Re: On language-dependent defaults for character-folding

[Óscar Fuentes]

Joost Kremers <address@hidden> writes:

> Actually, without wanting to be pedantic, but ⟨ñ⟩ (the grapheme) *is*
> just an ⟨n⟩ with a tilde, regardless of the language one is talking
> about. The reason why a native speaker of Spanish considers n and ñ to
> be two different letters is because they represent two different
> *phonemes* of the Spanish language: /n/ vs. /ɲ/.

Actually, Spaniards consider ñ to be a letter because that is what we
are taught at school. That's what sets our expectations when we use text
editors.

> The term `letter' (as an alphabetic character) is notoriously imprecise,
> which is the cause of much confusion.

In Spanish, "letter" is precisely defined. We have 27 of them. `ch' and
`ll' were letters in Spanish until 2010, when the Academies decided to
demote them, following widespread public opinion. That will not happen
to ñ anytime soon.