Talk:Tibetan Braille

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Start[edit]

Do we have the vowel letters? — kwami (talk) 05:27, 11 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I am getting them, along with example words, but I don't know how long it will take. Van Isaac_WS^contribs 10:18, 11 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I like how they did the subscripts, given the constraints of working within the French system. — kwami (talk) 21:57, 14 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Still missing the long vowels, nasalization, and syllabic consonants. (Need to add to Wiktionary when we get them.) — kwami (talk) 04:52, 2 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Not Latin-based?[edit]

Since we've had such an argument over whether this alphabet is Latin braille–based, here's a summary of the (mis)matches with English/World/German braille. Since readers probably aren't as familiar with German braille, I've noted those matches specifically:

velars: k, kh, g match (kh = "c"); ng invented (?)

palatals: invented? (c = German "ch", which is an orthographic but not phonetic match)

alveolars: all t, th, d, n match

labials: p, b, m match; ph invented

affricates: tsh matches (w/ German); ts, dz invented

fricatives: zh, z, h, a, sh match (sh w/ German); ' invented

approximant row: all w, r, y, l s match (y, s w/ German)

vowels: all i, u, e, o match

Of 34 letters, 25 or 26 match European/Latin norms. As in Bharati braille and other alphabets where there are more letters than in the original braille, letters have been added. But 3 contradict the values the European-Latin alphabets share: "q" for j, "y" for ch, and "x" for ts. Compare this to pinyin, which diverges from European/Latin norms in "q" for ch', "x" for hs, and "r" for j. No-one questions that pinyin is a Latin alphabet despite the mismatch of q, r, x; we'd need a source that Tibetan should not be considered Latin braille–based because of its mismatches. — kwami (talk) 23:16, 10 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]

— kwami (talk) 23:16, 10 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]

'a' explicit when initial[edit]

I find this problematic. In print, 'a' is never written, so why should it be written in braille, when the braille adheres to print so closely? Do we know that an initial vowel other than a is written without the zero consonant in braille, unlike in print? Or does every syllable require a main consonant? — kwami (talk) 04:43, 15 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]