I mistakenly did not send this to the whole list last night, although it seems it is  mostly paunarutka at this point.  I would, however, repeat that there are simply many places where the lack of diacritics obscures the meaning entirely. For example, it and iṭ in Sanskrit grammatical terminology. 

Regarding the use of the original script, if I were to have my druthers, all longer quotations would be in the original script. Anyone who can read the language can read the script, and many of the people who can read it best, cannot read transliteration or only with difficulty. It's also worth noting that despite the typographic difficulties, many earlier publications were printed with Devanāgarī instead of transliteration. Kielhorn, for example, published many studies (Kâtyâyana and Patanjali (sic!), his translation of the Paribhāṣenduśekhara, etc.) with minimal transliteration, mostly for proper names.  The two scripts blend rather elegantly even in the same line.

Inline image 2

All the Best,
Victor

On Mon, Sep 5, 2016 at 8:39 PM, victor davella <vbd203@googlemail.com> wrote:
Dear All,

I never understood the rational behind dropping diacritics, especially for Indian languages. For Classical Sanskrit there are but three diacritical marks: (the macron (ā), the under dot (ṣ), and the acute accent (ś)), none of which obscures the original shape of a roman letter and all of which are used consistently to indicate a specific point of articulation or the length of a vowel. The only oddity is vocalic r.  The macron may very well be known to many readers already. Other notes on pronunciation are of course necessary, lest the reader pronounce candra as kandra, but a simple list or table takes care of this within a page. 

Usually the author who decides to dispense with them adds a note intended to placate those who would wish to have them, and asks for dispensation because a more general or non-specialist public will find diacritics overwhelming, confusing, distracting or the like. Is this true? If one wishes to read a book about Indian philosophy, literature etc., why is it assumed  that the reader would NOT want to have information about the language's pronunciation and that the reader would be so put off by presence of diacritics. If some readers do in fact think in this manner, why should they be the ones to determine which information is suppressed?  In any case, I don't believe that there is actually any harm in having them, only benefit.

I am pro-diacritics and have yet to see a convincing reason for leaving them out in the transliteration of Sanskrit terms in the realm of scholarly publications. 

All the Best,
Victor


On Mon, Sep 5, 2016 at 6:13 PM, Jeffery Long via INDOLOGY <indology@list.indology.info> wrote:
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---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Jeffery Long <dharmaprof108@yahoo.com>
To: Indology List <indology@list.indology.info>
Cc: 
Date: Mon, 5 Sep 2016 16:12:54 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: Question on Diacritical Marks
Dear Colleagues,

I have a somewhat delicate question on which I would appreciate your candid opinions.

Imagine a doctoral dissertation in the field of philosophy.  The primary audience for this dissertation is other philosophers, most of whom are likely to have little or no expertise in the field of Indology.  The dissertation does, however, engage quite extensively with Indic philosophical traditions and texts, and does so in a serious and responsible fashion.  Because the author him or herself is also, however, primarily a philosopher and not an Indologist, s/he does not deploy diacritical marks in presenting Sanskrit terms.

How would such a dissertation be regarded by most of you?  Would the non-use of diacritical marks alone disqualify this work from being taken seriously?  (My own reaction: I would personally find it distracting and irritating, but not disqualifying if the scholarship were otherwise sound.)  Your thoughts?

With thanks in advance,

Jeff
 
Dr. Jeffery D. Long
Professor of Religion and Asian Studies
Elizabethtown College
Elizabethtown, PA


Series Editor, Explorations in Indic Traditions: Theological, Ethical, and Philosophical
Lexington Books

Consulting Editor, Sutra Journal
http://www.sutrajournal.com

"One who makes a habit of prayer and meditation will easily overcome all difficulties and remain calm and unruffled in the midst of the trials of life."  (Holy Mother Sarada Devi)