[Rgyalrong] Can we all decide

Jesse P. Gates stauskad at gmail.com
Thu Mar 30 01:47:45 UTC 2023


Dear Hiroyuki,

So good to hear from you and happy that you have joined the discussion.

While I want to agree with you and join you in writing such a document, I'm
wondering if this overcomplicates the issue.

I don't think if we disagree it will divide us. But for those who are
willing to agree to one term, then why not just agree? Those who feel
strongly against the majority choice will be blessed to go with their
conscience and not be judged (at least by me :)). All the power to
dissenters. But the thing is, I'm just not sure how many people actually
have a strong preference to begin with.

You seem to feel strongly towards "rGyalrong" and strongly against
"Rgyalrong." Does that mean you could be won over to "Gyalrong"?

*All:*
Again, I would love to hear your thoughts on what spelling to use
rGyalrong/Rgyalrong/Gyalrong. I, for one, will just yield to the majority
on this issue. I just find it annoying to not know how to write the name of
the language subgroup that I specialize in!



On Thu, Mar 30, 2023 at 9:20 AM Hiroyuki Suzuki <minibutasan at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Dear all,
>
> Thank you Jesse for proposing this discussion.
> In my opinion, we do not need to standardise writing. All the spellings,
> rGyalrong (my preference), Gyalrong, and Rgyalrong (I never agree with
> this), work
> well if people understand each term denoting the same language.
> So, strictly speaking, I am against deciding a term/spelling by a vote.
> This democratic way would not help us, but would separate us.
> Instead, I would like to propose that a document be drawn up in which
> all varieties
> of spelling to denote the same language, and urge people to cite the
> document---
> this would guarantee the identification of the language.
> The document can includes all the spellings (rGyalrong, Gyalrong, and
> Rgyalrong
> among others; I have also seen Gyarong, Gyälrong, rGyal-rong, etc.) and
> be signed/co-authored by those who agree with this.
> We know some reference works such as Ethnologue and Glottolog; however,
> many of us could not be satisfied with their selecting entries, language
> names,
> and descriptions. So we can prepare and deposit another document to state
> how the spelling issue exists.
>
> Best,
> Hiroyuki
>
>
> 2023-03-30 9:53 GMT+09:00, Jesse P. Gates <stauskad at gmail.com>:
> > Thanks Sami and 葉庭英 for joining the discussion. Again, can we all decide
> on
> > something? I think the two most popular usages right now are Rgyalrong
> and
> > Gyalrong (but I do tend to favor Gyalrong for the aforementioned
> reasons).
> > I really couldn't care less what we decide, we just need to decide and go
> > for it! In the end, I'm also OK with us having multiple spellings, but it
> > would strengthen our field if we decide on one spelling and flood the
> > literature with just one spelling. Comparative Sino-Tibetanists and
> > typologists will thank us, making it easier to search for and cite your
> > papers. So please, voice your opinion here. I would particularly like to
> > hear from Gong Xun, Zhang Shuya, Lai Yunfan, Guillaume Jacques, Jackson
> > Sun, Tian Qianzi, Herbert Tunzhi, Lin Youjing, Mathieu Beaudouin, and
> > others who have written extensively on these languages. We could even
> cast
> > votes.
> >
> > On Thu, Mar 30, 2023 at 5:15 AM Sami Honkasalo <samihonkasalo at gmail.com>
> > wrote:
> >
> >> Dear all,
> >>
> >> I recommend Gyalrong. Language names are also loanwords, and they should
> >> be adjusted. There is no reason to follow Tibetan spelling in English.
> >> Like
> >> Jesse, I don't hold a strong opinion on this.
> >>
> >> Best wishes,
> >> Sami
> >>
> >> On Wed, Mar 29, 2023 at 7:36 PM 葉庭英 <r00222077 at ntu.edu.tw> wrote:
> >>
> >>> Good day, Jesse,
> >>>
> >>>         I recall Guillaume recommended drop the 前加字r-, and I see you
> use
> >>> Gyalrong in your work. But, I guess you'll have to shout out to sell it
> >>> beyond this circle
> >>>
> >>> > Jesse P. Gates <stauskad at gmail.com> 於 2023年2月10日 上午9:02 寫道:
> >>> >
> >>> > Can we all decide how we want to write Rgyalrong, Gyalrong,
> rGyalrong,
> >>> etc? I'm beyond having a personal opinion on this, but I think we could
> >>> all
> >>> benefit from conformity on this matter. I say take a vote!
> >>> >
> >>> > Jesse
> >>> > _______________________________________________
> >>> > Rgyalrong mailing list
> >>> > Rgyalrong at listserv.linguistlist.org
> >>> > https://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/rgyalrong
> >>>
> >>> _______________________________________________
> >>> Rgyalrong mailing list
> >>> Rgyalrong at listserv.linguistlist.org
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> >>>
> >>
> >
> > --
> > Best regards,
> >
> >
> > *Jesse P. Gates, PhD*Nankai University, School of Literature 南开大学文学院
> > https://nankai.academia.edu/JesseGates
> >
>


-- 
Best regards,


*Jesse P. Gates, PhD*Nankai University, School of Literature 南开大学文学院
https://nankai.academia.edu/JesseGates
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