Tweaking 2
Here's some fine... er rough tuning I've done to Matish. I warn you, these are big changes, and I welcome any resistance to them.
"er"/"air" - "r"/"er"
"er" is now just "r" as the "e" represented a schwa. This means that "air" can now be represented by "er" which is how it sounds anyway. Like "bering" for "bearing"
This means that "Whair'z dhair rair bairz' lair?" and "Her berd herts erth wermz?" from the previous version of Matish are now radically changed to "Wher'z dher rer berz' ler?" and
"Hr brd hrts rth wrmz?" This change is not very compatible with the Old Spelling but it makes better sense in the context of Matish. It may seem that a lot of words are now spelled without vowels, but those vowels are schwas. If you want them represented, then they would have to be represented elsewhere and it would detract from the economical advantage of Matish. Still, I've been toying with the idea of using "x", but that would be violently incompatible with the Old Spelling and with names which would not change for a long time, like "Xavier".
"or"/"au" - "aur"/"au"
"or" in "morning" is now just represented by "aur", and "au" remains the same.
On the downside, this makes some words longer.
But it also makes it easier to convert phonetics to Matish. Also, it is now compatible with "au" which is how children with accents like mine will mistakingly spell it because they both sound exactly the same, except that the "r" becomes sounded before a vowel as in "aura" (which is spelled the same in Matish and Old Spelling).
Also, it will mean that words like the "borrow" and "born" will not both be spelled with "or" and distinguished only by an apostrophe. So instead of "bo'ro" and "born", it's now "boro" and "baurn"
"ar"/"aa" - "aar"/"aa"
"ar" in "barn" is now just represented by "aar", and "aa" remains the same. This is done for mostly the same reasons as above.
On the downside, this makes some words longer.
But it also makes it easier to convert phonetics to Matish. Also, it is now compatible with "aa" which is how children with accents like mine will mistakingly spell it because they both sound exactly the same, except that the "r" becomes sounded before a vowel as in "staare" ("starry" in Old Spelling).
Also, it will mean that words like the "tarry" and "tar" will not both be spelled with "ar" and distinguished only by an apostrophe. So instead of "ta're" and "tar", it's now "tare" and "taar"
"aar" is not very compatible with Old Spelling (except words like "bazaar", "Haarlem", "Saarbrucken", etc.), but neither is "aa" (except words like "baa", "Afrikaans", "kraal", "laager", "salaam", "Maastricht", etc.) and it's confusing to leave one foot in the grave when you've just taken the other foot out.
"owl" - "oel"
I finally worked this out. It was a glitch in the Australian accent that made it seem odd. "bowl" and "bowling" become "boel" and "boeling" in Matish. This makes sense in most other accents. If you are Australian like me, just think "oe" sounds different before an "l". I won't bother explaining this unless someone asks.
"wh"/"w" - "w"/"w"
I will no longer use "wh" as the Matish default for words like "when". Although some accents do pronounce the "wh" differently from the "w" in "wet", it is too difficult for someone who does not pronounce it differently to memorise which words are spelled which way, and it is not important for those who pronounce it differently to spell it differently, although they can if they like, and still call it Matish, but in the name of simpler spelling, it is better to spell both sounds the same. The only thing is that both "which" and "witch" will now be spelled the same ("wic") instead of "which" being "whic", but in most accents, these two words are homophones. And when are they going to be confused, as one is a noun, and the other is not?
These new rules change the two main Matish tables, so here they are again:
Notice how "r" is on its own in both tables as though it were both a consonant and a vowel? Don't think of it like that because it's not really. In the second table there is a schwa just before the "r", and the "r" is a silent or pronounced consonant, depending on the accent.
"oel" is not needed in the table for most accents, but for some like mine, it is not so obvious.
"b'"/"d'"/"e'"/"re'" - "bi"/"di"/"i"/"ri"
You may be wondering why I've been spelling words like "d'livr", "b'kauz" "e'vent" and "re'trn" ("deliver", "because", "event" and "return") with an apostrophe on MSN. Why haven't I spelled them, "delivr", "bekauz", "event" and "retrn"? For the same reason I haven't spelled them "dlivr", "bkauz", "uvent" and "rtrn" or "diliver", "bikauz", "ivent" and "ritrn" or even "deelivr", "beekauz", "eevent" and "reetrn". I simply hadn't worked that part of Matish out yet.
So I was using apostrophes to make letter-words in the meantime. This way "d" could be pronounced "d" or "dee" and "b" and "e" work the same way. Pity about "re" though which just goes "ree" as it's at the end of a word before an apostrophe. This was very shoddy, and doesn't even follow the letter-word rules properly, and I wanted to decide which spelling to go with as soon as I could.
According to the phonetics of Roger Mitton's machine-readable version of the 1974 edition of the Advanced Learners Dictionary (which I'm using to create my Matish dictionary, incorporating Mitton's 1990 additions to the word list), the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary, Dictionary.com and several others, words such as these should be spelled with an "i" in Matish. That is, "diliver", "bikauz", "ivent" and "ritrn". So I've decided on that too now.
Here is Psalm 6 in the previous version of Matish (NKJV):
0 tu dha ceef muezishn. with stringd instrumnts. on an 8-stringd harp. a saam ov Daevid.
1 o Yhwh, du not re'buek me in yor aengger, nor caesn me in yor hot displejher.
2 hav merse on me, o Yhwh, for i am week; o Yhwh, heel me, for mi boenz r trubld.
3 mi sowl aulso iz graetle trubld; but u, o Yhwh-hou long?
4 re'tern, o Yhwh, d'liver me! o, saev me for yor merseez' saek!
5 for in deth dhair iz no re'membrns ov u; in dha graev whu wil giv u thangks?
6 i am weere with mi groening; aul niet i maek mi bed swim; I drenc mi kouc with mi teerz.
7 mi i waests awae b'kauz ov greef; it groez old b'kauz ov aul mi enemeez.
8 d'part from me, aul u werkerz ov inikwite; for Yhwh haz herd dha vois ov mi weeping.
9 Yhwh haz herd mi suplikaeshn; Yhwh wil re'seev mi prair.
10 let aul mi enemeez b ushaemd & graetle trubld; let dhem tern bak & b ushaemd sudnle.
Here it is again in the latest version of Matish:
0 tu dha ceef muezishn. with stringd instrumnts. on an 8-stringd haarp. a saam ov Daevid.
1 o Yhwh, du not ribuek me in yaur aenggr, naur caesn me in yaur hot displejhr.
2 hav mrse on me, o Yhwh, faur i am week; o Yhwh, heel me, faur mi boenz r trubld.
3 mi soel aulso iz graetle trubld; but u, o Yhwh-hou long?
4 ritrn, o Yhwh, dilivr me! o, saev me faur yaur mrseez' saek!
5 faur in deth dher iz no rimembrns ov u; in dha graev whu wil giv u thangks?
6 i am weere with mi groening; aul niet i maek mi bed swim; I drenc mi kouc with mi teerz.
7 mi i waests awae bikauz ov greef; it groez old bikauz ov aul mi enemeez.
8 dipaart from me, aul u wrkrz ov inikwite; for Yhwh haz hrd dha vois ov mi weeping.
9 Yhwh haz hrd mi suplikaeshn; Yhwh wil riseev mi prer.
10 let aul mi enemeez b ushaemd & graetle trubld; let dhem trn bak & b ushaemd sudnle.
"er"/"air" - "r"/"er"
"er" is now just "r" as the "e" represented a schwa. This means that "air" can now be represented by "er" which is how it sounds anyway. Like "bering" for "bearing"
This means that "Whair'z dhair rair bairz' lair?" and "Her berd herts erth wermz?" from the previous version of Matish are now radically changed to "Wher'z dher rer berz' ler?" and
"Hr brd hrts rth wrmz?" This change is not very compatible with the Old Spelling but it makes better sense in the context of Matish. It may seem that a lot of words are now spelled without vowels, but those vowels are schwas. If you want them represented, then they would have to be represented elsewhere and it would detract from the economical advantage of Matish. Still, I've been toying with the idea of using "x", but that would be violently incompatible with the Old Spelling and with names which would not change for a long time, like "Xavier".
"or"/"au" - "aur"/"au"
"or" in "morning" is now just represented by "aur", and "au" remains the same.
On the downside, this makes some words longer.
But it also makes it easier to convert phonetics to Matish. Also, it is now compatible with "au" which is how children with accents like mine will mistakingly spell it because they both sound exactly the same, except that the "r" becomes sounded before a vowel as in "aura" (which is spelled the same in Matish and Old Spelling).
Also, it will mean that words like the "borrow" and "born" will not both be spelled with "or" and distinguished only by an apostrophe. So instead of "bo'ro" and "born", it's now "boro" and "baurn"
"ar"/"aa" - "aar"/"aa"
"ar" in "barn" is now just represented by "aar", and "aa" remains the same. This is done for mostly the same reasons as above.
On the downside, this makes some words longer.
But it also makes it easier to convert phonetics to Matish. Also, it is now compatible with "aa" which is how children with accents like mine will mistakingly spell it because they both sound exactly the same, except that the "r" becomes sounded before a vowel as in "staare" ("starry" in Old Spelling).
Also, it will mean that words like the "tarry" and "tar" will not both be spelled with "ar" and distinguished only by an apostrophe. So instead of "ta're" and "tar", it's now "tare" and "taar"
"aar" is not very compatible with Old Spelling (except words like "bazaar", "Haarlem", "Saarbrucken", etc.), but neither is "aa" (except words like "baa", "Afrikaans", "kraal", "laager", "salaam", "Maastricht", etc.) and it's confusing to leave one foot in the grave when you've just taken the other foot out.
"owl" - "oel"
I finally worked this out. It was a glitch in the Australian accent that made it seem odd. "bowl" and "bowling" become "boel" and "boeling" in Matish. This makes sense in most other accents. If you are Australian like me, just think "oe" sounds different before an "l". I won't bother explaining this unless someone asks.
"wh"/"w" - "w"/"w"
I will no longer use "wh" as the Matish default for words like "when". Although some accents do pronounce the "wh" differently from the "w" in "wet", it is too difficult for someone who does not pronounce it differently to memorise which words are spelled which way, and it is not important for those who pronounce it differently to spell it differently, although they can if they like, and still call it Matish, but in the name of simpler spelling, it is better to spell both sounds the same. The only thing is that both "which" and "witch" will now be spelled the same ("wic") instead of "which" being "whic", but in most accents, these two words are homophones. And when are they going to be confused, as one is a noun, and the other is not?
These new rules change the two main Matish tables, so here they are again:
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Notice how "r" is on its own in both tables as though it were both a consonant and a vowel? Don't think of it like that because it's not really. In the second table there is a schwa just before the "r", and the "r" is a silent or pronounced consonant, depending on the accent.
"oel" is not needed in the table for most accents, but for some like mine, it is not so obvious.
"b'"/"d'"/"e'"/"re'" - "bi"/"di"/"i"/"ri"
You may be wondering why I've been spelling words like "d'livr", "b'kauz" "e'vent" and "re'trn" ("deliver", "because", "event" and "return") with an apostrophe on MSN. Why haven't I spelled them, "delivr", "bekauz", "event" and "retrn"? For the same reason I haven't spelled them "dlivr", "bkauz", "uvent" and "rtrn" or "diliver", "bikauz", "ivent" and "ritrn" or even "deelivr", "beekauz", "eevent" and "reetrn". I simply hadn't worked that part of Matish out yet.
So I was using apostrophes to make letter-words in the meantime. This way "d" could be pronounced "d" or "dee" and "b" and "e" work the same way. Pity about "re" though which just goes "ree" as it's at the end of a word before an apostrophe. This was very shoddy, and doesn't even follow the letter-word rules properly, and I wanted to decide which spelling to go with as soon as I could.
According to the phonetics of Roger Mitton's machine-readable version of the 1974 edition of the Advanced Learners Dictionary (which I'm using to create my Matish dictionary, incorporating Mitton's 1990 additions to the word list), the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary, Dictionary.com and several others, words such as these should be spelled with an "i" in Matish. That is, "diliver", "bikauz", "ivent" and "ritrn". So I've decided on that too now.
Here is Psalm 6 in the previous version of Matish (NKJV):
0 tu dha ceef muezishn. with stringd instrumnts. on an 8-stringd harp. a saam ov Daevid.
1 o Yhwh, du not re'buek me in yor aengger, nor caesn me in yor hot displejher.
2 hav merse on me, o Yhwh, for i am week; o Yhwh, heel me, for mi boenz r trubld.
3 mi sowl aulso iz graetle trubld; but u, o Yhwh-hou long?
4 re'tern, o Yhwh, d'liver me! o, saev me for yor merseez' saek!
5 for in deth dhair iz no re'membrns ov u; in dha graev whu wil giv u thangks?
6 i am weere with mi groening; aul niet i maek mi bed swim; I drenc mi kouc with mi teerz.
7 mi i waests awae b'kauz ov greef; it groez old b'kauz ov aul mi enemeez.
8 d'part from me, aul u werkerz ov inikwite; for Yhwh haz herd dha vois ov mi weeping.
9 Yhwh haz herd mi suplikaeshn; Yhwh wil re'seev mi prair.
10 let aul mi enemeez b ushaemd & graetle trubld; let dhem tern bak & b ushaemd sudnle.
Here it is again in the latest version of Matish:
0 tu dha ceef muezishn. with stringd instrumnts. on an 8-stringd haarp. a saam ov Daevid.
1 o Yhwh, du not ribuek me in yaur aenggr, naur caesn me in yaur hot displejhr.
2 hav mrse on me, o Yhwh, faur i am week; o Yhwh, heel me, faur mi boenz r trubld.
3 mi soel aulso iz graetle trubld; but u, o Yhwh-hou long?
4 ritrn, o Yhwh, dilivr me! o, saev me faur yaur mrseez' saek!
5 faur in deth dher iz no rimembrns ov u; in dha graev whu wil giv u thangks?
6 i am weere with mi groening; aul niet i maek mi bed swim; I drenc mi kouc with mi teerz.
7 mi i waests awae bikauz ov greef; it groez old bikauz ov aul mi enemeez.
8 dipaart from me, aul u wrkrz ov inikwite; for Yhwh haz hrd dha vois ov mi weeping.
9 Yhwh haz hrd mi suplikaeshn; Yhwh wil riseev mi prer.
10 let aul mi enemeez b ushaemd & graetle trubld; let dhem trn bak & b ushaemd sudnle.
posted by Mathieu | 1:46 am
2 Comments:
For some reason, I have spelled "who" as "whu" in both the before and after versions of Saam 6. This should be spelled "hu" in Matish. Even in the previous version, "who" was to be spelled "hu". The "wh" in "who" never made the Matish "wh" sound. This is just a mistake I made because I'm still unlearning the Old Spelling. It should be "hu" in both versions of Saam 6. Sorry if it confused you.
And "awae" in both versions should be spelled "uwae" (verse 7). Please point out any other mistakes. Whether you're sure they're mistakes or not, it would be still be helpfull. Thanks.
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