> Well, one post for just one word may look a bit exaggerated, but this one
> really deserves it, as its appearance sums up quite well the spirit in
which
> I'm creating Maggel (although I'm more under the impression that I'm
trying to
> decipher it rather then make it :))) ).
>
> The meaning of the word itself is simple: Maggel uses a base-20 numeration
> system, and the word itself is the declarative form of 400 (or o": o with
a
> Hungarian like trema on it in the traditional system which works a bit
like the
> Greek numbers). The declarative numbers are used when the numbers are
simply
> named, like in a phone number or address. Other forms include the combined
> numbers (tentative name, I just can't find the right adjective to describe
> them) which collapse into one category the cardinal, ordinal and
multiplicative
> numbers, the distributive numbers and the personal numbers.
>
> But back to our 400. Let's stop the suspense and present you its form.
It's:
> |gdhmabgis|. And now you probably wonder how this Georgian-like monster is
> pronounced :))) . Well, you're gonna be surprised, but even more so when I
warn
> you that the word is regularly written, according to the "rules" of
orthography
> of Maggel :))) . In pronunciation, this monster is reduced to the
nice-sounding
> monosyllabic [dvE:Iz]!!!!!
>
> Now how such a thing like |gdhmabgis| can possibly be regularly pronounced
as
> [dvE:Iz]? Well, actually I'm not gonna give the answer right now, but I'm
gonna
> let you propose ideas on how to cut down the word, knowing that there is a
one-
> to-one correspondence between the sounds in the word and the letters and
> digraphs that compose the written word. So you just have to decompose the
word
> in the correct digraphs and give them the right pronunciation (knowing
that
> there is no trap unlike an example I gave a month ago or so). I'll give
you one
> hint to start with: the length is separately marked by one of the letters
in
> the word (and only one, not a digraph).
>
> This exercise is not there just to annoy you people :)) . I want to make
the
> connection between the written word and the spoken word in Maggel as
difficult
> to parse as possible, even for words that are "simple" according to the
rules
> of the language. This is a way to check whether this works or not. Of
course,
> by taking a look at the archives of the list which contain quite a few
words of
> Maggel, you'll probably find some other hints that will help (actually,
I've
> checked with the archives that all the information I already gave to the
list
> is enough to parse the word correctly :))) ).
>
> But now, let's look what you propose. Just remember: even the regular
> orthography in Maggel is suppose to be worse than English and French mixed
with
> Tibetan ;))))) .
Add Old Irish into the mix while you're at it.