Subject: re : 6 . 199 ipa

it would be nice to have true democracy when trying to reach agreement on how to use phonetic symbols , as stemburger has suggested . just as war is too important a matter to be left to the generals , so choosing a standardized set of symbols should n't be left to the phoneticians . the international phonetic association has always recognized this . it is fully conscious of the fact that ipa symbols are used by a wide variety of people . at the 1989 kiel convention , which was the first major revision for almost 50 years , there was a great deal of discussion about remembering our ' customers ' , as one phonetician put it . and ( despite comments to the contrary by participants in this discussion ) the only changes since then have been small changes that affect comparatively few users of the alphabet , largely because of the belief that it is important for the alphabet to remain as stable as possible . if stemburger would like to organize some kind of referendum , good luck to him . i note that he suggests the lsa as the appropriate body for the u . s . , although he also mentions ashla ( american speech hearing and language association ) as an interested group that has officially adopted the ipa . their membership is much larger than the lsa . the asa ( acoustical society of america ) is another group that has many members interested in phonetic symbols . the1989 ipa kiel convention was open to all , and did include members of all the organizations mentioned by stemburger , including lsa , ashla , asa , sil and others , none of the participants , of course , speaking officially for any of these organizations . the convention was also publicized in a paper in language , the only paper that morris halle and i have ever co-authored . i really do not see how we can get more international collaboration . agreeing on symbols is as difficult as getting everyone to use the same units for measuring weights and distances . in response to my previous suggestion that people interested in choices of phonetic symbols should join the international phonetic association , i have received inquiries as to how to do this . there is a form in the journal of the international phonetic association ( which members receive - - and your university library + should + take ) . but really all you need to do is to send your name and address , plus a check for $ 25 or # 13 sterling ( or request to charge access / mastercharge / visa / eurocard ) for the annual dues to : secretariat , ipa linguistics and phonetics univeristy of leeds leeds , ls2 9jt , u . k . peter ladefoged
