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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message -----
<DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A
title=g.broadwell@albany.edu href="mailto:g.broadwell@albany.edu">George Aaron
Broadwell</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>To:</B> <A title=scott-tonia_berthiaume@sil.org
href="mailto:scott-tonia_berthiaume@sil.org">Scott Berthiaume</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Sent:</B> Tuesday, January 21, 2003 2:49 PM</DIV>
<DIV><B>Subject:</B> Re: Orthography issues</DIV></DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4>Dear colleagues,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4></FONT>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4>My two cents on the issue --</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4></FONT>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4>1.) I doubt a standard orthography is possible
across different OM languages. I even doubt whether it is possible to have
a Zapotec orthography that would work for all the Zapotec
languages.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4></FONT>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4>2.) If we were starting from ground zero, it might
be possible for clever linguists to devise a unified Zapotec orthography.
But we are not -- there are already published works (New Testament translations
and literacy material) in the different languages that use different
orthographies.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4></FONT>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4>3.) After struggling with orthography wars in other
places, I've come to the conclusion that you should almost never change any
existing orthography if there are things published in it and people know
it. The disadvantages that go with changing a spelling system generally
outweigh any advantages that accrue from having a more linguistically adequate
orthography. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4></FONT>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4>In my experience, trying to change an orthography
or create a new orthography in a community where people are already accustomed
to a old orthography makes a lot of people angry. You lose Native readers
and writers, and in the worst case, the choice of orthography becomes
politicized.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4></FONT>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4>4.) As for doing good linguistics -- I think it's
better to add diacritics to an existing orthography in order to fix
phonemic problems. Native readers and writers are free to ignore
them.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4></FONT>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4>5.) You might sum up my opinion as "If it
works, don't fix it." Even if it works badly.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4></FONT>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4>Best wishes,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4>Aaron Broadwell</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4></FONT>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>George Aaron Broadwell</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Department of Anthropology</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Program in Linguistics and Cognitive
Science</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>University at Albany, State University of New
York</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Albany, NY 12222 |
518-442-4711</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>g.broadwell@albany.edu</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT>
<DIV> </DIV><FONT face=Arial size=3></FONT>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4>On Tue, 21 Jan 2003 10:52:30 -0600, Scott
Berthiaume wrote:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000080 size=4>>Dear Otomangueanist
colleagues,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000080 size=4>></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000080 size=4>></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000080 size=4>>Orthography continues to be a
challenge in Otomanguean. There are</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000080 size=4>>two questions that come to
mind.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000080 size=4>></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000080 size=4>>1) Is it possible to
maintain one standard orthography for</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000080 size=4>>Otomanguean, say with some
modifications like we see in the Romance</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000080 size=4>>languages?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000080 size=4>></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000080 size=4>>2) What are the common
phonological issues in Otomanguean that</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000080 size=4>>make a unified orthography
difficult?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000080 size=4>></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000080 size=4>>3) What sociological
factors determine what orthography a</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000080 size=4>>community will
adopt?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000080 size=4>></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000080 size=4>>4) What organizations
(mother-tongue or other) are dealing with the</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000080 size=4>>issue of orthography in
Otomanguean?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000080 size=4>></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000080 size=4>>I asked Beth Merrill to comment
on her experience with Zapotec in</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000080 size=4>>Oaxaca. She has been
involved in several workshops on the issue</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000080 size=4>>and is currently working on a
language salvage project (SIL).</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000080 size=4>></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000080 size=4>>Any additional comments are
greatly welcome.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000080 size=4>></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000080 size=4>>----- Original Message
-----</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000080 size=4>>From: Beth_Merrill
@sil.org </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000080 size=4>>To: Scott
Berthiaume </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000080 size=4>>Sent: Friday, January 17, 2003
11:18 AM</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000080 size=4>>Subject: zapotec
orthography</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000080 size=4>></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000080 size=4>></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000080 size=4>>As usual, the factors driving
different orthographic decisions tend</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000080 size=4>>to be historical and sociological
much more than linguistic. One of</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000080 size=4>>the interesting linguistic
factors is that many Zapotec languages</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000080 size=4>>have a sixth vowel (i.e., as
compared to the five vowels of</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000080 size=4>>Spanish)--however, phonetically,
the sixth vowel is all over the map</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000080 size=4>>in different Zapotecs; in
some variants, it's an ae (read IPA</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000080 size=4>>symbol) like in "cat", in
some it's a barred i sound (previously</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000080 size=4>>written in Chichicapan as
an e with dieresis; they've since changed</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000080 size=4>>to a barred i character,
which many Zapotec orthographies use;</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000080 size=4>>those that use the dieresis e
usually are symbolizing the ae sound)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000080 size=4>>and there are other variations as
well; some variants have lost the</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000080 size=4>>sixth vowel
altogether.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000080 size=4>></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000080 size=4>>Lenis and fortis poses an
interesting proposition; there's probably</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000080 size=4>>as many different ways to
indicate that as there are people in the</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000080 size=4>>room! (Okay, so I'm exaggerating,
but only a little.) For example,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000080 size=4>>Isthmus Zapotec--one of the most
numerous and most literate groups--</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000080 size=4>>writes the lenis and fortis
palatal fricative exactly the opposite</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000080 size=4>>of how most of the Valley
groups do (x and xh, and xh and x</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000080 size=4>>respectively). Others use an
underline, or a geminate character (xx</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000080 size=4>>and x), and there are also other
ways.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000080 size=4>></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000080 size=4>>The group would like for the same
sound to be written the same in</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000080 size=4>>all the variants, but because the
phonemes aren't the same in all</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000080 size=4>>the variants, the issue of what
you're contrasting with often drives</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000080 size=4>>orthographic decisions. For
example, in some variants there is </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000080 size=4>>contrast between x (typically
used to write the English sh) and sh,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000080 size=4>>because the x is retroflexed and
slightly backed, and can occur in</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000080 size=4>>the same environment and
changes the meaning of the word.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000080 size=4>></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000080 size=4>>Beth Merrill</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000080 size=4>></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000080 size=4>></FONT></DIV>
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