On Mon, 27 Oct 2003, Keith Moore wrote:
Thanks for taking a stab at a problem statement. I'd like to drill down
on this just a bit.
What is the source of the "growing need"? Is it:
[snip]
I agree that this needs to be stated, but someone other than me will have
to do it.
I believe that the primary push for this functionality comes from regions
which use Latin alphabetics with diacriticals; and that most individuals
in regions which do not use Latin script are accept the use of Latin
script for multinational interchange. In many regions where Latin
diacriticals are used, there is no acceptable transform of a surname to a
form that does not use diacriticals. Simply omitting the diacritical
causes (at least to the inhabitants of those regions) a misspelling.
This set of beliefs naturally biases how I approach the problem. The
problem statement must be free of bias, including mine.
-- Mark --
http://staff.washington.edu/mrc
Science does not emerge from voting, party politics, or public debate.
Si vis pacem, para bellum.