Newsgroups: alt.usage.english,sci.lang
Path: cantaloupe.srv.cs.cmu.edu!nntp.club.cc.cmu.edu!eecs-usenet-02.mit.edu!news.kei.com!nntprelay.mathworks.com!howland.erols.net!infeed1.internetmci.com!newsfeed.internetmci.com!ncar!uchinews!not-for-mail
From: deb5@midway.uchicago.edu (Daniel von Brighoff)
Subject: Zed's dead, baby... [ was:Re: The Naming of Letters
X-Nntp-Posting-Host: ellis-nfs.uchicago.edu
Message-ID: <EEAx5x.ABr@midway.uchicago.edu>
Sender: news@midway.uchicago.edu (News Administrator)
Organization: The University of Chicago
References: <sullivan.190.185.33D76309@osu.edu> <33DD46CF.566D@postoffice.ptd.net> <5rq2eg$3h0_001@actrix.gen.nz> <EE9Inx.MDv.0.queen@torfree.net>
Date: Sat, 2 Aug 1997 19:37:08 GMT
Lines: 27

In article <EE9Inx.MDv.0.queen@torfree.net>, on the subject of the
pronunciation of the letter 'z' in English, Allen Kichiji Kabayama
<cu216@torfree.net> wrote:

> In a 
>case like this, where both terms have large bodies of speakers behind 
>them, you can only argue the relative apropriateness of the terms.  I 
>think it could be argued from a linguistic and historical point of view 
>that the case for "zed" has an advantage (however slight) over "zee".  

I'll grant you "from a...historical [*] point of view", but "linguistic"?
What on earth does that mean in this context?  Any point of view regarding
pronunciation is "linguistic" by its very nature.

>Also, this statement was addressed to people having difficulty telling 
>U.S.A. English from Canadian English.  These people would probably not be 
>from Canada or the U.S. so for them, "zed" and non-reformed spelling 
>WOULD be correct.

Ditto what Mr. Ivey said here.

[*] To those pretentious types who don't drop their 'h's and yet would
change 'a' to 'an' anyway, I say:  SUFFER!
-- 
	 Daniel "Da" von Brighoff    /\          Dilettanten
	(deb5@midway.uchicago.edu)  /__\         erhebt Euch
				   /____\      gegen die Kunst!
