The Reindeer Herder Who Invented His Own Writing System - Tenevil (Субтитры)  

Virgin "the socio-political and economic circumstances make it necessary for us to develop some form of writing" vs Chad "lol, herding is kinda boring, I'm gonna develop some system to eternalize my thoughts" Tenevil. Honestly though, nowadays it seems kinda obvious to have writing, but to develop the concept completely independant and kinda out of nowhere without any direct need for it is awesome.

Consider also Sequoyah, who invented Cherokee script in the early 19th century; and Shong Lue Yang, the "Mother of Writing," who invented the Pahahw script for the Hmong language in the middle of the 20th century.

Абсолютно невероятная история, которая заслуживает отдельного документального фильма! Продолжай делать видео в том же духе!

Amazing video, it’s a shame the tribe didn’t pick up tenevils writing system, it might’ve started something incredible for the region

The Tale of Tenevil The Reindeer Herder would be a cool name for a book.

Honestly, the story of Tenevil sending a letter to his son who immediately told his teacher who immediately organised for more bear traps was a great example of Soviet planning.

Tenevil, Sequoya, King Sejong and Zamenhof all geniuses of Language and writing systems.

I wonder if Tenevil knew about the concept of writing before he made his system. For instance, was he surprised when he learned about Russian and the Cyrillic script? Did he express any sentiment like "it turns out my brilliant new idea isn't so new after all"? I imagine if he truly invented the notion of writing independently, he would have felt something when he found out that people had done it before him (in the same way an entrepreneur thinking of a "business idea" would feel sad if they found out their idea was already a thing, or a mathematician would feel sad if they found out their "new theorem" was actually proven by Euler 250 years ago).

Very interesting video! There is really very little information on the Teneville hieroglyphs on Wikipedia. Other indigenous peoples of the North also have their own scripts (for example, Canadian syllabic writing), I would like the Teneville letter to be revived and become part of the Chukchi culture #Chukchi.

Ever since watching Golden Kamuy, I love that corner of the world and especially that time.

INCREDIBLE VIDEO. Never heard such an incredible story like this, and barely holding on to history, and you my friend made such a service to the world in retelling it. You should write an academic paper on this, like a translation yourself!

this video has inspired me to try to start learning chukchi again.

what a legend Tenevil was! this makes me happy somehow (even if it's sad his writing didn't catch on)

Это реально очень интересно и вдохновило учить больше, спасибо за важное дело:)

Очень информативно 👍

Tenevil is basically russian sequoyah

Wow Shawn thanks a lot for telling this crazy story, I don’t know where else I would’ve learnt about him. Very interesting and inspirational even! (Also, what’s up with all the cars lol!)

is there a comprehensive guide to tenevils writing system?

Благодарность автору за наличие ру. субтитров

Look also at the Naxi Dongba script. It likely started with a lone genius with encouragement from the community.

Thank you for bringing this up! The names of Tenevil, Rytkheu and Tan-Bohorad should never be forgotten.

Had he become a shaman, he may have made history for the chukchi and not just linguists

This was a really cool story! Thanks for putting together such a well researched video. Hopefully more is found out about Tenevil's life and writing system.

This is interesting. I have been making my writing systems since I was 5. I currently have several with a few being defunct. The oldest I still use is Cifrilian, and the newest ones are Fiyukara, Spara and Vulgar Uruna-ean. All the new ones are almost 1:1 to a alphabet so they are easiest to use. So I love it when people make their own writing systems that are not 1:1 and more complicated.

Absolutely fantastic! Greetings from a Swedish linguist

Unlucky guy could’ve been a professor today, instead he lived such a rough life he died in half the time we do nowadays.

Thank you for this video! Very fascinating and you present it so well, with all your heart. Watching made me remember that "Chukche" is a name given by Russians coming into Siberia, so I looked up Wikipedia and the page states that the people of Tenevil call themselves "Luorawetlat". Like their for their relatives further East (on Turtle Island, US of A) as for any other indigenous civilization, indeed 1000 more generations would be wonderful.

Incredibly based man tbh

Absolutely heartdreaking❤

Очень интересно! Пожалуй, можно было бы ввести его письмо вместе с озвучкой в мою говорящую программу. И в ней запросто выучить чукотский. Только пиктограммы нужно оцифровать в знаки алфавита. Хотя, а успел ли он сделать алфавит?

Just came across your channel and went on a watching marathon. Instantly subbed, amazing content.

There's a soviet joke about a chukcha guy who buys a refrigerator to get warm

yet another very interesting video, thank you

Super interesting video - thanks for making it!

What a marvel he was

Another recent writing system is Avoiuli from Pentecost island in Vanuatu, see Wikipedia entry. The letters are derived from the local sand drawing tradition.

In my observation writing systems that are most successful tend to be associated with religions. Cyrillic comes from the church Slavonic translation of the Christian Bible, Hebrew is obvious here, Arabic with the Quran, the Punjabi writing system from India that is called Gumukhi was used in the Sikh scripture that is called the Guru Granth Sahib, etc.

Thank you for video. it’s really interesting, you did an amazing work

Wow, He was REALLY passionate person about his people's culture and future. I appriciate your video.

Wait, I thought you were a much much larger channel. I have seen so many of your videos over the years, I just now saw the view and subscriber counts. Wow. Great job on the research and video!

Thanks! Very cool!

What an interesting story. Thank you so much for this. Subscribed.

3:15 Base 20 counting system is used in Wales known as a vigesimal system. 40 = deugain = deu 2 × hugain 20. Correct me if I'm wrong but I think the Mayans used a vigesimal system also. So perhaps it's an ancient universal system used in many places.

Intetesting. That shows that a writing system really can be invented by an individual. Always thought that report of the invention of the egyptian hieroglyphs as a gift of the gods was very strange. However, this shows it can happen.

This clever man did what a lot of others did, he wrote pictographs of what he experienced. So body parts would feature in his collection for a start also sun, moon and stars, water sea and land. This is how ancient Egyptian, Sumerian and Chinese scripts got started. Even the North American Indians would communicate with matchstick men cartoons. This is how all scripts got started. But in the 19th century BCE something extra ordinary happened ...a very clever Egyptian used the temple script to depict Semetic words. Hence the compound word AlphaBet. (Alef Beth/ Ox House) This was a script based on an entirely different approach to record language. Phenomes. So a sound produced by tongue, teeth and throat could be possible. So virtually anyone could learn it. This is why the script of the Indus valley remains unknown. Because its pictographic This begs the question WHY WAS WRITING INVENTED ? and contrary to what this video stated it wasnt to write a journal it was to record business transactions because of the old adage and Maxim "MEN DO NOT HONOUR THEIR WORDS" A phenome based system has many advantages over a pictographic system. 1. Less characters to learn ,(on average 26 but 30 plus is not unusual). 2. A full pictographic system needs a thousand minimum but can be three thousand in the case of Japanese.

Машинки классные на фоне. Ну и видео впринципе тоже неплохое получилось.

what an incredible story and vid

If he had come up with this alphabet never having seen another alphabet, then I would be impressed.

אוקיי, זה מגניב. זה כל כך מגניב שאני יודע שאני יכול פשוט לדבר עברית ואתה עדיין תבין אותי כשאני מדבר

Спасибо

I love your videos so much.

Вот бы вы ещё щелкающий "язык" из Африки на видео повторили:)

This is the only example we have ever had of the leap from spoken to written language.

Tenés que cerrar la cancha, Tenevil... ¡Lo' genio' hacen eso!

I have invented 2 writing systems myself when I was bored

insane story

What is going on at the end there? I'm guessing you are reading something in chukchi written in russian/cyrillic script?

Nice story

could you link the english translation of elena davydovas article?

Привет 👋

How much writing systems were developed and forgotten within 1-2 generations?

Haven't watched the video, but I have to insert a famous punchline to a Russian joke right here. "Chukchi not reader. Chukchi writer!"

wow, pretty interesting

Was Tenevil already aware that writing was a thing - by which I mean, that other peoples had ways to represent their language with shapes? Or did people have no idea about that yet

I would so love to make a font of these glyphs. Over 1000 glyphs, but only 72 + a handful of logograms seem to be readily available on line. I researched this in the 1980s but gave up. I would be more than willing to make a font (freely accessible) if someone would give me a full list of the glyphs.

i love alphabets, i make my own for art and other projects all the time. making a conlang however, is pretty hard for me.

A true Renaissance man

Do a video about the Nushu Language plz!

A small correction, it's pronounced Dev-naa-ga-ri, not Dev-a-na-ga-ri. Keep up the brilliant work!

The system was clearly too complicated to gain traction. That only works when the state authority enforces one. Mao originally wanted to abolish the Chinese script because of his general dislike of tradition. Something similar to Hangul would have made things easier. But even in Korea, intelectuals kept preferring Chinese.

imagine thinking "i can describe everything i think with more tha. 66 very ornate and tiny doodles". or "i really need to leave something passive agressive and contrived on this refridgerator. "

Not being able to write or read would be pretty funny because then I'd invent my own writing system.

I have also lived in Russia and my older cuzen has invented his own sigil system that we have used to write "secret notes" to each other. Not a big deal. Some other kids at school have done the same. You do know there were writing systems in Russia long before "Cyrillic" right? Right? The two brothers just revamped one of them to make it look more "legitimate" for the church crowd. The bibles were only supposed to be written in Greek/Latin, so they have made up a mixture of the Greek/Latin and some of the local sigils.

Привет, дай совет как учить язики

Just because the oppressor uses something that doesn't make it "a tool of the oppressor"

Там некоторые иероглифы схожи с маньчжурскими

Unsuccessful herder gets government job overseeing herders, sounds about right

- та можеш и ти и може свако - ма које знакове ставиш на постојећа слова и ето

Did he write on paper? Did he use a pen or pencil?

Is this the real original conlang ever?

Wonderful video. You, unwittingly, perhaps, destroyed the popular notion that human writing "evolved" from earlier states, or arbitrarily designated times of "enlightenment. The dam is breached. Man has always put his words in writing. Man has always kept records, both against his own memory and against the slander of those sure to arise against him. Man was never "primitive" as a race. The antediluvians are proof enough of that. Go build an Ark without geometry, if you want to test that notion. Writing sprang up in the aftermath of the Flood in several well known cultures. The confusion of the languages at Babel gave it impetus. So leave off with the "caveman" theories. They lived at the same times as the high civilizations that formed in the wake of the Flood. The genius of this Chulchi native isn't the anomaly we've been taught he is. He's a normal, intelligent human being operating outside the realm of foreign influence. I'd say he's typical of men of his ilk found in every culture.

Get me a multiple transvestigation and where would somebody get shots for that? I'm a smartass and I'm just saying

Thanks so much bro im really interested in kamchatka culture. Secluded from usa extermination of the native cultures and exposed to the dark empire of the Russians. Because Russia tells so little of its native cultures to the outside world and because these inuit like tribes are relatives of the oldest tribes of South America im very interested in there culture because my dad is half Peruvian and almost all south american Natives are treated as lesser as opposed to the christian governments.

Такова судьба, глобализация. Маленьким культурам уготована смерть

so is he the first conlang creator?

Nice video but let's keep aliens out of science videos shall we

The year is 1930 a man invents writing. The local shaman proclaims it a gift from the spirits. Bruh

Мне не нравится ваша неприязнь к керилице, зачем вы её противопоставляет теневилеце? Почему они не могут существовать вместе? Иероглифическая и буквенная письменность имеют свои преимущества и ничто не мешает им существовать вместе, меня например посетила мысль сделать икроглофическцю форму русской письменности на основе теневилецы. Да и обстоятельство русификации Чукотки печально, но это помогло этому краю быстро развиваться при помощи уже развитого языка с развитой письменностью, к тому же имеющему большое количество переведённой литературы, позднее ставшему международным языком и вторым языком науки. Это печально, но плюсов очень и очень много.

You didn't say anything about the grammer, inventing a writing system is not difficult if you create an alphabet or 500 pictograms without any grammer rules or deep understanding what you are doing, I assume that guy had no education and just played around when he finally got more free time working as a manager.

What is your real name though? We all know it isn't Shawn or Shaun.Or even Sean. So how about a bit less opacity?

every child has done this why did he become famous for it

Fun Fact: English is a Pictographic writing system with 26 radicals. 😂

I made my own language in high school lots of people do

This guy must not be familiar with the dozen of subsaharan African scripts invented around a century or so ago as well as many others around the world.

you lost me when you said we’ve been hunting and killing each other until we invented writing. a glance at the cliff arts from around the world shows how wrong and ill-informed you are about human civilization and the role of writing. Humans left drawings m of their surrounding life from the earliest dawn of their history. The used all sorts of mediums and tools to carve that story in their dwellings, weaponry and mundane accessories. There is no reason to believe that human beings had to wait millenniums to learn and they taught each other.

Every other kid does this so they can have a secret language their parents don't understand. I don't see any exceptionalism here. I would do anything to avoid apeaking Russian too....

I find a chukchi "ԓ" sounds like mongolian "л"🤔 the one of hardest thing for mongolian learners.