Re: Not phonetic but IN CONCLUSION

--- And Rosta <a.rosta@...> wrote:
> Gary Shannon:
<snip>

> The spelling could at least be regularized. IMO the
> main desideratum is that the orthography should
> facilitate the process of learning to read,
I will respectfully disagree.  The native English
speaker spends perhaps two or three years learning
to read and then another seventy to eighty years
or more actually reading.

From my perspective the principle goal should be
to make each word as quickly and easily
distinguishable as possible for the experienced
reader, even if that requires a bit more effort
at the outset to learn.

I'm reminded of some old illustrated manuscripts
in Latin which, when viewed from more than 6
inches away, look like endless repetition of the
same letter.  There is very little to give each
word a distinctive shape.

I'm trying to design a non-roman alphabet
(originally my idea was non-phonemic as well,
see the "alphagraphic" thread) which has letter
shapes that blend together into word shapes that
maximize distinctiveness-at-a-glance.  If two words
cannot be told apart contaminated with ink spatters
and viewed through frosted glass then they are
too similar in shape and the alphabet needs more
work.

--gary

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