Anthony Burns'

augmented alphabet for the milenium

(abbreviated as Burns' Milenium (BM)]

The recent SSS publication of Anthony Burns' personal view #4 provides an excellent review of the criteria that a good alphabet ought to satisfy. These can be paraphrased and summarized as

1. follow the alphabetic principle - 1 and only 1 grapheme for every phoneme...
2. be space efficient - economical for printers and readers
3. use distinctive shapes - to maximize legibility
4. avoid digraphs, ligatures, and diacritical marks
5. use concise acrophonic letter names such as ABLE, BAKER, CHARLIE... ALPHA, AY, BEE, KEY
6. use a complete set of font variations for levels of emphasis
7. provide a speed writing option for note taking
8. make it easy to learn and transition from TO.
    The augmented alphabet should work well as an ITM (initial teaching medium) and
    as an auxilliary notation.

Just the discussion of the criteria should occupy the active members of this list for two weeks.

A PERSONAL VIEW ABOUT A PERSONAL VIEW
The following is mostly opinion reflecting the writer's biases and preferences. (S. Bett)

Anyone who develops an augmented alphabet has to explain

(1) how it simplifies English spelling and
(2) how it is superior to Pitman's Phonotypy.

In addressing the first issue, Burns says that an augmented alphabet is needed because the alphabetic principle is lost when only 26 letters are used to represent 35 sounds (57 counting the important blends).

Most of the creative orthographers on this list would argue that they have managed to retain the alphabetic principle with their 26 letter digraphic solutions.

The potential for an augmented alphabets is more in the area of simplifying learning and retention and in making the phonemic script less visually shocking. While Burns recognizes this potential in his design criteria, he fails to explain how his augmented solution addresses it.

Burns raises an important question.

What new letters does English (ie, TO) need?

One of the more obvious needs is for a few more vowel letters since TO tends to use the same letter to represent about 5 sounds. (see www.pnx.com/gator/dewey.htm)

ANJeL, in using the caps or majuscules to represent a different sound, was able to expand the number of easy to remember intuitive shapes to 2 per vowel, eg. Aa, Ee, Ii... We need more.

(My comments will be limited to the A sounds)

Related shapes for the A sounds: /a/, /ae/, /ei/, /uh/, plus /aw/, /ao/ (IPA />:/ and /au/) KEY WORDS: /a/ ALM or OX, /ae/ AX, /ei/APE, /^/ UP, /aw/ AWE and /ao/ OUT

a ah xr .. .. ..
ar are
ae ax
qr pqr
ei ate
eir air
uh ago
aw awe
au out

Yule has suggested using two dots above the letter instead of the two dots following the letter [I:] to indicate long vowels. Burns replaces the colon with an extender letter than looks like an rotated J. EAR/yrr, ARE/xrr, OOZE/urz Beach uses the capital letters for the long vowels. /ei/=A, /ae/=a

Bett has suggested using what are essentially font variations as indicating sound variations. With only one font these innovations cannot be illustrated but here is an approximation:

c (an ox horn sign for the sound in ox), q (or italic [a] for *ax - it looks like an ax), a (a simplified *avian shape), and ^ (a barless A for *up & about - essentially an up sign) (see http:www.pnx.com/gator/pmf.htm)

Nu Folik uses a, q, ei, and v plus aw, ao (sample: are=ar, what=what, want=want, caught=cawt, cow=kao)

SpelWel uses c, a, ei, and u plus cw, ao (sample: are=cr, what=hwct, want=wcnt, caught=kcwt, cow=kao)

ANJeL uses o, a, A, and u plus o, C (are=oR, what=WoT, want=WoNT, caught=KoT, cow=KC)

Burns uses: xr, x, a and v plus or and xw (are=xr, what=whxrt?, want=wxrnt, caught=kort, cow=kxw) Where x=alpha and the r is not the r sound but an extender shape that replaces the [:] in IPA. /aw/ uses the extender shape [or] as does /a:/ [xr].

WHICH A SOUND IS PRIMARY?

In early versions of NF, Bett wanted to make the /ah/ sound for A primary because it is a component of so many blends (ae, ao, ai, aw) and because it is the sound that corresponds with the letter A in many other important languages (Greek, Latin, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, ...).

The ah sound in *want, *calm, and *are is not primary in English unless one combines it with the short o sound in *POT /paht/. Anglocentric notational systems can replace the /ah/ with the little o shape. Systems such as SpellWell use the c to represent the /ah/ sound (a reverse of the IPA shape for this sound). Bett prefers to use the Portuguese/Spanish inspired solution, the letter a.

Burns either ignores the /a/ or /ah/ sound or treats it is a variant of the vowel sound in ax (/ae/=x). Burns makes /ae/ (the sound in ax) primary and distorts the pronunciation of *are which he represents as xrr. (using two different R shapes, one is an extender)

Traditional Arrangement of Vowels

A /ei/
avian
ace
Rachel		 a:
alm
are
arch		 x
/ae/
ax
catch		 v
ago
up
such		 ' t-e
acute
about
away		 c, au
awe
hawk
talk		 xrr
are
 wx
au
out
E
eel
each		 e
egg
etch		 er
air
care		 ei
eight
weigh
eich		 r
earn
her		 .
I
eye
ice		 i
in
is		 ir
ear
near
 Ir
ire
fire		 . .
O
owe
oat		 o
ox
pot
ocular
C
cow
out
owl		 c
awe
hawk
ought		 Or
wore
for
oral		 or
our
hour
flour
U
ooze
food		 u
hook
good		 v  x
up
but		 YU
use
fuel
 Ur
poor		 ur
pure
Y
yod		 y
very
 W
oo-wah
uu
crew		 w
whale
hwael		 ay
aye
skay		 .

If  [A] is /ah/ then /ai/ is /ah+ee/ and *ice can be spelled *AIS and pronounced /ah-ees/.
If  [I]  is /ee/, then /ei/ is /eh-ee/ and *ace can be spelled *EIS and pronounced /eh-ees/.

In English, ei is more likely to be pronounced /ai/ as in *eider, *eidetic, or /ee/ *either.

Does the e to a shift have anything to do with the "great vowel shift"?

New Follick notation

In the chart below, the 12 pure vowels and 6 diphthongs are in boldface.
Compare this vowel chart with the vowel diagram or quadrilateral.
Each vowel letter has a 3 way ambiguity which is clarified by a mark.
Some of the associations have been realigned: /ai/ is a kind of A rather than a kind of I, /i:/ is a kind of I
The basic A sound is /ah/ rather than /ei/ or /ae/.

amb short extended + uh + ee + r* + o'
+ u		 y (i)+ Burns
milenium
a
 4 (5)		 a /ae/
ah-eh
at, ax		 a: (see o)
ah
alm, calm
a:m, colm		 a' ['] /^/
uh
a'go, sofa'		 ai  y
ah-ee
eye, ice
my, fly		 ar
ahr
are ar
car		 au
ah-uu
ah-oh
out, cow		 ya  i:o
ee-ah
yacht, iot
idiot
e
 2		 e
eh
edge
ej		 e:
eh-ee
deh-eet
date  de:t
data de:ta'
 e'
eh-yuh
he'(r)
r-drop		 ei /ei/
duplicate
ay, ey
ace
eis		 er
ehr
air		 eu
eh-uu
eh-oh
Europ
adieu
 ye  i:e
yeh  yay
i
 2		 i
ih
index
indeks		 i:    y iy
ee
eel  i:l
each i:ch		 i'  ia'
ih/ee-uh
Asia e:zhi'
idea  `idi'		 iy
see i:		 ir
ih/eer
ear ir
near nir		 io'
ee-oh
re:di:o'
 yi:
yee yeast
ee'uh-ee
year yir
o
 4		 o
ah
ox		 o:  q
aw to:l
awe tall		 o' /ou/
aw-u'h
owe		 oi
aw-ee
oil		 or
oar
or		 oo'
aw-oh
see au		 yo'  i:o'
ee-oh
yo:k
u
 5		 u [']
uh
up
other
uth'r		 u:
oo
rule ooze
through
thru		 u'
oo-uh
hook
put pJt
gu'd hu'k 		ui  u:i:
oo-ee
chui
chewy
bouy		 u'r
tour
'r
urn
earn		 uo'
oo-oh
oo-aw		 yu:  iu 
i:u:
ee-oo
beauty
biuti:
 18 5 (6) 5 3 2 1 1 1

HOW | hau in NF and hxw in BM where x represents the Greek alpha shape and the sound /ae/. /hah-owe/ makes sense as a digraph, /haeh-wah/ is something of a stretch.

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As one who champions augmented alphabets, I hate to be even slightly critical of the efforts of Anthony Burns. He has developed a consistent phonemic system and has a representation for every important phoneme. My critique of his digraphs is similar to my critique of New Spelling and TrueSpell, the component letters cannot be pronounced.

I fail to see how silent letters are much of an improvement over diacritical marks.

Burns has some good ideas and some clever letter shapes which will make it possible to be more supportive when I address the other vowels.

Unfortunately, his system does not add anything to the analysis of the A sounds that is not found in the notational systems of the contributors to this mailing list.

The alpha is superior to the x as a representation of /ae/. I usually visualize the x as either an Greek alpha or as an abbreviated ae ligature when I use it to represent /ae/. Burns provides the proper image.

That gain, I believe, is offset by misrepresenting /a:/ as xr and by not having any symbol for /a/. One can, of course, have any digraph represent any sound, but this is confusing and needlessly complex. . By ignoring a key A sound, and substituting /ae/ for /a:/ in some digraphs, Burns distorts some of the component sounds in his diphthongs and makes them more difficult to remember and keep straight.

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The value of the SPELLING list is that one can present his or her half baked ideas and get some feedback. This doesn't mean that one has to agree with all of the critiques. It does mean that you get to find out where people have trouble with your system so you can strengthen the exposition in those areas when you don't want to follow the advice provided by some of the members of the list.

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My main critique of BM is its retention of a cursive form. Why not simplify the letter shapes and do away with the cursive as a separate notational system?

BM perpetuates the teaching of six notational systems: a different upper and lower case shape for printing, hand printing, and hand writing (or cursive). Actually it adds to the burden because as an auxiliary script, it would add 6 notational systems to the 6 that are currently taught.

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English needs an augmented alphabet to simplify teaching learning and retention. The designers of these augmented alphabets should concentrate on those areas where creative orthographers run into difficulty when they limit themselves to the 26 letters. A well designed shape can be simple, elegant, and reduce confusion and redundancy. For example, a form such as [<] can split the difference between TO's c and k. A form such as the bar-less A for *up can make words such as *SOF^ and * ^baut seem more sensible.

Steve Bett, Ph.D. Lamar University - ECRC Orange, Texas 800-417-3950 sbett@oecrc.org http://www.pnx.com/gator/simpspel.htm