Re: Unicode politics (was: A basic question on encoding Latin cha

From: Michael Everson (everson@indigo.ie)
Date: Tue Oct 05 1999 - 05:38:42 EDT


Ar 14:05 -0500 1999-10-04, scríobh Scott Horne:

>> Not Mayan. Not Rongorongo. Not Indus. Not Cherokee, really (Sequoyah knew
>> about writing and had samples, but didn't read English).
>
>Nor Akkadian, nor Chinese....

Right. I wasn't trying to be comprehensive this time.

>> But mostly writing
>> has been spread by diffusion, primarily due to religion, but sometimes due
>> to business.
>
>One and the same, really.

That's pretty facile. I was thinking that the Phoenicians weren't out to
convert the Greeks, and that most of the Buddhist missionaries weren't
looking to line their pockets.

>> >Who decided, for instance, to use rare IPA
>> >symbols to write some African languages?
>
>They're much better than ! and || and other bizarre symbols that have
>been devised for the representation of clicks.

I guess these work, but Zulu I think replaced them with Latin letters like
c and q.

>> In 1983 the Nigerian Federal Ministro of Education worked with Herman Zapf
>
>Please don't deprive the great Hermann Zapf of one of his _n_s.

It was a typo. I also typed "Ministro".

>> But
>> on the whole the hooks quite nicely represent the ejective and impulsive
>> consonants they are intended for.
>
>*Implosive* consonants, you mean.

That's funny. I must of been thinking of the pulmonary tract.

I think I'm tired.

--
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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