[Spellyans] <ay> ~ <ai> in KS = <ay> in SWF
Michael Everson
everson at evertype.com
Mon Jun 30 16:24:09 BST 2008
At 14:33 +0100 2008-06-30, nicholas williams wrote:
>In KS we sensibly distinguish <ai> [E:] from <ay> [ai].
>
>The SWF has decided that only <ay> is to be used. Thus in Dan's dictionary we
>find:
>
>Almayn [almaIn]
>mayn [maIn] + [mE:n]
>chayn [tSaIn] + [tSE:n]
>playn [plaIn] + [plE:n] 'carpenter's plane'
>but plen 'plain' (adj) and 'playing place, plain' as [ple:n].
>
>But surely playn 'plane' and plen 'plain' have the same vowel.
>They are, after all, the same word < Latin planus 'level'.
>
>There seems to be confusion here in the SWF which needs to be sorted out.
The SWF only allows <ay> and <e>. Since <ay> is
[aI] (as in the particle <may>) There's no way
these other words can be written <ay>.
It is [me:n], not [maIn]: therefore <mên> or <main> are the choices.
It is [tSe:n], not [tSaIn]: therefore <chên> or <chain> are the choices.
It is [tSe:r], not [tSaIr]: therefore <chêr> or <chair> are the choices.
It is [ple:n], not [plaIn]: therefore <plên> or <plain> are the choices.
It is ['alme:n], not ['almaIn]: therefore <Almên> or <Almain> are the choices.
Since either <ê> or <ai> would be a change from the SWF, I suggest we use <ai>.
The same argument holds for <au>, which is neither <ô> nor <aw>.
--
Michael Everson * http://www.evertype.com
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