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Re: German question

From:caeruleancentaur <caeruleancentaur@...>
Date:Thursday, September 1, 2005, 12:32
--- In conlang@yahoogroups.com, Carsten Becker <naranoieati@B...>
wrote:

>Why do those anglophones always have to omit diacritics? If you
want >to have it without the dots, it's _Peenemuende_, since ä=ae, ö=oe, >ü=ue and ß=ss in German unfriendly environments. Off the top of my head I'd say it's because umlauts have no meaning for most Anglophones. The particular rounded vowel in question is not a part of our phonemic inventory. We are quickly abandoning the use of other diacritics as well. You seldom see examples such as _fiancée_ or _coöperate_ anymore. I'd be really surprised to see someone write _naïveté_!!! Lord, it's got TWO of them! With all the spelling "problems" in English as it is, what's the loss of a few diacritical marks? Please note that I'm answering the question posed above. I'm not arguing for or against the practice. Charlie http://wiki.frath.net/user:caeruleancentaur