@Cerberus I saw your comment earlier and support it for all those questions.

@JoonasIlmavirta I also like this idea very much.

@cmw Great.

Why is it that the -ā- retains its vowel length in nōminātīvus, accūsātīvus and ablātīvus? From its stress pattern, I would have expect it to be shortened, especially for nōminātīvus, which seems to ‘want’ to become a dactylos plus trochee (nōmina-tīvus –⏑⏑–⏑).

This is rare. A plane has actual working WiFi for as long as promised.

@CannedMan Lack of stress doesn't automatically shorten vowels in Latin. It usually doesn't.

That is what I have observed too, but I find it surprising. Should we perhaps separate (in phonetic/phonemic writing, not in alphabetic writing) between long-, semilong and short vowels? I.e., could nōminātīvus perhaps be rendered as [noːmɪnäˑˈt̪iːu̯ʊs̠], that is [äˑ] instead of [äː]?

There is something to the rhythm of the word that has the musician in me want to shorten it slightly. Perhaps a dactyl is too much, but still …

@JoonasIlmavirta Don’t tell anyone; they might start using it too.

@JoonasIlmavirta And they aren't charging an arm and a leg for it?

@CannedMan Somehow I don't feel any urge to shorten anything with that. I guess it shows how much our intuition to Latin depends on other languages.

@Adam I don't know what their standard rates are. I get 30 minutes free on European flights by frequent flyer status.

That means of course that I've poured money into the airline, but I'm not paying for internet separately.

And it's grants that pay for the tickets, not my personal purse.

@JoonasIlmavirta Not a bad way to live the jet set life.

@Adam A downside is that I get spoiled. Now if I don't get to use my preferred airline alliance, I'm annoyed with the lack of privileges.

I'm now heading back home, but on my way out a week ago I got a surprisingly fluent experience: I had stayed overnight in an airport hotel for an early flight, and the time it took me from leaving my hotel room to having free food in my hand in a lounge was 15 minutes. That includes checking out of the hotel, clearing the security, and all that.

I'm used to things being smooth at the Helsinki airport, but that was remarkable.

@JoonasIlmavirta That is super fast. Was it a buffet breakfast? Usually the complimentary breakfasts I'm used to seeing are pretty basic: muffins, coffee, fruit, pastries, etc.

San Francisco airport is usually not too bad as far as airports go. I can get in through security and into waiting for a flight relatively quickly most of the time, despite the line and security.

@Adam I had access to two free breakfasts, one in the hotel and one in the lounge. I skipped the former, as eating after security is much more relaxed.

The hotel breakfast would have been great, but the lounge was perfectly sufficient with rolls, yogurt, fruit, hot and cold drinks, and the like.

The two key features of a lounge to me are cleaner toilets (than the rest of the terminal) and the chance to refill my water bottle. Free food is a nice addition and very useful, but doesn't seem to make the top of my list.

@Adam I seem to have expertly skipped the question itself... Yes, it was buffet. I generally prefer buffets.

@JoonasIlmavirta Cleaner toilets is a huge plus. I really don't like using one on the plane itself.

Needless to say I would not be a fan of using a Roman toilet.

@Adam The lounge I was in today was in Rome! I had an overlay at Fiumicino.

@JoonasIlmavirta Oh, nice!