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How many distinct glyphs does rongorongo have?

Asked 26 Oct 2026 by ·Part of Does rongorongo record language?·3 answers·0·0 following
Most likely: about 50 to 60 basic glyphs, combined into ligatures, account for nearly the whole corpusAhead on the evidence, not yet confirmed. It needs two reviews to be accepted.

Where it stands

Three answers have been proposed. About 50 to 60 basic glyphs, combined into ligatures, account for nearly the whole corpus. leads, with evidence 1 for: partly supported by its tests. Two are still possible.

Why it matters

The size of the inventory is the first diagnostic of script type. Barthel's catalogue of about 600 numbers treats ligatures and variants as separate signs; Pozdniakov's reduction to about 52 basic glyphs would make a syllabary plausible⁠[1]⁠[2].

Answers 3

Evidence: 1 for
Most likely
None of these.
Not tested enough to call either way
Evidence: none yet
Still possible
Evidence: 1 against
Disputed

History

  1. Barthel puts forward: the inventory is several hundred signs, closer to Barthel's catalogue, which would point to a logographic…
  2. Pozdniakov & Pozdniakov puts forward: about 50 to 60 basic glyphs, combined into ligatures, account for nearly the whole corpus.
  3. Pozdniakov & Pozdniakov: 52 glyphs cover 99.7 per cent of occurrences after merging allographs and ligatures.For: About 50 to 60 basic glyphs, combined into ligatures, account for nearly the whole corpus.
  4. Melka & Schoch: barthel's catalogue is inconsistent in what it treats as a variant, so its count overstates the inventory.Against: The inventory is several hundred signs, closer to Barthel's catalogue, which would point to a logographic…
  5. Asked on this site
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