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Re: Spelling WASRe: Optimum number of symbols, though mostly talking about french now

From:Christophe Grandsire <christophe.grandsire@...>
Date:Tuesday, May 28, 2002, 6:10
En réponse à Jan van Steenbergen <ijzeren_jan@...>:

> > Wouldn't it be easiest to conclude that both are hopeless? :)) >
Nope. For the reasons I already explained, the French spelling is probably near optimal for the task, and the few modifications that could be done would not change much things, except creating more homonyms and destroying etymological realationships. There could be some modifications, but the problem would be to find the right ones, and some are very tricky (like the spelling of /E~/. It is written |in|, |en|, |ain| or |ein| - and |un| also because of the merging between /E~/ and /9~/ -. Now if we regularise this one, which spelling should we use? |in|? But then we would lose for example the graphical help which reminds us of the etymological connection between |main|: hand and |manuel|: manual, which can be quite practical. Also, alternations between /E~/ and /En/, in things like parrain/marraine: godfather/godmother would become problematic, especially since the alternation /E~/-/in/ also exists - as in utérin/utérine - . In this case, the spelling works very well at predicting from the masculine form how the feminine form will be pronounced, in a case where two possibilities exist. I could find other examples indefinitely) and I find the current orthography quite aesthetic :)) . Nearly the only orthographic reform that I would find only advantageous would be to regularise the plural mark as - s for all words, instead of having -s or -x a little at random. The main problem is that the structure of French itself is difficult to render well with the Roman alphabet. Christophe. http://rainbow.conlang.free.fr Take your life as a movie: do not let anybody else play the leading role.

Reply

Jan van Steenbergen <ijzeren_jan@...>French and English (was Re: Spelling WASRe: Optimum number of symbols)