bsg (07/21/82)
The 'j' in Dijkstra is "pronounced" as much as the 'gh' in Dun Laoghaire. The "ij" letter-pair in Dutch denotes a long 'i' sound. If the 'j' weren't there, the name would be pronounced "Dickstra." Incidentally, thanks to the person who wrote in response to my query about Irish. Your answer was interesting and informative. I would have sent mail to tell you so, but when I got to the end of the article, the from line had long since disappeared and there was NO SIGNATURE. Finally--note that i did NOT originate the conjecture that older languages are more regular. I simply quoted it. Billie Goldstein Bell Labs Neptune NJ ...!npois!bsg