The Letter Matrix Project

The first chart [below] shows four new alphabets for English. Pitman's 1848 notation was a forerunner of his cursive shorthand which used a slightly different technique for representing vowels.  Wilkins' script , Shavian, and Pictographic Monofon [PMF] are discrete linear scripts suitable for printing. 

The letter matrix [below] borrowed the conventions used by Pitman in Alphabets and Reading. The next one returns to an alphabetical arrangement - grouping the long & short vowels with the closest blend or diphthong.  Click on the notation below for more information:
Unigraf  PMF  IPA  Shavian  Pitman  Wilkins   Augmented Alfabets    Map-IPA

The arrangement of this 40 character table is from Pitman's Alphabets and Reading, one of the top five books in applied linguistics.  There are actually 44 characters. Two obscure vowels /3/ and /'/ are missing from many orthographies so they are listed as 21/22 and 33/34 in the table.  The obscure vowels are included in the 42 phonemes recommended by G.B. Shaw and IPA. Can you read this? PMF [pictografic monofon] is a speed writing script that is mostly Roman based. When a shape such as > cannot be interpreted, try rotating it. Voice and unvoiced versions of a phoneme are grouped together.  Notice that most orthographers have designed similar shapes for similar sounds.  pb, td, kg, and fv look alike except for being turned, flipped or weighted. PMF's pictographic shapes tend to be historic.  kg [<  >] were sometimes confused in ancient scripts.  The < shape for corner, the Etruscan C and the k/q sound is as ancient as hieroglyphics.  The > shape for goad dates from about 1000 BC. PMF shapes are simple one or two stroke mono line forms yet quite distinctive.

By what arrangement of the existing alphabet can the
sounds of the English language be best represented? Sweet
The second table are mostly ASCII based phonemic notations

Alternative Vowel Notations Compared
oltu'rna'tiv vaul no'tei5nz ca'mperd (Ka.n yu ried this?)
Go to chart with more notations and click & listen feature

.Col Row	IPA	Key Word	Chkt	BR	SS	Pwe	Sp	Glób	New	Menu
A1	æ	ax, ash, at, ask*, batter	a.	æ	a'	æ	æ	ae	a	a ah-eh
B1	aa	alms, father, wad [a4]	a	aa	aa	aa	a	aa	aa	ah
C1	ai	my, I, eye, ice, flies	'y a'i	ay	ai	ay	ai	aay	ie	ah-ee
A6	^	up, cut, above, luck	u'	'	a	a	a	a	u	uh
B6		ago, sofa, abut, pencil	a'	'	a	'	a	a	u	uh
C6	au	out, cow, gaucho, kraut	au	au	au	au	au	aau	ou	aeh-uu
A2	e	edge, el, elbow	e.	e	e	e	e	e	e	e
B2	3:	her, girl, hurl, ferlough	'r	''	R 3	'	e	er	eur	er
C2	ei	ale, mail, break, resumé	ei  é	ey	ei	ey	ey	ey	ae	eh-ee
A3	i	it, index	i.	i	i	i	i	i	i	ih
B3	i:	ski, amino, kilo, eel	i  ie	iy	j	ii	i  ii	i	ee	ee
C3	oi	oil, boy, choice	oi	oi	oi	oi	oi	oi	oi	aw-ee
A4	>	ox, pot, otter, wad, of*	o.	o	o	o	a	au	o	o
B4	>:	awe, off, cross, walk, all	o	ao	oo	oo	o	au	au	aw
C4	ou	oat, solo, owe, snow	o' oá	ou	ou	ou	ow	o	oe	oh, oa
A5	u	put, hook, would	u.	u	u	u	u/w	oo	uu	oo-uh
B5	u:	zulu, ooze, cruise	u	uu	uu	uu	u	uu	oo	oo
C5	ju	you, ewe, few, fuse	iu	ju	yu	yu	yu	iu	ew	ew, yoo
D1	a:	are, car, star	ar	ac	ac	aar	ar	aar	ar*	ah-uhr
D1b	a:i'	ire, fire, liar, lyre	'yr	ai'	aic	ai	air	aayr	ire	ah-ee-uhr
D2	e'	air, care, bear, bare	er	e'	ec	e	er	eyr	aer	eh-ee-uhr
D3	i:'	ear, irrigate, pier	ir	i'	ic	i	ir	iyr	aer	ee-uhr
D4	o:'	or, ore, four, more	or	o'	oc	o	or	aur	aur	aw-uhr
D5	u'	tour, cure, sure, newer	ur	u'	uc	u	ur	uur	oor	oo-uhr
D6	au'	our, hour, power,	aur	au'	auc	au'	aur	aur	our	ah-oo-uhr

Formatted Table for email
RC IP  Key Word    Ck BR  SS  Pol  Glob New  Menu

A1 ae  ax at       a. ae  a'   ae   ae    a  a 
B1 aa  alms        a  aa  aa   aa   aa   aa  ah 
C1 ai  eye ice    'y  ai  ai   ay  aay   ie  ah-ee 

A6  ^  up, cut     u' @^   a    a    a    u  uh 
B6  @  ago,        a'  @   a    @    a    u  uh 
C6  au out cow    au  au  au    a  aau   ou  ah-uu 

A2  e  edge, el    e.  e   e    e    e    e  eh 
B2  3: her, girl  'r  @@   R    ?   er  eur  er 
C2  ei ale, mail  ei  ei  ei   ey   ey   ae  eh-ee 

A3  i  it, index   i.  i   i    i    i    i  ih 
B3  i: amino, me   i  iy  ii   ii    i   ee  ee 
C3  oi oil, boy   oi  oi  oi   oi   oi   oi  aw-ee 

A4  >  ox, pot     o.  o   o    o   au    o  ah 
B4  >: awe, lost   o  oo  oo   oo   au   au  aw 
C4  ou oat, owe    o' oa' ou   ou    o   oe  oh, oa 

A5   u put, hook   u.  u   u    u    u   uu  oo-uh 
B5  u: zulu, ooze  u  uu  uu   uu   uu   oo  oo 
C5  ju you, few   iu  yu  yu   yu   iu   ew  ew, yoo 

D1  aa are, car   ar  ac  ac  aar  aar   ar* ah-uh(r) 
D1 ai@ ire, fire 'yr ai@ aic  ai@ aayr  ire  ah-ee-uh(r) 
D2  e@ air, care  er  e@  ec   er   er  aer  eh-ee-uh(r) 
D3  i@ irrigate   ir  i@  ic   e@  iyr  aer  ee-uhr

D4  o@ or, more   or  o@  oc   o@  aur  aur  aw-uhr
D5  u@ tour,cure  ur  u@  uc   u@  uur  oor  oo-uhr 
D6 au@ our,power aur au@ auc  au@  aur  our   ah-oo-uhr

Consonants Chart

Numbered 4x6 table

old lettermatrix chart - many old orthographies

Click and listen     Index

History of Englishold-english.htm