Re: Irish spelling

--- In qalam@yahoogroups.com,
Michael Everson <everson@...>
wrote:

> At 19:25 +0000 2003-01-14, etaonsh

<rcom@...> wrote:

>
> >'Tho' is accepted in US spelling;

'Ugh' if you insist.

>
> Not really. In European and North

American spelling alike, it is

> listed in dictionaries as

"informal". Unless one were to write
"thot"

> for "thought" and "do" (hmm) for

"dough" it seems rather lazy and

> pointless to write that one word

informally.

>

It's a start, a very conservative
start, but not conservative enough,
clearly, for some(!). 'Laziness' is
the age-old accusation of the
morally lazy conformist.

>
> >What's unusual is people

concerning themselves with matters
like

> >'preserving the basic spelling of

the root,' and 'showing the

> >mutation,' as tho these things

somehow mattered to users of the

> >language
>
> Of course they do. Otherwise

people wouldn't write them. Mutation
is

> essential to these languages.

Welsh writes ban [ban], fan [van],
man

> [man]. Irish writes bean, bhean,

mbean for the same. Your spouting

> theory without any evidence.
>

I am avoiding mention of any theory
behind the rejection of superfluous
letters in spelling.

>
> >and the complete lack of concern

for ergonomics/other people's time

> >& patience.
>

No study of handwriting or typing

> ergonomics and Gaelic orthographic

practice has been referred to,

>

The little boy made his observation
about 'the emperors new clothes'
without academic backing (thank
God!).

>
> Go thou, young
>

?

>

Richard, and read Axel Wijk, the
best book on English

> spelling reform ever written. He's

right, and he's got the best plan.

> But of course conservative

"insiders" who write English will
never

> accept it, even though it is

(actually) demonstrated to be more

> efficient and easy to learn.
>

'Dick's Tendency:' Human beings
revert to destructively conservative
habits if not assisted by
enforcement.

>

As John says, the Irish Gaelic and

> Scottish Gaelic orthographies
> just plain work better than the

Manx does, however imperfect and

> eccentric you might think them to

be. And the Manx orthography just

> makes it more difficult
>

To put the language under alien
conservative influence.

>

R.Comaish [this second attempt to
reply to the post failed to bring up
the whole of the original again(?)].