POOT-yin/POOCH-in

[Mark_Mandel at DRAGONSYS.COM]

Thomas Paikeday <t.paikeday at SYMPATICO.CA> writes:

>>>>>
Everyone prefers a keyless pronunciation system. So how do
you define "system"?
<<<<<

You have hit the nail on the head. English spelling is so chaotic and
context-dependent that any phonological "system" based on it must fail, as
the users either
 - take more material as context than the system intended, or less
 - blow off reading the definition of context
 - throw up their hands at added symbols intended to define context
"self-evidently"
 - encounter a foreign or "green card" word whose pronunciation defies
their expectations

(The example I remember of the last one, perhaps from _Black Lamb and Grey
Falcon_ [or was it vice versa?], was "Skoplje". Can anyone give this a
clear keyless pron for Americans?!)

A senior co-worker once objected to the symbols I was establishing for the
phonemes of American English: "Surely you can make them clearer so they'll
be obvious to any native speaker."

"No, I can't," I replied, "and if you think you can, you're welcome to
try."

"Well, no, I don't have the time or the knowledge. That's your department.
But surely they don't have to need a key!"

"I've tried and I've tried. It's inherent in English spelling, and it's
like the pile of dirt under the rug. Any time you make something clearer in
one place you end up making something else more obscure. This is the best I
can do, and I daresay close to the best anyone can do."

I don't know if he ever believed me, but I had the last word. As he said,
it was my department.

   Mark A. Mandel : Dragon Systems, a Lernout & Hauspie company
          Mark_Mandel at dragonsys.com : Senior Linguist
 320 Nevada St., Newton, MA 02460, USA : http://www.dragonsys.com