Richard Wordingham wrote:

>
> --- In qalam@yahoogroups.com, Michael Everson <everson@...> wrote:
> > At 22:49 -0400 2005-08-31, Peter T. Daniels wrote:
>
> > > > >Who _are_ your Vai contacts?
> > >>
> > >> They are named in the Vai proposal document which you have refused to read.
> > >>
> > >> >If they're not associated with the power elite, how did they get out
> > >> >of the country?
> > >>
> > >> None of your damn business, I am sure.
> > >
> > >If you won't identify your consultants (not merely by name, of course),
> > >there is no way to evaluate how legitimately they represent the people
> > >you claim they represent.
> >
> > I have identified them. They are identified in
> > http://std.dkuug.dk/jtc1/sc2/wg2/docs/n2948.pdf
> >
> > If you were to read that document, you might learn something about Vai.
>
> I presume Michael is referring to the the following answers in the
> proposal:

Thanks for providing them.

> 2a. Has contact been made to members of the user community (for
> example: National Body, user groups of the script or
> characters, other experts, etc.)?
>
> Yes.
>
> 2b. If YES, with whom?
>
> S. Jabaru Carlon (formerly University of Liberia), Mohamed B. Nyei
> (New York University), John V. Singler (New York
> University), Tombekai Sherman (Liberia), Jim Laesch (Lutheran Bible
> Translators), Miata Jessica Metzger (Cape Mount), Jumah
> Jennifer Gray Brumskine (Cape Mount), Lorna Priest (SIL), Peter
> Martin (SIL)
>
> Unfortunately, I don't know how common English surnames are amongst
> the Vai. There is a prominent Vai lawyer and politician Counsellor
> Varney Sherman. It's difficult to extrapolate on this one - one
> can't assume that all Howards are rich simply because England's
> premier earl is a Howard. Similarly, one can't make much of the
> name 'Brumskine' - presidential contender (and lawyer) Counsellor
> Charles Brumskine is *not* Vai. Again, what can I deduce from the
> fact that the presiding judge of the Liberian Probate Court is one
> William Metzger? Simply giving the names of contacts does not answer
> the question about how representative they are.

I know John Singler, of course. He's an American Africanist, professor
of linguistics and former department chair at NYU.

As you say, this list is not helpful in assessing whether any input at
all was received from the people described by Scribner & Cole as the
users of Vai script.
--
Peter T. Daniels grammatim@...