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The efficiency of Latin script. | ||
Tags: Writing System | Latin | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| MarcusOdim Groupie Brazil Joined 4851 days ago 91 posts - 142 votes  | Message 17 of 32 13 September 2011 at 10:35pm | IP Logged | ||
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I just happen to not find it attractive, the Latin letters look 100x better to me, Cyrillic letters are kinda messed up and just not as cool, that's all. They are equally efficient though, far more efficient the those Chinese characters (another thread).
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| cpnlsn88 Triglot Groupie United Kingdom Joined 5041 days ago 63 posts - 112 votes Speaks: English*, German, French Studies: Spanish, Esperanto, Latin | Message 18 of 32 13 September 2011 at 10:46pm | IP Logged | ||
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I only know latin script as well as similar variants such as Greek and the traditional German script (known, I think as gothic or fraktur) so this is a somewhat reductive post because the logic of these scripts (along with the similar cyrillic) is very similar. Historically they're more or less the same thing.
Of these I find non-latin scripts very pleasant to read and view. I find some sadness in the loss of the German script which I very much enjoy reading - I find the quality lf reading is a bit different, I tend to see words as wholes rather than breaking them down into individual latin characters (unfortunately I tend to do my handwriting the same way with variable results for people who need to read my work....). The origins of all latin type scripts is, of course, very ancient (i.e. with Greek beginnings of civilisation). Of course all the other scripts in the world are beautiful to look at and probably evolved at similar times - you can't learn everything! Learning the basics of another script (i.e. radically different) is probably something we should all do to broader our horizons. The inherent superiority of latin script is not something I would assert - unlike Arabic numerals which clearly are vastly superior (if we want to do any kind of maths...) Of course, the latin script suffers somewhat because some languages have departed from a consistent graphic representation of sounds and in this English is a serious offender because usage has changed over time - one ought to blame the language not the script for this (if evaulating the script on this basis one should perhaps refer to more phonetic languages). 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Марк Senior Member Russian Federation Joined 5060 days ago 2096 posts - 2972 votes Speaks: Russian* | Message 19 of 32 13 September 2011 at 11:01pm | IP Logged | ||
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English needs a spelling reform badly.
Before Peter I another script was used. It is used now in Church Slavonic. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| JLA Triglot Newbie France Joined 4901 days ago 25 posts - 33 votes Speaks: French*, English, German Studies: Italian, Spanish, Russian, Dutch | Message 20 of 32 15 September 2011 at 1:02pm | IP Logged | ||
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If I really were to discuss the adequacy of the Latin alphabet, I think I would use a language like Italian which is a direct descendant of the language for which the alphabet was created. Then, you would see an almost perfect fit between sounds and characters (Italian writing is very close to be phonetic and evolved with the pronunciation of the words).
The same would be true with Spanish but not with French (much more "historical" spelling, where "ghost" characters are etymological and not phonological - hôpital would be an example where the ô symbol sounds like a normal o but originate from the historical hospital). 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| ScottScheule Diglot Senior Member United States scheule.blogspot.com Joined 5232 days ago 645 posts - 1176 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Latin, Hungarian, Biblical Hebrew, Old English, Russian, Swedish, German, Italian, French | Message 21 of 32 16 September 2011 at 4:22pm | IP Logged | ||
But again, that's not really a criticism of the alphabet, it's a criticism of French spelling using that alphabet. I imagine we could make French much more efficient without too much trouble, English too. But the alphabet itself, it works fine. And to call the alphabet specifically created for Latin isn't strictly true. It was adapted (ultimately from a Phoenician script--or maybe hieroglyphs) to Latin. But it's also been adapted to French, Spanish, and Italian. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| JLA Triglot Newbie France Joined 4901 days ago 25 posts - 33 votes Speaks: French*, English, German Studies: Italian, Spanish, Russian, Dutch | Message 22 of 32 16 September 2011 at 7:12pm | IP Logged | ||
I think you misunderstood me here (and since English is your native language and not mine, I would guess it means I didn't express myself clearly), I was actually defending the Latin alphabet and saying that the discrepancies between the spelling and the sounds are due to the fact that, in some languages, like French for example, the spelling didn't evolve with the phonology but instead remained based on historical factors. Edited by JLA on 16 September 2011 at 7:29pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| strikingstar Bilingual Tetraglot Senior Member United States Joined 5177 days ago 292 posts - 444 votes Speaks: English*, Mandarin*, Cantonese, Swahili Studies: Spanish, Arabic (Written) | Message 23 of 32 16 September 2011 at 10:06pm | IP Logged | ||
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Be thankful there's an alphabet. Growing up, I really hated Chinese. It's the epitome of
all or nothing. You either know the word or you don't. You can't even attempt to 'spell' it phonetically. （Maybe feeble attempt at guessing the root.) And then Arabic has the annoying habit of omitting short vowels. Compared to other systems, the Latin script has it good. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| ScottScheule Diglot Senior Member United States scheule.blogspot.com Joined 5232 days ago 645 posts - 1176 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Latin, Hungarian, Biblical Hebrew, Old English, Russian, Swedish, German, Italian, French | Message 24 of 32 16 September 2011 at 10:34pm | IP Logged | ||
I agree. What I didn't agree with your implication that the alphabet is a close fit for the Romance languages or Latin itself--I think you could adapt it to most languages, Romance or no, without much trouble. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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