Here's some more info on a possible origin. A./
>Date: Fri, 26 Oct 2001 13:52:38 -0400 (EDT) >From: Barbara Beeton <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >well, guys, >i don't think we're going to get anything much better than this. >this recollection predates 1984 by a *long* time. >cheers. -- bb > > >---------- Forwarded message ---------- >Date: Fri, 26 Oct 2001 13:44:19 -0700 >From: Frank Romano >To: Barbara Beeton <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: Re: origin of the term "caron" > >Hello > >Back at the old Mergenthaler Linotype Company in Broooklyn, NY every glyph >had a name and a number--which related to millions of punches used to make >matrices. These glyphs were recorded in giant books in the center of the >order department with a duplicate set in matrix manufacturing. The Slovak >diacritic was called a "caron" and no derivation was ever recorded. > >Here is some information I uncovered doing a cursory search of the >Internet: > >The caron (palatalization mark, "softmaker") indicates that a consonant is >soft. If no caron is present, the vowel is hard. The letters "d", "t", >"n", and "l", however, are made implictly soft if followed by an i or an >e. However, there are a few exceptions to the implicit softness, such as >in the words "teraz" and "teda". And also in the words of foreign origin >(e.g. "demokratick*") this rule does not apply. Apart from this exception, >the Slovak orthography follows the principle "Write as you hear (it)". >Note that while every Slovak vowel can be either long or short, not all >Slovak consonants have a soft counterpart. (In some cases the Slovak caron >can be demonstrated as analogy of "h" in English: Slovak s+caron is equal >to English s+h and c+caron is equal English c+h. In various European >languages also the letters Z, Y, J were/are used instead of caron.) The >consonant "l" exists also in the soft form, but especially in the position >preceding "i" or "e" (where caron should be omitted) it is pronounced soft >only by a few speakers nowadays and sounds archaic. In other positions it >should be pronounced soft (although many west Slovakia speakers do not >speak that way), being still a standard pronunciation used also on TV and >radio. Carons associated with certain lower case letters ("d", "t" and >"l") look often more like apostrophes (than like carons) in typed/printed >text (for typographical reasons). > >Carrin is a variation of the French occupational name Charron, from Old >French charron = cart, and described the man who made carts. It is also >derived from Caron, which was a given name among the Gauls from the >element car = to love. Both versions developed variations that include >Carron, Caron, Charron, Charon. Charrondier, Charrandier are cart maker >variations. > >Caron (wedge): Combining an acute accent and a grave, or turning a >circumflex upside down, yields the diacritic known variously as a caron, a >wedge, or a hacek. It is familiar to linguists and Slavists. Hacek is >Czech for 'little hook? > >Frank Romano >RIT