dC frendz , hCz a pOstiN :
dust v snO (bF /rybxt /frYst)
H wE a krO
SUk dQn yn mI
H dust v snO
frum a hemlyk trI
hAz givin mF hRt
a cEnJ v mMd
n sEvd sum pRt
v a dE F hAd rMd.
>From: Paige Gabhart <pgabhart@...>
>To: shavian@...
>Subject: [shavian] Re: No posts?
>Date: Thu, Feb 24, 2000, 9:12 AM
>
>
>
>
>>Question for you all: What do you see as the possible NEGATIVE effects
>>of universal adoption of the Shaw alphabet?
>
>First, what do you mean by "universal?" I assume you mean universal
>adoption by English speaking people. If that is the case, then one effect
>that could be viewed as negative is that people trying to learn English as
>a second language would have to learn another alphabet, whereas the roman
>alphabet is widespread among the industrialized nations and, although, the
>letters are not necessarily pronounced the same from one language to
>another, there is enough common ground, that it probably seems less
>daunting to tackle a new language.
>
>In my view, however, this would be more than offset by the ease with which
>a person could learn to spell English in Shawscript compared to Roman.
>This eliminates much of the difficulty in learning English. In my opinion,
>the common perception that English is one of the more difficult languages
>to learn is based on the poor phoneme to letter correspondence resulting
>from the use of the Roman alphabet.
>
>Another negative might be that a total change from Roman to Shawscript
>means that everyone has to learn both alphabets to be able to read new
>writings as well as the libraries of existing volumes in Roman.
>
>An aside: has anyone proposed an alphabetization scheme for Shawscript?
>Should we attempt to use the basic framework of the Roman alphabet order,
>while tucking in the "extra" letters where they would logically seem to
>belong. For example: "ch" after "c," "sh" after "s?" But where do the
>"extra" vowels fit?
>
>Another point which English needs in my opinion: the spelling of words
>should not be considered inviolate. That has been part of the problem we
>find ourselves faced with now: the language has evolved over time and
>pronunciation has moved farther away from the spelling, with the result
>that many words spelt in Roman look nothing like they are now pronounced.
>The "traditional" spelling is viewed as sacrosanct, as a goal in itself, or
>a "cultural fetish" as Kingsley Read wrote, rather than merely symbols,
>representing the word, which have to be allowed to change over time as the
>language changes. If the willingness to keep the spelling phonetic is not
>adopted, then even if Shawscript became universal, over the centuries it
>would become less and less phonetic, less effective, and English would once
>again be considered a "difficult" language to learn, and more remedial
>reading and adult literacy classes will need to be set up.
>
>Tongue in cheek, one final negative: I would lose the "code" of
>Quikscript, which is handy when I don't want someone else to be able to
>read notes to myself.
>
>Cheers,
>
>Paige Gabhart
>>
>>Just a thought. It's something I don't recall we've discussed.
>>
>>By the way, I am overdue to produce a transliteration. <sigh> So busy
>>with trivia here....
>>
>>Cheers,
>>Hal Fulton
>>
>>
>>
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>>
>
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