On 11/13/2001 02:02:57 PM Michael Everson wrote:

>>It sounds, then, like every abugida would by definition (assuming your
>>definition) be featural.
>
>Certainly not. Why would you think that?

I don't. I'm just trying to show what the definition offered can be taken
to mean if someone comes to it without having some foregone understanding
of what it means and simply tries to apply the definition. I'm not doing
this just as a pedantic exercise. I'm doing it because I've seen people
use "featural" in distinct ways, one applying the term to some scripts
that they other would not. It seemed to indicate to me that we don't have
a clear understanding of what we think this term means.

I think my comments have started to draw out of you a more explicit idea
of what "featural" means to you, Michael Everson -- I think it's pretty
much the explicit definition (or something very close to it) that I gave
earlier. If so, then the next thing I wonder is whether this is the same
way that Peter D, and Bill and Ken and Marco and Lars and everyone else on
this list understands it. I have a suspicion that it is not, but if it is,
then we'll be able to start saying for each script whether or not we think
it fits the definition, maybe adjusting the ways we have sorted some
things along the way.

>No, Peter! Use your imagination! Visualize...

Michael, I think I already understand the idea you're working from (though
I'll refamiliarise myself with Tengwar to help me understand your
thinking). I've just been playing devil's advocate with the definitions
presented to me to try to show that they are just too loose to really be
useful to communicate with one another on these issues and be sure that we
mean the same thing.

Question for anyone here: do you think Sampson would have said that
Ethiopic was featural? My impression is no, though it's been quite a while
since I read on this and I certain could be wrong. If we think he probably
wouldn't, then that would indicate that there is more than one view of
what "featural" means. We need to sort out who means what, and what we
think is preferable.



- Peter


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Peter Constable

Non-Roman Script Initiative, SIL International
7500 W. Camp Wisdom Rd., Dallas, TX 75236, USA
Tel: +1 972 708 7485
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