--- In sasxsek@yahoogroups.com, "David Marjanovic"
<david.marjanovic@g...> wrote:
> > viti = Fiji
> > madjarorsag = Hungary
> > qomun = Macau
> > tsjaq'dzjaq = Yangze
> > dunav = Danube
>
> Fine, except for the Yangzi: if you really want a language without
> (phonemic) shibilants, it'd IMHO be better to look at real examples
(like
> Greek -- /sOkO'laDa/ "chocolate"... or your own <viti>!) than to
introduce

Proper nouns do not have to follow the same rules as general
vocabulary so clusters are valid on these name. The geographic names
used are from the native names. <viti> for example is the Fijian name
of "Fiji". The use of native names is done partially out of respect
for the locals and to keep the names as diverse and unique as
possible. Some names (continents, for example) will not follow this
model because there are just too many variations, so a judgement call
had to be made.

> sibilant-plus-/j/ which will be obvious to Dutchmen and maybe Swedes
but a
> formidable consonant cluster to most other people. I'm also not
quite happy
> about the word-initial /N/ of Macau. While globally quite common,
Europeans
> in general* have real trouble imagining that kind of phenomenon, and
> Mandarin, too, lacks this feature.

Mandarin doesn't, but the native Cantonese name does have it although
I have read that there's a trend among young Cantonese speakers to
drop the inital /N/ while others tend to overcompensate by actually
adding it to words that didn't previously have it.


> * Maybe Albanian has it. I'm not sure.
> ..
> Are there optional schwas or something in <madjarorsag>? (These
particular
> consonant clusters, however, certainly rank among the easier ones.)
>

Yes, optional schwas can be used to buffer consonants. This will also
be the case should the decision be made to allow some clusters in the
general vocabulary. I just recently added this to the documentation
but it's not posted yet on the website.

About the website:

I'm thinking about an overhaul. I know many have actually praised the
format, but it's becoming somewhat difficult to maintain right now due
to the numerous vocabulary changes. I'm thinking about reducing the
site to just a Table of Contents with links to the searchable
dictionary and having the rest of the material in downloadable PDF
files (which are already there anyway.)