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

Hi all,

On Mon, 29 May 2006 Henrik Theiling wrote:
>
> Hi all!
>
> John Vertical <johnvertical@...> writes:
> > *sigh* OK, since the hopes of passing the topic quietly were for
> > naught, I'm going into Rant Mode then.
>
> No, no, we won't go into rant mode.
>
> It feels a bit like 'auxlang are a good thing' threads.  Don't tell me
> a spelling reform of English is a good thing and don't tell me it is
> not a good thing.
>
> Here's a poll:
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> 1) Do you think English spelling should be reformed?
>
>  [ ] No, it should not be reformed
>  [ ] Yes, it should be reformed, but only slightly
>  [ ] Yes, and we need a whole now spelling
>  [ ] I don't care
>  [x] I don't know - Who will pay for it, and how much?
>
> 2a) Do you think English spelling is phonemic?
>
>  [ ] Yes
>  [x] No
>  [ ] I don't know
>  [ ] I don't care
>
> 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?
>
>  [ ] Yes
>  [ ] No
>  [ ] I don't care
>  [x] It can't be
>
> 3b) Do you think English spelling should be phonetic?
>
>  [ ] Yes
>  [ ] No
>  [ ] I don't care
>  [x] It can't be
>
> 4) Which spelling would you prefer for current 'laugh'?
>
>  [ ] laugh
>  [x] laff - which may be realised to rhyme with 'staff'
or with the 'taff' in 'taffy'
>  [ ] laf
>  [ ] larf
>  [ ] _______
>  [ ] I don't care
>
> 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?
>
>  [ ] People who can read already and just want to keep on reading
>      undisturbed.  (This is probably the largest group of living
>      people now).
>
>  [ ] 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.
>
>  [ ] _________________
>
> 6) How should one cope with different dialects?
>
>  [ ] By neglecting distinctions made in some dialects.
>  [ ] By considering all distinctions made in dialects.
>  [ ] 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.
>  [x] _By providing spellings that support the most
dialectal pronunciations possible (see "laugh" question)_
>
> 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?
>
>  [ ] Chinese
>  [ ] Danish
>  [ ] Faeroese
>  [ ] French
>  [ ] German
>  [ ] Japanese
>  [ ] _Pitjatjantjara_
>  [ ] __________
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> What else?
See "The Simplified Spelling Society (SSS)" at:
http://www.spellingsociety.org/index.php

In particular, I'd like to mention the latest book
by a friend of mine, "The Book of Spells & Misspells"
by Valerie Yule, described briefly at:
http://www.spellingsociety.org/aboutsss/mbooks.php


and Henrik wrote later, sparking this YAEP(sub-)T:

> Roger Mills writes:
> >...
> > a Good Thing....  but then site, mite, rite, bite ...
>
> BTW, is there anyone around pronouncing 'write' differently from
> 'right'/'rite'?  (E.g., with a labialised, pre-labialised or
> additional labial consonant?)
hOt 'day@m!  I just tried it out, and guess what(1),
I DO start 'write' with a slight rounding that's
not present for 'rite' or 'right'.  And tho(2) the last
two are undistinguishable *in onset*, I *think*
that 'right' has a slightly longer and slightly higher(3)
diphthong(4) than 'rite' does.  But I might(5) be
imagining it.

(1) definitely not 'hwat' - the 'h' in 'wh' makes the
following vowel breathier; minimal pair: 'what'|'watt'.
(2) perfect rhyme with 'so'.
(3) same distinction as for 'right'; minimal pair:
'higher'|'hire'.  Also 'height'|'(Author Shere) Hite'.
(4) Of _course_ this is /dIfTON/!  Isn't it?
(5) same distinction as for 'right'; minimal pair:
'might'|'mite'.

Regards,
Yahya

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