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From: Laurent Siebenmann <lcs@topo.math.u-psud.fr>
To: CyrTeX-en@vsu.ru
Subject: Choices and Alternatives
Date: 01 Sep 2000 10:14:37 +0400
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   ***  "Choices and Alternatives  ***

Dear All,

     In my last post, the line 

"h" ==> "x"

was meant to be the line:

"h"="x"="{h}"          ===> "x"

I take sides with the Library of Congress encoding.
My grounds are that both x in Russian and x in
English come from the Greek letter chi.  This has
been disputed, but Unabridged Webster lends me
substantial support:

<<The form and value of X are from the Latin X, which
is from the Greek letter CHI, which in some Greek
alphabets had the value of ks (as in wax), though in
the one now in common use it represents an aspirated
sound of k.>>

It would seem that the Russian x and the Greek chi
have much the same phonetic value -- one that is
absent from English (and French).

     My choice of h and q for soft and hard signs of
Russian is what one might call a "least worst" option.
(They are soft and hard and nearly opposite in shape 
by 180 degree rotation.)

    The choice:

"sh"="{sh}"            ===> "w"
"sch"="shch"="{sch}"   ===> "'w" (last quote " was missing)

is based on shape and opportunism.  I have used all
26 English letters with some plausible argument to
support each choice.

     My scheme allows for alternative representations
of several Russian letters:

   x='x='k
   y='y='i
   'h=h
   q='q
   j='j
   c='c
   w='s
   'z='g

my basic requirement being the use of just the one
accent character ' -- and of course consistency.

     It would be easy to add/subtract alternatives if
there are good reasons.  Suggestions?

       Cheers

            Laurent S