Klarinet Archive - Posting 001128.txt from 2003/04

From: Anna Benassi <acb@-----.is>
Subj: [kl] which came first, the spelling or the pronunciation?
Date: Sat, 26 Apr 2003 00:47:44 -0400

First of all, I am not a linguist. But I suggest that verbal
expression is most often the "driver" here. The shortening of words -
such as the Italian "ben," "gran," "bel," and so on, can be seen as a
convenience for the purpose of elision, the melding of the shortened
first word into the word that follows. In most instances, it's
possible to make a case for the non-shortened version's being more
cumbersome to pronounce. Our own English contractions - aren't, can't,
etc. - seem to me to fall into this category as well. In French, the
pronunciation of an otherwise silent final letter serves to ease the
transition to the word that follows - the phrase "beaux arts" comes to
mind. That X is usually silent but is pronounced in this case in order
to eliminate an awkward pause between the two words.

I have had the privilege to become fluent in a new language in
adulthood, after having gained a Reader's-Digest-Condensed-Books level
of facility in French and Italian in my teens and early 20s. The
Icelandic language has a high correlation between spelling and
pronunciation conventions, unlike English, with all its borrowed words
and such. The following example will illustrate what I mean: The word
"dalitid" (spelled in all-English characters here for the convenience
of those who don't have Icelandic letters in their suitcase of fonts
;) ) means "a little bit," and it is pronounced DOW-lee-tith. Current
pronunciation trends have softened this pronunciation to DOLL-tith in
everyday speech. And lo and behold, modern writers have begun to spell
the word "doldid" in their published works. The latter spelling is
still considered colloquial, but give us another 50 years, and the
conventional one will likely have become archaic. The language is
transforming to suit the habits of use. The sad part is that the
conventional spelling has its root in smaller units that have
intrinsic linguistic meaning - the Icelandic syllable "da" refers to
the miniscule, while "litid" obviously means "little." The new
"doldid," while convenient, lacks this elegance.

Enough on this. What would be the result if we took such liberty with
our expression of written music? Or do we perhaps already do so? I
haven't given it much thought, actually ...

BTW, today is the first day of Summer according to the ancient
Icelandic calendar. Have a happy, everyone.

Anna

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