Re: CHAT: The [+foreign] attribute

Philip Newton wrote:
>On 4 Sep 02, at 10:45, John Cowan wrote:
>
> > http://www.emich.edu/~linguist/issues/6/6-555.html#1
>
>The bit on "Punjab" being written with -u- to imply a pronunciation
>similar to "pun" (i.e. with schwa) reminds me of the spelling
>"Myanmar", also designed to invoke *native* (i.e. [-foreign])
>pronunciation/orthography rules (and failing, but for different reasons
>than Punjab).
Since "Myanmar" looks slightly less English than Yorkshire Pudding, exactly
what in the spelling is trying to draw on English orthography?

BTW, when I see "Myanmar", I tend to read it as ['b8z`ma].

                                                         Andreas

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