...in a Nutshell
 
[text belo in OGD positional speling] 

Moast sistematic ortthografees can be explaind in won paij.
CKS or chekt speling is no exseption. 

A foneemic ortthografy can be fully explaind in wo'n chart.  If thair is won and oanly won simbl for eech sound, then a simpl 6x8 [48 sel] taybl can sho it all. In a lineear form, the saym 48 cells can be iuzd tu compair alternate solutions tu the grafeem-foneem combination problem.

Wot has tu be explaind with CKS is how it is simpler than than other IPA baisd noataytions. The plaiss tu start is with the IPA notaytions of Jones and Sweet becaus CKS is won ov severl proposals for a fon-ASCII - a foneemic sistem that dus not requir eny nu carictiurs. 

CKS employs tu inoavaytions:  marking the chekt vouls with a dot [.] and marking the sentral vouls with an apostrofy ['].  The chekt voul marking can iuzualy be dropd or clipd. The sentral voul marking for /ai/ ['y and 'I] can awlso be dropd.  It has tu be retaind for /ou/ [o'], /3:/ ['r],  /schwa/ a' and /^/ u'.   [ritn in OGD]
 

  The English Phoneme Inventory  Checkt Speling 4x6 vowel chart
   a phoneme is a difference that makes a difference
  Chart of 18 vowels, 8 R-combinations, and 24 consonants
     The six checked vowel must be followed by a consonant.  All checked vowels are short.
     Free vowels are long with the exception of schwa used as an initial sound and before a consonant.
     Free vowels that are stopped by consonant are shortened and depending on the consonant may be
     shorter than a checked vowel stopped by another consonant.  Duration is not a reliable feature.
     Free vowels can occur at the end of a word or syllable -checked vowels can't.
checked
short
extended
long
r-comb.
in RP r=shwa
  voiced
lenis
unvoiced
fortis
syllabic
a. *ax [aa] *alms ar  *are, car   *boot but p   *pipe pyp l.   .l  *li.tl
e. *elbow e.lbo [ei] *ace eis er  *air, there   j  *gym - jim c [ch] *church r.   .r   *ro'r
i.  *itch i.ch i   [ee] *eel il ir   *ear, irate   *did t   *tip m.  .m *mu'm
o. *ox, odd [aw] *awe or  *order   [ð] *the  x + [th] *thin n.   .n  *nu'n
u. *hook hu.k [oo] iu *zulu ur  iur *tour   v  *visa - visa' f  *fife - fif 3 [ng] *sing
u' *up, hut a'  [shwa] a'go .r   *her, *'rk   k  *kit cat ka.t g   *get  *who hu
o'  *owe  Ø au [.w] *out aur  *our   z   *zip s   *sip & [hw]
oi  *oil 'iy  [ai] *ice 'iyr  *ire   2 [zh] leisure li2ur [sh]ip 5ip  y  *year yir
24 Vowels - 21 essential
12 unmixed "pure" vowels
  24 Consonants
22 unmixed non-blends
  An original table not a graphic - table colors messed up by MS Front Page
  Note:  Entries for iu and hw are missing.  Thus *what = wat, wo.t, or wot
There are 34 unmixed or "pure" phonemes that require 34 graphemes, preferably non-digraphs.
The total number of phonemes in a writing system depends on the number of blends or diphthongs that are included. Wijk and Jones both listed 21 vowels and 25 consonants for a total of 46 essential phonemes. This list is more symmetrical with 24 vowels and 24 phonemes for a total of 48.

By ignoring the schwa and combining [o.] and [a:], the vowel list can be reduced to less than l8 and the total number of phonemes to 40. Many notational systems make these cuts. Checked Spelling endorses some phoneme mergers but only in context. English could be written with 9 vowels. This would not pose much of a problem for those who knew the language but it would limit the accuracy of the pronunciation guide. It would also take some getting used to.

It is important to remember that the purpose of an orthography is to simplify written communication among language speakers who may not necessarily be using the same dialect. The simpler the code the better. Simple codes will not be appreciated by those who have taken the time and effort to learn the complex code. It will be appreciated by those who are just starting out.

Xi.s iz ritn in a' si.mpl ca'nsi.st'nt ko'd but i.t wi.l no.t bi rekognyzd a.z su.ch.
This is riten in a simpl consistent coad but it wil not be recognysd as such. (OGD) (more

Because of the importance of the R combinations, this chart lists 48 phonemes corresponding to 48 distinct graphemes. If one considers the R combinations to be self-evident, this list is quickly reduced to 41phonemes.

In CKS, blends or diphthongs are usually represented as digraphs, J is the exception.

To represent 12 pure vowel phonemes, 12 vowel letters are required. By using two symbolic markers [' and .] it is possible to represent 12 vowels with 5 roman characters. Pronunciation dictionaries will often merge [o.] and [a] since they are not concerned about spelling pot as *pat. CCS retains the near redundancy to reduce the amount of visual disparity between CCS and TO.
who.t = what = wat/wot,  o.r = ar,  awr = or,  wo.nt=want/wont,  ax = o.x~ox and so on.
 
  • The asterisk [*] marks a word spelling, e.g.,  *teardrop = *tirdrop in CCS.
  • boldface refers to a grapheme, e.g.,  o refers to the sound in *awe
  • diagonal brakets or slashes /ai/ refer to a phoneme - IPA notations usually used.
  • Brackets [aw] indicate an alternative phonogram [soundsign]:   [aw] = o
  •   *Definition

     A phoneme is a speech difference 
     that makes a difference in meaning or interpretation.
    bi:t/bit (beet, bit) are two different phonemes because substituting i: for i changes the meaning.
    English has 6 long and 6 short (checked and free) vowel distinctions that make a difference.

    This does not necessarily mean that two distinct graphemes such as ee and i are always required.
    There are few contexts where the long and short vowels would be confused in running text or continuous speech. It is more a case of what we get used to. It is not a stretch for most people to deal with ambiguities such as checked and free vowel pronunciation. People can deal with one of two alternatives. When it becomes one of 6 alternatives, there can be some confusion and a long learning curve.

    I took a dip in the dip. I bit the bit. He bit (beat/bit) me. (Hi bit mi. or Hi bi.t mi.)?

    When there is confusion as in the last example, a graphic distinction would have to be added.


    New Spelling

    Once there is a common chart of English Phonemes, it is possible to map any proposed notational scheme or writing system on to it. Below, New Spelling sound signs are arrayed in the cells of the table. See the Map-IPA table for more detail

    checked extended r-comb.   voiced
    lenis
    unvoiced
    fortis
    syllabic
    a *ax aa  [aa] *alms aar  *are   b p l
    e *elbow ae  [ei] *ace aer  *air   ch  r
    *it, in ee   [ee] *eel eer   *ear   d t m
    o *ox, odd au  [aw] *awe aur  *order   dh  [ð] *the thy th *thin thug n
    u *up, hut uu  [oo] iu uer  *your   ng *sing
    uu *hook a'  [shwa] er   *her   g
    oe  *owe ou [.w]*out our  *our   z s & [hw]
    oi  *oil ie  [ai] *ice ier  *ire   zh  [zh] *leisure  sh  [sh]ip y
    24 Vowels
    13 unmixed "pure" vowels
      24 Consonants
    22 unmixed non-blends
    New Speling has rather odd r-combinations. Depending on the version, this may be dealt with by making exceptions to the rule or by ignoring pronunciation dictionaries. Otherwise [or] and [for] would have to be written as [aur] and [faur].

    Most new spelling notational systems have no way to consistently represent schwa. This version inserts [a'] for lack of a better alternative. Ron has suggested [^]. The usual solution is similar to the one used by ALC's fonetic. Do not recognize unstressed or commonly slurred pronunciations and allow for multiple spellings of unstressed central vowel : color, elixir, dinner, ...etc.  This works but it does not simplify spelling. The cut spelling proposal makes more sense  colr, elixr, dinr. OGD would use cu'ler, exlixer, diner.

    The long vowel marker [-e] usually makes sense in English [aes, eez, iez, oez, uez]  but may not be that sensible in other related languages [ais, iz, aiz, ouz, iuz].  OGD uses [ayss, ees, iys, oas, ius].

     Free Vowels before a consonant - orthographic check
    Traditional Orthography (TO) ace,   ease,  eyes, ice, owes, use,  wooes, good food would upto
    New Spelling [Nue Speling] aeseezieziesoez, uez,  wooz,  guud food wuud uptue
    OGD positional spelling ayss,  ees,   ies,  iess,  oas,  ius,   woos,  gwd food wuud uptu
    Euro Spelling [Yuro, IPA] eis,    iz,      aiz,  ais,   ouz,  iuz [juz]        gud fuud wud aptu
    Chekt Speling eis,   iz,       'yz,   'ys,   o'z,   iuz,   wuz,    gu.d fud wu.d a'p u'ptu
     additional cross notation comparisons

    The most complicated table is for positional spelling.  See OGD



     


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