mac@uvacs.CS.VIRGINIA.EDU (Alex Colvin) (08/25/87)
> > The English language uses 26 letters derived from the > > Latin alphabet. The set of letters suffices for English, > > Swahili, and Hawaiian; all other living languages use > > either the Latin aphabet plus other characters, or other > > non Latin aphabets or syllabaries. > > Maori (similar to Hawaiian but a living language in its own right) also > uses unaccented Latin. No doubt other examples exist. > e.g., Cree (an Algonkian language spoken across a substantial part of Canada) has both -- an alphabet and a latin spelling using no diacriticals. The latter is going to be common among languages only recently written. Incidentally, Mongolian has both an indigeneous alphabet (based on Uighir, based in turn on Sogdian), and (in Outer Mongolia, at least) a Cyrillic spelling without diacriticals. bayartai