Hi Carl
Sorry if I offended you. Your input is welcome. Our group sad to say,
is composed of too many people (myself included) who want to fiddle
with the Shavian Alphabet and not enough who simply wish to enjoy an
incrediably well thought out tool.
Nothing wrong with Democracy. I am a Democrat myself. And as a Shaw
Enthusiast, yourself, would your Conscience allow you to participate
in the development of guidelines (not a standard) that will minimize
the number of variant spellings to a managable number.
I am less worried about relatively minor accent differences than the
fact that say for example an American would not what sound is
represented by "Err" and what sound is represented by "Array" and his
spelling suffers. Same problem with "On" and "Ah".
I notice the American Heritage Dictionary for Learners represents
both these sounds (On, Ah) with same I.P.A. letter.
Best of Regards,
Paul V.
_______________________attached__________________
--- In shavian@..., carl easton <shavintel16@y...> wrote:
> Hi Paul and Folks,
>
> I sorry for my democratic ways. Trouble is I admire the Shavian
Alphabet and want to see it in common use. Plus, I also have the
talent of understanding most if not all accents and dialects. Due to
my Universal Understanding of all spoken English I was shocked by the
need to select a common accent and dialect for Shavian spelling.
However, I will politely allow Shaw Enthusiasts to do with Shavian as
their Conscience dictates.
>
> best of regards,
>
> Carl
>
> Paul Vandenbrink <pvandenbrink@s...> wrote:
> Hi Joseph
>
> I think Carl in his enthusiasm to spread the word on the benefits
the Shaw
> Alphabet has jumped in with a naive attempt to correct the Achilles
Heel of
> the Shavian Alphabet.
> The problem with Shaw as an Alphabet for English, is that first,
English is
> nowadays becoming the pre-eminent World language. But Secondly,
that
> English is spoken very differently, sometimes so differently that
it is not
> understandable.
> I can correspond exactly with a Newfoundlander or Cockney, but
still be at
> a total loss over the phone.
> Carl, like most American's, has a tendency to want to go with the
majority.
> If you have to make a decision, why not make the most people happy.
>
> Fortunately, like yourself, I believe there is a better solution to
this
> problem.
> Why not make computers do all the work, eh.
> I am not sure what that solution will be, but I agree with you that
you
> will not convince the majority of the world to use a Phonetic
Alphabet
> according to some other countries standard of pronunciation. Just
not a go.
>
> Still I think there is place in Shavian for dictionaries and a
strategy of
> writing English words in Shaw that minimizes variation. At least
enough so
> that the computers can get a handle on it anyway, eh.
>
> Regards, Paul V.
>
> P.S. We used to have a situation in Quebec where the English
business
> community required French speaker's to speak English if they wanted
a job.
> Canada is still suffering over that one.
>
>
> > You are Right. I responded to Ethan on this. I agree that there
> should be a standard of spelling for each English-speaking Nation.
> >
>
> At 09:14 AM 4/5/04, you wrote:
> >Hello
> >
> >Do you not think this argument is spurious? How far can one go in
> >totting up numbers and dividing them into "national dialects"? Will
> >it ever produce anything either usable or desirable?
> >
> >First you ignore that in most countries there is no standard over
all
> >the population, and that so-called "national dictionaries" cover
only
> >a blessed and chosen few. The rest of us must make do with the
> >dubious title "non-standard".
> >
> >If you divide people into nations and then proclaim upon each a
> >national spelling for shavian then I dare say that many will tell
you
> >to sit on it.
> >
> >Next we must understand that shavian is meant to facilitate
> >communication in English and manifold spellings will not do this.
At
> >the moment there is very little difference between English
spelling.
> >To have any success we need to make sure that gap shrinks and not
> >grow.
> >
> >An acceptable spelling for all English speakers must be found, with
> >differences _only_ where there is a real phonemic difference in
> >pronunciation. Also it must be made clear to a learner who comes
> >across an unfamiliar word (that is, spelt how they would not say
it)
> >that all English speakers have made a few concessions to reach a
> >standard. Otherwise, like above, people will think you are trying
to
> >make them speak British/American/Australian/Indian and tell you to
go
> >play in the road.
> >
> >I hate to sound like I'm coining a bloody motto, but here is the
crux
> >of my point: without unity there is no point, and without
concession
> >there can be no agreement.
> >
> >Thanks for listening
> >Joseph
>
>
>
>
>
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