This is an alphabetical list of any individuals, legendary or real, who are purported by traditions to have invented alphabets or other writing systems , whether this is proven or not.
Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa - German alchemist, created the Transitus Fluvii , Malachim , and Celestial Alphabets , c. 1525.Guru Angad - Sikh Guru, ascribed invention of Gurmukhi script c. 1539 according to tradition.Anigouran - Tuareg folk hero, ascribed invention of Tifinagh according to tradition.Afáka Atumisi - Surinamese, invented Afaka script in 1908.
Moubao Azong - Tibetan king, ascribed invention of Dongba script , c. 1250 (?), according to traditional Naxi genealogy. C.C. Elian (artist) - invented Elian script, c. 1980s, a transformation of the Latin alphabet into lines and dashes, allowing for multiple variations of the same word.
Enmerkar - legendary Sumerian king, ascribed invention of cuneiform c. 2300 BC (?) according to Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta Enos - Biblical patriarch, ascribed introduction of consonantal Ge'ez alphabet c. 3350 BC (?) according to tradition.James Evans - Canadian missionary, invented a syllabary used for Ojibwe and Cree c. 1840, these days referred to as Cree syllabics .Hussein Sheikh Ahmed Kaddare - Somali, invented Kaddare script c. 1953.Kisimi Kamara - Sierra Leonean tailor, invented Mende syllabary, Ki-ka-ku , in 1921.Solomana Kante - Guinean author, invented the N'Ko alphabet in 1949.Vuk Stefanović Karadžić , Serbian linguist , developed Serbian Cyrillic alphabet c. 1818, adapting Cyrillic alphabet.Osman Yusuf Kenadid - Somali, invented Osmanya script c. 1921.Muḥammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī - Persian mathematician, helped codify the Hindu–Arabic numeral system c. 825Ong Kommandam - Laotian freedom fighter, developed the Khom script , first used 1926.Tony Koyu - from Arunachal Pradesh invented Tani Lipi a scientific script of Arunachal Pradesh in 2001.
Kūkai - Japanese monk, ascribed invention of Kana syllabary c. 806, according to tradition.Shigetaka Kurita - Japanese designer, created the NTT DoCoMo emoji set.Mani - Ancient Iranian prophet, invented Manichaean alphabet Aulay Macaulay - English tea-dealer, who invented Polygraphy , a system of shorthand in 1747.John R. Malone - American, developed the UNIFON alphabet c. 1955.Mesrop Mashtots - Armenian monk, created the Armenian alphabet in c. 405.Olof Melin - Swedish colonel, invented Melin Shorthand c. 1880.Mongkut - Thai king, invented the Ariyaka script c. 1840s Thomas More - English author, invented Utopian alphabet in 1516.Adrien-Gabriel Morice - French, developed Carrier syllabary c. 1885.Samuel F. B. Morse - American inventor, invented Morse code c. 1835.Ali Moslehi Moslehabadi - Iranian comparative linguist, developed IPA2, also known as Pársik in 2004.
Pandit Raghunath Murmu - Indian, created Ol Chiki script in 1925.Ol Guru Mahendra Nath Sardar - Indian, created Ol Onal script . Odin /*Wōdanaz - the chief god in Scandinavian/Germanic paganism. Associated in the Hávamál with the origins of the Runic alphabet Futhark (Later Futhorc ).Ogma - legendary Irish deified chieftain, also ascribed invention of Ogham writing c. 1875 BC (?) according to tradition.Narayan Oraon - Indian doctor. Invented the Tolong Siki alphabet for Kurukh in 1999. Zaya Pandita - Oirat lama, developed Todo script in 1648.Johannes Pantheus - German author, invented Enochian alphabet (not to be confused with that of Dee) in 1478.
Paracelsus - Swiss alchemist, invented Alphabet of the Magi c. 1520.Chögyal Phagpa - Tibetan monk, invented Phagspa script in 1269.Pharnavaz I of Iberia - Iberian king, ascribed development of Georgian alphabet in 284 BC, according to tradition.Francisco de Pina , and other Portuguese missionaries - created the Vietnamese alphabet c. 1620s.Isaac Pitman - British teacher, invented Pitman shorthand in 1837.Sam Pollard - British missionary, invented Pollard script in 1905.Parley P. Pratt - American Mormon leader, developed Deseret alphabet with George D. Watt c. 1855.George Psalmanazar - European impostor and scholar, invented a (fraudulent) Formosan alphabet in 1704.Carl W. Salser - American teacher, developed Personal Shorthand with C. Theo Yerian. c. 1955.Thikúng Men Salóng - Bhutanese scholar, invented Lepcha script some time around 1700.
Bakri Sapalo - Oromo poet, writer, and teacher from Ethiopia, invented an alphasyllabic script for the Oromo language c. 1956.Johann Martin Schleyer - created three letters (ꞛ, ꞝ, and ꞟ) for his international auxiliary language Volapük at the end of the 19th century.Sejong the Great - Korean king of Joseon , invented Hangul writing in c. 1443, promulgated in 1446.Seol Chong - inventor of the Korean Idu script and Gugyeol script (c.650 - c.730), according to tradition.Sequoyah , Cherokee silversmith, invented Cherokee syllabary c. 1819.Seth , son of Adam , is mentioned in the Chronicle of Malalas as being the "first to invent Hebrew script and to write with it"[1] Sheikh Abdurahman Sheikh Nuur - Somali, invented Borama script c. 1933.Srinivasa Chakravarthy - Indian researcher, led the creation of the Bharati script (2016)
Thomas Shelton - English translator, developed Short Writing , an early shorthand , in 1626.Tonpa Shenrab Miwoche - Tibetan religious teacher of uncertain historicity, ascribed creation of the Dongba script by religious fables.Shong Lue Yang - Hmong, created Pahawh Hmong alphabet in 1959.M. Siahzathang - Zo author, invented the Zoulai script for the Zou language in 1952.
Sirijonga - Nepalese king, ascribed invention of Limbu alphabet c. 880, according to tradition.
Kai Staats - American filmmaker, created iConji in 2010.Stephen of Perm - Russian missionary, invented the Old Permic alphabet in 1372.Heron Stone - invented Phonographics in 1994
Valerie Sutton - American choreographer, developed MovementWriting for transcribing dance in 1972 and SignWriting for transcribing sign languages in 1974.Taautus , legendary inventor of the Phoenician alphabet Samuel Taylor - British, invented Universal Stenography system of shorthand in 1792.Tenevil - Chukchi reindeer herder, developed a writing system for Chukchi language c. 1931.Charles Allen Thomas - invented Thomas Natural Shorthand in 1935.Thonmi Sambhota - legendary Tibetan scribe, ascribed invention of Tibetan script c. 650, according to tradition.Thoth - mythical Egyptian deity, ascribed invention of Egyptian hieroglyphics c. 3000 BC (?) according to tradition.John William Tims - Missionary, developed Blackfoot syllabary c. 1890.Marcus Tullius Tiro - Roman secretary, ascribed invention of Tironian notes shorthand c. 63 BC, according to tradition.J. R. R. Tolkien - British author, invented the Tengwar , Cirth and Sarati c. 1930.Dhaniram Toto - Indian social worker, author, and Toto community elder; invented an alphabetic script for the Toto language , published in 2015.
Johannes Trithemius - German cryptographer, invented an "Angelic" (magical) alphabet in 1499.Deowan Turi - possibly mythical, ascribed invention of Warang Citi alphabet c. 1250 (?) by Lako Bodra.
^ John Malalas, Chronographia , book I, section 1 (translation by Elizabeth Jeffreys, Michael Jeffreys, Roger Scott et al. 1986, page 2)
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