[YG Conlang Archives] > [ceqli group] > messages [Date Index] [Thread Index] >
Rex:-> At this point, does anybody have any really good reason why we shouldn't follow the Esperanto rule of unu sono, unu litero, and have a clear distinction between vowels and semivowels, using y and w? For one thing, it's very easy to explain and learn, like Esperanto, while complex rules for how to pronounce, say, 'heuiuaio' are anything but. (If it's spelled 'hewiwayo' it's easy).--
Ray:-> No reason not to follow "unu sono, unu litero". I'd go the way of 'hewiwayo'! But hang on, if you want 'one sound, one letter" then you might want to re-consider my diphthong letter/numbers for "ai, ei, oi, au, eu, ou" making the number names (f5 c6 c7 b8 gy9 z0) [fai, cei, coi, bau, gyeu, zou], and the 32 sounds of the phonemic alphabet:
"5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 0, a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z". And I think the name of "1" should be changed to "hal" because of the similarity in appearance of the first digit in "19" [halgy9] and letter "l" [L9 = leu]. "2" is still available to represent the vowel sound in the french word for "2" (or "o" umlaut in German). "3" is still available to represent [Z] if needed to distinguish from "j" anytime. And "4" is still available for the vowel in the french word "lune" (or "u" umlaut in German). Now (with the help of & and `) you can use this same alphabet for writing English, French and German phonemically too!
This is fascinating stuff, and I don't have it digested yet. I have a problem with contrasting o and ow, which, I take it, would be the sounds in English 'law' and 'low'. True, they're contrasted in English and Mandarin, but I think we'd better go with the pure vowels of Italian/Esperanto.