----- Original Message -----
From: "Peter Bleackley" <Peter.Bleackley@...>
To: <CONLANG@...>
Sent: Tuesday, September 09, 2003 10:59 AM
Subject: Featural code based on the Latin alphabet
> As a featural code is the most unambiguous and flexible manner of
> representing pronunciation, and the Latin alphabet is universally
available
> on a simple computer keyboard, it has occurred to me that the most logical
> writing system possible is to use the Latin alphabet as a featural code. I
> would therefore like to propose such a code.
>
> 1: Consonants
> 1.1: Articulation
> t stop (since t is in many languages the most common stop, the
> prototype of the articulation)
> h fricative (because as the most open of fricatives it is the
> purest example of this articulation, and the letter is used in
> European orthographies to convert stops to fricatives)
> n nasal (not only does it represent a common nasal sound, but it is
> the initial letter of nasal)
> w approximant (all the other letters representing approximants are
> used elsewhere).
> 1.2: Place
> By default, consonants are alveolar, since this is the place of
> articulation of t and n, the symbols for stop and nasal, and will
therefore
> minimise learning effort. Other points of articulation are as follows.
> b bilabial (the letter normally represents a bilabial sound, and
> indeed, is the initial letter of bilabial)
> f labiodental (v was needed elsewhere)
> d dental (the inital letter of dental, and the nearest unused letter
to
> a dental articulation)
> x post-alveolar (represents [S] in Spanish)
> r retroflex (not only does it stand for retroflex, but Indic
> languages frequently have retroflex rs)
> c palatal (used for a palatal stop in many conlangers'
orthographies).
> k velar (the alternative, g, is too easily confused with q)
> q glottal.
> 1.3: Lateralisation
> l indicates a lateral (since it both represents a laterals in its
> most common uses, and is the initial letter of lateral).
> 1.4: Voicing
> Consonants are by default voiceless. Voicing is indicated by
> v since this is both a voiced consonant and the initial of voice.
>
> 2: Vowels
> 2.1: Height
> i high
> e mid
> a low (all based on their normal pronunciation)
> 2.2: Backness
> Vowels are by default front unless otherwise indicated by
> y central (since it is often used to indicate a high central vowel)
> u back (since u represents the furthest back vowel in most
languages.
> 2.3: Rounding
> Vowels are by default unrounded, unless indicated by
> o since o not only represents a rounded vowel, but it is round.
> 2.4: Length
> Vowels are by default short. Long vowels are represented by reduplication.
>
> Some work is still needed on this, and any suggestions are welcome, but as
> you can see, we can already replace the chaos of English orthography with
> the simple, logical
>
> tiu tbvii euowv nveuot tiu tbvii, hdvat ihv hdvey tkwbvehthxeynv:
> hqwbvehdvewv it ihv nveuoeuotbvwlvewv inv hdvey nbvainvtv tiu hiuhfey
hdvey
> hwlinkvhv anvtv awveuowbs euohfv aiuotwveetxvhxviuh hfeuowvtwxviuiunv,
> euowr tiu teetk auauwvnbvhv akvenvht a hii euohfv twviutbeywlhv anvtv
tbvai
> euotbeoueouhvinkv envtv hdvenbv.
Hamlet, right?
> Pete
>