From: Peter <Peter.Vanbroekhoven@...>
Date: 2004-04-06T23:21:25+09:00
Subject: Re: how to match acented letters on windows

> Are you sure you want to do this?
>
> In latin languages, like french, you can strip the accents, and you have
> basically the same pronunciation (though my girlfriend doesn't agree,
> but my pronounciation of her language is so heavily accented anyhow, I
> can't seeing it matter). But, there are other languages where a
> character with an accent is a *completely* different vowel. I can't
> recall the details, but one of the northern European languages famously
> has its two most common vowels (think "e" and "o" in english)
> distinguished by an accent. English speakers (myself included!) tend to
> strip all accents while reading, assuming they are some kind of fine
> detail, just a small modification of the basic sound, but that's not
> true in a number of languages.

In French accents make a big difference in pronunciation. School example
being "�l�ve", where the first "e" is pronounced as the start of the "a"
in "safe", the second "e" is pronounced as "ai"  in "pair", and the last
"e" is pronounced as the "i" in "first" (though shorter). Those are
definitely different pronunciations of the same vowel, and they are
(almost) always pronounced the same, depending on the accent only.

Also accents can change the meaning of words, classic example being "ou"
(or) and "o�" (where), or "a" (has) and "�" (at). But that doesn't matter
for pronunciation. Can't find an example off the top of my head where both
the pronunciation and the meaning are different.

Peter