From: Peter T. Daniels
Message: 689
Date: 2001-11-14
>Assuming you're talking about Gregg here ...
> William B.,
>
> Sorry for the delay in answering.
>
> I want to thank you very much for that introduction to Pitman's and Greg's
> shorthands. Now I understand why you mentioned them with respect the "features"
> subject.
> Nevertheless, I see that even being actualy very featural still they are not fully
> featural.
>
> [you wrote]
> > in gregg, for example, a short diagonal line is voiceless T, while a long
> > diagonal line is voiced D; and similarly for the voiceless-voiced pair K vs
> > G. but a short horizontal line is N, while a long one is M. See WWS p. 812.
> [mariano]
> Well, my speculative interpretation is that <m> and <n> are letters in wich what
> is symbolic for nasal voice are just the horizontal lines, the vertical strokes
> being added because the need to use all the space or because the need to make
> them more visible and, or, what is more iconically important because the need
> to show the lengh of the line.
> The two phonems differ in being /m/ [+grave] and /n/ [-grave],
> I would suggest a much more speculative idea that this [+grave] is represented in that
> the <m> is like a lengthened <n> to the right (if the <m> being not
> considered symetric and that a stroke to the right would be an "extension"
> whilst a stroke to left would be a "retraction" that would give a different
> figure that would correspond to the Spanish <ñ> (an <n> with a tilde) or another
> with a stroke towards the upper part, not like in the IPA), and that a stroke
> that goes from the center to the right symbolices [+grave];
> but I'm afraid there is no evidence to state that, because <j> and <y> are letters
> for [-grave] phonems and its main stroke is below the midle line (this being
> another way to symbolize [+grave]) and its lower part comes from its
> left what would symbolize [+grave]; so useless to mention it, except
> because I am thinking in making an alphabet with such symbolism.