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Re: Featural code based on the Latin alphabet

From:Joe <joe@...>
Date:Tuesday, September 9, 2003, 16:09
----- 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.
wbvewlv, itq wlviyotkh tkwbvauitq henhitbveywlv tiuo nbii. tbveutq wbveuotviuo aui neyiuo? aui hdintk nbaui inkvtkvwlvihx etkheyntq hxeyiuohv eutb euon hdvih. Ok, the only real problem I had in writing that was the lack of a mid-open vowel(I can't distinguish [&] from [e]). Also, if you were writing in french, the distinction between [E] and [e] would be important - you do not have this.
> Pete >