Re: Optimum number of symbols

On 24 May 02, at 8:23, John Cowan wrote:

> Christophe Grandsire scripsit:
>
> > True, but I also think that spelling needs to be tailored for the needs of the
> > ones who make the most distinctions, because it's better for recognisability
> > that distinctions are marked even when they are not made by everyone, rather
> > than distinctions not to be made while many people make them.
>
> Indeed.  To take an anglophone example, it is better that some writers
> must wonder "Hmm, is the word spelled |theft| or |feft|?", than that
> many readers must wonder "Hmm, is this word 'lord' or 'laud'?"
> It may actually be rational to recognize *more* distinctions than any
> one dialect makes for this reason.
Which is probably one reason why Shavian makes a rhotic/non-rhotic
distinction in vowels, even though it comes from England. (Though it
omits the w/wh distinction that some people make, or the horse/hoarse
one.)

Cheers,
Philip

--
Philip Newton <Philip.Newton@...>

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