orthography

[lilandbr at scn.org]

Mi skribis:
>
>>My website (http://www.scn.org/~lilandbr/) has an under-construction =
page=20
>>on ASCII Lushootseed orthography, but it remains unfinished and the=20
>>explanations are in Esperanto...

Mike skribis:

>Not in Chinook?

Not so far ;-)... Incidentally, while there's been some effort to come up=
=20
with computer terms (of the most general sort, like "computer", "e-mail",=
=20
"webpage") in both Chinook Jargon and some Salishan languages (obviously=20
any language that is not *beyond moribund* in this decade needs such=20
terms), has there been any progress in coming up with basic phonological=20
and phonetic terms in these tongues.  In other words, if I *were* trying=20
to express, say, "glottalized velar fricative" in Chinuk Wawa, or for =
that=20
matter in Spokane, how best might I do it? =20

Of course, one school of Chinuk-Wawa usage holds that any speaker of any=20
language who wants to express in the Jargon a concept for which a Jargon=20
term is lacking may use a term borrowed from her own language.  But=20
obviously the more abstruse the concepts to which this rule is applied=20
the less useful it becomes for purposes of *communication*.  I could=20
embed "glottalized velar fricative" in a Chinook-Wawa sentence, but how=20
many of my interlocutors would have a clue as to what I meant by it?

It seems to me that the need is rather for *relatively* brief=20
circumlocutions or exemplifications, where technical vocabulary is in=20
question, such that even non-specialist listeners will have some idea of=20
the sense of the expression.

--
 Liland Brajant Ros' * UEA-D, Seatlo Usono * FD Baptismo, AA, US-lit-ro
 204 N 39th St / Seattle WA 98103 Usono | tel 206-633-2434  /  Lernu la=20
    anglan -- la mikrosofta lingvo!  Cxiu jam parolas gxin!  / ;-{
Vizitu La Lilandejon : http://www.scn.org/~lilandbr/ (some English,too!)