Re: Mixed writing systems (WAS: Newbie says hi)

> Not sure what you mean there, but it *is* true that for a
> Mandarin L1 speaker to learn the language using the Roman
> transcription would be like learning a completely new
> language. Not to mention the nasty ambiguities, etc., unless
> you introduce variant spellings and such. Good luck coming up
> with a variant-spelling system that has any semblance of
> sense to it, though. Homophonic syllables usually have so
> little to do with each other that it is almost guaranteed to
> be impossible to come up with a consistent variant spelling
> scheme, unlike in languages like English where variant
> spellings are inherited from actual grammatical features in
> ancestor languages.
How likely is that that two homophonic syllables/morphemes share their
semantic category (Is that the term?)  That is, suppose we have a
syllable /pa/.  Will it probably correspond to a group of words with the
same function (cat, tree, breakfast, knife) or several (knife, eat,
outside, furry)?
If the second is the case, then it would be possible to have a
variant-spelling scheme where each different spelling pattern suggests a
category.  Granted, it would be hellish working out even three systems
that work together in this manner...
--
shreyas