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From: jc@minya.UUCP (John Chambers)
Newsgroups: comp.std.internat,sci.lang
Subject: Re: Computers and human languages (was Re: What is a byte)
Message-ID: <141@minya.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 14-Sep-87 22:23:56 EDT
Article-I.D.: minya.141
Posted: Mon Sep 14 22:23:56 1987
Date-Received: Thu, 17-Sep-87 01:44:50 EDT
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> >>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.

Actually, the i-kratkoe (looks like a backwards N with a tiny U above it)
always has the mark, which is considered a part of the letter.  The 'yo'
(looks like 'e' with an umlaut) normally has the mark omitted, except in
childrens' books, and occasionally when needed for clarity (like when you
need to distinguish 'vsye' from 'vsyo').

How about Welsh?  I don't seem to recall any marks on any letters there, 
though I don't claim familiarity with the language.  

There's also Serbo-Croation, which has a set of (5) marks, but you very
rarely see them outside of childrens' books and language texts.

For that matter, would you consider Yiddish and Hebrew?  True, there are
marks, but they are rarely used.  Even the mark that distinguishes 'shin'
from 'sin' is rarely used.  (Puns on the fact are welcome!)

Or were you perhaps talking only about Roman-derived alphabets?

-- 
	John Chambers <{adelie,ima,maynard}!minya!{jc,root}> (617/484-6393)