Re: USAGE: Adapting non-Latin scripts

--- Michael Adams <abrigon@...> wrote:

> But other than for dictionaries and like, the IPA
> does not seem
> to be workable for any language, atleast for writing
> and like?
IMHO: Phonetic alphabets are excellent tools for
writing down dialects and accents but are entirely the
wrong tool for writing down a language. They are far
more precise than they need to be for common usage,
and they are far too narrow in describing a "the"
sound of a particular word which may exhibit enormous
variation in the wild where the language is actually
put to use.

Leave IPA to the people who study language. The people
who simply use it have no use for IPA and, in fact,
are far better off without phonetic spelling.

--gary

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