Loren Szendre wrote:
> Rudy Velthuis (TeamB) wrote: > > Loren Szendre wrote: > > > >> Rudy Velthuis (TeamB) wrote: > >>>>> How is it pronounced? Does the first part rhyme on Ma__e or on > >> Masse? >> Masse. > >>>> My name is a simple concatenation of "Kasse" and "Baum". > >>> Then an __ would indeed give people the wrong pronunciation. > >> Why? Es-set is a simple orthographic replacement > > > > No, it isn't. An __ in words like Ma__e, Stra__e, Fu__, etc. means the > > preceding vowel must be pronounced long. If the __ is replaced by > > double s, it is pronounced short (e.g. Masse [*]). > > Thanks for the explanation. I'll have to get out my Duden. I took > German long before I learned the principles of linguistics, so I'll > have to rethink some of my long-held assumptions. > > One last question: if you are using, say an old American typewriter, > and you have to represent "Stra__e", you couldn't type "Strase", > because that would be pronounced "shtraza" -- so are you saying there > is no way to represent the word in Americangelese without the s-set?
Once again, it is es-zet. And if you don't have an __, like the Swiss, you use ss, but it makes things a little harder to read. Words like Strasse would not be a problem, but words like Masse would. You'd have to get the meaning (and pronunciation) from the context.
FWIW, Stra__e is pronounced "shtra'suh", not "shtra'sa"
-- Rudy Velthuis (TeamB) http://www.teamb.com
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