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Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!harpo!decvax!mcvax!piet
From: piet@mcvax.UUCP (Piet Beertema)
Newsgroups: net.followup
Subject: Re: Use of national characters in names
Message-ID: <5813@mcvax.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 22-May-84 08:45:29 EDT
Article-I.D.: mcvax.5813
Posted: Tue May 22 08:45:29 1984
Date-Received: Wed, 23-May-84 19:34:07 EDT
References: <408@erix.UUCP>
Organization: CWI, Amsterdam
Lines: 37

<...>

	>Is this a "new" problem or has it been discussed before...
As far as I know it has been discussed before, but not on the net, i.e.
not in public. I know the problem too well from my attempts to keep
the EUNET map up-to-date, resulting only a few days ago in a fierce
discussion with Denmark.

	>It may be better to use some ascii-adapted spelling rather
	>than take the risk that someone out there throws his terminal
	>or system out of the window because he/she thinks it malfunctions
	>when strange characters appear in names.
I agree, but not for that reason. What would you say, if a (postal)
address was entered in the maps like "L}d|r\" (assuming for a while the
place exists). Would you really believe any postal service would be able
to interpret it and deliver a mail correctly?

	>I am getting used to have my name spelt in strange ways anyhow
	>(not to mention pronunciation)...
	>What translation rule should be used, similar appearance or
	>pronunciation, or perhaps the evolution of the letter?
Correct me if I'm wrong, but as far as I know there are "official" or
at least common-used expansions for certain letters; e.g. the '}' in your
name I've commonly seen as 'aa' (especially in combination with a capital
like 'Aa'); and the '|' as 'oe'; the latter also goes for German. And don't
worry about mispronunciation; that will be the case anyway; after all who
would ever come to the idea to pronunciate the first 'G' in your name as
a 'J' (even that's only an approximation, the right pronunciation doesn't
exist in English).

So I would say that you stick to the "standard" alfabet. Otherwise what
would you expect from Greek sites (or even Russian...)? They are using a
transcription to the standard alfabet, e.g. 'omega' -> 'w', which works
very well.
-- 
	Piet Beertema, CWI, Amsterdam
	...{decvax,philabs}!mcvax!piet