Chromatic Alphabet

Developed by C.C. Elian

The Chromatic Alphabet consists of the wavelengths (λ ) of the visible spectrum, from red to violet, divided into 26 parts, starting with the longest wavelength of red λ 640 nm to the shortest wavelength of violet λ 400 nm.

With the 7 basic colours of Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, and Violet, three letters in a row may have a similar colour, however, each letter will have its unique range of wavelengths. At 10 nm per letter, "a" will have a wavelength of λ 640 nm, "b" λ 630, "c" λ 620, etc.

Using the emission spectrum of chemical spectroscopy as a model, the color corresponding to the letters of a given word will emit out of a black band. Rather than use the full color band of that wavelength section allocated to a specific letter, I like to use the middle wavelength of that range so as to get a slender line of color.

Below is the word "accept". The reddish band of the "c" is wider than the others to indicate the doubling of the letter. In actuality, the emission spectrum of the chromatic alphabet is inevitably an anagram since the colors follow the specific order of the spectrum Ð as it happens, the word "accept" is a perfect anagram with each letter spelled in its alphabetical order.

It is also possible to spell a word by placing each letter according to its colour and actual spelling order, as illustrated below.

the use of the chromatic alphabet in artworks can be found in the section SOTAKU (State of the Art Haiku).

© 1994-2010 C. C. Elian