[lojban-beginners] Re: lojban-beginners Digest V6 #97

["Karl Naylor" <karl.org@gmail.com>]

On 10/06/07, m.kornig@sondal.net <m.kornig@sondal.net> wrote:

> I really hate Lojban for its "lassez-faire" attitude towards
> pronunciation. Two vowels (possibly some consonants, the

I don't consider Lojban laissez-faire on this matter.  Yes, there are
multiple acceptable pronunciations for many characters, but this is OK
because the acceptable pronunciations are well-defined (nobody should
be making up their own pronunciation, only choosing from the
alternatives in The Book), and there is no overlap between letters.
There are many ways a speaker may pronounce {r}, for example, but none
of those ways overlap with the pronunciation-range for any other
letter.

It seems to me that the existence of pronunciation "ranges"
corresponding to letters is more accomodating for speakers of
different racial backgrounds, who therefore have differently-shaped
vocal equipment and may find some options easier to pronounce than
others.

If you're worried that listeners may be confused to hear a
pronunciation that is correct, yet unfamiliar to them, I think that
may happen at first but would be resolved very quickly.  In most cases
the listener could easily infer what letter is meant (especially since
the speaker would presumably pronounce that letter consistently
wherever it appears).  In extreme cases it may be necessary to ask
"wait, what is that sound you keep making?"  :)