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From: jeg@hector.UUCP (Judy Grass)
Newsgroups: comp.std.internat,sci.lang
Subject: Re: Computers and human languages (was Re: What is a byte)
Message-ID: <2938@ulysses.homer.nj.att.com>
Date: Thu, 10-Sep-87 11:29:33 EDT
Article-I.D.: ulysses.2938
Posted: Thu Sep 10 11:29:33 1987
Date-Received: Sat, 12-Sep-87 08:55:05 EDT
References: <218@astra.necisa.oz> <142700010@tiger.UUCP>
Sender: daemon@ulysses.homer.nj.att.com
Reply-To: jeg@hector (Judy Grass)
Organization: AT&T Bell Labs, Murray Hill
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Xref: mnetor comp.std.internat:221 sci.lang:1326

In article <2351@mmintl.UUCP> franka@mmintl.UUCP (Frank Adams) writes:
>>>I was told once (by a respected linguist, as I recall) that English and
>>>Russian are the ONLY two languages written with unaccented alphabets.
>
>The Russian alphabet does have two accented letters, although the accents
>are often omitted.  How common this omission is, or whether it is getting
>more common, I don't really know.
>-- 
>
>Frank Adams                           ihnp4!philabs!pwa-b!mmintl!franka
>Ashton-Tate          52 Oakland Ave North         E. Hartford, CT 06108

I think the two letters you refer to are the "i kratkoe"  (short i) 
(looks like a backwards n with a sideways comma over it .. kinda) 
and the "jo"  (e with a diaresis).  The
i karkoe is ALWAYS written that way and is considered a letter in its own right.
No entrys for it in a dictionary, as it always follows another vowel.
The "jo" has a history, which I will skip.. In any case, it is printed
with the diaresis usually only in texts for students of Russian, or
for disambiguation.  
		-- Judy Grass (ex-Slavic Linguist)
		ATT Bell Labs, Murray Hill
		ulysses!jeg