10) + (3 – 1) – 3 = 49 new codes in this proposal.

Like any other private-use assignment, these script codes are not official. They are only a suggestion. The code Qaba refers to the Aiha script only within this unofficial CSUR-based assignment scheme, and only by private agreement between sender and receiver. Otherwise, it could refer to almost anything, even another CSUR script.

Entries in this table are initially in alphabetical order by script name. Click on the column headers to sort by any column, or to reverse the order. Yellow-highlighted scripts already have an official ISO 15924 code. Blue-highlighted scripts are in UCSUR but not in CSUR.

For more information about the ConScript Unicode Registry, visit the CSUR home page or contact Michael Everson or John Cowan. You can also view a graphical roadmap of the scripts, with links to all of the CSUR proposals.

For more information about the Under-ConScript Unicode Registry, visit the UCSUR home page or contact Rebecca Bettencourt.

See also Rebecca’s ConLang Code Registry, which assigns private-use ISO 639-3 code elements to constructed languages.

Copyright © 2003–2016 by Doug Ewell  •  Last modified 2019-08-03