Re: Re: wandering [OT] [was: B5 Ship Figures]

From: <laserlight@quixnet.net>
> >> That's the other thing I don't get.  What is it about apostrophes
that
makes people want to put them in the names of alien races all the time?
>
> Because we don't see them used this way in English words, they are a
cheap
way to indicate "this isn't English" without having to come up with a
non-English sound--but we do see apostrophes in contractions and
possessives, do they don't throw you off the way seeing other symbols
would.
>   Real non-English sounds (eg the high/low/rising/falling tones of
Chinese, or the clicks and pops of some south African languages) are a
pain
to represent to an English speaker.  And when you see a name like X! or
Hrska, most people are going to stop and wonder "how the heck do I
pronounce
that?", which interrupts the flow of the narrative.

And then there's the English dielect with the glottal stop - as  " is
lost
is Boh'ul" and