Re: Phonetics vs. Phonemics (was: apparently bizarre 'A's)

--- In conlang@yahoogroups.com, Benct Philip Jonsson <bpj@...> wrote:

>What ìs it with anglophones that they have diacritophobia?
>I really do not understand this attitude; even Old English
>is normally printed with macrons or acutes to indicate long
>vowels, and that quintessential Englishman Tolkien gladly
>employed diacritics both in his conlangs and when having
>Old English masquerade as the language of the Rohirrim
>-- though admittedly his lamatyáve wasn't typically English.
My 2¢:

Anglophones may have diacritophobia because we've never used them,
at least in recent times.  We try to get rid of them as soon as
possible, e.g., cooperate, fiancee, facade.

Question: Old English IS normally printed with macrons or acutes,
but WAS it?  Did the Old English themselves use them?

With respect to Tolkien, it's all right to use diacritics in works
of fiction, but we don't want to see them in the newspapers. :-)

Our grade school teachers used to remind us, "Don't forget to cross
your t's and dot your i's."  I can just imagine what he or she would
be saying if the language also had macrons and acute accents and
cedillas, etc.

Charlie
http:wiki.frath.net/user:caeruleancentaur