LL-L "Orthography" 2002.04.22 (02) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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 L O W L A N D S - L * 22.APR.2002 (02) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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 A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian L=Limburgish
 LS=Low Saxon (Low German) S=Scots Sh=Shetlandic Z=Zeelandic (Zeeuws)
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From: erek gass <egass at caribline.com>
Subject: LL-L "Orthography"

Some things to consider:

Pro-spelling reform (English) --

phonetic spelling makes it easier to remember how to spell.

reduction in the number of letter combinations.

added ease for non-English speakers to accommodate to English.

recording today's pronunciation for the benefit of future historic
linguists.

Anti-spelling reform --

phonetic spellings will likely vary from region to region (the Scots'
issue has been mentioned)

loss of some of the languages history (e.g., those "ughs" used to be
pronounced; their presence in our spelling is a monument to the history
of the words).

a generally literate society (such as we have become) uses spelling to
re-enforce standardised pronunciations (e.g., Queen Elizabeth I spelt
"often" as "offen" [the slurred pronunciation of this common word was
already the usual even four centuries ago]; by continuing the spelling
as "often", the pronunciation with the "t" pronounced is re-enforced
among "proper" speakers.

The example John Tait cites (the Icelandic woman) sheds light on both
the difficulties and the supports for maintaining spelling "as is".  To
my knowledge, Iceland has the longest history of general literacy of any
nation on earth.  Literacy obviously helps to conserve the status quo
(Icelandic is clearly the most conservative of all modern Germanic
languages), and ANY deviation in spelling from the norm MAY cause
resentment.

Curiously, he also mentions the woman's distaste for Faroese spelling
(I'm guessing that she doesn't like its deviance from Icelandic norms).
The most obvious answer to that is that Faroese is, after all, Faroese,
not Icelandic.  On the other hand, Faroese orthography was created on
the Icelandic model (by intent!), hence the insertion of the ancient
letter "edh" even though it is silent (having spent time in the Islands,
I can verify that it is as silent as the "h" in "hour").

Overall, I'm inclined to go with the system we now have in place.
Standardise the spelling on existing models, recognise and accept the
regional pronunciations and idioms, document them all thoroughly in a
phonetic scheme, and publish the information widely.

In short, DICTIONARIES.

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