Newsgroups: sci.lang
From: ross@foxearth.demon.co.uk (Ross Burgess)
Path: cantaloupe.srv.cs.cmu.edu!das-news2.harvard.edu!news2.near.net!news.mathworks.com!uunet!news.sprintlink.net!howland.reston.ans.net!pipex!peernews.demon.co.uk!foxearth.demon.co.uk!ross
Subject: Re: languages with phonetic alphabets?
References: <3kv7jk$61e@news1.delphi.com> <3kvjbl$qrc@spool.cs.wisc.edu>
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Date: Thu, 30 Mar 1995 19:58:48 +0000
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> 
> Classic examples would include the classical languages (pun
> intended).  Classical Greek, Latin, and Sanskrit (to choose three
> languages of the Indo-European family with abundant literature)
> all used phonetic scripts.
> 
Latin is certainly not truly phonetic. The spelling ignores the important
distinction between long and short vowels, and i and u can both act as either
vowels or consonants (after the classical period j and v were introduced to
designate the consonants, but j is no longer generally in favour). Also there
is an ng sound with no special symbol (represented by n before c, g, or x, and
according to some scholars by g before n). There is an "intermediate vowel"
generally represented by i as in "optimum", but distinct enough that the
emperor Claudius tried to introduce a new symbol for it. There is a redundant
letter K (admittedly used only in a few words); and x is a phonemically
unnecessary representation for cs. Furthermore final m, and n before s, were
probably silent, or represented only by nasalisation of the preceding vowel.
And there are some anomalies such as plebs, probably pronounced pleps, and hic
and hoc, probably pronounced with a long c, which would more regularly be
written hicc and hocc. These comments relate of course to _classical_ latin;
latin as a preserved language, for instance in the Roman Catholic church, has
developed other phonetic characteristics, under the influence of Italian, but
is again not phonetic, for instance it c and g are pronounced "soft" before
front vowels!
   
-- 
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           Ross Burgess  (Purley, UK)  ross@foxearth.demon.co.uk
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