Present status of my spelling systems - 030307

Paul Stought

 

TS = traditional spelling

 

This is a rewrite of a previous article (120305) from my present perspective; 030307.

 

I had a computer crash that forces me to rely on memory for some of this article, so some of my statements will probably be a little in error.

 

I will not mention here all the versions of all the spelling systems I have worked on. They have undergone name changes and some have fallen out of favor, though at one time I thought they were great ideas. A fact that causes me pause when I think my latest brainstorm is the cats' meow. Those shown here are the ones I think will be more likely to succeed. It's a joke.

 

Presently, I have stopped promoting any of my spelling systems except for Folksrite and Amber, because I think they have the most chance of acceptance, yet still make learning much easier than TS. Amber is identical to Folksrite except different vowels are merged in the spelling. Folksrite - hot, dog, thaut, cat, fathur, swamp. Amber - hot, dog, thot, cat, fothur, swomp.

 

This article roughly shows the evolution of my work, from an interest in Unifon to the development of Folksrite.

 

Let me first tell you where I am coming from. I am a retired machinist who has taken up an interest in amateur orthography. A fancy word for spelling.  When I was first referred to as an amateur orthographer in the early days, I thought maybe I was being insulted, but held my tongue till I looked it up.  Back in 1981 John Culkin wrote an article in "Science Digest" about Unifon. A new way to spell English. I thought it was a terrific idea. Until that time, I had had no awareness that our spelling system was so bad and needed repaired. Kind of like not knowing you are poor because everyone around you is poor. I didn't know how to find more information on Unifon at the time and laid the interest aside. In 1999 I bought a computer and about a year later I rediscovered Unifon.

 

On the rediscovery of Unifon, I also discovered the field of spelling reform. I learned that Unifon was so radical that it was unlikely it would ever be used for anything other than an aid to learning traditional spelling. I began looking for a spelling system I could believe in. I found several systems, but none I would consider a reasonable replacement for TS. I also became convinced that no new spelling system has even a slight chance of unseating TS because those who will benefit are not born yet and those in a position to "do the right thing" have nothing to gain by an indulgence in spelling reform. At this point, spelling reform is just an interesting ideal. Something interesting to indulge in, like playing cards or reading a book. But there is a potential similar to model rocketry. Just a hobby for a long time, given the right atmosphere, the pay-off could be terrific. We need to be ready; just in case.

 

Not finding any spelling system I liked, I set out to find out what I would like in a spelling system. I have designed several systems I would find acceptable. [I have since changed my mind.*] I joined Saundspel on the net to learn and discuss spelling reform ideas. I found no one there who felt my preferences were at all inspirational. I understand the feeling because I have the same attitude about most of the writings about spelling systems.

 

*I have decided not to promote most of my previous systems as I have come to agree that they are too radical to find acceptance. I fear that, no matter what the change, the public will reject all-comers. Nevertheless, I keep hoping, and have again redesigned my systems into Folksrite. Much more like TS but harder to learn than my previous systems. So; since I am continually changing my mind, why should you think this last brainstorm is a good idea? Judge for yourself if you are not already convinced I am a nutcase. If you find something better, I hope you will begin using it.

 

A statement has been made that designers of spelling systems are only interested in their own inventions. It appears to me that the thought has much merit. I have tried to be objective; but looking back, I see that some of my proposals were a bit far out. I hope my present state of mind is a bit more practical.

 

My present belief is that there is very little chance that a significant reform of English spelling is likely. Ever. But I still have some exploring I want to do. Who knows, the availability of the computer may make all the difference.

 

Ok, on to the next.

 

The most significant of the systems I have designed are-in order of conception; Loosud, Foecsriet, Shortrit, Portul, Ipifuny and Folksrite. There have been others, but mostly just variations of these. Explaining these variations would take a book. You will note the similarity of the names, Foecsriet and Folksrite. I am no longer promoting Foecsriet, so I feel free to use the same name with a different spelling for another system.

 

Sample text is at the end of this article.

 

I will treat Loosud with some detail here, as I will be comparing other systems to it. The Epiphany Pronunciation Guide (EPG) is being used here to explain pronunciations. You will be able to understand it in context. To keep this story short. I will not touch on some details.

 

Loosud vowels

EPG

L

TS

L

 

EPG

L

TS

L

a

a

cat

cat

 

ee

ee

feet

feet

e

e

pet

pet

 

y

y

penny

peny

i

i

pig

pig

 

ie

ie

bite

biet

o

o

pot

pot

 

oe

oe

boat

boet

v

u

cup

cup

 

ue

ue

fuel

fuel

u

u

until

until

 

oo

oo

moon

moon

uu

oo

book

book

 

au

au

caught

caut

cr

ur

burn

burn

 

oi

oi

coin

coin

ur

ur

letter

letur

 

ou

ou

out

out

ae

ae

bake

baec

 

 

 

 

 

 

Word end vowels.

EPG

L

TS

L

 

EPG

L

TS

L

a

ah

nah

nah

 

ee

ee/e*

agree

agree

e

 

 

 

 

y

y

penny

peny

i

 

 

 

 

ie

i/y*

deny

deni

o

aa

spa

spaa

 

oe

o

go

go

v

uh

huh

huh

 

ue

ue

few

few

u

a

comma

coma

 

oo

u

flu

flu

uu

 

 

 

 

au

aw

draw

draw

cr

ur

incur

incur

 

oi

oy

boy

boy

ur

ur

letter

letur

 

ou

ow

cow

cow

ae

ay

day

day

 

 

 

 

 

 

* E and y are spelled for these sounds only at word end of single syllable words. Me, be, she, se, fle, fre; by, shy, fly, hy, try. Ee is spelled at word end in multisyllable words only when stressed.

 

R colored vowels.

EPG

L

TS

L

 

EPG

L

TS

L

arr

arr

paragraph

parrugraf

 

eer

eer

seer

seer

er

er

fair

fer

 

ier

ier

fire

fier

ir

ir

ear

ir

 

oer

oer

lower

loer

ar

ar

car

car

 

uer

uer

fewer

fuer

uur

uur

sure

shoor

 

oor

oor

lure

loor

cr

ur

incur

incur

 

or

or

door

dor

ur

ur

letter

letur

 

oir

oir

foyer

foyur

aer

aer

player

plaer

 

our

our

flower

flour

 

Consonants.

EPG

L

TS

L

 

EPG

L

TS

L

b

b

boy

boy

 

t

t

toad

toed

d

d

dog

dog

 

f

v

vast

vast

ff

f

fish

fish

 

w

w

wasp

wasp

g

g

goat

goet

 

j

y

yet

yet

h

h

hawk

hauk

 

z

z

zebra

zeebra

jj

j

jay

jay

 

ch

ch

chick

chick

k

c

crab

crab

 

dh

th

this

this

l

l

lion

liun

 

sh

sh

sheep

sheep

m

m

mouse

mous

 

th

th

think

think

n

n

net

net

 

wh

w

what

wot

p

p

pig

pig

 

zh

zh

measure

mezhur

r

r

rat

rat

 

ng

ng

sing

sing

s

s

snake

snaec

 

 

 

 

 

 

Loosud was my first attempt at finding what I would like in a spelling system. It is very clear in the sounds represented, other than the merged vowels, which are of little consequence as they pose no problem in reeding or spelling. Some spellings irritate because of their unfamiliarity. Cooc, sics, igzact, wot, cween.

 

Loosud, Foecsriet, Ipifuny and Portul merge /aa/, /o/ and /au/ except at word end. Hot, dog, thot, spaa, saw.

Loosud, Foecsriet, Ipifuny and Portul merge /ul/ and /uul/. Dul, pul, wul.

Loosud, Foecsriet, Ipifuny and Portul merge /v/ and /u/. |Above| ubuv.

All systems merge /cr/ and /ur/. Furthur.

Folksrite merges /a/ and /aa/; /ul/ and /uul/. Cat, father; dull, pull, wool.

Folksrite spells /u/ with three symbols. A, e and u. Alone, label, until.

 

Foecsriet is the same as Loosud except y is spelled in place of ee, and |good| is spelled 'gwd' or 'gvd'. |Really| ryly.

 

Shortrit is the same as Foecsriet except the 'long' vowels are spelled the same as the short vowels. Shortrit is very easy to learn and easy to read and spell with a little practice; IF you have a working vocabulary. There can be several versions of Shortrit with small differences. I think the text is about 10% shorter than traditional text. Another version named Shortriet, spells a digraph for long vowels in single syllable words. Rat, raet, hoemmaed.

 

Portul is between Loosud and Folksrite. It spells with, c and k; x, ex and qu.

 

Ipifuny is the same as Portul but spells with vowel-v for /v/; |under| vndur, but |above| ubuv. I made several versions of Loosud and Ipifuny showing the relationship when different choices are made with some of the vowels and consonants. |Book|, booc, bvk, bwk; |butter| bvtur, |above| vbuv; |other| uthur, udhur; wot, whot; cook, cooc, cuuc, cuuk. Vowel-v used to be used interchangeably with u, in TS.

 

Schwa \u\ is the; a in, alone, the e in silent, the o in bottom, the u in circus. For all practical purposes; schwa is the same as the vowel in 'cut' except for stress and length. Some will argue this point, but in spelling accents for my systems, that is how it works. You can find support for this idea in the way Merriam-Webster marks schwa. Above /& 'b&v.

 

Loosud, Foecsriet, Portul and Ipifuny, spell u for schwa, except at word end. Ubuv, until, coma. Folksrite spells, a, e and u for schwa; governed by rules. Alone, comma, coma, label, able, acre, until, buttun.

 

Folksrite is a significantly enhanced Portul. It accepts several TS conventions that I think the public will demand, even though it makes learning harder. "Magic" vowel forms and double consonants, for marking some stress. Some long vowels are spelled with a single letter; basic, music. Compare to; baisic, muesic. Folksrite spells /k/ with; c, cc, k and ck. Cook, stucco, bake, back.

 

I have come to believe that we must keep, c, k, ck, x, ex and qu; if we hope to gain significant acceptance. I believe strongly that we must try to stay close to a familiar appearance if we hope to find success in spelling reform. Even if this means the system is harder to learn than a more alphabetically (spelling shows pronunciation) designed system.

 

Folksrite is the most like TS of my systems. I think the added difficulty is worth it, because the increased familiarity will likely attract more support. The learning will still be significantly easier than TS. Folksrite requires the writer to choose between several vowel symbols for the correct one for the word. Boat, boet, bowt. Main, mein, mayn, mane, man; stupid or stoopid; peeple or pepel. Rules help reduce the choises, but not completely. Folksrite uses nine vowel forms referred to as "magic" because they assist in identifying short or long vowels. Magic-e, y, ing, us, a, o, ow, le, re. Cake, baby, hiking, focus, coma, halo, hello, yellow, able, acre. Double consonants are used (irregularly) in Folksrite to mark some short stressed vowels, especially when they precede a magic vowel. Bonny, bony, sticking, manner, |manor| manur, letter. Compare to Loosud's; Bony, boeny, stiking, manur, manur, letur. Caec, baeby, hiecing, foecus, coema, haelo, helo, yelo, aebul, aecur. Folksrite also represents several sounds with one symbol. The reeder and writer have to apply rules and use their vocabulary to unravel the puzzle. Not as hard as it sounds. Those already literate in TS will be able to "guess" fairly accurately. A - cat, fathur, basic, oasis. Probably the hardest; u - cut, until, regulur, aluminum, acumulate, usuul. The spelling of z for /z/ is irregular, because regularizing it causes a considerable negative impact on appearance. Nose, froze, gaze, frase, fuzz, whiz, Oz, has, those, these. Compare; noze, froze, gaze, fraze, fuz, whiz, Oz, haz, thoze, theze. Or; nose, frose, gase, frase, fus, whis, Oz, has, those, these.

Update on Folksrite 060707

The version of Folksrite shown on wyrdplay at present (version 021107) is considerably out of date but an updated version will not be available for some time. For the latest comments on Folksrite go to; http://360.yahoo.com/apprentice42

Instead of adopting only the alphabetic principle (spelling indicates pronunciation) for the base of Folksrite; Folksrite also uses morphological units (common word elements) that give clues (sometimes fuzzy; see below) to pronunciation, while maintaining familiarity with TS.

Folksrite is being made more like traditional spelling. With this, comes more difficulty in learning. Hopefully the final product will be worth the extra effort. Essentially, the changes reflect the features of Folksrite and traditional spelling (TS) that spell a sound in more than one way, and pronounce a symbol in more than one way. The result is a system that respells about 12% of the words and is quite similar to TS. Easier to learn than TS but still requiring a lot of memory work. Consider;

/oe/ - go, road, rode, snow

snow, own, now, clown
good, food, but, put
contrite, favorite, close, purpose
mother, ton, come, dome, dum, funny, money, stoney
racial, partial, satchel
question, action, fashon, mission, mansion, vision
vision, pleasure
sure, nature
basic, music, robot
soft, psychic, science, conscience
cook, back, bake, chemist
fast, photo
And more.

 

 Sample text.

 

Loosud

Rip Van Winkle

Huevur haz maed  a voiij up the Hudson must rimembur the Kaatskil mountunz.  Thay ar a dismemburd branch uv the graet Appalachian famly, and ar seen uway tu the west uv the rivur, sweling up tu a noebul hiet, and lording it oevur the surounding cuntry.  Evry chaenj uv seezun, evry chaenj uv wethur, indeed, evry our uv the day, prudoosuz sum chaenj in the majicul huez and shaeps uv theez mountunz, and thay ar rigardud bi ol the good wievz, far and nir, az purfict buromuturz.  When the wethur iz fer and setuld, thay ar cloethd in blu and purpul, and print ther boeld outlienz on the clir eevning scy; but, sumtiemz, when the rest uv the landscaep iz cloudlus, thay wil gathur a hood uv gray vaepurz ubout ther sumuts, which, in the last rayz uv the seting sun, wil glo and liet up liec a croun uv glory. 

 

Foecsriet - Same as Loosud except y is spelled instead of ee.

Rip Van Winkle

Huevur haz maed  a voiij up the Hudson must rimembur the Kaatskil mountunz.  Thay ar a dismemburd branch uv the graet Appalachian famly, and ar seen uway tu the west uv the rivur, sweling up tu a noebul hiet, and lording it oevur the surounding cuntry.  Evry chaenj uv syzun, evry chaenj uv wethur, indyd, evry our uv the day, prudoosuz sum chaenj in the majicul huez and shaeps uv thyz mountunz, and thay ar rigardud bi ol the good wievz, far and nir, az purfict buromuturz.  When the wethur iz fer and setuld, thay ar cloethd in blu and purpul, and print ther boeld outlienz on the clir yvning scy; but, sumtiemz, when the rest uv the landscaep iz cloudlus, thay wil gathur a hood uv gray vaepurz ubout ther sumuts, which, in the last rayz uv the seting sun, wil glo and liet up liec a croun uv glory. 

 

Shortrit

Rip Van Winkle

Huevur haz mad  a voiij up the Hudson must rimembur the Kaatskil mountuns.  Thay ar a dismemberd branch ov the grat Appalachian family, and ar sen uway tu the west ov the rivur, sweling up tu a nobul hit, and lording it ovur the surounding cuntry.  Evry chanj ov sezun, evry chanj ov wethur, inded, evry our ov the day, pruduses sum chanj in the majicul huz and shapes ov thez mountunz, and thay ar rigardud by ol the gud wivz, far and nir, az purfict buromuturz.  Wen the wethur iz fer and setuld, thay ar clothd in blu and purpul, and print ther bold outlinz on the clir evning sky; but, sumtimz, wen the rest ov the landscap is cloudlus, thay will gathur a hood ov gray vapurz about ther sumits, wich, in the last rays ov the seting sun, wil glo and lit up lic a croun ov glory. 

 

Mugwump - a minor update of Portul.

The lejend ov Sleepy Holo

In the boozum uv wun uv thoez spaeshus coevz wich indent the eesturn shor uv the Hudson, at that brod expanshun uv the rivur dinomunaetud by the aenchunt Dutch navugaeturs the Tappan Zee, and wer thay olwayz prooduntly shortund sael and implord the prutecshun uv St. Nicholas wen thay crost, ther liez a smol marcut toun or roorul port, wich by sum iz cold Greensburgh, but wich iz mor jenuruly and propurly knoen by the naem uv Tarry Toun.  This naem wuz givun, we ar toeld, in formur dayz, by the good houswievz uv the ujaesunt cuntry, frum the inveturut prupensuty uv ther huzbundz tu lingur ubout the vilij tavurn on marcut dayz.  Be that az it may, I du not vouch for the fact, but mirly udvurt tu it, for the saek uv being prisies and othuntic.  Not far frum this vilij, purhaps ubout twu mielz, ther iz a litul valy or rathur lap uv land umung hy hilz, wich iz wun uv the quiutust plaesuz in the hoel wurld.  A smol brook gliedz thru it, with just murmur inuf tu lul wun tu ripoez; and the ucaezhunul wisul uv a quael or taping uv a woodpekur iz olmoest the oenly sound that evur braeks in upon the uenuform tranquiluty.

 

Ipifuny

The Lejend ov Sleepy Holo

In the bwzum uv wun uv thoez spaeshus coevz wich indent the eesturn shor uv the Hudson, at that brod expanshun uv the rivur dinomunaetud by the aenchunt Dutch navugaeturs the Tappan Zee, and wer thay olwayz prooduntly shortund sael and implord the prutecshun uv St. Nicholas wen thay crost, ther liez a smol marcut toun or rwrul port, wich by sum iz cold Greensburgh, but wich iz mor jenuruly and propurly knoen by the naem uv Tarry Toun.  This naem wuz givun, we ar toeld, in formur dayz, by the gwd houswievz uv the ujaesunt cvntry, frum the inveturut prupensuty uv ther hvzbundz tu lingur ubout the vilij tavurn on marcut dayz.  Be that az it may, I du not vouch for the fact, but mirly udvurt tu it, for the saek uv being prisies and othuntic.  Not far frum this vilij, purhaps ubout twu mielz, ther iz a litul valy or rathur lap uv land umvng hy hilz, wich iz wun uv the quiutust plaesuz in the hoel wurld.  A smol brwk gliedz thru it, with just mvrmur invf tu lul wun tu ripoez; and the ucaezhunul wisul uv a quael or taping uv a wwdpekur iz olmoest the oenly sound that evur braeks in upon the uenuform tranquiluty.

 

One hazard to putting your thoughts in writing is that the future makes your past look a little dumb, stupid, ignorant, short-sighted… Anyway, here is a sample of Folksrite so you can see if you agree that I have learned a few things in the last several years. Maybe you will compare it with other systems and agree with my (present) conclusions.

 

The Tiruny ov the Fumiliur

Rittun in Folksrite - an extension of Mugwump/Portul

 

Jenurully speeking spelling reformurs as a groop seem convinsed that we dare not stray verry far from trudishunul text in apeerunse, when designing an alturnut spelling sistum, because the public just won't axept it. The jenurul public is ill equiped tu judj the assets and liubilitys ov vereus spelling pruposels.  We obveusly can't forse them tu axept a new sistum agenst their objecshuns.  How can we meet their objecshuns?  We can see by the expireunse in non-English speeking cuntries that even small chanjes ar strongly resisted.  

Considur the invented langwij, Esperanto*.  It started from the effurts ov wun pursun and he was suxessful in inturesting uthurs, by wurking with individuuls and groops, and publishing sum wurks about the langwij.  While Esperanto has had sum setbaks, it has gained a fairly larj following.  So far, no reformed spelling sistum has found much ov a following.  Surely, fixing a currunt spelling sistum shood be eesier than cuming up with a hole langwij.  Ther is no need tu imedeutly replase trudishunul text.  Ther ar cuntries that use mor than wun spelling sistum.  English speeking cuntries can du the same. 

Enny spelling sistum that is predictuble in its reeding and spelling will hav tu look a lot diffurunt from trudishunul text.  The choises shood be cleer.  We eether stay as we ar or we pach here and ther, or we prumote sistums that ar sumwhat predictuble, regardless ov their unusuul apeerunse.  If the goal is an eesy tu reed and rite sistum; a pach job just won't do; so that leevs us with just forgeting about it, or axepting an unusuul apeerunse and try tu prumote that.

 

Before you decide that the above still leaves a lot to be desired, you should look over the rules, to get an idea of the reasonings behind the spellings. At present, a version of Folksrite can be found on this site and on my blog at: http://360.yahoo.com/apprentice42.

 

 

 


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