Re: Not phonetic but ___???

<<snip everything>>

I think you'd run into some problems, no matter what the transcription
system.   Because, essentially, you wouldn't need one.   All you'd need is to know
the word.   In fact, you could do it with pictures.   You'd have to have a
different picture for each language, if you were looking for a particular vowel,
or you'd have to specify, "How you'd pronounce the English word for [picture]".
  Even there, though, you'll run into trouble.   For example, I can envision
a British English speaker coming up with this kind of a strategy for his/her
conlang, and while trying to convey the vowel [Q] (low, back, rounded) in his
dialect, he might say, "Pronounce this the same way as you would the vowel in
'car'."   For him, that's [Q].   For an American English speaker?   It might
come out as something like [Ar\].   So a word like /kana/ could become
[kAr\nAr\].   IMO, confusion *always* ensues if you bring natlang examples in to try to
describe how a sound is pronounced (though it's sometimes useful).

Nevertheless, I think I see what you're looking for, and quite frankly, I
don't see why a viable alternative is simply *not* saying how things are
pronounced.   Decide on an arbitrary romization system, be consistent, and your goal
will be achieved: People will pronounce the words how they think they should be
pronounced, and just about everyone's pronunciation will be different.

-David
*******************************************************************
"sunly eleSkarez ygralleryf ydZZixelje je ox2mejze."
"No eternal reward will forgive us now for wasting the dawn."

-Jim Morrison

http://dedalvs.free.fr/

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