# What is the coolest-looking written language? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 23, 2014, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-coolest-looking-written-language/684358 "2014-03-23T14:22:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2014, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-coolest-looking-written-language/684358/1 "2014-03-23T14:22:20Z")
What language’s writing system looks especially cool to you? Whether you think it’s the most beautiful, or if it just catches your eye and you think it looks neat, whether or not you can understand what’s written? I think the Inuktitut language looks really cool. [Here](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ed/Inuktitut.svg/489px-Inuktitut.svg.png) are the letters, and here are [samples](http://oceansnorth.org/visual-inuktitut) of things written in Inuktitut. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2014, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-coolest-looking-written-language/684358/2 "2014-03-23T14:58:19Z")
Traditional Chinese characters, for me. I never get tired of just walking down the street reading them. ---
**Author:** ![Svejk\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@Svejk\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Svejk_1)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2014, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-coolest-looking-written-language/684358/3 "2014-03-23T15:25:53Z")
I’m partial to both Armenian and Georgian. ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2014, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-coolest-looking-written-language/684358/4 "2014-03-23T15:39:53Z")
Arabic … looks like art or something ---
**Author:** ![Stringbean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Stringbean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stringbean)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2014, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-coolest-looking-written-language/684358/5 "2014-03-23T15:51:58Z")
Farsi is a beautiful language ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2014, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-coolest-looking-written-language/684358/6 "2014-03-23T15:52:06Z")
> [@watchwolf49](#): > > Arabic … looks like art or something It often is. I’m going to go with Japanese. Yeah, many similarities to Chinese but I think the art form is taken to a new level in Japan. Of course, that assumes the OP is talking about calligraphy as opposed to, say, “newsprint”. ---
**Author:** ![BMax](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bmax/32/4267_2.png) [@BMax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMax)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2014, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-coolest-looking-written-language/684358/7 "2014-03-23T15:56:49Z")
I think Thai and Hindi script are both beautiful. ---
**Author:** ![Batistuta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/58956e/32.png) [@Batistuta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batistuta)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2014, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-coolest-looking-written-language/684358/8 "2014-03-23T16:01:29Z")
> [@Svejk\_1](#): > > I’m partial to both Armenian and Georgian. Indeed, I think [Georgian](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gCWXC-oCGmQ/T9UDt4XsuYI/AAAAAAAAB4k/xp0upWZGaRE/s1600/BeautifulgeorgianAlphabet.jpg) is unbeatable in purely aesthetic terms. A friend of mine is a Georgian language teacher and I could watch him write for days 😃 ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2014, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-coolest-looking-written-language/684358/9 "2014-03-23T16:47:09Z")
Wow, Georgian is really cool. 🙂 I don’t think I’d seen it written before. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2014, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-coolest-looking-written-language/684358/10 "2014-03-23T16:49:33Z")
[Javanese.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Javanese_language) (Scroll down for script images.) ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2014, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-coolest-looking-written-language/684358/11 "2014-03-23T18:15:46Z")
Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic and Classic Mayan Glyphs. If I had to choose, I’d say Mayan is overall cooler. That and Quenya in the _ómatehtar_ mode of Tengwar, of course. ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2014, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-coolest-looking-written-language/684358/12 "2014-03-23T18:19:39Z")
I really like Arabic and Hebrew. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2014, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-coolest-looking-written-language/684358/13 "2014-03-23T18:20:29Z")
I was going to say Javanese. I’ve never seen anything so elegant and graceful. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2014, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-coolest-looking-written-language/684358/14 "2014-03-23T18:27:59Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > I was going to say Javanese. I’ve never seen anything so elegant and graceful. I encountered it long ago, in a graphic design book showing how public documents and announcements were laid out in various cultures. The Javanese example simply took my breath away and I’ve never forgotten its impact. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2014, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-coolest-looking-written-language/684358/15 "2014-03-23T18:57:11Z")
[Burmese](http://static.bbci.co.uk/gel/0.2.16/img/web/burmese-bold.png) looks good. All the circles give it a sense of unity. And I like the way the lines connect letters together into words in [Sanskrit](http://www.freetattoodesigns.org/images/sanskrit-text-tattoo.gif). ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2014, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-coolest-looking-written-language/684358/16 "2014-03-23T19:22:08Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > [Burmese](http://static.bbci.co.uk/gel/0.2.16/img/web/burmese-bold.png) looks good. All the circles give it a sense of unity. That is the most alien-looking human language I’ve ever seen. ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2014, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-coolest-looking-written-language/684358/17 "2014-03-23T19:24:57Z")
French looks the prettiest, but German is the coolest. ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2014, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-coolest-looking-written-language/684358/18 "2014-03-23T21:47:21Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > [Burmese](http://static.bbci.co.uk/gel/0.2.16/img/web/burmese-bold.png) looks good. All the circles give it a sense of unity. > > And I like the way the lines connect letters together into words in [Sanskrit](http://www.freetattoodesigns.org/images/sanskrit-text-tattoo.gif). The Burmese is gorgeous. Also [Thai](http://margaretshepherd.blogspot.com/2011/06/know-your-artistic-rights.html) and Arabic. ETA: Many years ago I had a classical piece of music (Borodin’s _On the Steppes of Central Asia_) tattooed on my upper arm in memory of my father. Over the years it’s blurred somewhat from sun exposure but I still get a lot of compliments on it. Now that it’s not instantly recognizable as a piece of music, I’m often asked if it’s Arabic. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2014, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-coolest-looking-written-language/684358/19 "2014-03-23T21:59:07Z")
I have to admit that I’m oddly fond of Hangul script. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2014, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-coolest-looking-written-language/684358/20 "2014-03-23T23:19:03Z")
Then, there’s that _certain aesthetic mystique_ about [Voynichese](http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Voynich_manuscript_bathtub2_example_78r_cropped.jpg). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-coolest-looking-written-language/684358.md?page=2)