Chips from a German Workshop, Volume 5: Miscellaneous Later EssaysMüller, F. Max (Friedrich Max)
Religion
Chips from a German Workshop, Volume 5: Miscellaneous Later Essays
Müller, F. Max (Friedrich Max)
Comparative linguistics; Folklore; Literature -- History and criticism; Mythology; Religions
Hwot ei leik in Mr. Pitman’z sistem ov speli[n] iz ekzaktli hwot ei nó haz
b[i]n found f[w]lt with bei [u]therz n[e]mli that h[i] d[u]z not atempt tu
refein t[ue] m[u]ch, and tu ekspres in reiti[n] th[o]z endles sh[e]dz ov
pron[u]nsi[e]shon, hwich m[e] b[i] ov the gr[e]test interest tu the
stiudent ov akoustiks, or ov f[o]netiks, az apleid tu the st[u]di ov
livi[n] deialekts, b[u]t hwich, for praktikal az well az for seientifik
filolojikal p[u]rposez, m[u]st b[i] enteirli ign[o]rd. Reiti[n] woz never
intended tu f[o]tograf sp[o]ken la[n]gwejez: it woz ment tu indik[e]t, not
tu p[e]nt soundz. If Voltaire sez, “L’écriture c’est la peinture de la
voix,” h[i] iz reit; b[u]t hwen h[i] g[o]z on tu s[e], “plus elle est
ressemblante, meilleur elle est,” ei am not serten that, az in a piktiur
ov a landsk[e]p, s[o] in a piktiur ov the vois, pr[i]-R[e]if[e]leit
miniútnes m[e] not destroi the veri objekt ov the piktiur. La[n]gwej
d[i]lz in br[w]d k[u]lorz, and reiti[n] [w]t tu fol[o] the ekzampel ov
la[n]gwej, hwich th[o] it alouz an endles vareiti ov pron[u]nsi[e]shon,
restrikts itself for its [o]n p[u]rpos, for the p[u]rpos ov ekspresi[n]
[t][w]t in [w]l its modifik[e]shonz, tu a veri limited n[u]mber ov tipikal
vouelz and konsonants. Out ov the larj n[u]mber ov soundz, for instans,
hwich hav b[i]n katalogd from the v[e]ri[u]s I[n]glish deialekts, thoz
onli kan b[i] rekogneizd az konstitiuent elements ov the la[n]gwej hwich
in, and bei, th[e]r diferens from [i]ch [u]ther, konv[e] a diferens ov
m[i]ni[n]. Ov s[u]ch pregnant and [t][w]t-konv[e]i[n] vouelz, I[n]glish
pozésez n[o] m[o]r than twelv. Hwotever the meinor sh[e]dz ov vouel soundz
in I[n]glish deialekts m[e] b[i], th[e] d[ue] not enrich the la[n]gwej, az
s[u]ch, thát iz, th[e] d[ue] not en[e]bel the sp[i]ker tu konv[e] m[o]r
miniút sh[e]dz ov [t][w]t than the twelv tipikal si[n]gel vouelz. Beseidz,
ther jenerali iz hwot the French meit k[w]l a f[o]netik solidariti in
[i]ch deialekt. If w[u]n vouel ch[e]njez, the [u]therz ar apt tu fol[o],
and the m[e]n objekt ov la[n]gwej rem[e]nz the s[e]m [t]r[ue]out, n[e]mli,
tu prevent w[u]n w[u]rd from r[u]ni[n] intu an[u]ther, and yet tu abst[e]n
from t[ue], miniút fonetik disti[n]kshonz, hwich an ordinari [i]r meit
feind it difik[u]lt tu grasp. This prinsipel ov f[o]netik solidariti iz ov
gr[e]t importans, not onli in ekspl[e]ni[n] the gradiual ch[e]njez ov
vouelz, b[u]t [w]ls[o] s[u]ch jeneral ch[e]njez ov konsonants az w[i]
s[i], for instans, in the Jerman _Lautverschiebung_. Az s[ue]m az w[u]n
pl[e]s iz left v[e]kant, ther iz preshur tu fil it, or s[o] m[u]ch ov it
az iz left v[e]kant, b[u]t n[o] m[o]r.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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