LoCoS

LoCoS (short for Lovers Communication System) is a pictorial language developed by Yukio Ota of Japan in 1964. It was meant as communication for the deaf and mute as well as for the illiterate. It is a universal and simple language, and as Ota put it, "It should emphasize the importance of communication among all the people of all the countries of the world."

There are eight major symbols in LoCoS.

Symbol	Description
	sun, day
	man, person
	thing
	thought
	feeling
	place, land
	question
	existence

Words are made by combining different symbols in different ways. For example if you put a dot inside a circle it will represent today, or if you put a fish in an open ring shape it will be a fisherman.

• 
  today
• 
  fisherman

There are around 80 words that are official according to Yukio Ota. Words can be created as long as they follow the basic word syntax.

• 
  emotion
• 
  laugh
• 
  happy
• 
  attention
• 
  fear

• 
  it
• 
  is
• 
  very good
• 
  to
• 
  meet
• 
  you

It was very nice to meet you.

• 
  it
• 
  is
• 
  sad
• 
  you
• 
  cannot
• 
  stay
• 
  long

It is sad you could not stay longer.

• 
  but
• 
  this
• 
  short
• 
  stay
• 
  is
• 
  very
• 
  interesting

But this short stay was very interesting.

• 
  we
• 
  (past)
• 
  learn
• 
  a lot
• 
  from
• 
  you

We learnt a lot from you.

• 
  hope
• 
  you
• 
  (past)
• 
  happy

Hope you enjoyed it.

• 
  we
• 
  (present)
• 
  hope
• 
  you
• 
  will
• 
  succeed

We hope you will succeed.

• 
  hope
• 
  (future)
• 
  see
• 
  you

Hope to see you.

• 
  lot
• 
  love

Lot of love.

• Bliss, C.K. (1965). Semantography (Blissymbolics). Sydney, Australia: Semantography Publications, second edition, 882 pp. The book presents a system for universal writing, or pasigraphy.
• Ota, Yukio (1973). «LoCoS: An Experimental Pictorial Language.» Icographic, No. 6, pp. 15-19. Published by ICOGRADA, the International Council of Graphic Design Associations, based in London.
• Ota, Yukio (1987). Pictogram Design, Kashiwashobo, Tokyo, ISBN 4-7601-0300-7, 1987. The author presents a world-wide collection of case studies in visible language signage systems, including LoCoS.

• Lovers Communication System