In the mid-fifties Thomas Barthel elaborated an alphanumeric transliteration system for representing the rongorongo signs, which is explained pp.38-42 of his Grundlagen zur Entzifferung der Osterinselschrift published in 1958 in Hamburg by Cram, de Gruyter.
This system is mostly numerical. A numerical code references each sign or variant thereof, while single-letter affixes express modifications of the basic sign (e.g. y when mirror-image, x when upside-down, h when superscript, t when subscript, etc.), and punctuation marks express how signs appear concatenated or combined, i.e. a hyphen when juxtaposed (e.g. 4-4-4-7 ), a dot when linked to each other (e.g. 200.200.11 ), an apostrophe when fused together (e.g. 551'71 ), a colon when stacked above one another (e.g. 43:50 ), Barthel classified the signs into six main categories:
Signs 1-199 | Figures seemingly representing objects, plants, or natural phenomena, some abstract. The more common signs are assigned lower code numbers. | ||
Signs 200-399 | Anthropomorphic figures. Each digit expresses head, body, and hand shape. | ||
First digit: | head shape. | ||
2 |
Lozenge-shaped head, with a bulbous protrusion on each side, perhaps ears, or eyes, or coils of hair. | ||
3 |
Round head in profile with gaping mouth, facing to the right of the reader. | ||
Second digit: | position of the arms and legs. | ||
0 |
Standing, both arms lowered or one arm raised. | ||
1 |
Standing, both arms raised. | ||
2 |
"Running" (laufend), any arm position. | ||
3 |
"Kneeling" (kniend), any arm position. | ||
4 |
Sitting, legs spread left and right, arms lowered or one arm raised. | ||
5 |
Sitting, legs spread left and right, both arms raised. | ||
6 |
"Squatting" (Schneidersitz), any arm position. | ||
Third digit: | position and aspect of the hands. | ||
1 |
Fingers inwards, similar to sign 61. | ||
2 |
Fist clenched, similar to sign 62. | ||
3 |
Hand pointing down, similar to sign 63. | ||
4 |
Open hand, lifting, similar to sign 64. | ||
5 |
Pointing up, similar to sign 10. | ||
6 |
Fingers and thumb, similar to sign 6. | ||
Signs 400-499 | Miscellaneous figures with heads similar to the 300-399 series. | ||
Signs 500-599 | According to Barthel, reserved to anthropomorphic figures with miscellaneous head shapes, e.g. signs 510 and 524. Many, however, are not anthropomorphic at all, e.g. signs 518 and 543. | ||
Signs 600-699 | Figures with a bird's head, e.g. signs 610 and 619, but some are barely recognizable as such, e.g. sign 658. | ||
Signs 700-799 | Other zoomorphic figures. | ||