Re: You meet the oddest people on the Internet

Paul Bennett scripsit:

> I just got called an anti-Semite for pointing out the difference in German
> between the ich-laut /C/ and ach-laut /x/, and that they're not both /x/.
Deeply bizarre.  Then again, the loons ye have with you always; I once
used the term "Ulster" as an informal equivalent of Northern Ireland,
posting from my reutershealth.com account, and got back a crazed rant
to the effect that I was In The Pay Of The English (viz. Reuters, a
pretty low blow for a Hiberno-Deutscher like me) and that this was
an indication that They were in favor of extending English rule over
the remaining three counties.

(The rant was from Marion Gunn; I wouldn't mention this if it weren't
that I and other conlangers have had run-ins with her before.)

This also made me realize, thinking about it, that I use /X/, or at least
something between /x/ and /X/, for the ach-laut; I wonder if I picked
this up from my mother (native speaker) or not.

--
John Cowan  www.ccil.org/~cowan  www.reutershealth.com  jcowan@reutershealth.com
In might the Feanorians / that swore the unforgotten oath
brought war into Arvernien / with burning and with broken troth.
and Elwing from her fastness dim / then cast her in the waters wide,
but like a mew was swiftly borne, / uplifted o'er the roaring tide.
        --the Earendillinwe