wandering [OT] [was: B5 Ship Figures]

In message <F132HmDrS2WvMn6evli0000d939@hotmail.com>
> "Brian Bilderback" <bbilderback@hotmail.com> wrote:

> >From: "McClure, Kent" <kent.mcclure@lmco.com>
Dunno, maybe its a test setting for John Crimmins Orbital Mind Control Lasers?

> Charles Taylor wrote:

> > That's the other thing I don't get. What is it about apostrophes

Isn't that Cr'immins?

3B^2

My view on this:

When you contract a word together, your use apostrophes for the parts you
don't say (in "can't" the apostrophe replaces the "no" in "can
not").  With alien words/names, it would seem that humans would "spell"
the parts that we CAN'T pronounce with an apostrophe.

So in "Kra'Vak" the apostrophe perhaps replaces the quad-tonal warbling
screech that indicates, dependent upon the two mid-range tones used,
whether you're talking about Kra'Vak that are part of your family/clan
or outside your family/clan.

It might have been (might still be!) an insult to the Kra'Vak that humans
ignore that part of the word Kra'Vak and instead refer to them all in one
word... as if the members of the Hat'feeldz clan could ever be considered
worthy of being in the same group as the Mik'Koyz!

Perhaps that's the etymology of alien words containing apostrophes, the
apostrophes represent the "contraction" of alien words/sounds that can't
be pronounced by humans or even spelled by human letters or characters.

--Flak

> On Mon, 2002-05-06 at 13:26, Charles Taylor wrote:

> That's the other thing I don't get. What is it about apostrophes

Because we don't see them used this way in English words, they are a cheap way
to indicate "this isn't English" without having to come up
with a non-English sound--but we do see apostrophes in contractions and
possessives, do they don't throw you off the way seeing other symbols would.
  Real non-English sounds (eg the high/low/rising/falling tones of
Chinese, or the clicks and pops of some south African languages) are a pain to
represent to an English speaker. And when you see a name like X! or Hrska,
most people are going to stop and wonder "how the heck do I pronounce that?",
which interrupts the flow of the narrative.

On Mon, 06 May 2002 11:29:45 -0700, "Brian Bilderback"
<bbilderback@hotmail.com> wrote:

> Charles Taylor wrote:

> John Crimmins wrote:

> > Isn't that Cr'immins?

Not Throat-Warbler Mangrove?

3B^2

On Mon, 06 May 2002 13:26:50 -0700, "Brian Bilderback"
<bbilderback@hotmail.com> wrote:

> John Crimmins wrote:

Only on alternate Thursdays.

From: <laserlight@quixnet.net>
> >> That's the other thing I don't get. What is it about apostrophes

Gah! Fnord! Hail Eris!

--Flak
  Just adding to the s/n ratio.

> On Mon, 2002-05-06 at 16:22, John Crimmins wrote: