Glyphs

"Nanachi"

- to Mitty

Glyphs refer to all the collective glyphs encountered in the world of Made in Abyss. Throughout the series, various glyphs have been referred to as Nether Glyphs, Pictographs, Beyond Glyphs, or Distant Characters.

Nether Glyphs
Nether Glyphs are a set of characters found in ruins throughout The Abyss.

Glyphs used by the people from the city of Orth are only a fraction of the Nether Glyphs, from which only the simpler ones have been taken and given a sound from the common language, these were once used by Delvers as codes. These deciphered, comparatively straightforward ideographs known as simplified characters came into use in Orth approximately 300 years ago.

Occasionally, they appear in the series and directly match the Japanese syllabic kana alphabets, as well as some kanji.

The easiest way to decode them is reading the anime opening and end credits, where the names of the staff are laid over the corresponding Orth glyphs. Since each symbol is a match for a kana sign, they can be decoded with a moderate knowledge of Japanese. As a result, people decoded them independently; the result could be found on the Internet. Manga readers faced the problem earlier and thus found the solution first. There are some differences in style but overall it is possible to read both manga and anime texts.

In the table above, the translation from Orth glyphs to katakana is presented, and below there are some examples of translated text. Written text is mostly used for illustrative purposes to create a mysterious look, though new information pertaining to the Unheard Bell, Uranaguapu, and the Turbinid-Dragon have been written in the anime's title cards.

All glyphs are strictly linked to the Japanese language.

Examples from the Anime
1. Kaminoke (Hair) 2. Regu de kimami (Decided on Reg) 3. Kubi chotto nagai (Neck is a little long) 4. Oheso (belly button), Chinchin (childish term for penis) 5. Chotto kawatta beruto (Strange belt) 6. Herumetto (Helmet), kawaii (cute or tiny, in reference to "chinchin" in 4) 7. Harumetto no Kizu (Scratch in helmet) 8. Nande chinchin ga tsuiterun tarou (Why is there a penis attached? Why does he have a penis?) 9. oshikko suru? (does it pee?)

The lamps indicating life signals appear in the manga, anime, and in the second movie when Bondrewd notices Mitty's lamp has gone out. When transcript with English equivalent letters most of these names are: Isuke, Iroso, Pueru, Temuu, Hinika, Sumiko, Toran, Jitowa, Temu, Petora, Maruka, Kinshii, Kebihi, Shiyaroko, Susumu, Toimu, Shipube, Emupo, Iroso, Iitan. Some of these names are repeated multiple times.

Beyond Glyphs
Beyond Glyphs, or Distant Characters, are glyphs in drawing form with more than one meaning. Glyphs used in Orth are based on them and according to the interaction between Sherumi and Menae, the characters are seemingly unlimited in number and new kinds are still being found. They are considered to be separate from the Nether Glyphs used in Orth and are said to have a different grammar from the official language.

Trivia

 * Ozen was able to tell Lyza's Letter was written by someone else since the script did not use the simplified character for 'netherworld' and instead is written in syllabic Nether Glyphs only.
 * The Abyss Tribe may have tried to apply their own sounds to the ancient alphabet found on the island.