Re: New Lang: Igassik

On Sun, 22 Oct 2000 17:36:43 -0700, Marcus Smith <smithma@...> wrote:

>Jeff Jones wrote:
>
>> >10 Vowels:
>> >i y     ue u
>> >e oe    ^ o
>> >  ae    a
>>
>>Aha! something to sink my teeth into! I'm proud of myself for guessing the
>>vowel (approximate) pronunciation, which I usually can't do. Wouldn't it
>>be more consistent, though, to switch {y} with {ue}?
>
>I had that at one point, but I couldn't bring myself to keep it. It isn't
>the <ue> that bothered me, because I'm used to doing that for German, but I
>couldn't stand having <y> be a back vowel. That's pretty petty, so maybe I
>should just grin and bear it.
>
>I also don't like having <^>. I think I'll adopt taliesin the storyteller's
>(real name?) example and use <@>. (My brain is already protesting: THAT'S A
>SCHWA, DUMMY!)
Yes, but {@} looks more like a letter (in most normal fonts). Hmmm. What do
you think about {eo} and {iu} for the unrounded back vowels? This avoids
both the funny characters and capital letters. You'd have to type very
carefully, though.

>>  Both rounded front vowels would then have the formula rounded back
>>vowel + {e}. I know IPA uses {y} for a front vowel, but this is a dumb
>>move on their part, IMO. And, IIRC, don't some Slavicists use {y} for an
>>unrounded central/back vowel?
>
>I used <y> for unrounded central high vowel in Telek.
>
>> >25 consonants:
>> >
>> >   T t k '
>> >b D d g
>> >f th s x h
>> >v dh z
>> >m N n ng ~
>> >w j
>> >r l
>> >
>> >T and D are interdental stops.
>> >th and dh are interdental fricatives
>> >N is an interdental nasal
>> >~ is a "free-floating" nasal (more on this below)
>> >l is an alveolar lateral
>> >r is a retroflex tap.
>>
>>Let's see, {t}, {d}, and {n} are what, alveolar? Since upper case is used
>>for interdental stops and nasals, shouldn't the fricatives also (for
>>consistency, again) be upper case? {TH} and {DH} -- this would also solve
>>the ambiguity involving {h}, I think.
>
>Yes, it would. I hate using capital letters in an orthography though.
Sure. But you're already using some -- hang for a sheep, hang for the flock.

>My problem is that I want a system that anyone can read no matter what
>email/browser they are using. That may not be practical with this language
>though.
>
>>Would this be an exasmple of an "initial feature?"
>
>I suppose you could call it that.
>
>>A nice outline, professor. I hope my questions are helpful.
>
>Thanks, but I'm not a professor. Still a lowly graduate student with
>ambitions of being a professor someday.
Gotcha!!!
Shortly after I got my BSCS, FIU hired me as an adjunct instructor when the
persons they *wanted* to hire weren't available. So for one semester, my
friends called me "professor". My students never did, though!

>But not too soon -- I still bothers me when my students call me Mr. Smith
>instead of Marcus. "Professor Smith" would drive me nuts! :-)
How about "Doctor Smith?" At one time, this was the preferred form in the
South, when not all professors had doctorates.

Jeff

>===============================
>Marcus Smith
>AIM:  Anaakoot
>"When you lose a language, it's like
>dropping a bomb on a museum."
>   -- Kenneth Hale
>===============================