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Re: Un-neccesary letters (was: Re: New/revised language: Phonology)

From:Nik Taylor <fortytwo@...>
Date:Thursday, December 20, 2001, 21:29
Andrew Chaney wrote:
> ObConlang: If your language has a native alphabet, does it include archaic > spellings and such like -ough, kn-, etc?
Not currently, but before tiNlasta (the Prophet), there were about 50% more characters than necessary in the syllabry, due to the fact that the archaic i/e and u/o distinctions were preserved. Common Kassi had six vowels, i, e, a, ë (schwa), o, and u. I and E merged as /i/, U and O merged as /u/, Ë was usually lost, except where its loss would create an unacceptable cluster, in which case it merged with A. The schwa series has been preserved in ligatures and coda diacritics. Anyhoo, tiNlasta, among many other reforms, eliminated those redundant characters. She also eliminated the logographic characters that had been in use, much like kanji in Japanese. Except that unlike kanji and kana, there's no historical connection between the Kassi syllabry and the logographs. -- "There's no such thing as 'cool'. Everyone's just a big dork or nerd, you just have to find people who are dorky the same way you are." - overheard ICQ: 18656696 AIM Screen-Name: NikTaylor42