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<BR><BR><BR>Hi.<BR>
ejp10 ejp10 at psu.edu <BR>Fri Apr 2 15:56:22 CEST 2010 <BR>
<BR>> Well...I am with Peter and Randy in that I didn't interpret the "BZZZT" response as "levity" either, but rather as >dismissive. Randy's information may have been incorrect, but since he is a newcomer, I would have preferred to see a >more neutral approach in explaining why he was in error. <BR>
> FWIW - I serve on a "Ask a Linguist" panel and I do see some really outrageously ill-informed questions (sometimes the >same one several times a year). While I am often tempted to reply with "Do you have any idea how ass-backwards that >is?", > I have found that a non-sarcastic tone with detailed, non-technical explanations have made people realize exactly >why linguists think they way they do (and not just that they want to "ruin the English language").<BR>
> I would add that if the language tag process is too intimidating, people may be tempted to implement their own codes just > to avoid the registration process, and I am not sure that's a good development either. <BR>
> Elizabeth<BR>
> Peter Constable wrote:<BR>
>>> <BR>>>> I couldn't have suggested a change to the proposal because I'm still trying to understand what relevant distinctions >>>need to be made. Randy raised very good questions, and your response to him was "BZZZZZT!" This is not how I think >>>this process should be managed.<BR>
>> Michael Everson wrote<BR>>> <BR>>> Randy did not ask very good questions. Randy didn't read the documentation, <BR>>> because Randy though that "the Hamely Tongue and the one under consideration" <BR>>> were two different orthographies, <BR>>> when they are not. And then he got all in a huff about it because I attempted levity to defuse <BR>>> his error.<BR>It was not just Randy.<BR>I did not ask enough questions either; <BR>quickly checking, I noted that the writing combined with the language/dialect<BR>has been catalogued several times; see:<BR>
<A href="http://books.google.com/books?id=p3vDuPNG7nUC&pg=PA99&lpg=PA99&dq=Hamely+Tongue+writing+Scots&source=bl&ots=PYkUDlWSgB&sig=oQI7vEmZdF9XYHCExYYez2qvSLw&hl=en&ei=HRu2S4q0AYP68AbEuIXXAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CBsQ6AEwBzgK#v=onepage&q=Hamely%20Tongue%20writing%20Scots&f=false">http://books.google.com/books?id=p3vDuPNG7nUC&pg=PA99&lpg=PA99&dq=Hamely+Tongue+writing+Scots&source=bl&ots=PYkUDlWSgB&sig=oQI7vEmZdF9XYHCExYYez2qvSLw&hl=en&ei=HRu2S4q0AYP68AbEuIXXAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CBsQ6AEwBzgK#v=onepage&q=Hamely%20Tongue%20writing%20Scots&f=false</A><BR><A href="http://www.ulsterscotslanguage.com/en/texts/biography/philip-robinson/">http://www.ulsterscotslanguage.com/en/texts/biography/philip-robinson/</A><BR>
Catalogues of the written form include:<BR>
* T. F. O'Rahilly's [(1932) "Ulster Irish,"<BR>* Fenton's "Hamely Tongue," <BR>* Macafee's "Concise Ulster Dictionary,"<BR>* HGA Hughes' "Ulster-Scots: A Grammar of the Traditional Written and Spoken Language,"<BR>* Philip Robinson ([2006]; along with Anne Smyth and Michael Montgomery)'s "The Academic Study of Ulster-Scots: Essays by and for Robert J Gregg."<BR>
Though differences as we move from one catalogue to the other may be trivial initially, <BR>there may be some reasons for providing two subtags -- one for the dialect in general, one for the current orthography.<BR>
But I do support the current registration form.<BR>
(And hope Randy will be back.)<BR>
<BR>
Thanks!<BR>
<BR>Best,<BR>
--C. E. Whitehead<BR><A href="mailto:cewcathar@hotmail.com">cewcathar@hotmail.com</A><BR>
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