--- 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(?)].