--- In
qalam@yahoogroups.com, "Peter T. Daniels" <grammatim@...>
wrote:
> suzmccarth wrote:
> >
> > --- In qalam@yahoogroups.com, "Peter T. Daniels" <grammatim@...>
> > wrote:
>
> ? What's what people call their system got to do with what it
encodes?
If people classify their own system then I would observe how mature
and immature native speakers read and write and how they teach their
children before I would reclassify it. A formal and historical
perspective is a curiosity, trivia in comparison to a functional
classification.
Western Cree encodes V and CV. Syllable final C are all
continuants, and can be produced vocalically by the native speaker
as syllables, even written with full syllabic characters (not
reduced size superscript) when handwriting. (Word final k and n are
also written but learned as a suffix). So the argument that Cree is
a mixed system is not very convincing for Western Cree native
writers. Chisasibi Cree has shifted and is a different case.
However, the Cree have their system intact and can use or not use
modern orthographic standards that would make them feel that they
has a mixed system.
Suzanne McCarthy
> Peter T. Daniels grammatim@...