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Restored Spelling - by John Reilly [JR] with comments by Steve Bett [SB]

In the curent (Jan. 18) Nu Republik magazeen, thair is a revu bye Peter Philips ov the nu book bye Katherine
Bergeron, "Decadent Enchantments: Thr Revival of Gregorian Chant at Solesmes." For sum yeers now, the PA
sistems in the clasicl sections ov miuzik stors hav been filled witth the caterwalling ov monks. Gregorian chant has
been witth uss for a wyl (depending on how U defyn it, frum 1500 to 1000 yeers), but the particiuler form in wich we ar lykly tu heer it today reelly daits frum the midl ov the 19th sentiury, wen the Benedicteens at Solesmes in Franss set out tu revyv and codifye the French tradition ov literjicl miuzik that had been allmoast wyped out bye the Revoluetion. Thiss efort, and its popiuler suxess, may hav sum bairing on the reform ov Inglish speling.
 
Thair is notthing foany about the miuzik ov Solesmes. The fraizing and the notaition and the arrainjment ar all the
rezult of cairful scolership, baised for the moast part on prymary sorses. The oanly objection tu it is that it is not itself medievl. As the miuzicolojist Peter Wagner noated in 1907:
 
"The nuely employed statisticl investigaition ov the mateeriels ov the reedings for individiul noats or
grueps...together...produess melodies wich hav never existed in that form."
 
Thiss wood be a desysiv objection if the Solesmes project had been piurly antiquairian. However, the aims ov the
Benediceen wer practicl: thay wanted a body ov miuzik that cood be taut and sung evry day in thair houses. Thay
allso wanted a form that, in sum senss, wos "ainshent," continiuoss witth the tradition. The Solesmes revyvl wos
boatth. That is wye it becaim the literjicl standerd in the Catthlik Cherch erly in the 20th sentiury, and it is a larj part ov the reezon wye it has becum hybrow pop miuzik at the sentiuryies end.
 
Restoration Project

A reformed speling ov Inglish myt meet witth a similer reseption. As John G or Chris pointed out a wyl bak, Cut Spelling often simply reprodueses Midl Inglish forms. Eaven wen respelings ar novl, the sceems that produess them ar jeneraly just reaserting prinsipels that wer part ov Inglish ortthografy frum its inseption, but that becaim obsciured in erly modern tyms.
 
I put it to the gruep, then, that we ar engaijed neether in simplifying Inglish speling, nor in reforming it, but it
reterning tu its traditionl structiur. Wyl thiss dus not meen simply reproduesing spelings today that existed in former tyms, it dus meen that we ar in a very reel senss restoring the riten langwej tu its tru form.

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[JR] This post is the sketch of a scheme. If there are no fundamental objections to it, I will do a grown-up presentation in a PV, using some of Steve's mapping charts.
[SB] The chart is provided below [ 412 and 288 pixel widths]

Old Grand Dad Positional Spelling initial-medial-terminal chekt free dif r-comb. a   a  - aa  aa  a i-ie  y  ye ar   yr e   e  - ur  er  er ai  ai  ay air i    i   - ea ee e-y oi  oi  oy ear o   o  - aw aw-al aw oa oa-ol o or (awr) oo  w  - oo ue-oo  u u  iu  u ur-iur u   u  - a   e   a  ou ou ow our Checked vowels never occur at the end of a word or syllable in English: Therefore, the terminal position in col. 1 is blank (-) and the letter can be assigned another value.

[JR] This effort is eclectic. This sketch is enough like what many of you have been doing that, after mutual correction, a joint PV might be in order. That would be a big step toward an official SSS reform.
 
Rather than start with my description of the system, let me start with a short poem. Start by criticizing that. In my mind, at least, the spelling in it is completely regular. If you find that hard to believe, then go look at the explanation below.
 
In light the fact that spelling reform is about as popular as alcoholism, I am calling this scheme "Old Grand Dad" (OGD).

 Comparison of Systematic OGD with Phonemic Chekt Speling

Old Grand Dad (OGD)  The Sekend Cuming   bye William Butler Yeats	Chekt Speling  X Seka'nd Ku'ming   by William Butler Yeats
Terning and terning in the wydening jyr  The falcon canot heer the falconer;  Tthings fall appart; the senter canot hold;  Meer anarky is loosd uppon the werld,  The bloodd-dimd tyd is loosd, and evreewair  the seremony ov innosenss is dround;  The best lak all conviction, wyl the werst  Ar ful ov pationat intensity.    Suerly sum revelaition is at hand;  Suerly the Sekend Cuming is at hand.  The Sekend Cuming! Hardly ar thoas werds out  Wen a vast imaj out ov Spiritus Mundi  Trubels mye syt: sumwair in sands ov the dezert  a shaip witth lyon body and the hed ov a man,  A gais blank and pitiless as the sun,  Is mooving its slo tthys, wyl all abbout it  reel shadoas ov the indignent dezert birds.  The darcness drops again; but now I no  That twenty sentueries ov stoany sleep  Wer vexd to nytmair bye a roking craidl,  And wot ruf beest, its our cum round at last,  Slouches twords Bethlehem tu be born.	T'rning a.nd t'rning i.n x wyd'ning j'yr  X  falkn  kano.t  hir  x  fa.lka'nr  Things fol a'part, x  sentr  kano.t  ho'ld  Mir  a.narki  iz  lusd  u'pon  x  w'rld  X blu'd - dimd  tyd  iz lusd, and evriwer  X  serimoni ov inosens iz draund  X best  la.k ol  ka'nvik5n, wyl  x  w'rst  Ar  ful  ov  pa5'na't  intensiti  5'rli su'm reva'lei5n iz a.t ha.nd  5'rli  x  Seka'nd Ku'ming iz a.t ha.nd  X Seka'nd Ku'ming! Ha.rdli ar tho'z wrdz aut  Wen a vast imaj aut ov Spiritu's Mu'ndi  Tru'blz my syt: sumwer in sandz ov x dez'rt  a 5eip with l'yon bo.di and x hed ov a ma.n,  A' geiz blank and pitiles a.z x su'n  Iz muving itz slo' xyz, wyl ol a'baut it  riil shado'z ov x indigna'nt dez'rt b'rdz  X darkna's dropz a'gin; bu't nau 'I no'  Xat twenti sentiuriez ov sto'ni sliip  Wer vext tu nytmeir by a ro.king kreidl  And wot ru'f bist; itz aur ku'm raund a.t la.st  Slauchez tordz Bethlihem tu bi born
Houdy, duz this good (gwd) fued cawst muny  How du yu chuez (chooz) tu se the werld  Wot is yur naym.  So fiu ar nuezwerthy Sho me the way tu go hoam. Tye mye shues. yikes ice eyes island - yyks (yikes), iess, ies, iland  I'll take the third aisle - Iel tayk the therd iel the thug, thy thigh - the tthug, thye tthye Put-hook. Pwt (poot) the hwk (hook) awn the wall. Can yu all crawl thru the small (smawl) spayss.	Haudi, du'z xis gu.d fud cost mu'ni  Hau du iu chuz tu si x w'rld  Wot iz y'r neim. So' fiu ar nuzw'rthi  5o mi x wei tu go' ho'm. Ty my shuz.  y'yks, 'ys, 'yz, 'yla'nd ('ila.nd)  'I'l ['yl] teik x th'rd ail ['yl] x thug, xy thy  put x huk on x wol Ka.n  iu  ol crol thru x smol speis.
OGD	Without positional spelling the vowel ['y] must be marked to distinguish it from the consonant [y]. When chekt speling is clipt, it is no longer phonemic (1 symbol=1 sound) but remains systematic (no ambiguity-1 symbol per position).

 

A TABLE OF FORMS USED BY OLD GRAND DAD (OGD)
 
General Principles:
 
OGD uses phonetic devises that, with one exception, exist in TO.
 
OGD seeks to be absolutely unambiguous for readers and reasonably unambiguous for spellers.
 
OGD uses positional spelling, with slightly different forms for monosyllables and polysyllables.
 
OGD treats a small class of syllables as whole units.
 
Transcription Strategy
 
OGD defers to TO when the TO spelling produces a recognizable word. This means that many
unstressed vowels are simply imported. The schwa therefore has no unique expression, but is most
often a "short e." [SB] This is just because it is found in [the]. Without this, [a] is the most common.
 
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Consonants
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**Single Consonants**
 
bdfghjlmnpqrtvwxz are too tedious to discuss. Note that X and Q are retained with their traditional
values.
 
C is hard. It is used for that sound initially and medially. K is used (1) at the end of words and (2)
before I, E or Y. There is one exception: See IC under "Special Combinations."
 
S when final is pronounced /z/ or /s/, depending on whether the preceding sound is voiced or unvoiced.
(This simply generalizes the TO rule for plurals and possessives.)
 
The regular past is formed by adding a "D." As in TO, its value as /d/ or /t/ depends on the preceding
sound. [SB] actually [ed]  spelled = speled not speld.
 
A final L before any consonant but R is a syllable, as in [TO "able" > OGD "abl"]
 
Y is a consonant when used initially.
 
**Double Consonants**
 
CH is as in "church"

TH is as in "the"
 
SH is as in "she"
 
SS is used only finally, to indicate an unambiguous /s/  this=this(s)? reduce=reduess, redos=redues
ice=iess, eyes=ies  [SB] I think it is simpler tu just use [z = /z/].  Forget about morphemes.
 
Doubled Consonants and Vowels: See "Polysyllables, Initial Vowels," and "Special Combinations."
 
**Triple Consonants**
 
TTH = "th" as in [TO "theory" > OGD "ttheory"] Don't blame me, blame the Normans for
conquering England without learning the Anglo-Saxon alphabet. (The eth  [ð] symbol would be helpful here)
(Latin 1)
 
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Vowels
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==========================Polysyllables========================
 
**Initial Vowels**
 
A, E, I, O, U have their name values before single consonants, and their traditional "short" values
before doubled consonants.

[SB]  at=ate?, etch=each? rot=rote?  (rewrite the rule)

[SB] Single syllables retain their name values:  I, Iland, O (oh), U (yu), A (/ei/ or @)
Name values are also retained when the vowel is the last sound in a syllable.  
E.G. revolution = revolution not revoluetion as above. Do we need the e marker?
 
The combination "OO" can, when necessary, be used as in "oops." (Are there other examples?)

[SB] "oops" can ryme with "ooze" - an overlap here is not a serious problem. The initial /u:/ or /u/ is
extremely rare in English.  Foreign words:  Uberlandia would not be changed to Ooberlandia.
 
Vowels used before "th" or "tth" are treated like initial vowels in monosyllables; see below.

[SB] I would recommend [a'] for the initial schwa sound as in ago and appart to distinguish it from /ae/
since /ae/ is checked, it does not appear in the terminal position (see chart) thus sofa does not have to be marked.
 

**Medial Vowels**
 
A, E, I, O, U have their traditional "short" values when in isolation. When  A, E, O, U come first in
combinations that are not diphthongs (e.g. "going"), they have their name values. The second letter
is short. "I," when used first in such a combination, is a glide.
 
AI is as in "repair." (A troublesome one, I know, but that is a matter of accent.)
 
AU is as in "haunted."
 
EE is as in "meeting."
 
OA is as in "coattails."
 
OI is as in "enjoin."
 
OO is as in "food."
 
OU is as in "outer."
 
UE has the name value of  U. [TO "dispute" > OGD "dispuet"]
 
Y is as in "hyper."
 

**Final Vowels**
 
AW is as in "heehaw."
 
AY is as in "display."
 
E, O have their name values.
 
OY is as in "enjoy."
 
OW is as in "endow."
 
U is has the value of initial and medial OO [TO bamboo > OGD bambu]
 
UE has the name value of U, as in "continue." [SB] ambiguous- sometimes iu, other times oo
news=nues, renews=renues, noose=nuess, fuse=fues
 
Y is as in "shifty."  ["fly highly"  flye hyly]
 
YE is as in [TO "signify" > OGD "signifye"]
 
=======================Monosyllables=======================
 
**Initial Vowels Only**
 
EA is as in "eat."
 
IE is as in [TO "ice" > OGD "iess"] Ugly, I know.  [also yieks instead of yyks] [eyes=ies]
 

**Initial and Medial Vowels**
 
A, E, I, O, U in isolation have their traditional short values.
 
AU is as in "auk." [Kiwis, I know this will be a problem.]
 
OA is as in "oat."
 
OI is as in "oil."
 
OU is as in "out."
 
UE is as in [TO "fuse" > TO "fues"]
 
**Final Vowels**
 
A has an indefinite sound, as in "rumba."
 
AW is as in "jaw."
 
E, O have their name values.
 
U is as in "flu."
 
YE is as in "rye."
 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Special Combinations
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
AL is as in "pal."  pale=pail
 
ALL is as in "all."  [otherwise awl]
 
AR is as in "ark." [otherwise aark]   AR [aark = ark]
 
ARR is as in "harry."  [otherwise <hairy>]   double R [arr=air]
 
IC (terminal only) is as in "sonic."  [otherwise sonik]
 
IES is the regular plural of polysyllables ending in Y, as "sentries."  [otherwiese sentrees]
 
ING is as in both "singer" and "finger." Singgers from Longg Island must go unmarked.
 
OL is as in "hold."   [otherwise hoald]
 
OLL is as in "jolly" and "follow."  [otherwise the  joly, folo]?
 
OO followed by a double consonant is as in [TO "good" > OGD "goodd"]. [TO "put" = OGD "putt"]
Better to consistently used w for /u/ and oo for /u:/   gwd food  Already use ue for /u:/
Thuse good food could be good fued.  feud=fiud.
Yes, I know the solution is four letters long. Like the Volvo, it's boxy but goodd. [prefer gwd, pwt and twoards]
 
OR is as in "or"  [otherwise aur]
 
YIE (initial only) is as in [TO "yikes" > OGD "yieks"] The form "yyks" is thus impossible.
      [SB] what is wrong with yyks and hyk.  It is clearer than the overlap with the ies plural ending [eez].
 

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Special Syllables
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COM--, CON--, --TIAL--, --TION--, --SUER-- [TO "pressure" > OGD "presuer"],
 
--ZUER-- [TO "pleasure" > "plezuer"]  [SB] Some ambiguity here, could be pleziur.

[SB] What about repeat (otherwise ripeet)?

RE (pronounced ri or r@ in multisylable words) is spelled <re> repeat, reduce (redues)(same as redos)
 
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So now you can read English. Shouldn't everybody?
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English needs 18 additional characters.  These sounds are handled in TO with a digraf.
 

For more information visit John Reilly's website at http://www.pages.prodigy.com/VBDS39A/index.htm

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