Re: Bug#684087: typos
On Thu, Aug 09, 2012 at 10:20:58AM -0700, Steve Langasek wrote:
> On Thu, Aug 09, 2012 at 11:36:04AM -0400, Hendrik Boom wrote:
> > On Thu, Aug 09, 2012 at 07:55:47PM +0900, Osamu Aoki wrote:
> > > Hi,
>
> > > On Wed, Aug 08, 2012 at 07:47:04PM -0400, David Prévot wrote:
>
> > > > Le 07/08/2012 16:04, Chris Leick a écrit :
>
> > > > > # FIXME (Florian):
> > > > > # Hm, diese Lautsprache im Original wie in der Übersetzung wirkt IMHO suspekt,
> > > > > # siehe <http://www.de.debian.org/doc/FAQ/ch-basic_defs.en.html#s-pronunciation>
> > > > > #. type: <p></p>
> > > > > #: project-history.sgml:148
> > > > > msgid ""
> > > > > "The official pronunciation of Debian is 'deb ee n'. The name comes from "
> > > > > "the names of the creator of Debian, Ian Murdock, and his wife, Debra."
The explanation of the origin does more to suggest a pronunciation than
the spelling 'deb ee n'.
>
> > So here Debian is a two-syllable word.
>
> This is meant to be a representation of three syllables, hence the two
> breaks in the word. The third syllable just happens to be represented by an
> 'n' with no vowels... I don't know whose idea it was to represent it that
> way. :)
I understand the difficulty.
I suspect there may be languages where 'n' is a vowel, but I don't think
it's so in English.
>
> Are we allowed to use IPA in this document, or will that cause encoding
> problems?
That would be a solution.
>
> > >
> > > | 1.7 How does one pronounce Debian and what does this word mean?
> > > |
> > > | The project name is pronounced Deb'-ee-en, with a short e in Deb, and
> > > | emphasis on the first syllable. This word is a contraction of the names
> > > | of Debra and Ian Murdock, who founded the project. (Dictionaries seem to
> > > | offer some ambiguity in the pronunciation of Ian (!), but Ian prefers
> > > | ee'-en.)
>
> > And here Debian is a three-syllable word. A long e followed by a schwa
> > and an n is how every Ian I've ever known pronounces the name. So
> > perhaps the Deb-ee-n above should be a Deb-ee-en. Adding a
> > spelling in IPA might be useful, too.
>
> The fact that it's a schwa makes it problematic to represent in any ascii
> approximation. I think "Deb'-ee-en" is a passable approximation, but I
> think "Deb'-ee-n" is also. Or "Deb'-ee-un".
> "Deb'-i-ən" would be more to
> my liking but less likely to be correctly parsed by a native English
> speaker.
Except that it's probably the wrong e in "Deb". It should be the one I
can't type.
I think I understand now. The hard thing is to write it down clearly.
I've got a habit of pronoincing it [Dib'-i-ən] (IPA), which I know is
wrong.
-- hendrik
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