tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9120487666126442427.post7046204819294382544..comments2023-12-10T16:39:49.811+08:00Comments on Egoboo WA: To Diacritic or Not to Diacritic, That is the QuestionSarahPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10331711532075086214noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9120487666126442427.post-88778318685443881122010-10-11T10:06:26.311+08:002010-10-11T10:06:26.311+08:00Tengwar has long been a favourite script of mine a...Tengwar has long been a favourite script of mine and I used it as the basis for an english calligraphy font that was enjoyable to write birthday cards with for a number of years, but far to slow for me to use otherwise. I do like to see logic in created languages and I think this is where Tolkien's mastery came through - that level of consistency through his work added substantially to the technical enjoyment of his novels and it is good to see contemporary writers considering the implications of creating new languages."Grendel"https://www.blogger.com/profile/09811467039384648545noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9120487666126442427.post-86618382876797646832010-10-02T07:49:53.319+08:002010-10-02T07:49:53.319+08:00No worries, Ragged Staff! And I enjoyed reading yo...No worries, Ragged Staff! And I enjoyed reading your comments. :-)Joanna Fayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16341906464232247853noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9120487666126442427.post-20753987582253461012010-09-22T20:34:44.727+08:002010-09-22T20:34:44.727+08:00I'm really sorry for the confusion! It was an ...I'm really sorry for the confusion! It was an excellent post, Joanna!Ragged Staffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13285451640470655380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9120487666126442427.post-44062646349276658962010-09-17T22:02:34.748+08:002010-09-17T22:02:34.748+08:00You're right, Satima. Although these are just ...You're right, Satima. Although these are just little darlings...it's the big ones that hurt! :-)Joanna Fayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16341906464232247853noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9120487666126442427.post-81661539103355360082010-09-17T21:18:58.536+08:002010-09-17T21:18:58.536+08:00I actually didn't write that piece - my frien...I actually didn't write that piece - my friend and crit buddy Joanna Fay did, and of course I agree with nearly all of it. The area of non-agreement lies in the fact that Jo loves using diacritical marks, and in getting rid of them she is, I think, "killing her darlings". She's one of those clever people who writes in Elvish for fun! Me, I draw the line at the odd acute accent or umlaut on words that have been borrowed, and I try to make my names easily pronounceable by English speakers. However, a lot of critters have not liked my names, so I obviously haven't got them right yet!Satima Flavellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17427849961195148899noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9120487666126442427.post-61028460638331111792010-09-17T15:21:02.890+08:002010-09-17T15:21:02.890+08:00Excellent post, Satima! Apostrophes in alien or ma...Excellent post, Satima! Apostrophes in alien or magical (fantasy) words, names and place names are my bete noir, mainly because most writers have no idea why they're using them. Linguistically (and non-possessively), they either mark a contraction or represent a sound (often a glottal stop), but frequently I find they're used neither consistently nor systematically - they're just there so that everyone knows the word is alien or magic! The Narn names in Babylon 5 are a classic example of this - there's no rhyme or reason. I've looked for both and failed to find either - despite a reasonably thorough analysis. And rules for their use transcend word class or semantic domain in every human language where they occur, so the "But they're just in names!" argument that I've heard doesn't wash with me either! Sometimes being a linguist is such a burden!Ragged Staffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13285451640470655380noreply@blogger.com