From: Martin J. Dürst (duerst@it.aoyama.ac.jp)
Date: Fri Jun 19 2009 - 01:51:54 CDT
On 2009/06/19 6:37, Mark Davis wrote:
> Rather than argue about this ad infinitum, what I suggest is simply adding
> an editorial note at the end, something to the effect that
Good idea.
> [Note: the term "Unicode" in the above text uses the customary American
> pronunciation /ˈjunɪˌkoːd/, resulting in the spelling "az Unicode".]
Well, if the pronunciation is /ˈjunɪˌkoːd/, then the spelling should be
"a Unicode" (it works the same way as in English, except that it's the
definite article, and there's a 'z' instead of an 'n').
Regards, Martin.
> Mark
>
>
> On Thu, Jun 18, 2009 at 13:19, satai<satai@kartulad.com> wrote:
>
>> I think the Google statistics show quite well that speakers prefer "az
>> Unicode". And, saying frankly, I see at least one reason for that:
>>
>> We have a language with Latin script that borrows names in their original
>> written form - that's typical. But let's try to predict what is the logic of
>> selecting an article for, say, Urukaka name in Hungarian... I think it is
>> clear that most hungarians who don't know how Urukaka should be pronounced,
>> will use "az Urukaka" based on initial U-, without even thinking about
>> possibilities of [w] or anything else. And that should be exactly the case
>> of Unicode word - if there is no widely accepted pronunciation yet, most of
>> people who are new to the subject should expect an article based on initial
>> letter, not sound.
>>
>> This is rather a point of view and idea how to reach an agreement in this
>> particular case and in similar cases in other languages.
>>
>> Best regards,
>> Alex.
>>
>> On Thu, Jun 18, 2009 at 11:14 PM, Asmus Freytag<asmusf@ix.netcom.com>wrote:
>>
>>> On 6/18/2009 11:22 AM, André Szabolcs Szelp wrote:
>>>
>>>> "There's also the issue that some foreign terms may not have a single
>>>> settled form of usage for an extended period"
>>>>
>>>> That seems to be exactly the case in the debated issue.
>>>>
>>>> Actually, a representative survey among IT pros (i.e. the actual user
>>>> community of the word; Unicode *is* a terminus technicus) could bring
>>>> clarification for that,
>>>>
>>> ... or it might not. There are definitely cases where multiple terms are
>>> in use in a language and even if you back your choice with a poll, it
>>> remains very much a choice.
>>>
>>> If that's the case in this instance, someone needs to decide how to settle
>>> the issue for *this* document.
>>>
>>> A./
>>>
>>>
>>>
>
-- #-# Martin J. Dürst, Professor, Aoyama Gakuin University #-# http://www.sw.it.aoyama.ac.jp mailto:duerst@it.aoyama.ac.jp
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