Re: USAGE: Latin alphabet (Re: Chinese Dialect Question)

Paul Bennett scripsit:

> >     The only other alphabet in the world that has the upside-down 'e' is the
> > IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet, used by lexicographers and linguists).
>
> Are you sure? I don't have any research immediately to hand, but that
> statement does not ring true.
It isn't.

> For example, Unicode has "LATIN CAPITAL LETTER SCHWA" as well as
> "LATIN CAPITAL LETTER REVERSED E", and notes that these are not glyph
> variants. The existence of two capital forms implies the existence of
> two lower-case forms in two scripts. Since the IPA is uncial, i.e.
> does not have a case distinction, neither script is the IPA.
Indeed.  What it indicates is that the IPA schwa was borrowed into
different practical (i.e. non-IPA) alphabets independently, and different
capital forms were devised.  The reversed E is used in the Pan-Nigerian
alphabet, and the big schwa is used in Acerbayjani and elsewhere.

> Also, I know that Azerbaijani uses the capital turned e that looks
> like a big schwa, or at least it did during the cyrillic period.
True in both Cyrillic and Latin.

--
Said Agatha Christie / To E. Philips Oppenheim  John Cowan
"Who is this Hemingway? / Who is this Proust?   jcowan@reutershealth.com
Who is this Vladimir / Whatchamacallum,         http://www.reutershealth.com
This neopostrealist / Rabble?" she groused.     http://www.ccil.org/cowan
        --author unknown to me; any suggestions?

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