Re: Comments on Tokana Reference Grammar

Matt wrote:

>On Fri, 11 Dec 1998, John Cowan wrote:
>
>> romanization:  I think it would be less confusing overall if
>> final "h" were retained, and it was simply a low-level
>> phonological rule that it isn't pronounced (but still affects
>> stress), rather than using the grave accent.  Several rules,
>> not just the stress rule, would be simplified thereby.
>
>Sorry, but in this case aesthetics wins hands down over
>orthographic rationality.  For some obscure reason, I abhor final
>V + "h" spellings (I use them on the net only because of the
>unreliability of diacritics).
>
For me at least, it also makes the Roman transcription of Tokana
seem more naturalistic. I'm reminded of Tagalog orthography: Word
final /h/ and /?/ are never represented. Instead, diacritics are
used. But Filipinos themselves often omit them in writing.

Regards,
-Kristian- 8-)