SoundSpel

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SoundSpel is a regular, largely phonemic English-language spelling reform proposal that was based on General American English but can be used for several dialects. It is written with the 26-letter ISO basic Latin alphabet, and its origins date back to 1910.[1] It was developed "in response to the widely held conviction that English spelling is more complex than it needs to be."[2] The system has been endorsed by the [3] because English speakers can easily read it.[4]

History[]

In 1910, philologist Alexander John Ellis played a major role in developing a system now known as "Classic New Spelling." and William Archer wrote the first dictionary of the system, New Spelling (NuSpelling), which was republished in 1941 by the Simplified Spelling Society.[3]

In 1969, Godfrey Dewey improved upon Ripman's and Archer's work, producing World English Spelling. Dewey and Edward Rondthaler, a prominent typesetter and CEO of the International Typeface Corporation, corresponded from 1971.

In 1986, the published a book written by Rondthaler and named Dictionary of Simplified American Spelling (full title: Dictionary of simplified American Spelling: An alternative spelling for English; Written as it Sounds, Pronounced as it's Written). The book called for improvements to spelling, with clearer rules and better grapheme/phoneme correspondence. It was slightly less strict than Classic New Spelling, allowing "the" rather than "dhe", for example.

The system was further reformed from 1987 on and became SoundSpel.

Description[]

Phonetics[]

Graphemes are represented as follows, with their nearest possible International Phonetic Alphabet equivalents.[5] The examples are listed first in SoundSpel and second in traditional spelling (italicized).

Grapheme IPA Example
a /æ/, /ə/ (final) sat, stigma (sat, stigma)
e /ɛ/ set (set)
i /ɪ/, /aɪ/ (final) did (did), i (eye)
o /ɒ/, /oʊ/ (final) dot (dot), lo (lo, low)
u /ʌ/ cut (cut)
Grapheme IPA Example
ae /eɪ/ S/sundae (Sunday, sundae)
ee /iː/ see (see)
ie /aɪ/ mies (mice)
oe /oʊ/ oever (over)
ue /juː/ cue (cue)
Grapheme IPA Example
aa /ɑː/ salaam (salaam)
au, aw*below /ɔː/ maul, saw (maul, saw)
oi /ɔɪ/ coin (coin)
oo /uː/ moon (moon)
ou, ow*below /aʊ/ our, tower (hour/our, tower)
uu /ʊ/ guud (good)
Grapheme IPA Example
ar /ɑːr/ bar (bar)
er /ɜːr/, /ər/ merj (merge)
or /ɔːr/ befor (before)
Grapheme IPA Example
arr /ær/ marry (marry)
err /ɛr/ errand (errand)
orr /ɒr/ sorry (sorry)
ur /ʊər/ alur (allure)
air /ɛər/ flair (flair)
eer /ɪər/ beer (beer)
uer /jʊər/ cuer (cure)
Grapheme IPA Example
b /b/ bat (bat)
c/k /k/ cat, kik (cat, kick)
ch /tʃ/ ich (itch)
d /d/ od (odd)
f /f/ foeny (phony)
g /ɡ/ gorjus (gorgeous)
h /h/ hat (hat)
j /dʒ/ juj (judge)
l /l/ litl (little)
m /m/ munky (monkey)
n /n/ niet (night)
ng /ŋ/ eeting (eating)
nk /ŋk/ ink (ink)
nx /ŋks/ jinx (jinx)
p /p/ peper (pepper)
q /kw/ erthqaek (earthquake)
r /r/ red (red, read)
s /s/ sik (sick)
sh /ʃ/ shed (shed)
t /t/ tatl (tattle)
th /θ/, /ð/*below thin, this (thin, this)
v /v/ uven (oven)
w /w/ wor (war)
wh /hw/ whi (why w/o wine-whine merger)
x /ks/, /gz/*below box, exist (box, exist)
y /j/, /ɪ/ or /i/*below yes (yes), funy (funny)
z /z/ zoo (zoo)
zh /ʒ/ azher (azure)

Rules[]

Schwa and schwi
There are no changes in the spelling of the schwa (/ə/) sound in the unstressed syllables of words like organ, novel, pencil, and lemon, unless traditional spelling would indicate a mispronunciation in SoundSpel (hence, the word mountain is spelled mounten).[6] To represent the schwi (half "ee") sound, which can be pronounced more than one way, SoundSpel has three rules: ⟨e⟩ should be used in a word's first syllable (e.g. event, eqip for equip), ⟨i⟩ should be followed by a schwa in the combinations ia, io, and iu (e.g. insomnia, joevial for jovial), and ⟨y⟩ should be used terminally, or medially when not followed by schwa a, o, and u (e.g. raedyo for radio, joevyality for joviality). According to the Dictionary of simplified American Spelling, this system "combines most of the logic of Ripman['s system] with most of the visual compatibility of Dewey['s]."[7]
Distinguishing between ⟨au⟩ and ⟨aw⟩, and ⟨ou⟩ and ⟨ow⟩
As it is "asking too much... of readers of English" to transition fully to one grapheme per pronunciation, these digraphs are governed by two rules. ⟨ou⟩ and ⟨au⟩ are always followed by a consonant and never end a root or a word (e.g. oul for traditional owl, aukward for awkward). ⟨ow⟩ and ⟨aw⟩ never begin a word (e.g. plowing, flawd for flawed). Though these examples are exceptional in that they change the traditional spelling, the rules are intended to make SoundSpel appear closer to traditional spelling.[8]

au/ou: always followed by a consonant and never end a word or its root, begins words; aw/ow is used everywhere else aw/ow: never followed by a consonant and always end a root or word, never at the beginning of a word

Distinguishing between ⟨au⟩ and ⟨aw⟩, and ⟨ou⟩ and ⟨ow⟩
As it is "asking too much... of readers of English" to transition fully to one grapheme per pronunciation, these digraphs have rules for their usage. ⟨au⟩ and ⟨ou⟩ are always followed by a consonant, they begin words, and they never end words or roots (e.g. oul for traditional owl, aukward for awkward). On the other hand, ⟨aw⟩ and ⟨ow⟩ never begin words, and they end words and roots (e.g. plowing, flawd for flawed). Though the words oul and aukward are exceptional in that they change the traditional spelling, the rules are intended to make SoundSpel appear closer to traditional spelling.[9]
Using ⟨c⟩ vs. ⟨k⟩
In SoundSpel, the /k/ sound can be represented by two graphemes, ⟨c⟩ and ⟨k⟩. ⟨k⟩ is used before the letters e, i, and y and when definitively ending closed syllables; it can also be used to maintain the consistent spelling of roots when inflections and suffixes are added. The grapheme ⟨c⟩ is used in all other cases.[10]
Word-final ⟨i⟩ and ⟨o⟩
The long i (/aɪ/) and long o (/oʊ/) sounds at the ends of words may be written with a single letter, as in go, afro, fli, and deni, but non-final vowels in words like lieing and flies must have an e to be lengthened. Hence: banjo and its plural banjoes. Words with these endings also should not interfere with exception words.*below For example, the word toe should retain its spelling as to prevent confusion with the word to. Additionally, retaining an ⟨e⟩ can be useful to indicate stress. For instance, the word bellow can be spelled belo to indicate that the stress is on the first syllable, and the ⟨e⟩ can be reintroduced to indicate the opposite in the word below, spelled beloe.[11]
Word-final ⟨l⟩, ⟨m⟩, and ⟨n⟩
As to eliminate misleading inflected forms, SoundSpel follows traditional spelling in that whenever a schwa vowel separates a word's final consonants (as in button, atom, and pedal), the vowel is retained. Otherwise, it is dropped (e.g. candl and sampl).[12]
Spelling /ɔː/
The sound /ɔː/ is usually spelled ⟨au⟩ or ⟨aw⟩, but the digraph ⟨ll⟩ indicates that a preceding ⟨a⟩ is pronounced /ɔː/, as in fall, tall, and call, which could all alternatively be spelled faul, taul, and caul, respectively.
Pronunciation of ⟨th⟩, ⟨x⟩, and ⟨y⟩
There is no change to the traditional digraph ⟨th⟩, even though it can be pronounced voiced /ð/ or unvoiced /θ/. Spelling reformers have suggested using thh or dh (from edh) to represent the /ð/ sound, but SoundSpel reluctantly rejects both "in the interest of visual compatibility [with traditional spelling]."[13] Additionally, unvoiced occurrences of ⟨th⟩ outnumber the voiced 5 to 1.[14]

When the letter ⟨x⟩ is followed by a vowel, it is pronounced /gz/ (e.g. exam, exult). Otherwise, it is pronounced /ks/ (expect, fox). When a vowel follows a /ks/ pronunciation, SoundSpel inserts an ⟨s⟩ after the ⟨x⟩ (axsis for axis, exsodus for exodus) so that the rule holds.[15] The letter ⟨y⟩ often represents /j/, but it can also represent final /i/ (per schwi rules*above), though this is discouraged in monosyllabic words (e.g. bee)[16] and their derivatives (e.g. hunybee for honeybee, as opposed to hunyby).

Final ⟨u⟩
The grapheme ⟨u⟩ is never used finally to represent /ə/; ⟨a⟩ is used instead. In fact, U is the only word in SoundSpel that ends with a ⟨u⟩[17], with the possible exception of thru.*below
False diphthongs
If a pair of two vowel letters—such as ea—do not match a digraph on the SoundSpel chart, then the syllable ends with the first vowel, as in react (ea is not a digraph in SoundSpel), jeenius, and creaetiv. In words with three or more vowels letters, the syllable ends with the first digraph, e.g. flooid (pronounced floo-id rather than flo-oid), hieest, inueendo, paeabl, and evalueaet.[18]
Ambiguous syllable breaks
A hyphen following a vowel unambiguously separates a long vowel from another vowel following, as in re-enter and co-operaet (co-operate). The same is applied to consonants, for example in the word liet-hous (lighthouse), distinguishing /t.h/ from /ð/ in ⟨th⟩.[19]
Spelling of proper nouns
As "little can be gained and much lost by pressing for reform," SoundSpel tends to retain proper nouns' original spellings. However, dictionaries could still use SoundSpel to indicate an irregular proper noun's pronunciation,[20] and months and days of the week may also be respelled.[21]

Exceptions[]

Common words
The following extremely common words remain irregularly spelled: as, be, do, has, he, his, she, me, we, is, of, off, th (the), thru (through), to, U (you), and was.[22] These words would otherwise be spelled az, bee, doo, haz, hee, hiz, shee, mee, wee, iz, uv, of, thee, throo, too, ue, and wuz, respectively. Words derived from these (such as being, together, and thruout) do not alter their root. The suffix -ful also remains unchanged.[23]
Word-final ⟨s⟩
There is no change in the plural suffix -s (as in jobs), the possessive suffix -'s (as in man's), and in the third person present singular verb suffix -s (as in he runs), even though in all these cases the s is sometimes pronounced /z/. A double s can be used to distinguish these words, as in caes (cays, /keɪz/) vs. caess (case, /keɪs/).
Capitalization of the word U
The word U, a respelling of you, is capitalized. As Edward Rondthaler wrote: "Since we accept the flattery of capital I for 'me', let us extend the courtesy of capital U for 'you'."[24]

Features[]

  • Does not introduce any new symbols foreign to English, thus making it compatible with the QWERTY keyboard, and does not introduce diacritical marks (such as accents), which are generally not favored in English-speaking countries.[25][26]
  • Relies upon common, familiar digraphs except for ⟨aa⟩, ⟨uu⟩, and ⟨zh⟩, though these are in fact seen in some words (see: aardvark, squush, zhoosh).
  • Does not dramatically change the appearance of existing words, and generally decreases text length by about 4%.[27] SoundSpel also promotes more precise pronunciation in speech.[28]
  • Improves consistency of writing, thereby reducing learning time and reading difficulties compared to traditional English spelling.
  • Is easier to learn, and especially easier to read, for those who are familiar with traditional English spelling than other systems. However, compromises and rule exceptions*above make SoundSpel more difficult to learn than it would be if it were a purely phonemic system. Learning to write it directly would require especial effort, unless computer software is used as an aid.[4]
  • Many words have altered spellings, including those whose current spellings seem regular. For instance, SoundSpel respells words that use a silent e for vowel lengthening, so the silent e appears to switch places with the preceding consonant (e.g. remote becomes remoet; name, naem; and hope, hoep).

Text examples[]

The Star by H. G. Wells[]

It was on the ferst dae of the nue yeer the anounsment was maed, allmoest siemultaeniusly frum three obzervatorys, that the moeshun of the planet Neptune, the outermoest of all planets that wheel about the Sun, had becum verry erratic. A retardaeshun in its velosity had bin suspected in Desember. Then a faent, remoet spek of liet was discuverd in the reejon of the perterbd planet. At ferst this did not cauz eny verry graet exsietment. Sieentific peepl, however, found the intelijens remarkabl enuf, eeven befor it becaem noen that the nue body was rapidly groeing larjer and brieter, and that its moeshun was qiet different frum the orderly progres of the planets. [668 characters]

(It was on the first day of the new year the announcement was made, almost simultaneously from three observatories, that the motion of the planet Neptune, the outermost of all planets that wheel around the sun, had become very erratic. A retardation in its velocity had been suspected in December. Then a faint, remote speck of light was discovered in the region of the perturbed planet. At first this did not cause any very great excitement. Scientific people, however, found the intelligence remarkable enough, even before it became know that the new body was rapidly growing larger and brighter, and that its motion was quiet different from the orderly progress of the planets.) [679 characters]

Britten wen yung by Frank Kermode[]

We mae nowadaes be chairy about uezing the werd 'jeenius', but we stil hav a guud iedeea wut is ment bi it. For exampl, thair ar graet numbers of verry gifted muezishans hoo ar admierd but not calld jeeniuses. But thair ar uthers, manifestly prodijus, performing offen at extraordinerrily erly aejes, a varieety of feets so complex that the muezical laeman cuud hardly imajin, eeven with the moest desperet laebor, accomplishing eny of them, wiel eeven muezishans ar astonisht and we then reech for the guud, handy, vaeg Enlietenment werd and call them jeeniuses. The list incloods Mozart and Mendelssohn; and, despiet all the limiting jujments, it incloods Benjamin Britten. [675 characters]

(We may nowadays he chary about using the word ‘genius’, but we still have a good idea what is meant by it. For example, there are great numbers of very gifted musicians who are admired but not called geniuses. But there are others manifestly prodigious, performing, often at extraordinarily early ages, a variety of feats so complex that the musical layman could hardly imagine, even with the most desperate labour, accomplishing any one of them, while even musicians are astonished: and we then reach for the good, handy, vague Enlightenment word and call them geniuses. The list includes Mozart and Mendelssohn; and, despite all the limiting judgments, it includes Benjamin Britten.)[29] [684 characters]

Oed to a Nietingael by John Keats[]

Mi hart aeks, and a drouzy numnes paens
         Mi sens, as tho of hemlok I had drunk,
Or empteed sum dul oepiaet to the draens
         Wun minit past, and Lethe-wards had sunk;
'Tis not thru envy of thi hapy lot,
         But being too hapy in thien hapynes,—
                That thow, liet-winged Dryad of the trees,
                        In sum meloedius plot
         Of beechen green, and shadoes numberles
                Singest of sumer in fuul-throeted eez. [370 characters]

(My heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains
         My sense, as though of hemlock I had drunk,
Or emptied some dull opiate to the drains
         One minute past, and Lethe-wards had sunk:
'Tis not through envy of thy happy lot,
         But being too happy in thine happiness,—
                That thou, light-winged Dryad of the trees
                        In some melodious plot
         Of beechen green, and shadows numberless,
                Singest of summer in full-throated ease.)[30] [393 characters]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Rondthaler,Edward, "Personal View 8" (Background of the Notation) Archived 2007-01-07 at the Wayback Machine, www.spellingsociety.org, accessed May 16, 2008.
  2. ^ Rondthaler, Edward and Lias, Edward, 1986, Dictionary of Simplified American Spelling, https://www.academia.edu/9134019/Dictionary_of_Simplified_American_Spelling, 680 Fifth Avenue, NY, The American Language Academy, p.viii, accessed 15 Sep 2021
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b Rondthaler,Edward, "A Brief History of Efforts to Simplify English Spelling", americanliteracy.com, accessed May 16, 2008.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b Rondthaler,Edward, "Personal View 8" (Answers to Specific Questions) Archived 2007-01-07 at the Wayback Machine #10, www.spellingsociety.org, accessed May 29, 2008.
  5. ^ Rondthaler, Edward, "Personal View 8" (The SoundSpel (TM) Notation System) Archived 2007-01-07 at the Wayback Machine, www.spellingsociety.org, accessed May 16, 2008.
  6. ^ Rondthaler,Edward, "Personal View 8" (Answers to Specific Questions) Archived 2007-01-07 at the Wayback Machine #5, 6 & 7, www.spellingsociety.org, accessed 15 Sep 2008.
  7. ^ Dictionary of Simplified American Spelling, p.288, accessed 15 Sep 2021
  8. ^ Dictionary of Simplified American Spelling, p.292, accessed 11 Sep 2021
  9. ^ Dictionary of Simplified American Spelling, p.292, accessed 11 Sep 2021
  10. ^ McGehee, Robert J., Usage of c and k blog posts http://spellingsociety.org/, accessed 23 August, 2021.
  11. ^ Dictionary of Simplified American Spelling, p.285, accessed 11 Sep 2021
  12. ^ Dictionary of Simplified American Spelling, p.295, accessed 11 Sep 2021
  13. ^ Dictionary of Simplified American Spelling, p.299, accessed 15 Sep 2021
  14. ^ Rondthaler,Edward, "Personal View 8" (Answers to Specific Questions) Archived 2007-01-07 at the Wayback Machine #5, 6 & 7, www.spellingsociety.org, accessed May 16, 2008.
  15. ^ Dictionary of Simplified American Spelling, p.298, accessed 11 Sep 2021
  16. ^ Dictionary of Simplified American Spelling, accessed 11 Sep 2021
  17. ^ Dictionary of Simplified American Spelling, p.293, accessed 11 Sep 2021
  18. ^ Rondthaler,Edward, "Personal View 8" (Answers to Specific Questions) Archived 2007-01-07 at the Wayback Machine #5, 6 & 7, www.spellingsociety.org, accessed May 16, 2008.
  19. ^ Dictionary of Simplified American Spelling, p.285, accessed 11 Sep 2021
  20. ^ Dictionary of Simplified American Spelling, p.302, accessed 11 Sep 2021
  21. ^ Rondthaler,Edward, "Personal View 8" (Answers to Specific Questions) Archived 2007-01-07 at the Wayback Machine #5, 6 & 7, www.spellingsociety.org, accessed 15 Sep 2008.
  22. ^ Dictionary of Simplified American Spelling, p.307, accessed 11 Sep 2021
  23. ^ Dictionary of Simplified American Spelling, p.304, accessed 15 Sep 2021
  24. ^ "Personal View 8" (The SoundSpel (TM) Notation System) Archived 2007-01-07 at the Wayback Machine, www.spellingsociety.org, accessed May 16, 2008.
  25. ^ Horne, Scott, "Accents and other diacritical marks in English", www.hornetranslations.com, accessed June 7, 2008.
  26. ^ Bear, Jacci Howard, "Accent Marks Using Diacriticals in Desktop Publishing", www.about.com, accessed June 7, 2008.
  27. ^ Rondthaler,Edward, "Personal View 8" (Answers to Specific Questions) Archived 2007-01-07 at the Wayback Machine #9, www.spellingsociety.org, accessed May 16, 2008.
  28. ^ Rondthaler,Edward, "Personal View 8" (Answers to Specific Questions) Archived 2007-01-07 at the Wayback Machine #4, www.spellingsociety.org, accessed May 16, 2008.
  29. ^ [1] Britten When Young
  30. ^ [2] Ode to a Nightingale

External links[]

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