Re: English diglossia (was Re: retroflex consonants)

Tim May scripsit:

> Well, it's not just a matter of the degree of irregularity (assuming
> we're talking about RI here), but the kind.  There would remain
> multiple spellings pronounced the same, but there would only be
> one pronunciation for each spelling.
Yes, except that the simple vowels still have "long" and "short" sounds,
and "ie" has two sounds, as does "th".

--
John Cowan           http://www.ccil.org/~cowan              cowan@ccil.org
To say that Bilbo's breath was taken away is no description at all.  There
are no words left to express his staggerment, since Men changed the language
that they learned of elves in the days when all the world was wonderful.
        --_The Hobbit_