Mhong Language Council Conference (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, August 12-14, 1982). Interim Report.
Author(s):
Thao, Cheu; Robson, Barbara; Center For Applied Linguistics, Washington, Dc.
Format:
Conference presentation
Publisher:
1982.
Language:
English
Abstract:
The Mhong Language Council's 1982 conference had as its objectives: (1) a compromise spelling system to accommodate both White and Blue Mhong pronunciation; (2) simplification of the current Mhong spelling system; (3) review of approaches to the expression of foreign concepts in Mhong; and (4) adoption of capitalization and punctuation conventions for written Mhong. Some compromise spellings were achieved, especially in nasal consonants and lateral/glottalized consonants, and more work was recommended in vowels and tones. The only change in spelling agreed upon was from "ts" to "j" and some variations. With regard to expression of foreign concepts, it was generally agreed that Mhongs should try to express them in Mhong words and phrases rather than borrowing from outside sources, and that the convention of rewriting the foreign source of the loan translation in parentheses after the loan translation should be used. It was also decided that capitalization and punctuation conventions of English should be adopted, except in some areas of Mhong grammar in which the appropriateness of English conventions to Mhong grammatical structure is not yet apparent, pending further research. Further work is recommended, particularly regarding spelling compromise for the Mhong vowels. (MSE)