Re: Lojbanized German place names

[Erik Rauch <rauch@CS.YALE.EDU>]

On Wed, 27 Jul 1994, Logical Language Group wrote:

> Erik Rauch writes:
>
> > I used the standard German pronunciation rather than that of the residents
> > of these places themselves. The "ue" sound is halfway between lojban u
> > and e, so I chose u for visual recognizability.
>
> You missed devoicing a few final consonants, as Standard NHG pronunciation
> demands.

Yes, I guess I was being too visual. But final g is a problem, as there
doesn't seem to be a standard. In my dialect it is always a fricative
("xamburx.")

> >   byn.                          Bonn
>     bon.  (Why the "y"?)

German short o sounds much closer to a schwa than a long o. Again, it's a
question of how visually you want to lojbanize when the standard
pronunciation could let you go either way (not counting the roundedness
rule). German is a problem since there are several true standards.
(A result of its history. In many areas, isoglosses still exactly follow the
boundaries of old kingdoms and duchies which disappeared with Napoleon!)


| Erik Rauch                                             rauch-erik@yale.edu |