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Re: USAGE: No rants! (USAGE: di"f"thong)

From:Dana Nutter <sasxsek@...>
Date:Monday, May 29, 2006, 20:46
li [Henrik Theiling] mi tulis la

> Here's a poll: > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > 1) Do you think English spelling should be reformed? > > [ ] No, it should not be reformed > [x] Yes, it should be reformed, but only slightly > [X] Yes, and we need a whole now spelling > [ ] I don't care
No completely revised but more than slightly. At least remove the irregularities.
> 2a) Do you think English spelling is phonemic? > > [x] Yes > [ ] No > [ ] I don't know > [ ] I don't care
Not 100%, but it is based on speech.
> 2b) Do you think English spelling is phonetic? > > [ ] Yes > [x] No > [ ] I don't know > [ ] I don't care > > 3a) Do you think English spelling should be phonemic? > > [x] Yes > [ ] No > [ ] I don't care
There is much room for improvement.
> 3b) Do you think English spelling should be phonetic? > > [ ] Yes > [x] No > [ ] I don't care
Unrealistic given the many dialects, and variations.
> 4) Which spelling would you prefer for current 'laugh'? > > [ ] laugh > [ ] laff > [x] laf > [ ] larf > [ ] _______ > [ ] I don't care
Though I could also go with "laff".
> If you only answered 'I don't care' or 'I don't know' up to here, > rethink whether you are really interested in this poll... > > 5) Who is the most important group of people you think of when > proposing/rejecting a spelling reform? > > [x] People who can read already and just want to keep on reading > undisturbed. (This is probably the largest group of living > people now). > > [x] L1 learners of English > > [x] L2 learners of English [This will be the largest group of people > if time is considered and we wait for 100 years.) > > [ ] Myself, I cannot read/write properly/have had problems > learning it.
No, never had any problems with it but often see it happening with others.
> [ ] _________________ > > 6) How should one cope with different dialects? > > [x] By neglecting distinctions made in some dialects. > [ ] By considering all distinctions made in dialects. > [x] By using historical state of English and base the spelling on it. > [ ] By defining a standard dialect and use it regardless of variants. > [ ] By using a semantics based writing system. > [ ] __________________
> 7) Have you thought about or (tried to) invent(ed) a spelling reform > yourself? > > [x] Yes > [ ] No
> 8) Which other lang do think needs a spelling reform? > > [x] Chinese
Needs a phonemic system, but not Pinyin. Maybe Bopomofo.
> [x] Danish > [?] Faeroese
Don't know enough Faroese to answer this one.
> [x] French
Almost as bad as English.
> [x] German
Only minor adjustments. Eliminate "?" as has been some in the recent reform though not universally accepted. Maybe change "sch" to "sh".
> [x] Japanese
Switch everything either to Kana or Romaji (without diacritics).
> [x] _Russian_
Use something more like the Serbian (Cyrillic) alphabet.
> [x] _Polish_
Something more like other Slavic langugages use. Maybe even convert to Cyrillic script.
> [x] _Thai or Cambodian_
Romanize it!
> [x] _anything else based on the Brahmi script_
Romanize it!
> [x] _Hebrew, and anything based on Perso-Arabic scripts_
Start writing vowels! (not just in dictionaries)
> [ ] _Malay-Indonesian_ > [ ] _Tagalog_ > [ ] _Hawaiian_ > [ ] _Serbian_ > [ ] _Turkish_
Good examples of phonemic spelling. ------------------------------ dejnx nxtxr / Dana Nutter LI SASXSEK LATIS. http://www.nutter.net/sasxsek