Subject: Re: Languages' names for Lojban (was: RE: [lojban] French word for "Lojban"

From: John Cowan <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 10 Jul 2000 14:40:29 -0400

Jorge Llambias wrote:

> I would have placed the stress on the first syllable, like
> "minister", is that against the rules-such-as-they-are?

Probably not. I think that the *default* rule for English stress is
penultimate stress, but there are so many exceptions (including
essentially the whole of the inherited word stock) as to make
the rule almost useless except in the case of a non-word.

In fact, the word "Manaster" is the middle name of well-known
linguist Alex Manaster Ramer. How that is pronounced, I have
no idea, though I do know how to pronounce Peter Ladefoged's
name: /l&d@'f@ug@d/. (Evidently his ancestors swallowed the
well-known Danish potato.)

For that matter, I don't know how "minister" got initial stress.

> In any case, if the word became a common word it would
> certainly acquire a more English pronunciation,

Absolutely.

> In English, borrowed words tend to keep their spelling,

Alas.

-- 

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