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Re: Fun with orthography

From:Adam Walker <dreamertwo@...>
Date:Sunday, October 14, 2001, 4:57
I wish I could have read this post, but all of the leters with diacritics
appear as Chinese caracters on my screen so this post was pretty much
hopless to follow as are a good many other posts about/in conlangs that make
use of accetns, diearesis, et al.  Does anyone know an easy way to trick
this (public use) computer into understanding and correctly displaying posts
like the one below?

I ordered my spiffy ADSL internet connection over three weeks ago and am
STILL waiting for China Telecom to get my username and password sorted out!
*muttering*

Adam

So lift the cup of joy and take a big drink.
In spite of it all it's a beautiful world.
-------Suzanne Knutzen




>From: taliesin the storyteller <taliesin@...> >Reply-To: Constructed Languages List <CONLANG@...> >To: CONLANG@LISTSERV.BROWN.EDU >Subject: Fun with orthography >Date: Sat, 13 Oct 2001 21:13:53 +0200 > >[Scroll down to the line looking like this: >------------------------------------------ >for the fun stuff] > >The orthography, or actually the _transliteration_ of my conlang târuven >into a more or less latin-looking alphabet, has changed quite a few >times, and no doubt it'll change even more. > >At first, long vowels and consonants were capitalized, and I wondered >how to write diphthongs. (Yep, I was inspired by klingon, see >http://www.kli.org/): > >tAruven > >Then, I showed length with a colon, and used diacritics on the second >member of a diphthong. (The length-marking wasn't original either but >I don't know where I got that from.): > >ta:ruven sa?yár:a (târuven, river, fire) > >Now, I show length with an acute on the vowels, and doubling the >consonants: > >târuven sa?yárra > >The latest change is that aspiration and breathiness is shown by an <h> >and not an apostrophe: > >'reged' > hregedh (evolution, gradual change) > >Furthermore, getting rid of the comma (which shows palatalization) would >be nice, to say the least. > >I'd say the look has improved, wouldn't you agree? (Not to mention that >searching for words has become easier; search-engines tend to croak on >non-alphabetic signs.) > >Now to the point: as Mark Rosenfelder shows in the Language Construction >Kit (at http://www.zompist.com/kitlong.html#alphabets): > > "In my fantasy world, for instance, Verdurian D^arcaln and > Barakhinei Dhârkalen are not pronounced that much differently, but > the differing orthographies give each a different feeling. Surely > you'd rather visit civilized D^arcaln than dark and brooding > Dhârkalen? (Tricked you. It's the same place.)" > >the orthography chosen affects the mood and feel of a language. So, one >wants to experiment with that look and feel. > >------------------------------------------ > >The best way for _me_ to get the feel of a language's visual properties >is by looking at lots and lots of text in it (trying not to read >it). However, testing changes in such a text by manually changing, say, >all h'es after unvoiced consonants but not the ones anywhere else can >be quite a chore. (A further problem is that there aren't lots and lots >of things written in târuven yet, for several reasons.) Therefore, I've >been looking for a mechanized solution, and I think I have it: > >I use the before mentioned M. Rosenfelder's [*] sounds-program (at >http://www.zompist.com/sounds.htm) to change _English_ text into his >mock-phonemic orthography (see http://www.zompist.com/spell.html), and >then doctor that a little, and then I use sounds again, to produce an >"English as written in târuven"-version, and hey presto! lots and lots >of text! Now it becomes possible to use sounds again, to adjust the >orthography further. Here's an examplei, using the paragraph above: > > ðe best we?f?_mî_ ta get þe fîl av a laqguídjes viz,ull prapatîs > is ba?lukiqg at lats and lats av tekst in it (tcaìiqg nat ta > oîd it). Haòeve, testiqg tceìndjes in satc a tekst ba?men,ulli > tceìndjiqg, se? al eìdjes afte anv?sed kânsnants bat nat þe oáns > anio?els kan bi koáìt a tc? (A fâþe poáblm is þat þê ânt lats and > lats av þiqs oítnn in târuven ,et, f?seveoál oísâns.) Thêf? aìv > bin lokiqg f?a mekhanaìzd salucan, and a?þiqk a?hev it: > >(Yes, it did take a bit of manual tuning). The paragraph above is now >ready to be experimented with. Is this neat or what? > >[*] Anyone play "Traveller" here? :) > > >t.
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