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From: iad@cogsci.ed.ac.uk (Ivan A Derzhanski)
Subject: Re: languages with phonetic alphabets?
Message-ID: <D61KLp.Kn0@cogsci.ed.ac.uk>
Organization: Centre for Cognitive Science, Edinburgh, UK
References: <3kv7jk$61e@news1.delphi.com> <1995Mar24.210241.81667@rs6000.cmp.ilstu.edu>
Date: Sun, 26 Mar 1995 09:48:59 GMT
Lines: 46

In article <1995Mar24.210241.81667@rs6000.cmp.ilstu.edu> czervic@rs6000.cmp.ilstu.edu (Christopher M. A. Zervic) writes:
>tmoran@bix.com antau~nelonge skribis en sci.lang:
>: My son asked if there are any languages where each letter of the
>: alphabet has a single pronunciation.  Are there?

A word of warning:  In many cases it's hard to determine what ought to
count as a single pronunciation.  For example, Latvian uses the digraph
_dz_ for the [d]+[z] affricate.  That may or may not be a deviation from
the phonetic principle, depending on one's theory.  I think it is, since
an affricate is audibly different from a stop+fricative cluster, but the
IPA doesn't quite agree with me.

Another word of warning:  Sometimes it makes sense to count some digraphs
as letters.  An example is _ch_ in Swahili, where _c_ never occurs alone.

>Esperanto has only 16 rules,

Back in the Dark Ages, when people thought that the earth was flat and
that a language could be fully described in 16 rules such as Zamenhof's,
that was indeed the case.  I know that some Esperantists nowadays realise
now ridiculous that idea is, but some obviously don't.

>one of them is every word is pronounced exactly as it is spelt.

Well, what's the big deal?  That's exactly what one would expect from
a constructed language, even though some deviate from it slightly
(Ido) or significantly (Occidental, Interlingua).

If Esperanto is counted, Volapu"k must be counted too.  And Lojban.

>Every letter makes only one sound, and every
>sound has only one possible spelling.

Actually, Esperanto differs from the lot that it has two official
orthographies, one of which (the one where _h_-digraphs are used
instead of circumflexes and the breve over _u_ is left out) is
not 100% phonetic.

For a serious answer to the original question, yes, there are many
such languages, eg Finnish, Georgian, Hawai`ian, Serbian and Yiddish.

-- 
`"Na, na ... ah mean, *no wey*, wi aw due respect, ma lady," stammers Joe.'
Ivan A Derzhanski (iad@cogsci.ed.ac.uk)    (J Stuart, _Auld Testament Tales_)
* Centre for Cognitive Science,  2 Buccleuch Place,   Edinburgh EH8 9LW,  UK
* Cowan House E113, Pollock Halls, 18 Holyrood Pk Rd, Edinburgh EH16 5BD, UK
