Notes on the design of a respell system


Bob Boden

28 September 2004


The SRS4g respell system was designed with the following goals in mind:


A dictionary for SRS4g, created with the aid of the FEWL methodology, can be downloaded here.


The alphabet is confined to the following characters:  a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p r s t u v w y z (no 'x' or 'q')

Sounds accurately represented by the system:

consonants:

(1) bob,
(2) cat /antic,
(3) did,
(4) fit / if,
(5) gag,
(6) hot,
(7) jorj,
(8) Lil,
(9) mum,
(10) nun,
(11) sing/pink/fiñgur,
(12) pop,
(13) ram/car
(14) sis,
(15) tot,
(16) valv,
(17) wet,
(18) yes,
(19) zig/fiz

(20) sh as in ship
(21) ch as in chip
(22) zh as in plezhur
(23) wh as in when
(24) and (25) th as in thin,  th as in then  (th used for both sounds in SRS4g)

vowel sounds:

(26) pat,
(27) pet,
(28) pit,
(29) pot,
(30) pup
(31) dá,
(32) mé,
(33) mí,
(34) gó,
(35) clú

(36) law
(37) pût

diphthongs:

ou/ow has the sound of 'o' + ú -- mound/cow
oi/oy has the sound of 'aw' + 'é' -- toil/ boy

Note:  if the 'r' in 'purr' is viewed as a vowel sound the total number of sounds covered in SRS4g is 38 but no special symbol is used.  The sound of 'r' will vary automatically according to the surrounding letters.

The schwa

At issue is the problem of whether letters should change their sound as a result of their position in a word.  For instance: should the sound of 'a' vary depending on whether it is shown as an initial letter (ago), a final letter (tuna) or an interior letter (cat)?  In SRS4g, in the interests of uniformity and simplicity, the letter 'u' has been chosen as the indicator of the schwa sound.  It is viewed as a brief utterance of the same sound as in 'cup'.  In this regard the practice in M-W is being followed.

Vowel + 'r

The representation of the vowel + 'r' sound is straightforward in the case of 'i' and 'e'.

er as in terus (terrace),  ir as in pir (pier)

But in the case of  'o' followed by 'r'  the appearance (or) is at odds with TS practice.  To show the word 'car' as cor would look very strange to a TS adept.

Similarly, though 'aw' followed by 'r' (awr) is a legitimate representation of the sound usually shown as 'or' in TS, the appearance and length of the combination is awkward.

Therefore in SRS4g:

the sound of  'a' followed by 'r' is defined as equal to 'o' + 'r'.  This preserves the appearance of words like 'car', 'far', 'bar', 'star'.

the sound of  'o' followed by 'r' is defined as equal to 'aw' + 'r'. This preserves the appearance of  words like 'or', 'for'.

ur as in turn

The use of 'ur' as in 'turn' presents a problem when words like 'around' are considered. The respelled version would be uround. The initial sound is schwa. To prevent the initial 'ur' being sounded out as 'ur' a convention is specified which states that where an initial 'ur' is followed by a vowel the 'u' is pronounced as a separate syllable. Therefore uround, uríz, uróz, but urjent. 'ur' is always as in 'turn' in the interior of a word or as an ending.

It may be that in the interior of a word the sound of 'u' is required preceding an 'r'. And where a word ends in the 'u' sound the use of just the 'u' letter presents a disturbing appearance with respect to TS practice. Therefore a convention is specified which states that 'uh' = sound of 'u' at end of word or syllable:  huhras, túnuh, ídéuh

The 'c' sound

The sound of the 'c' in 'cat' presents a problem where the 'c' sound is required before 'i' or 'e'.  It would be possible to use just the letter 'k' for the sound and thus avoid the 'ce' and 'ci' combinations which signal the 's' sound in TS.  But this would mean a considerably changed appearance with respect to TS.  kat, kop, kut.  A convention is specified which states that 'c' will be used before a, o, and u for the sound in 'cat'.  In all other cases the letter 'k' will be used for the sound.

The 'ng' sound

The use of the digraphs 'ng' and 'nk' for the sounds in 'sing' and 'pink' present a problem when the two letters of the digraphs need to be sounded separately.  Consider 'finger', 'anger',  'congress'.  A convention is specified which states:  in multi-syllable words 'n' with the sound in 'sing' is always marked with a tilde, and an unsounded 'g' is deleted,  but not in a 'ing' ending.  For instance:  añgur, fiñgur, piñking. lawñing, hañing, siñing

The ou and oi digraphs

In the case of the ou/ow digraphs the 'ou' form will be used in the interior of words and the 'ow' form will be used at the end of words and before a vowel.    round, out, cow, coward

In the case of the oi/oy digraphs the 'oi' form will be used in the interior of words and the 'oy' form will be used at the end of words and before a vowel.   boil, toy, royul

The 'ah' and 'eh' sounds

Where it is desired to indicate the sounds of 'e' (as in pet) and 'o' (as in pot) at the end of a syllable, an 'h' will be appended to the letter.  sahré, ah hah!,  heh heh

'sh' shown as separate sounds

In words like 'mishap' and 'disheartend' a dash will be placed between the 's' and 'h':  mis-hap

If it is desired, an accented (stressed) syllable may be preceded by an apostrophe.  impri'motur.  Normally SRS4g does not directly indicate accenting.

grapheme to sound correspondence

There are four letters or letter combinations which represent more than one sound:

The letter 'a' normally indicates the sound in 'cat', but also indicates the sound of 'o' when followed by 'r' (car). The letter 'o' normally indicates the sound in 'pot' but also indicates the sound of 'aw' when followed by 'r' (for). The letter 'u' normally indicates the sound in pup, but also indicates (approximately) the sound of 'û' when followed by 'r' (turn). 'th' represents both the sound in 'thin' and the sound in 'then'.

There are five sounds which are represented by more than one letter or letter combination, not in association with 'r':

The 'o' sound (pot) is represented by both 'o' and 'ah'. The 'u' sound (pup) is represented by both 'u' and 'uh'. The 'ng' sound (sing)  is represented by ñ (añgur) or ng (sing) or n (pink).  The 'c' sound (cat) is represented by both 'c' and 'k'. The 'e' sound (pet) is represented by both 'e' and 'eh'.

It will be assumed that in the reading of what appears to be an unfamiliar word that 'citation' pronunciation will be attempted in the effort to recognize the word.

Sight words:    the  I  a  on

There are three possible variations which I would view as acceptable in the SRS4g system, but at present I am staying with the standard version as produced by the FEWL dictionary conversion program.

1) terminal vowels letters e, i, o, u  could be defined as equal to é, í, ó, ú --  me, mi, go, tu

2) the û sound before a consonant other than 'r' could be shown as 'eu' --  weud, sheud, peut

3) err and irr could be used in place of er and ir --  herr, firr

Samples of SRS4g


The Star

It wuz on the furst dá uv the nú yir that the unounsmunt wuz mád, awlmóst símultánéuslé frum thré ubzurvutoréz, that the móshun uv the planit Neptún, the outurmóst uv awl the planits that whél ubout the Sun, had bécum veré ihratic. A rétardáshun in its vulosuté had bin suspected in Désembur. Then, a fánt, rémót spek uv lít wuz discuvurd in the réjun uv the purturbd planit.  At furst this did not cawz ené veré grát eksítmunt. Síuntific pépul, howevur, found the intelujuns rémarkubul énuf, évun béfor it bécám nón that the nú bodé wuz rapidlé gróing larjur and brítur, and that its móshun wuz kwít difurunt frum the ordurlé progres uv the planits.

The Late Arrival

Bob stróld up the path.  Hé wuz lát and wuz cunsiduring hiz alubí. Hé lisund tú the uthur carz in the strét, heding hóm. The dawg, with paw rázd, gréted him at the dor. Molé cûd awlwáz tel when hé urívd. Shé wuz a fáthful kréchur, and the sensitivité uv that nóz wuz not a mith. The hous wuz kwíet.  Hé lûkt doun at the vínul tíl.  It cûd stand sum polish but hé wûd rézist the impuls tú cumplán.

Hé saw hiz fothur in the gardun nir the fens but didun't bothur tú cawl him.  Hé wuz obvéuslé prépering tú mó the lawn.  Hé cûd sé the nábur'z cow in the medó and the dens wûdz béond. It sémd a trivéul matur but hé awlwáz lûkt tú sé if ther wuz enéthing on the kichun tábul. Hiz wíf mít rít a nót. Ther wuz a nú novul ther,  probublé hurz.  It had a pikyúlyur simbul on the cuvur.  The títul sed sumthing ubout núronz.  Hé didun't nó whut that wuz ubout but simplé didun't ker.

Hé désíded tú rémúv the lábul now frum the pakij hé wuz keréing.  Hé hópt that Murtul wûd not huhras him ubout the cawst uv the nú fur cót hé had bawt hur. Hé had a ferlé gûd réplí.  At lést it wuz pád for. And the furst uv the yir wuz awlmóst hir and the er wuz cóld.

Hé found the pápur partlé ópun, óvur a cher. It had ránd in the morning.  The pápur awfun got wet.  Hé turnd the rádéó on but didun't ker for the siñing.

Hé red ubout the síklón which had awlmóst hit the sivik sentur. The skí had lûkt thretuning.  Hé gáv a sí. Ther wûd hav bin the devul tú pá if the storm had bin wurs.  The nolij mád him wins. Hé thawt, "Wé ar só helples in the fás uv bad wethur."  Hé gáv sum thawt tú sólur powur, but klung tú hiz yúzhúul rigur, which ment discusing this with hiz wíf béfor máking a désizhun.  Shé ikspekted this cunsiduráshun. Hé had bin thiñking ubout imurjunsé powur and had an ídéuh. Sum mezhur uv akshun mít bé prúdunt.



SRS4g in abbreviated form


bob, cat/cop/cut, did, fit/if, gag, hot, jorj, kit/ken/kwik, Lil, mum, nun, pop, ror, sis, tot, valv, went, yes, zig/fiz

a -- pat
e -- pet,
i -- pit
o -- pot,
u -- pup, uround, ubut, huhras, túnuh,

Where an initial 'ur' is followed by a vowel the 'u' is pronounced as a separate syllable.
'uh' is used at end of syllable or end of word for the sound of  'u'

á -- áp
é -- mé
í -- mí
ó -- gó
ú -- clú

aw -- law
û -- pût

ou/ow -- out,  mound,  cow,  powur
Use 'ow' at end of word or before a vowel

oi/oy -- toil, boy, royul
Use 'oy' at end of word or before a vowel

ar -- car
er -- terus (terrace)
ir -- pir (pier)
or -- for
ur -- urn, curij (courage), muthur
ur is always as in 'turn' in the interior of a word or as an ending.

ñ -- sing, siñing, siñur, fiñgur, pink, piñking, piñkur
In multi-syllable words 'n' with the sound in 'sing' is always marked, except in an 'ing' ending.

sh -- ship
ch -- chip
zh --  plezhur
wh -- when
th -- thin/then
ah -- sahré (sorry), ah hah!
eh -- heh heh!

Use 'c' for the sound in 'cat' before a, o, and u.  Use 'k' for the sound in 'cat' in all other places.



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