From: Edward Hobbs (EHOBBS@wellesley.edu)
Date: Mon Dec 29 1997 - 13:30:05 EST
Ward wrote:
----->>>>>>>>>>
Speaking for myself, I find it hard enough to read the transliterated
capitals and change them back in my mind into their Greek form. But after
being on b-greek for quite a while now, I have pretty well mastered this art.
However, some list members use different tranliteration equivalents, still
in capitals, and although they are free to do so, speaking (as I say) for
myself I wish they did not do so, and would adjust to the recommended
conventions of the b-greek list, exactly as Edward set them out. Am I
correct in believing that the tranliteration scheme set out by Edward is in
fact provided to each new member who joins the list, so they have it
available to them?
Then there are some list members who prefer to use lower-case letters for
Greek transliteration, together with various punctuation marks which (I
guess) represent accents and the smooth breathing. Now I recognize, again,
that under b-greek list protocol they are completely free to do so. But I
confess that I skip over reading those posts, because they require me to
learn yet another transliteration scheme (and I am quite content with the
one recommended by Edward for the list).
I am wondering whether there could be others on the list like me, who find
difficulty with these alternate transliterations (especially those that use
the lower-case scheme), and if so whether we should say so, so that those
who do chose to use such other schemes can be aware that as a consequence
they reduce the numbers of those who can read there (otherwise) helpful posts.
<<<<<<<<<----------
It would certainly make things easier for me, too. The problem is that
some members of this List do other things for various reasons (Craig Harmon
gives his own reasons, for example), and when several of us on the Staff
plus another key Lister weighed the pros and cons, we felt that giving
broad freedom to each Lister was more important than uniformity
(and ease of reading). The recommended scheme was based on months of
examining all alternative schemes in use, and also examining what most
persons then posting to the List actually did. The Xi/Chi variation was
the most in flux, with some widely-used programs using each alternative.
The lower-case posts are hard for me, also, and I admit to often doing just
what Ward does because of the difficulty in reading them. But unless we go
to a refereed List (for which I won't be a referee!), it is surely best
to stay with the relative freedom we now exercise. Perhaps those who
wish very much to have the largest audience for their posts will consider
the advantage of using the suggested scheme (rather than know that many
readers will simply delete the post). But forcing the use of it would not
be in keeping with the character of this List.
Edward Hobbs
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