Theiling Online    Sitemap    Conlang Mailing List HQ   

Re: French reform (Re: C.Thalmann, & #1)

From:Joe <joe@...>
Date:Sunday, April 10, 2005, 7:53
Peter Kolb wrote:

> >Answering #1: > ># 1 wrote: > > > >>>Peter Kolb wrote: >>>... >>>Why does |a| represent the sound /a/ in "alors" but that in "autre", |a| >>>is /o/? >>> >>>Why do you use two representation for the phoneme /E/? |ae| in "est" and >>>|ai| in "vert" >>>... >>> >>> > > >Why these? Just ad-hoc rationalisation. There has been a number of spelling >reform attempts over the centuries but mostly minor changes. Some examples >from the 1990 reforms, levraut->levreau, punch->ponch, and similar minor >adjustments. > >What I am suggesting is a rationalisation of French spelling by mapping >words to a transliterated form and remaking the word from that form. My book >on French ("French: How to Speak and Write It" by Joseph Lemaître) is what I >was using as reference in a rough-and-ready manner. > >An example from the book is Parlez Français /pahr-lay fraN-sai/ could be >changed to Parlae Fransai /pahr-lay frahN-sai/. > >
Yes, but that really is biased, to an English perspective. I like the way, personally, that French has an infinite number of ways to write [e]. Otherwise I couldn't differentiate between 'parlez', 'parler', 'parlé', and 'parlée'
>Some more for the why-reform: >He is sitting: Il est assis /ay-tah-see/ -> **Ae tasï, **Aet asï? >She is sitting: Elle est assise /ay-tah-seez/ -> **Ae tasïs, **Aet asïs? >Why so different a spelling but so same a sound? > >
Erm, I suspect that it's assuming you know how to pronounce 'il' and 'elle', and so is skipping to the verbal construction. 'est' being pronounced [et].
>He is running: Il court /coor/ -> **Cör, **A cör /Ah coor/. >She is walking: Elle marche /mahrsh/ -> **March, **A march /Ah Mahrsh/. >Where are elle and il? > > >
See above.
>>>Writing for English and French is like for Chinese in a more little way, >>>those who write the same dont say the same but writing the same helps for >>>the comprehention... Don't you think? >>> >>> > >Yes I think but I don't think you were trying to ask me that. What can I say >to the above paragraph? PardoN? > >
He's saying that French has innumerable different dialectes.