From: Edward Hobbs (EHOBBS@wellesley.edu)
Date: Thu Jul 25 1996 - 12:30:58 EDT
David Moore wrote:
Some of us use C for xi and X for chi since this conforms to the
CCAT system of transliteration which is already widely used in
computer-readable Greek texts. The rest of the system outlined above by
Dr. Hobbs is essentially an adaptation of the CCAT transliteration
conventions. Of course, if the list generally adopts a de-facto
transliteration scheme, I'll use it, too.
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Dear David, and all other concerned colleagues on B-Greek:
There is no need whatever for you to use any scheme other
than what you are comfortable with. The message was emphatic on that
matter. It was for those who feel the need for guidance. The freedom from
uniformity on this List is a plus for many of us.
The message also pointed out that "C" is the point of most
difference between the several (about a dozen) schemes in use. "C" is used
for Chi, Sigma, and Xi, more variation than any other character. Since
this List has subscribers who use Greek in many different ways, on many
different platforms, and with keyboards which assign keys to Greek
characters in different ways, the freedom not to be squeezed into anything
uncomfortable is of great importance to many of us.
We can figure out what most posts mean by their Greek-to-ASCII
conversions. So there is no need for imposing a straitjacket.
CCAT is a significant scheme for machine-decoding of Greek, one
which includes all the features of a printed Greek text including accents,
breathings, medial-final variables, upper-lower case variables, etc. But
it is only one of such schemes; and it is extremely complex for casual
users of this List. But as soon as it is simplified, we have another,
different scheme.
The approach taken for this "Usual B-Greek Scheme", requested
repeatedly by many newcomers, was an examination of about 400 different
messages, from frequent posters to the List (including quite a few from
David Moore!), to see what had emerged through the years as the commonest
methods. One of the most helpful posts was a comparison of six schemes
done in tabular form, by Bruce Terry, who had also noted the frequency
of the modifed CAPS schemes, and the points of most variation (above
all, "C"!). The actual, commonest usage was not exactly what any
one of us on the "committee" used (e.g., "C" was used for Sigma, for Chi,
for Xi, and one used "Ch" for Chi, the only digraph used by any of us--that
oddball was myself). The proposed message was circulated, revised, and
finally Okayed by each of us, and then accepted by our List Owner, David
John Marotta.
The "suggested for those who feel need of guidance" scheme, which
of course could not (precisely because of its simplifications) be machine-
translatable, is in fact more "intuitive" than most alternatives. But its
chief virtue is its fairly wide use already by many posters.
May I emphasize again: NO ONE NEED CHANGE HIS/HER STYLE! If we get
into trouble figuring out just what text is meant in a given post, it will
no doubt be cleared up quickly.
For myself, though, I'm going to try to learn to use "C" for Chi,
since I usually haven't.
Edward Hobbs
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