more so than the vowels, appear differently throughout the texts. Only the shapes of a select few sarati are stable, varying just slightly. The alterations of the shapes can be mostly attributed to Tolkien's constant work on the development of the script. Vowels As mentioned above, the role of the vowels was to emphasize linguistically and, possibly, aesthetically, the consonants of the script. Therefore, the vowels fill the role of diacritics, which can be pronounced either before or after the consonant. The vowel diacritics often can also double the sound or indicate an adjacent "s" or a preceding homorganic nasal. Though vowel diacritics vary considerably less frequently than the consonants, vowels had undergone considerable changes throughout the years. Features As Sarati was created for the Eldar who were ambidextrous, the script can be written right-to-left; left-to-right; top-to-bottom, from the right or left; or boustrophedon (back-and-forth). When writing from right-to-left, the left hand was employed, whereas when writing left-to-right, the right hand was used. This prevented the accidental smudging of ink, and allowed the writer to see what had just been written. Also, as Sarati was meant to represent an older script, its distinguishing trait of allowing the script to be written in multiple directions is meant to mirror real ancient scripts that are known for their less rigid nature. While a fair amount of punctuation marks have been created for the script, Sarati has established only two punctuation marks (both of which serve as a full stop) that are used consistently throughout texts. See also Elvish languages Notes References Martínez, Helios De Rosario. "Rúmilian Numerals." Tengwestië (2007). Tolkien, J.R.R. "The Alphabet of Rúmil." Parma Eldalamberon 13 (2001). Smith, Arden R. "The Túrin Prose Fragment: An Analysis of a Rúmilian Document." Vinyar Tengwar 37 (1995): 15–23. Smith, Arden R., Irmengard Rauch and Gerald F. Carr. "The Semiotics of the Writing Systems of Tolkien's Middle-earth." In Semiotics around the World: Synthesis in Diversity, I-II, ed. Irmengard Rauch, 1239–42. Berlin, Germany: Mouton de Gruyter, 1997. External links Amanye Tenceli -- The Sarati Sarati at Omniglot Sarati mode for Quenya Middle-earth writing systems Abugida writing systems