Re: German Spelling Reform (fwd)

On Sun, 8 Aug 1999, FFlores wrote:

> Irina Rempt-Drijfhout <ira@...> wrote:
> >
> > It looks as bad as the new Dutch spelling, which I'm stubbornly
> > refusing to use in any writing where I'm master of my own spelling.
> [snip]
> > It's not as if the -n- is pronounced, either.
>
> It isn't? Then why's it there? A spelling reform is supposed to
> update the orthography, not to take it back in time!
Well, it kind of is pronounced. I've noticed definite nasalization of
the final vowel of Dutch infinitives and plurals in -en. It may not be
an alveolar nasal as the orthography might suggest, but there is
something there!

Dirk

--
Dirk Elzinga
dirk.elzinga@m.cc.utah.edu                   "All grammars leak."
http://www.u.arizona.edu/~elzinga/                 -Edward Sapir