On Mon, 2006-04-17 at 10:36 -0500, Mike McCarty wrote: > Andrei Popescu wrote: > > On Sat, 15 Apr 2006 21:32:48 +0300 > > Andrei Popescu <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > > >>I agree. And the resulting text is not so unintelligible if you are > >>used to phonetic spelling. > > > > > > Like the Romanian language has. (Just to be clear) > > Are you sure? Many native speakers of languages *think* they have > phonetic spelling when they do not. I have, for example, had > conversations with several Russians who believe that Russian > is spelled phonetically. Phonetic means for each symbol there > is exactly one sound associated,
I'm 99.9% sure that, in this case, "symbol" can mean "one or more letters". After all, how do you distinguish between "long vowel" and "short vowel"? > and for each sound there is exactly > one symbol. Many speakers of Spanish believe it is spelled > phonetically (at least for the Madrid dialect) with just a few > exceptions (like the "silent h"). This is quite untrue, but > usually requires pointing out some counterexamples. > > As an example of the latter, the "s" is pronounced "z" before > "m" and "d", like in "desde" which is pronounced "dezde" > (meaning, roughly, "since"). I've had an argument one time with > a fellow from Spain on this point, and until I got another > speaker from Spain to listen, he wouldn't admit he had a > Catalan accent because he pronounced it "desde". -- ----------------------------------------------------------------- Ron Johnson, Jr. Jefferson, LA USA "A wise government knows how to enforce with temper, or to conciliate with dignity." George Grenville, British prime minister -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]