Ryakumoji

Ryakumoji (略文字), from Japanese 略 (ryaku), abbreviation, and 文字 (moji), characters/letters, is a system of writing the kana syllabic scripts of Japanese with fewer characters to remember. It was invented by deramoz out of his interest in the Japanese scripts, with both of them as inspiration for the shape of each letter.

There are a total of only 17 Ryakumoji: 5 vowels (aiueo), 8 consonants (kstnhmyr), (w)o, hatsuon (ending n'/m/ng sound), sokuon (assimilated sound っ/ッ), and chouon (long vowel mark ー). Also used are the voiced marks, dakuten (゛) and handakuten (゜). It's a syllabic alphabet written left to right horizontally, usually blending one character into the next in a single line. A new line is started if the next letter is "a", if the last letter was "n'" or a sokuon, or if the letters "m", "y", "r" or "(w)o" are encountered. Ryakumoji can be written by considering each character that needs to be represented.

Notable features

Lone vowels (aiueo), "(w)o", hatsuon, sokuon and chouon are written with their respective letters in Ryakumoji.
With consonants (kstnhmyr), its respective letter is used along with its vowel sound written above it (ri -> r+i).
If it ends in a "u" sound, simply the consonant is sufficient - no vowel needs to be written with it (fu/hu -> h).
The "w" row excluding "(w)o" is written "u" with a vowel sound above it (wa -> u+a).
Dakuten/tenten (゛) and handakuten/maru (゜) are written above the letter, or on the top-right of the vowel character if there is one (ga -> k+a゛; pu -> h+゜). (゛ can be written above "u" with or without vowels for the uncommon "v" kana.)
For youon (diphthongs), instead of writing characters for "ya", "yu" and "yo" above consonants, "ia", "iu" and "io" are used together (kyaia; byo -> h+io゛).
A similar system can be used with rarer youon: kwa -> k+ua; tso -> t+uo; dyu -> t+eiu゛; etc.

Ryakumoji

All kana and most possible youon represented in Ryakumoji

Sample text

Sample text in the Ryakumoji alphabet

Standard Japanese version

すべての人間は、生まれながらにして自由であり、かつ、尊厳と権利とについて平等である。人間は、理性と良心、とを授けられてあり、互いに同胞の精神をもって行動しなければならない。
(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

Transliteration (rōmaji)
Subete no ningen wa, umare nagara ni shite jiyū de ari, katsu, songen to kenri to ni tsuite byōdō de aru. Ningen wa, risei to ryōshin o sazukerareteari, tagai ni dōhō no seishin o motte kōdōshinakerebanaranai.

Translation

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

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