8446: Re: 8425: Re: 8411: Voodoo Exhibition Brochure (fwd) -Spelling, orthography and blatance (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: bobrix@juno.com

Dear Carrol Coates,

My footnote to the bibliograpy on the Voodoo Exhibition explained my
position on spelling and othography based on my latest information. I am
in complete accord with Bob Corbett in his reply  #8435 and his earlier 
Vodoo web page statement of 1998. I support your hope that there will be
a standard Haitian creole orthography, but to my knowledge there 
is no officially recognized one.  The scholarship and efforts of  Valdman
and Freeman are laudable publications that 
eliminate many discrepancies. Similarly, the dialect dictionares of
authors such as Hans Curath are valuable contributions, but  generally it
takes some time for their inputs to become "standard" as represented by
inclusion in major dictionaries such as OED or Webster, the Library of
Congress Index or even the self-aggrandizing apologia of the NY Times
Manual of Style and Usage. The irony of their entry on voodoo brings a
smile because it incorporates some of the adverse reaction to their
repeatedly cavalier use of  "voodoo" in headlines.  I am certainly not a
lexicographer, but I do appreciate neologisms as part of the creative
process in a constanly changing vernacular.  Hyperbole and vociferous
prose have their place, but cogent arguments with evidence seem more
effective. The footnote that you found "blatantly untrue" was not meant
to be "disagreeably loud or boisterous, glaringly conspicuous or
obtrusive"--definitions of  "blatantly" from  my dictionary.  "Truth" is
another issue entirely. Thanks for  your comment.   Bob Brictson
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