From X-SAMPA phonology to screenreader-friendly script

[Trebor]

Over in the "Romanization challenge thread", a lot of interesting material has been presented, but with heavy reliance on special symbols. As a user of the screenreading program known as Jaws, I find that such makes the material nearly inaccessible. As a result, I have begun this thread to see to what extent I can translate phonologies converted into X-SAMPA into screenreader-friendly scripts. Your comments are certainly welcome.

For Hmong Daw, taken from this post by Nortaneous, I propose:

/p_h p p_l_h p_l t_h t t`_h t` c_h c k_h k q_h q ?/ <p b pl bl t d rt rd c j k g q qg '>
/mp_h mb mp_l_h mb_l nt_h nd n`t`_h n`d` Jc_h JJ\ Nk_h Ng N\q_h N\G\/ <mp mb mpl mbl nt nd rnt rnd nc nj nk ng nq nqg>
/ts_h ts ts`_h ts`/ <ts dz rts rdz>
/nts_h ndz nts`_h ndz`/ <nts ndz nrts nrdz>
/f v s K s` z` C j\ h/ <f v s l rs rz ç x h>
/m_0 m m_0_l m_l n_0 n J_0 J/ <hm m hml ml hn n hny ny>
/a e e~ O O~ i 1 u/ <a e eñ o oñ i y u>
/ai a1 au i@ u@/ <ai ay au ie ue>
/pO_H/ (high) <bó>
/pO/ (mid) <bo>
/pO_L/ (low) <bò>
/pO_F/ (high falling) <bóo>
/pO_R/ (mid rising) <boó>
/pO_k_L/ (low creaky) <bô>
/pO_t_F/ (mid-falling breathy) <boò>

The tones in the example don't fully correspond to those listed above, so I assume sandhi is at work here. I'll have to take a look at this more complicated material tomorrow.

Edit: I understand that only <y> with an acute accent is available in the limited range of non-ASCII characters available to me, so I will have to mark tone on that vowel as follows: <ý y y` ýy yý y^ yy`/. Until I come up with a better solution for /1/, which seems unlikely.

[Nortaneous]

It's not sandhi, it's that the IPA > X-SAMPA converter I used wrote contour tones as sequences of two tones instead of with the contour tone sequences.

[Trebor]

It's not sandhi, it's that the IPA > X-SAMPA converter I used wrote contour tones as sequences of two tones instead of with the contour tone sequences.

OK, that's helpful. But the sample text still has, for instance, /t_ha_ku_B/, /tsO_t_M_B/, /pe_T/, and /ca_tu_M_B/, words that contain tone markings that don't appear in the phonemic inventory. This is puzzling--what do you suggest?

[Trebor]

In the meantime, let's do Akhvakh, from Linguifex:

/p p_> b t t_> d k k: k_> k_>: g ?/ <p p' b t t' d k k: k' k': g '>
/m n/ <m n>
/t͜s t͜s: t͜s_> t͜s_>: t͜S t͜S: t͜S_> t͜S_>: d͜Z t͜K t͜K: t͜K_> t͜K_>: qX) qX): qX)_> qX)_>:/ <ts ts: ts' ts': tš tš: tš' tš': dj tl tl: tl' tl': q q: q' q':>
/v s s: z S S: Z K K: C x x: G X\ (H\) ?\ (<\) h/ <v s s: z š š: j lh lh: hy kh kh: gh x c h>
/r/ <r>
/l j/ <l y>

/a a: e e: i i: o o: u u:/ <a â e ê i î o ô u û>

Examples:

/jaSe qX)':eK:a jete ji:ni/
<yaše q':elh:a yete yîni>
"The girl ran home."

/ak':ode riK':i biZe qX)':e:ni/
<ak':ode ritlh':i bije q':êni>
"The wife cooked the meat and ate it."

Edit: Made some revisions, especially with /S/ and /Z/ and the affricates which include them. Although <š> isn't read correctly in isolation, it's pronounced [S] when in a word by Jaws. :S

[Nortaneous]

/t_ha_ku_B/, /tsO_t_M_B/, and /ca_tu_M_B/ are artifacts of diacritic and tone letter placement: _k for creaky or _t for breathy ends up on the first letter of a diphthong, but the tone ends up on the second. /t_ha_ku_B/ is /t_hau/ with creaky tone; /ca_tu_M_B/ is /cau/ with breathy tone; and /tsO_t_M_B/ is /tsO/ with breathy tone. The converter calls high tone _T and low tone _B -- the IPA used the tone letters instead of the diacritics, and standard practice for tone letters is to space them out, so the highest tone is always _T and the lowest is always _B.

[Trebor]

And another phonology from Nortaneous:

/p t tS) k/ <p t ch k>
/b d d dZ)/ <b d d dj> [There must have been a typo here, because of the two /d/'s.]
/m n N/ <m n ng>
/s K S C x h/ <s hl sh j x h>
/ts/ <ts>
/w l j/ <w l y>

/i y u\ u/ <i ü ui u>
/e 2 o/ <e ö o>
/E V O/ <è à ò>
/a A/ <ä a>

/slu kwʌj bɛ ɬen tɔ sɑ ɑŋ xan pjɑ haj dɛ/

<slu kwày bè hlen tò sa ag xän pya häy dè>

/ɬɔ xa sɑ myŋçuj wa xɛnŋøʤe lɑ ɬɔ mynçuj wa hɛŋʤe/

<hlò xä sa mügjuy wä xènggödje la hlò münjuy wä hèngdje>

/bɔ pjiwnʃiŋ hʉ ʧen kjatʌ kɔndi ʤɑ kɑxobʌ/

<bò pyiwnshing hui chen kyätà kòndi dja kaxobà>

Gives me the impression of some strange toneless language distantly related to Mandarin.

[Nortaneous]

Here's one of my conlangs, Miar:
/p_h t_d_h ts_h tK_h ts`_h c_h k_h q_h/
/b d_d d dK\ J\/ <b ḍ d ź ž>
/p_> t_d_> ts_> tK_> ts`_> c_> k_> q_> ?/
/m n_d n n` J N/
/r_d 4 r` j w h/
/A E 3 e 2 o I i y u/, all vowels can appear nasalized and nasals can't appear before consonants
Palatals don't contrast with velar+j sequences, but can appear in clusters and word-finally, where Cj clusters aren't permitted. Aspirates can be realized as voiceless fricatives, and voiced stops as voiced fricatives.
Harmony processes: dentals and retroflexes alternate with alveolars and palatals. /E e I 2 u/ alternate with /3 i i y o/; /A/ is neutral.
ts`_>Ahhits_hip_hu~c_h2 i~p_>t_d_>3oj Jyts_>oj, mAdK\its`_hAp_>yc_hJ\i4? d_do~dK\3 r`Ak_ho?3. c_>I?Id_dJ\AgwI~r_dt_d_> dK\E~p_huts_> c_>I?Id_dJ\Ats_> e~k_h2?uk_>mE~ts_> ts_hArots_>.

[R.Rusanov]

Let me get this straight:

You wrote an IPA phonology then converted it to X-Sampa, automatically mind you, not even by hand, then provided a X-Sampa to IPA converter? Why the hell would you do that? That's like google translating your post to Hmong then providing a link to google translate - fucking pointless

[Trebor]

/t_ha_ku_B/, /tsO_t_M_B/, and /ca_tu_M_B/ are artifacts of diacritic and tone letter placement: _k for creaky or _t for breathy ends up on the first letter of a diphthong, but the tone ends up on the second. /t_ha_ku_B/ is /t_hau/ with creaky tone; /ca_tu_M_B/ is /cau/ with breathy tone; and /tsO_t_M_B/ is /tsO/ with breathy tone. The converter calls high tone _T and low tone _B -- the IPA used the tone letters instead of the diacritics, and standard practice for tone letters is to space them out, so the highest tone is always _T and the lowest is always _B.

Ahh, things make a lot more sense now--thanks for clarifying.

The Hmong Daw example and its romanization:

/t_ha_ku_B tsO_t_M_B pe_T ca_tu_M_B la_k1_B sa1_M_H da1_B t_hi@_T_M tau n_0a_M_H k_hau_T Jca1_B ts`_hi@_t_M_B. j\a_k_B z`O~ ts`_ha_T_M p_la1_B ma_B, ne_T_M j\u@_M_H ts`u_k_B mu_B n`t`_hi@_M_H nu_t_M_B Cu@_B sai_T lu@_t_M_B mu@_T_M ke_M_H pa_M_B hO_k_B da_M_B ts`i Jo_M_B JJ\i_t_M_B i_M_B c_he~_T ts`a_k_B nda_k1_B ne_T_M./

<tâû dzoò beè caù lây^ saý dày` tíe dau hnaá kaù nycay` rtsíiè. xâ rzoñ rtsaà plày` mà, neè xué rdzû mù rntié nuù çùè saì lûê muè geé baà hô daà rdzi nyoò ny-xiì iì ceèñ rdzâ ndây^ née.>

Whew. That wasn't easy. I have a hunch I didn't do this quite right. More than a hunch, actually.

[Trebor]

Now, a couple easier ones.

The first from this post by Esmelthien:

/n/ <n>
/p b t_d d_d t` d` c J\ k g q/ <p b t d rt rd c j k g q>
/_nb _nd_d _nd` _nJ\ _ng _nG\/ <nb nd rnd ndj ng nq>
/p\ B T s z s` C j\ x X R h/ <ph bh th s z rs ç jh kh x rh h>
/K/ <l>
/t_dT) t`s`) qX) G\R)/ <tth rts qx qrh>
/tK) dK\)/ <tl dl>
/r/ <r>
/j w H/ <y w hw>

/i y u E 9 V O a @/ <i ü u e ö à o a ë>

Example:

/ˈⁿbyɥʌ, nɛ kɔt̪͡θ ʂəɟk pʲu q͡χɔs ɖʌjˈxᶣar./
<nbühwà, ne kotth rsëjk pyu qxos rdàykhar>
"Mother, I am tired and hungry."

(If clusters of rt, rts, etc. could appear, then to avoid any possible ambiguity, retroflex consonants are formed with ` after the letter or digraph instead.)

The second, for Seri, from this post by Nortaneous:

/p t k k_w ?/ <p t k kw '>
/p\ s K S x x_w X X_w/ <f s lh sh h hw x xw>
/m n/ <m n>
/j/ <y>
/l 4/ <l r>
/E E: A A: i i: o o:/ <e ee a aa i ii o oo> (regular stress)
/E E: A A: i i: o o:/ <é éé á áá í íí ó óó> (irregular stress)

Example:

/oX i'pAktA iti, SA:x pAk ?AkiX tA?kA mA, k_wsi:p\p tA mA, ?ApXA So tok kopom i?o X, tok k_wpo:p i?o, oX XA? So ?Ai: ?A. ?ApXA tikom o:t kop i'tA?o, ?AKX iti'Xi:m, ?AKX i:x k_wkA ?i:, ?AX tA'?i: ?AX tA: mA, Si:X ki? iti k_wpo'pAktA tA, Si:X ki? iti k_wisSAX_w ?A So k_wi'si:?kA ?A, S i'pAktA S i'mA, ?AX tA'?i: ?AX mA: Xo SA:x ki? i:Sk ki? ko'KE:kp ko:m kom iti tinoK, ko'KE:ki i'tE:toK, tok k_wtAp, jokE./

<ox ipákta iti, shaah pak 'akix ta'ka ma, kwsiifp ta ma, 'apxa sho tok kopom i'o x, tok kwpoop i'o, ox xa' sho 'aii 'a. 'apxa tikom oot kop itá'o, 'alhx itixíím, 'alhx iix kwka 'ii, 'ax ta'íí 'ax taa ma, shiix ki' iti kwpopákta ta, shiix ki' iti kwisshaxw 'a sho kwisíí'ka 'a, sh ipákta sh imá, 'ax ta'íí 'ax maa xo shaah ki' iishk ki' kolhéékp koom kom iti tinolh, kolhééki itéétolh, tok kwtap, yoke.>

[Trebor]

For Miar:

/p_h t_d_h ts_h tK_h ts`_h c_h k_h q_h/ <p dt ts tl rts c k q>
/b d_d d dK\ J\/ <b dd d dl j>
/p_> t_d_> ts_> tK_> ts`_> c_> k_> q_> ?/ <p' dt' ts' tl' rts' c' k' q' '>
/m n_d n n` J N/ <m dn n rn ñ ng>
/r_d 4 r` j w h/ <dr r rr y w h>
/A E 3 e 2 o I i y u/ <a è œ e ö o ì i ü u>
nasal vowels: vowel + <n>

(If clusters of rt, rts, etc. could appear, then to avoid any possible ambiguity, retroflex consonants are formed with ` after the letter or digraph instead. I can't think of any other ways to transcribe the dental consonants, so possible ambiguity with clusters of /dd/ and /dt/ are remedied with a dash between the members of the cluster.)

Example:

/ts`_>Ahhits_hip_hu~c_h2 i~p_>t_d_>3oj Jyts_>oj, mAdK\its`_hAp_>yc_hJ\i4? d_do~dK\3 r`Ak_ho?3. c_>I?Id_dJ\AgwI~r_dt_d_> dK\E~p_huts_> c_>I?Id_dJ\Ats_> e~k_h2?uk_>mE~ts_> ts_hArots_>./

<rts'ahhitsipuncö inp'dt'œoy ñüts'oy, madlirtsap'ücjir' ddondlœ rrako'œ. c'ì'ìddjagwìndrdt' dlènputs' c'ì'ìddjats' enkö'uk'mènts' tsarots'.>

[Trebor]

I was under the impression that I was doing another phonology, until I realized the stark similarity with Estelthien's inventory.

Here's a possible variation on the earlier proposal, responding to this post by Ouagadougou on his "Ugly pseudo-Irish attempt":

Neutral consonants

/n/ <n>
/p b q/ <p b q>
/_nb _nG\/ <nb nq>
/p\ B T z j\ R/ <f v s z j r>
/K/ <l>
/qX) G\R)/ <qx qr>
/tK) dK\)/ <tl dl>
/r/ <rr>
/j/ <y>

Slender consonants

/t_d d_d c J\/ <t d kj gj>
/_nd_d _nJ\/ <nd nj>
/s C X/ <s ç x>
/t_dT)/ <ts>
/w/ <w>

Broad consonants

/t` d` k g/ <t` d` k g>
/_nd` _ng/ <nd` ng>
/s` x h/ <s` kh h>
/t`s`)/ <ts`>
/H/ <hw>

Palatalization: consonant + <'>
Labialization: consonant + <w> (a cluster of consonant + /w/ is split with a dash)

Vowels:

/i y E 9 u V O a @/ <i ü e ö u à o a ë>

/'_nbyHV, nE kOt_dT) s`@J\k p_ju qX)Os d`Vj'xᶣar./
<nbühwà, ne kots s`ëgjk p'u qxos d`àjkhar.>
"Mother, I am tired and hungry."

[Trebor]

Now on to Proto-Wargish, from Herr Dunkel:

/p (b) t d t` d` k g q G\/ <p (b) t d t` d` k g q qg>
/_hs s _hs` s`/ <hs s hs` s`>
/v\ h\v\ j h\j M\ h\M\/ <v hv y hy w hw>
/j\ j\: G G: h\/ <j jj gh ghgh h>
/m_0 m m: n_0 n n: n`_0 n` n`:/ <hm m mm hn n nn hn` n` nn`>
/K K: K\ K\:/ <hl hlhl z zz>
/r r: r` r`:/ <r rr r` rr`>
/l l: l` l`:/ <l ll l` ll`>

/i 1 1: u\ u\: u/ <i î îî û ûû u>
/E 9 3 3: 8 O O:/ <e ö ê êê ô o oo>
/a Q/ <ä a>

/3~/ <êñ>
/a~ Q~/ <äñ añ>

/H2) H8)/ <üö üô>
/Qa)/ <aä>

Example:

/j\Q v\Qrgran` M\Q~ j\3m: H2)h\v\QnO n`u\K M\QrqQra Gum: pOh\v\Ql3:j\En krElj\Q Ku\m_0 H8)h\jQid3n GO:ku\h\v\Qj\:ã sQ_hs`Qd3m: M\v\QdOn` m_0Eh\v\Qh\3n G\QK\:aq v\Qrg3~m M\u\:_hsa M\u\:_hsOh\v\En Or3qQnan`a n`1j\it d`aknQ j8kOnQa)dH2)/

<ja vargrän` wañ jêmm üöhvano n`ûhl warqarä ghumm pohvalêêjen krelja hlûhm üôhyaidên ghookûhvajjañ sahs`adêmm wvadon` hmehvahên qgazzäq vargêñm wûûhsä wûûhsohven orêqanän`ä n`îjit d`äkna jôkonaädüö>

[Trebor]

From this post by Lyhoko Leaci, about Zukish:

/m n/ <m n>
/p t ts tS) k ?/ <p t ts ch k '>
/b d dz dZ) g/ <b d dz dj g>
/f T s K S x h/ <f th s hl sh x h>
/v D z K\ Z/ <v dh z lh j>
/w l r\ j/ <w l r y>
Geminate consonants are doubled versions of their non-geminate equivalents.

/i i: u u:/ <i ii u uu>
/I I: U U:/ <ì ìì ù ùù>
/e e: o o:/ <e ee o oo>
/E E:/ <è èè>
/a a: a::/ <a aa ??> [Was /a::/ a typo?]

/ai a:i ju ju:/ <ai aai yu yuu>

Examples:

<krìt gam wandjchèèlha'ashu'i 'èppa djamassuu yùma>
That man almost murdered the new tea girl.

<'e kenkainkarm mtm>
I occasionally write about a planet.

<'èbba mtm kainam mai'an>
The planet is Maiyan.

[Trebor]

Now for something I haven't seen put forward as a challenge in the other thread: romanizing Khmer.

Standard/Battambang Khmer Consonants

/p_h ~ p t_h ~ t c_h ~ c k_h ~ k (g) ?/ <p t c k (g) '>
/b_< ~ b d_< ~ d/ <b d>
/m n J N/ <m n ñ ng>
/r l/ <r l>
/(f) s (z) (S) h/ <(f) s (z) (sh) h>
/v\ j/ <v y>

Standard Khmer Vowels

/i e 1 @ a u o A/ <i e ï ë ä u o a>
/i: e: E: 1: @: a: u: o: O: A:/ <ii ee è ïï ëë ää uu oo ò aa>
/i@_^ ei ae_^ 1@ @1 a@_^ u@ ou_^ ao_^ O@/ <ië ei ae ïë ëï aë uuë ou ao òë>
/e@_^ u@_^ o@_^/ <eë uë oë>

Battambang Khmer Vowels

/i e E 1 @ a u o O A/ <i e è ï ë ä u o ò a>
/i: e: 1: @: a: u: o: O: A:/ <ii ee ïï ëë ää uu oo òò aa>
/e@_^ aE_^ 1@_^ @1_^ a@_^ u@_^ ou_^ ao_^/ <eë aè ïë ëï aë uuë ou ao>
/E@_^_X u@_^_X o@_^_X/ <èë uë oë>

Standard(?)/Battambang Khmer Off-Glide Diphthongs

/i@j i@w 1@j @:j a:j aoj u@j/ <iëy iëw ïëy ëëy ääy aoy uëy>
/1w @w aj aw uj/ <ïw ëw äy äw uy>

Examples

/sAm po@_^_Xt/ <sam poët>
"type of sarong"

/Am bA:h/ <am baah>
"thread"

/tu: li@_^j/ <tuu liëy>
"spacious"

/re@_^_X? ta? na:/ <reë' tä' nää>
"gem, jewel, precious stone"

/ro@_^_Xt t_ha? ba:l/ <roët tä' bääl>
"caretaker of the government"

/kam pu? ci@_^/ <käm pu' cië>
"Kampuchea"

/Am b1l mte:h/ <am bïl mteeh>
"a dry dipping powder of peppers and salt"

/An te@_^_X? ru:t/ <an teë' ruut>
"a snare"

/sAm bok ca:p/ <sam bok cääp>
"a kind of cookie" (lit. "bird's nest")

/s@j ma: re@_^_X? k_ha:/ <sëy mää reë' kää>
"boundary line"

/sa? kam me@_^_X? p_hi@_^p/ <sä' käm meë' piëp>
"physical activity"

/rO no:N rO na:N/ <rò noong rò nääng>
"hasty, hastily, angrily" (an example of reduplication)

/me: k_he@_^_X? vi@_^ ha? na?/ <mee keë' vië hä' nä'>
"A name of Indra" (lit. from Sanskrit "having clouds for a vehicle")

/k_hJom m1n caN ba:n te:/ <kñom mïn cäng bään tee>
"I don't want it."

/nea? caN t1w le:N si@m ri@p te:/ <neä' cäng tïw leeng siëm riëp tee>
"Do you want to go to Siem Reap?"

/si@w p_h1w nih t_hlaj nahs/ <siëw pïw nih tläy nähs>
"This book is expensive!"

/sr@j s?a:t nuh/ <srëy s'äät nuh>
"that pretty girl"

/sr@j s?a:t s?a:t/ <srëy s'äät s'äät>
"a very pretty girl"

/c_hkae t_hom/ <ckae tom>
"large dog"

/c_hkae t_hom t_hom/ <ckae tom tom>
"a very large dog", "large dogs"

/c_hkae t_hom nah/ <ckae tom näh>
"very large dog"

/c_hkae pi:/ <ckae pii>
"two dogs"

/k_hJom c1@/ <kñom cïë>
"I believe"

/k_hJom min c1@ te:/ <kñom min cïë tee>
"I don't believe"

/k_hJom ?At c1@/ <kñom 'at cïë>
"I don't believe"

Edit: The spelling of the diphthongs /u@/ and /u@_^/ is no longer identical. Plus, the formatting of the examples was made uniform.

[finlay]

Let me get this straight:

You wrote an IPA phonology then converted it to X-Sampa, automatically mind you, not even by hand, then provided a X-Sampa to IPA converter? Why the hell would you do that? That's like google translating your post to Hmong then providing a link to google translate - fucking pointless

Apart from this not being true and not making sense... he's blind. This is like a sandbox because IPA doesn't work for him.

[Lyhoko Leaci]

From this post by Lyhoko Leaci, about Zukish:

/i i: u u:/ <i ii u uu>
/I I: U U:/ <ì ìì ù ùù>
/e e: o o:/ <e ee o oo>
/E E:/ <è èè>
/a a: a::/ <a aa ??> [Was /a::/ a typo?]

No, the /aːː/ is not a typo. There's also a /Uːː/ that's been added since that post. I think I barely had any words at all in Zukish at the time I posted that, so I couldn't fit any examples of /a::/ in there.

Examples: (Using Zukish normal orthography)
gamhau (male student) = /gama::/
lhwo (under) = /lU::/

[Trebor]

Apart from this not being true and not making sense... he's blind. This is like a sandbox because IPA doesn't work for him.

I left the post unanswered because there was the possibility that I wasn't being addressed: Nortaneous had also posted, and the comments were slightly more applicable to him. As well as because it occurred to me that perhaps I was simply having a temporary brain hiccup and would figure out what R.Rusanov was driving at soon enough.

It's a relief to know I'm not the only one who was left puzzled.

I'm interested to know if the results of my experimentation with inventing barely-extended Latin-based scripts for others' phonologies could actually provide workable solutions in light of their languages' phonotactic constraints.

I must say, Khmer diphthongs and triphthongs have posed among the toughest challenges so far.

[Trebor]

No, the /aːː/ is not a typo. There's also a /Uːː/ that's been added since that post. I think I barely had any words at all in Zukish at the time I posted that, so I couldn't fit any examples of /a::/ in there.

Examples: (Using Zukish normal orthography)
gamhau (male student) = /gama::/
lhwo (under) = /lU::/

Had you recently become acquainted with Estonian by chance? (It has doubly-long consonants and, AFAIK, vowels. Which aren't differentiated in the orthography from regular-doubled phonemes. I don't envy the foreign student.)

For the sake of aesthetics, I'd have to forego the <aaa> and <ùùù> solutions and propose the let's-throw-on-a-random-diacritic-because-they-always-work path: <â> and <û>.

You've chosen striking, and unexpected, orthographic representations for the doubly-long vowels in your conlang. What's your rationale behind <hau> and <hwo>?

[finlay]

Apart from this not being true and not making sense... he's blind. This is like a sandbox because IPA doesn't work for him.

I left the post unanswered because there was the possibility that I wasn't being addressed: Nortaneous had also posted, and the comments were slightly more applicable to him. As well as because it occurred to me that perhaps I was simply having a temporary brain hiccup and would figure out what R.Rusanov was driving at soon enough.

It's a relief to know I'm not the only one who was left puzzled.

Most of what this guy posts is insensitive rubbish anyway...

[R.Rusanov]

Let me get this straight:

You wrote an IPA phonology then converted it to X-Sampa, automatically mind you, not even by hand, then provided a X-Sampa to IPA converter? Why the hell would you do that? That's like google translating your post to Hmong then providing a link to google translate - fucking pointless

Apart from this not being true and not making sense... he's blind. This is like a sandbox because IPA doesn't work for him.

I was talking about Nort. Specifically this post -

/p_h p p_l_h p_l t_h t t`_h t c_h c k_h k q_h q ?/
/mp_h mb mp_l_h mb_l nt_h nd n`t`_h n`d` Jc_h JJ\ Nk_h Ng N\q_h N\G\/
/ts_h ts ts`_h ts`/
/nts_h ndz nts`_h ndz`/
/f v s K s` z` C j\ h/
/m_0 m m_0_l m_l n_0 n J_0 J/
/a e e~ O O~ i 1 u/
/ai a1 au i@ u@/
Tones: high, mid, low, high falling, mid rising, low creaky, mid-falling breathy (pO_H pO pO_L pO_F pO_R pO_k_L pO_t_F)
Low creaky tone is realized phrase-finally as a long low rising tone.

Example: t_ha_ku_B tsO_t_M_B pe_T ca_tu_M_B la_k1_B sa1_M_H da1_B t_hi@_T_M tau n_0a_M_H k_hau_T Jca1_B ts`_hi@_t_M_B. j\a_k_B z`O~ ts`_ha_T_M p_la1_B ma_B, ne_T_M j\u@_M_H ts`u_k_B mu_B n`t`_hi@_M_H nu_t_M_B Cu@_B sai_T lu@_t_M_B mu@_T_M ke_M_H pa_M_B hO_k_B da_M_B ts`i Jo_M_B JJ\i_t_M_B i_M_B c_he~_T ts`a_k_B nda_k1_B ne_T_M.

http://www.theiling.de/cgi/cxs-ipa.cgi can convert IPA to X-SAMPA

I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, maybe he composed it in X-SAMPA out of neccessity - but he further elaborated in this thread that

It's not sandhi, it's that the IPA > X-SAMPA converter I used wrote contour tones as sequences of two tones instead of with the contour tone sequences.

So he
1. composed it in IPA
2. converted it to X-SAMPA (presumably to be quirky & unique)
3. knew that was obscure so posted a link to the same converter for peasants to spend time fiddling with making a "oh look a new post let me read it" into a "let me take this, translate it with a special program because the author wanted to waste our time instead of being direct, paste it to notepad, then read it" debacle. That's unacceptable

[Drydic]

ITT raging Bulgarian is raging

[Hallow XIII]

Shut up, Rusanov.

[finlay]

1. composed it in IPA
2. converted it to X-SAMPA (presumably to be quirky & unique)
3. knew that was obscure so posted a link to the same converter for peasants to spend time fiddling with making a "oh look a new post let me read it" into a "let me take this, translate it with a special program because the author wanted to waste our time instead of being direct, paste it to notepad, then read it" debacle. That's unacceptable

Fucking stop, we've told you exactly why Nort did this and it's because Trebor needs a screenreader that isn't compatible with a very wide range of characters.

Honestly, I haven't taken such a strong dislike to a newbie in a long time. Fuck. Off.

[R.Rusanov]

He posted something meant for one poster on a whole forum thread?