DRE Birth Anouncement


Í am pleazed tu anounce the birth ov a néw spelling system, DRE.  This system iz the unauthorízed òffspring ov Bob Bóden's SRS and Wýk's Regülarízed Ênglish.  (The náme, DRE, stands fòr Díacritically Regülarízed Ênglish.)  DRE rezembles WRE in mâny respects, but bý úzing mâny ov the Latin-1 díacritics, it iz áble tu bé éven mòre recognízable than WRE tu readers familyar with traditional Ênglish òrthography.

This anouncement iz written in verzion 2.2 ov DRE, current az ov Janúâry 14, 2005.

The goals and básic principles ov DRE àr az follóws:

  1. DRE úzes díacritics tu indicáte the corect pronuncìátion ov traditionally spelled wôrds.  Wôrds àr réspelled ónly when the corect pronuncìátion, òr clóse tu it, cannot bé só indicáted.  Fòr instance, this means that "ph" wôrds àr not réspelled with "f" - the "ph" pronuncìátion iz clear and consistent, éven thó the úse ov tew distinct spellings fòr the sáme sound iz unnecessâry and illojical.

  2. The acúte and gráve accents àr úzed tu indicáte lòng vowel sounds.  (Whether the vowel ov "clòth", which DRE reprezents with "ò", iz lòng iz admittedly a matter ov definition.)  Vowels with a circumflex accent òr an ûmlout àr shòrt (sômtímes redúced tu a shwà).  Úzjùally, dígraphs dù nòt úze díacritics.  However, they àr úzed when the sáme dígraph haz mòre than wunn pronuncíàtion (e.g., "cow" versus "blów"), òr when the vowels ov a dígraph àr pronounced separatly (az in "créáte").

  3. It iz intended that DRE bé readable with aul accents ómitted, despíte the greyter ambigúity ov the unaccented spellings.  Wunn aspect ov this requírement iz that nó tew wôrds with different traditional spellings can bé spelled with the sáme séquence ov letters (accented òr not) in DRE.

  4. If it iz necessâry that a wôrd bé réspelled, the réspelling shoûd rezemble the traditional spelling tu the extent possible.  Fòr instance, the wôrd <beauty> iz réspelled az "béuty", not az "búté"  òr "byoóty".

  5. Homonyms in traditional spelling shoûd remain distinct when réspelled in DRE.  Since <I>, <aye> and <eye> àr spelled differently in TS, they shoûd bé spelled differently in DRE az well.   (They ar "Í", "" and "eýe" respectivly.)  A hàrder example iz <to/too/two>, which becôm "tu", "toó" and "tew".

  6. When possible, wôrds shoûd bé réspelled consistently.  Fòr instance, in <igh> wôrds, the <igh> iz repláced únifòrmly with "íe", az in "síe", "flíet" and "insíet".  Fòr anôther example, when the <ear> trígraph iz pronounced with the <ur> sound, it iz nòrmally réspelled bý "er", az in "lern" and "serch".  However, <heard> iz réspelled az "hird", tu avoid clashing with the homonym <herd>.

  7. DRE tríes tu avoid unnatjural spellings.  The úse ov "j" in certâin consonant combinátions iz its móst unúzjùal featjur, but it iz eazy tu get úsed tu.

  8. In âddition tu corecting obvìôus spelling problems líke sílent letters and misleading vowel combinátions, DRE corects tew mòre sutle problems with traditional spelling.  When a sílent "e" follóws a shòrt vowel, DRE éyther drops the "e", az in "enjin" and "minut", òr màrks the vowel az explicitly shòrt, az in "furnâce".  Similarly, when a vowel pronounced az a shwà iz follówed bý a dubble letter, the dubbling iz remùved, az in "aplaud" and "colect".

  9. Whíle DRE iz dezíened fòr Amèrican Ênglish, it tríes tu úze spellings which àr not complétely wròng fòr British Ênglish and which, when not corect, can bé máde corect bý adding, remùving òr chánjing a díacritic.  Fòr example, the Amèrican spellings "dance", "whôt" and "cròss" correspond tu the British spellings "dànce", "whot" and "cross".  (Í shoûd nóte that thâre'z an awful lot Í dón't knów about British Ênglish, and errors in this pàrt ov DRE seem inevitable.  Í will atempt tu corect them az Í becôm awâre ov them.)  A similar DRE featjur iz the úse ov the vowels "ú" and "ù" (az in "perfúme" and "rùde") tu indicáte whether the lòng "u" pronuncìátion with a precéding "y" sound may possibly bé úzed, without atempting tu absolùtely pin down whether it iz (òr shoûd bé) úzed bý âny particülar speaker.

  10. Whíle accüracy iz impòrtant tu DRE, thâre àr certâin distinctions it duz not máke.  The tew sounds ov Ênglish "th", "x" and "ng" àr not distingwished.  DRE úzjùally úzes the sáme vowel az traditional spelling fòr unstressed shòrt vowels (and the shwà), which can lead tu ambigúity in the pronuncìátion if the stress iz not knówn.  In a féw cases, the sáme wôrd may hav multiple, clearly different pronuncìátions, az with "convert" (chánje) and "convert" (wunn hoó haz converted), thó perhaps the fòrmer shoûd bé spelled "cônvert".


Whíle DRE rezembles bóth its pârents in mâny ways, it iz different frôm éyther.  The systematic differences frôm SRS Í consider móst impòrtant àr:

  1. DRE úzes mòre díacritics than SRS.  This cauzes it tu requíre less réspelling, at the còst ov apearing mòre exotic.  Sôm specific accented letters with different meanings in the tew systems àr "ô", "ú" and "ù".

  2. Similarly, DRE úzes mòre vowel dígraphs than SRS, sôm ov them with multiple interpretátions.  This alows clóser spellings tu traditional spelling, at the còst ov less predictability and òrderlìnêss.

  3. SRS úzes the dígraph "uh" in sôm cáses tu indicáte the shwà sound, az in <<uhríve>>.  DRE haz nò similar featjure: <arrive> iz spelled "aríve".

  4. Thâre iz nó featjur in SRS corresponding tu the "j" spellings ov wôrds líke "isjùe" in DRE.

  5. SRS mákes nó atempt tu acomodáte British spelling (whíle DRE mêrely fails at it).

  6. SRS òffen alows the fínal accent tu bé left out when a lòng vowel ends a wôrd.  DRE alows this ónly fòr vèry common wôrds, and fòr the letter ó.  (Nóte that this redúced fòrm ov DRE iz not úzed on this páje, in òrder tu máke the DRE conventions mòre obvìôus.)


The móst impòrtant systematic differences ov DRE frôm WRE àr az follóws:
  1. WRE duz not úze díacritics, òr alow dígraphs tu reprezent mòre than wun sound, with a féw exceptions.

  2. WRE duz not réspell wôrds containing a sílent <gh>.  DRE duz.  On the ôther hand, WRE réspells <ph> wôrds, whíle DRE duz not.

  3. WRE alows the letter "g" tu bé ambigúôus fòr the consonant sounds ov <egg> and <edge> in mâny cáses.  DRE réspells "g" az "j" when it iz só pronounced.

  4. WRE réspells mâny instances ov the dígraph <th> az <<dh>> when voiced.  DRE duz not.

  5. WRE duz not úzjùally réspell wôrds with fòrâin spellings, such az <cabaret>, <gauche> and <lingerie>.  DRE duz ("cabaray", "góshe" and "lànjheray").

  6. DRE's "j" spellings àr az álìen tu WRE az they àr tu SRS.

  7. WRE chánjes the spelling ov the past tense suffix (<-ed>) tu match the pronuncìátion, az in <<begd>> and <<helpt>>.  DRE duz not.


Sôm contrasting spellings in DRE, SRS and WRE àr az follóws.  (Sôm ov the SRS spellings àr mý best gess frôm the rùles, and míet bé incorect.)

DRE
SRS
WRE
aprùve
upprúve
approove
blów
blów
bloe
boót
bút
boote
coat
cót
coat
coûd
keud
cood
fàther
fahther
faadher
frùet
frút
fruit
groùp
grúp
groope
hêre
hirr
here
leezjur
lézhur
leezure
looked
leukt
lookt
mâny
meny
meny
néutral
nútral
neutral
neybor
nábor
neighbor
ôther
uther
udher
packaj
packij
package
prêtty
pritty
pritty
pût
peut
poot
shûgar
sheugar
shugar
síet
sight
sight
whôt
whut
whot


Hêre iz a transcription ov a fámôus passaj frôm Duglâs Adamz' "Hitchhíker'z Guíde tu the Galaxy" intu DRE:

In mâny ov the mòre relaxed civilizátions on the Outer Eastern Rim ov the Galaxy, the Hitchhíker's Guíde haz aulreddy suplanted the greyt Encýclopédìa Galactica az the standard repozitòry ov aul knolledj and wizdom, fòr thó it haz mâny omissions and contains much that iz apocryphal, òr at least wíldly inaccürat, it scòres óver the ólder, mòre pedestrìan wôrk in tew impòrtant respects.  First, it iz slíetly cheaper; and second, it haz the wôrds DÓN'T PANIC inscríbed in làrj frendly letters on its côver.


If yoù fínd DRE tu bé intresting, and woûd líke tu knów mòre, the follówing pájes contain âdditional infòrmátion:


Í woûd líke tu particülarly thank Bob Bóden fòr inventing SRS, which wôz the inspirátion fòr DRE, and fòr discussions ov preliminâry verzions ov DRE.  In nó cáse shoûd Bob bé blámed fòr errors and perversities in DRE - it'z not hiz fault that Í hav trubble leaving well enuff alóne.

Í must aulsó express mý greyt det tu Wýk, not just fòr hiz Regülarízed Ênglish, but éven mòre fòr the magnificent compilátion ov òrthographic informátion in hiz book ov the sáme náme.  Without that résòurce, DRE woûd not exist, at least in âny fòrm wôrthy ov considerátion.





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