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<font size=3>At 10:13 AM 5/15/2003 -0400, Larry Trask wrote:<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite>On the issue of phonetic symbols,
stick to the IPA. American phonetic<br>
transcription was invented for fieldworkers using manual
typewriters.<br>
These days, when all of us can use laptops with the SIL IPA font
attached,<br>
there is no longer any point to American transcription. This creaky
old<br>
system is an anachronism; it should be given its gold watch and a
decent<br>
retirement. Attempts at perpetuating this antique are strictly
retrograde.<br>
</font></blockquote><br>
I will agree with Larry here that modern technology provides no reason to
stick with the American fieldwork tradition, and you should maintain the
international standard.<br><br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite><font size=3>Apart from being a
parochial curiosity, American transcription has one<br>
obvious and very serious drawback. It has no agreed form, and<br>
transcription practice varies from user to user, perhaps most
obviously<br>
with affricates and fricatives, but not only there. There is
nothing<br>
comparable to the IPA chart to which students can turn to learn the
system.<br>
</blockquote><br>
Furthermore, there is no reason to contribute to the general perception
that Americans just can't handle phonetic symbols, a perception that is
reinforced by the fact that American dictionary makers, and only they,
refuse to use IPA for pronunciation guides.<br><br>
On the other hand, some transcription traditions are older than IPA, and
I think it would look really funny transcribing Sanskrit palatal glides
with [j] and the postalveolar affricate with a [dZ]. Do we really
want to write 'joga' and 'radZa'? Sorry, but even German-speaking
linguists write Sanskrit with 'y'.<br><br>
Geoff Nathan</font></body>
<br>
<div>Geoffrey S. Nathan <geoffnathan@wayne.edu></div>
<div>Faculty Liaison, Computing and Information Technology,</div>
<div>Wayne State University</div>
<br>
<div>Linguistics Program</div>
<div>(snailmail)</div>
<div>Department of English</div>
<div>Wayne State University</div>
<div>Detroit, MI, 48202</div>
<br>
<div>Phone Numbers</div>
<div>Computing and Information Technology: (313) 577-1259</div>
Linguistics (English): (313) 577-8621
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