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To build an alphabetical or phonemic writing system
for English, why not determine the most frequent spelling used for a particular
sound (phoneme) and use it consistently? uu
ei
The data on grapheme-phoneme correspondences in the dictionary and in
text is readily avalilable (see Dewey
(1971) and Hanna (1966)). It shows that the vowels in most English syllables
are spelled in one of four ways most (80%) of the time. In multi-syllabic
words, the spelling patterns tend to be abbreviated or truncated which
results in the five vowels (alone) being the most frequent way to spell
14 vowel phonemes. Patterns such as [oo] are the most frequent way to spell
both /u/ and /u:/.
Dr. Valerie Yule wrote, "The same spelling patterns can be the most
frequent in representing different sounds, and they do not make a logical
system either, so the 'most frequent spellings' are not the best guide
for spelling reform."
Although TO is not entirely logical with respect to the consonants,
there is little disagreement as to what a logical system of consonant representation
would be. Some prefer [c] to [k]. Some want morphological regularity with
respect to plurals, etc. other want to system to be strickly phonemic e.g.,
[z] for [s] in dogz. In TO, [z] is the most frequent way to spell the /s/
sound. See OGD.
The checked vowels also do not present a problem except for the vowel
in "hook" which some do not recognize the short form of /u:/ as in ooze.
The central vowel which is also represented as a [u] in TO is another minor
difficulty. CKS represents the stressed mid
vowel as u' and the unsressed as a' which seems to work fairly well. [a'bu't,
a'nu'thr].
The most common consonant spellings - no problems here, so not listed.
a
at, ax - fat cat - exceptions
Guarantees to have salmon and meringue to harangue with plaits
Ga.ra'ntiz tu hav sa.mn and ma'ra.ng tu hara.ng with pla.tz (pleitz)
(CCS)
gar@ntEz tU hav sam@n and mRaNg (m@raNg) tU haraNg with platz. (Uni)
e
elbow,edge - red hen - heavy heads
I said I guess it’s nonsense that many friends pay with cheques on
Wednesdays to bury leopards.
'Y sed 'y gex itz nonsens xat meni frendz pei with cheks on wenzdi
tu beri leprdz.
iin,
index, it - pink pigs - give and live
Pity the city (final posistion)
Pretty busy women build with rhythm on bicycles.
Priti bizi wimn bild with rithm on bysiklz.
o Hot dog
What was
Gone scone
John got lots of honours and laurels because of his knowledge
of how to cough on yachts.
Jo.n go.t lo.tz 'v ho.nrz a.nd lorlz bicoz 'v hiz nolij 'v hau tu cof
on yats
Jan gat latz
u fun run
Some come
Son won one
Mothers and uncles with young blood have thoroughly tough tongues.
muthurz and unculz with yung blud hav thuro'li tuf tungz.
Four Near Phonemic Solutions
Saxon
- Spanglish
(MORE
ON SAXON) |
IPA
Notation
'=shwa,
':=3:
S=sh, Z=zh |
| Wans apon a taim
the byutiful dotr ov a gret majician wanted mor prlz tu pwt among her trezhrz.
"Lwk thru the centr ov the mun wen it iz blu."
sed hr mother in ansr tu hr question, " Yu mait faind yur hartz dezair." |
W'ns
'pon
'
taim ð'
bjutif'l
do:t' 'v
'
greit m'dZiS'n
want'd
mo:':
p':lz
tu: put 'm'ng
h':
treZju':z."Luk
thru: ð'
sent':
'v
ð'
mu:n hwen it iz blu:," sed h'r
m'th'
in æns':
tu: h':
kwestS'n,
"Ju: mait faind j':
ha:'tz
di:zair." |
| ALC
Fonetik (Ver.
of New Spelling) |
OGD
positional |
| Wuns upon a tiem, the buetiful
dauter of a graet majishan wonted mor perls to puut amung her trezhers.
"Luuk thru the senter of the moon when it is bloo," sed
her muther in anser to her question,"You miet fiend yur harts dezier." |
Wuns upon a tym, the biutiful dawter ov a grait majition
wonted mor perls tu puut amung her trezhers. "Lwk thru the senter ov the
moon when it is blu." sed her muther in anser tu her question, "Yu myt
fynd iur harts desyr. |
What are the major differences
between these four notations? Which solution is best?
IPA which has been around
since 1888 is the most popular. The IPA never endorsed a uniquely
English notation but starting with Prof. Daniel Jones, there have been
several different attempts to do so. The early ones all used RP as
their base pronunciation. RP [received pronunciation] refers to the educated
southern or BBC dialect.
A bake cake
lazy baby
l8zi b8bi pl8 d8 w8t for tr8n tu r8s m8z gr8t st8k. (possible grapheme)
lAzi bAbi plA dA wAt for trAn tu rAs mAz grAt stAk.
play day (final position)
wait for train
raise maize
great steak
They reign at the ballet matinees with veils and bouquets.
xei rein a.t x ba.lei ma.tineiz wi.th veilz a.nd bo'keiz
xA rAn at xu balE matinAz with vAlz and bOkAz
Eight straight dahlias in gaols. At strAt daalia's in gOlz.
E real beat
chief thief
we be (final position)
meet in street
police piano
please tease
freeze cheese receive receipt
The people believe in the key to the league. Eight straight dahlias
in
gaols.
I hi-fi
my try (final position)
like to bite
bright light
flies die
The guide on the island eyed the diamond in the aisle by the
choir.
But why sign to either with dye?
O old gold
no go (final position)
boats float
know the show
The rogue of a chauffeur at the depot holds a mauve brooch on his
shoulder.
Folk know, though, that his beau was a ghost in Cologne.
U refuse to use
tuba music
new stew
emu menu
rescue due
You view Hugh’s beautiful ewe. There’s a deuce of a feud over
the juice in lieu of an impugned fugue.
ar dark car
fast past
pass glass
banana in pajamas (final position)
passed glassed
Half the guard at the heart of the bazaar laughed at the sergeant’s
aunt
in bourgeois khaki.
er her fern
bird girl
learn and earn
word work
cur’s fur
The nurse’s answers to the amateur journalist were worse than the
colonel’s circles of myrrh.
air fair hair share care
bear wear Where?There!
The mayor’s parents spared their aeroplane fares.
or sports sort
poor door
more stores
ward off war
George bore four swords on board his horse, of course.
aw raw paw (Final position)
ball wall walk and talk
In autumn, Paul taught all his friends to fish and they brought back
what they caught
In awtum, tawl Pawl tawt awl his frends to fish and thay brawt bak
whot thay cawt.
In otm, tol Pol tot ol hiz frendz tu fish and thei brot bak what thei
kot.
in otM tol pol tot ol hiz frendz tu fiS and thA brot bak Wqt thA kot..
ow brown cow (final position)
sound around
mouse house
Sauerkraut on the bough
oy toy boy (final position)
boil in oil
The noise of a gargoyle on the life-buoy
OO cool moon truly unruly | cuol,
muon, truly, unruly
true blue to do
| tru blu tu du
|
a lulu of a zulu guru in a tutu | lulu zuolu guru tutu
Choose fruit soup or lose two shoes en route to the manoeuvres.
Chuos fruot suop or luos tu shus en ruot tu the manuvers. (RES)
oo look, a book | look, book
put, push and pull | poot, poosh, pool (lots of visual
disruption here)
could, would and should | cood, wood, shood
Wolf ! | woolf
See George Lahey's
analysis of traditional spelling and sound spelling. [URL needs updating]
See Paul Cunningham's
analsys
Local (relative) links are
listed first. Remote (absolute) links are listed second.
Original page elements:
Copyright ©1998 BETA Interactive |
Frequent Patterns in TO
