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Re: more English orthography

From:Carlos Thompson <chlewey@...>
Date:Tuesday, May 16, 2000, 23:46
On Þird Life of Tend,rness ov først Red Cat, Nìk Tail,r wrote:

> Muke Tever wrote: > > But in most cases you _wouldn't_ have to, as most dialects (IME...) have
the
> > same phonemic distinctions within themselves as each other, even if the > > phonetic realizations differ. > > Well, not entirely, there are cases like wh, and differences between /u/ > and /U/. Admittedly, I exaggerated the problem, and it does depend on > how phonemic you need it. > > But still, the major problem remains - re-educating all the people who > learned the old spelling. Not to mention that any spelling reform is an > impossible dream, and so, unless its just for personal purposes, I don't > see the point of speculating about anyhow.
Well, mine is for conlan`in` purposes. May î go on?
> > That's rubbish. ANY spelling reform will require people to know two > > different spelling systems, even if it's only the people contemporaneous > > with the change. > > Bingo! > > > Not if the new spelling system is based on the _regularities_ of the
old!
> > Still harder than learning one. Even if the new is based on the old, > you still have to learn old and new. There are going to be differences > in homonyms and the like. > > > "igh" as /Igh/ (/I/ is English "short i", isn't it?) > > bighorn (sheep), bighearted, bighead > > Okay, granted. However, those are compound words, simply a final -ig > that happens to be followed by an initial h-. Any system using digraphs > is going to have that problem.
Yep! Ðese can be analized as ig+h and wood be _ìgh_ in my sistem: bìgho,rn, bìghè,rted, bìghèd.
> > "igh" as /Ig/: > > Bordighera (place name) > > Names don't count, as they (especially personal names) often violate > even the most regular orthographies.
Sùc´ cases are usually VghV, unlike VghC or Vgh# h`ère gh is a len`þ mark. If ðère is a wo,rd h`ic´ is not a propper noun wood drop ðe _h_: Bordighera or Bordigera
> > "igh" as /i/ (English "long e") > > Brighid (person) > > Eh? I've never seen that spelled with an h.
Now î introduce ðe <í> simb,l: eny /i/ sound represènted by <i> or a digràf beginnin` in <i> in stàndard orþografy (ðen <í> has ðe same sound as <ê>, <ee> and <ei>). Brígid or Bríghid -- Carlos Th