Re: Schwa vowel, which letter?

At 3:39 pm -0700 16/10/98, charles wrote:
......
>
>Oh, I've decided lots of times, and probably will again.
Oh, don't I know this/  :)

I've lost count of the number of times I've decided the phonology/
orthography of 'briefscript', only to 'decide' it again.  (But I think it's
starting to firm up.)

[snip]
>
>It does seem that "y" is the best choice for 6th vowel;
It was originally introduced as a vowel by the Romans to denote [y] in
Greek works.  Since then it has remained a vowel in many versions of the
Roman alphabet, even though some have made it into the semi-vowel [j] (and
one, Magyar,uses it as a sign of palatalization).  So IMO there is no doubt
about the choice of "y".

>if a 7th is needed then "w" seems too wide and ugly,
Ach y fi!  Try telling that to any Welshman or Welshwoman!    ;)

[snip]

For what it's worth, 'briefscript' has long been settled with seven vowels:
a, e, i, o, u, y, w.   At the moment {r} is trying to work its way in as an
eighth  :)

Ray.