alg

writing ka, etc., im such cases introduces an avoidable diacritical mark.

BisHop Krrcurne : A distinction is required between the long vowel and the case of two short vowels occurring together.

ProressoR WESTERMANN: In the latter case a glottal stop intervenes between the two vowels, and therefore the sign ' may be used to indicate the glottal stop.

BrsHop KitcHina’s objection that the sign ' was already in use to indicate elisions, e.g. in verse and in hymns, was met by the suggestion that it would be preferable not to indicate elisions at all. In any case the problems presented by the composition of hymns did not arise

in connection with the present discussion.

ARCHDEACON SHAW felt a difficulty about accepting the proposal on the ground that it was undesirable to commit the Conference to decisions arrived at piecemeal.

No decision was taken at this stage.

Nasalized Vowels.

PROFESSOR WESTERMANN: These should be indicated by the sign ~ above the letter, thus 4 would express the sound of the French word an. As far as the languages represented at this Conference were concerned, the sign was required only in one, viz. Zande.

Professor Westermann promised to deal in Committee with a difficulty raised by Mr. Batstone.

The Glottal Stop.

PROFESSOR WESTERMANN: This, in cases where it is essential that it should be indicated, would be expressed by the sign ', as in

Madi ‘bz hair as distinct from 67 oar.

No objection was raised to the use of the sign ' for this purpose, but a discussion took place as to whether it should precede or follow a consonant, i.e. whether the Madi word for hair should be written bi or ‘la. | PROFESSOR WESTERMANN pointed out that the theoretical question as to whether the sound followed or preceded that of the consonant had not been satisfactorily settled ; in the case of voiced consonants

_ it seemed to precede, and he suggested that the sign for the glottal stop. should therefore be written before the consonant.

The case was not the same as that of the voiceless consonants referred to on p. 6 (v) of the Memorandum.

Tones.

PRroFEssoR WESTERMANN: In certain languages it was necessary to indicate tones. Thus in Madi a distinction must be made between di head, and di (high tone) arm; ¢ mouth, and ti cow; oguw back, and ogt thief. There might be other tones in addition to the high and low tone, and it was customary to indicate the low tone by a grave accent and the high tone by an acute accent. In Madi only the high tone need be marked; what distinctions were necessary would have to be discovered in the case of each language.

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