Re: USAGE: Shaw alphabet (was Re: USAGE: Con-graphies)

Mark J. Reed wrote:
> On 6/9/06, Joe <joe@...> wrote:
>
>> Actually, /Q/ contrasts with /O:/ and /A:/ (which are long).  Minimal
>> triple: 'cart', 'caught', 'cot'.  /kA:t/, /kO:t/, /kQt/.
>
>
> Ah.  Thank you.  Although, assuming Shavian was intended to provide a
> dialect-neutral spelling
I think that's what GBS had in mind.

(despite Gary's objection that it's not
> actually used that way by enthusiasts), "cart" would presuambly be
> spelled kick-are-tot rather than kick-ah-tot.
I think so. Even here in this 'non-rhotic' neck of the woods, the
ordinary "non-linguistic-savvy' guy thinks they pronounce an _r_ in
'cart', or rather that |a| + |r| makes a different sound from 'cat'  :)

There is a separate
> series of letters for the vowel+r combinations.
>
> So we have separate letters for /A:/, /A:r/, /O:/, /O:r/, and /Q:/.
Yep - and that's what IMO would be needed for the "the abstract English
phonemic 'archetype', independent of regional or national variation".

But I think Gary's evidence of actual practice with the Shavian alphabet
highlights the problems with an intended strictly phonemic spelling of
English.

--
Ray
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"A mind which thinks at its own expense will always
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