Ar 06:23 -0700 1999-10-27, scríobh Constantine Stathopoulos:
>On 26/10/1999 at 6:51 ÏÏ G. Adam Stanislav wrote:
>
>>As for the distinction between letters and characters, well, in Slovak
>>there is no such distinction. We have the same word for both. The only
>>difference I can see is that letter is from Latin, character from Greek.
>
>The basic distinction is between "letter" ("gramme", as in "Grammar") and
>"phoneme" ("phthong", as in "diphthong"). As for "character", one cannot
>but agree with Mark Davis that it is a "vastly overloaded" term. In Greek
>(and outside computer jargon) it may mean: engraver, engraving, the
>engraving of a letter or any symbol at all. CH is definitely a phoneme, I
>can't say if it is a letter. An average Greek speaker, however, would not
>think so.
You would consider NU-TAU a phoneme [d] and MU-BETA; would you consider NT
and MB letters? If you do, I'll buy you a mvirra. :-)
-- Michael Everson * Everson Gunn Teoranta * http://www.indigo.ie/egt 15 Port Chaeimhghein Íochtarach; Baile Átha Cliath 2; Éire/Ireland Guthán: +353 1 478 2597 ** Facsa: +353 1 478 2597 (by arrangement) 27 Páirc an Fhéithlinn; Baile an Bhóthair; Co. Átha Cliath; Éire
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