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An orthography is simply a way to code the 12 pure vowel phonemes and 22 pure consonant phonemes of English speech. The simplest code is an alphabetic one which allows the 12 pure vowels to be combined to form and additional 9 to 13 significant combinations (diphthongs).  Orthography includes spelling rules but few special rules would have to be added to a consistent alphabetic system.

The traditional orthography is workable, but much more complicated than necessary.  Even after 10 years of formal practice, most people never fully learn it.  A alphabetical orthography can be learned in less than 40 hours.  You begin by learning 40 associated pairings of shapes and sounds.

Tabulations of the 40+ grapheme - phoneme correspondences have been around since before 1900 and are found in most dictionaries.  The superior organization into checked and free vowels, as in the table below,  is relatively recent (Wells). The older organization was as a vowel trapezoid.

Speech cannot be fully reduced to graphic representation.  However, a written code can capture enough cues to enable native speakers to reproduce it.  The goal of reform spelling is to index speech sounds in such a way that non-native speakers can read it aloud and be understood.  This is possible with the orthographies of other languages such as Spanish.  It is nearly impossible with English.

Even when keyed with IPA, as below, many of those interested in orthography have a difficult time understanding notations other than the one they are accustomed to.  Some of those on the Spelling Mailing List have suggested taping conversations so that "we can sound the phonemes in the dubious cases."  Ian and Paul think that this would be a good idea.  The audio clips, below, are the next best thing.

As suggested by the 12 notations featured in the comparative matrix below, there have been hundreds of attempts to build a more phonemic orthography for English.  All of these attempts were successful in eliminating some of the inconsistencies in the traditional orthography (TO) but none of them caught on except for ancillary use in pronunciation guides.

Unigraf, a name suggesting one and only one grapheme per sound, began as an attempt to find the most intuitive locations on the standard keyboard for 40 plus unique sound signs.  Such a phonascii or asciibet is needed to access the 40+ symbols on a phonetic font.  Others have made key assignments without paying too much attention to the consequences of their choices.  The first 25 phonogram assignments are easy and most developers of phonetic fonts have been in agreement on these. The aeiou keys are usually assigned to the short (checked) vowels and the shifted AEIOU keys are assigned to the most familiar long (free) vowels.  English has 12 pure vowels so positions for an additional two must be found.  This is where the disagreements begin.

What primary school teachers call "long vowels" are mostly diphthongs or blends.  The real long or extended vowels are  a: 3: i: o: u: [ah, er, ee, awe, ooh].  Since long vowels can be very short when followed by some consonants, modern practice is to refer to them as free vowels.  Their key characteristic is that they can be used at the end of a syllable or word.  Checked vowels can't.

Unigr@f assigns the letters: AEYOU to the traditional "long vowels" [ei, i:, ai, ou, iu] since the goal is to build an orthography that is transparent or intuitive to those literate in TO (the traditional orthography).  Y is preferred over [I] because it is the more common spelling of the [eye, I, aye] sound in words of more than one letter.

If Unigraf is isomorphic with Shavian and easier to read, why switch fonts?  Both Mark Twain and George Bernard Shaw thought that simplified phonemic spelling with the Roman letters looked awful and advocated the use of a non-roman phonemic script.  As Twain explained "A written character with which we are not familiar does not offend."  (more)

Vowel Chart - 15k gif file - Bring up this compact chart which is keyed to the multiple notation chart below. It shows all of the vowel phonemes-graphemes correspondences used by the Chekt Spelling and IPA notations. The abbreviated chart below shows the same arrangement of g-p correspondences for Unigraf-Shaw.

      Unigraf-S
A        B        C         D 

@ q c Y cr Yr

e  R  A B er

i  E  Q D ir

q  o  O P or

J  V  U Vr Ur

u  a  W    Wr

Shavian does not use RP as the base pronunciation.  Therefore, car is terminated with a strong R instead of a schwa.  The connection of the pure vowel /3:/ with a ligature (schwa + r) is unfortunate since it makes it more difficult to clearly distinguish between the sounds in the following word list:

         array,  her ray,    hurray,   hurry  and   hover.
         arA,    hR rA,     harA,    hRi,   and   huvR    (Unigraf)
         DE,     hD rE,     hDE,      hDI,   and   huvD    (Keyboard Shavian)
         In Shavian, the over use of [ar = D] can wipe out the stressed / unstressed distinction.
         The vowel sounds in HER /h3:/  and ARRAY / rei/ are not the same. /rei/ does not = /3:ei/

PMF chart  Pictographic Monofon is a romanesque version of Shavian

The Shavian alphabet has 40 phonograms supplemented by eight "compound" letters (see col. D) which are ligatures of the combined shapes.     The 12 pure vowels appear in the 1st two columns.  [her] should be a pure vowel but it is here it is a ligature of schwa [ado] & r [roar]    (Col. C) diphthongs should be blends of the pure  vowels, e.g., /ei/ includes an e shape.  /ai/ [ice] includes part of æ instead of a: or schwa.  The combi- nations in (col. D) are all with r - not schwa.

Alternative Vowel Notations Compared
Clik-n-Lisn tu th saunds (Click-on Uni letter to play the digitized audio clip)
Several key words are indicated because some choices do not rhyme in all dialects, e.g.,
[on, water, odd, ox, wad, wash, bath, ask]   o:n?  wo:tr?  od,  wod?  ox, wosh?  ba:th?  a:sk?  æsk? /o: o  a:  æ/?

olt'rna'tiv vaul no'tei5nz ka'mperd   (Ka.n yu ried xis?)   (chekt speling)
oltRnativ vWl nOtASanz kamperd      (kæn U rEd xis?)     (Unigraf-downsize)
yltDnativ vQl nOtESanz kampXd.     (kAn V rId His?)      (Keyboard Shavian - SYvian)
QltDnativ nOtESanz kampXd.   kAn V rId His  SYvian (Shaw Alfabet)

 

.Col Row

IPA

Key Word

Chkt

BR

SS

NF

Glob

NS

US

KS

SA

SA

ANJ

Uni

Menu

A1

æ

ax at, ash, ask*, batter

a.

æ

a'

a

ae

a

æ

A

A

ash

a

a

æ  a

B1

aa

alms, father, wad [ox A4]

a

aa

aa

aa

aa

aa

c

y

y

ah

x

q

q  ah

C1

ai

I eye, my, ice, flies

'y  a'i

ai

ai

ai

aay

ie

Y

F

F

ice

I

I

I,  ah-ee

A6

^

up cup, above, luck

u'

^

a

a

a

u

u

u

u

up

U

u

u'  uh

B6

ago sofa, abut, ado

a'

c a

a'

a

u

a

a

a

ado

U

^

a' i  uh

C6

au

owl out, gaucho, kraut

au

au

au

au

au

ou

W

Q

Q

out

m

V

au  ae-uu

A2

e

elbow egg, edge, yes

e.

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

egg

e

e

e

B2

3:

her girl, hurl, ferlough

'r

@@

R

'r

ar ?

eur

R

D

D

r

R

R   er

C2

ei

ale age, mail , resumé

ei  é

ei

ei

ei

ei

ae

A

E

E

age

A

A

A  eh-ee

A3

i

index  if, inn, it, itch

i.

i

i

i

i

i

i

i

i

if

i

i

i   ih

B3

i:

eel amino, me, eat, ingot

i  ie

iy

ii

ie, i

i

ee

E

I

I

eat

E

E

E   ee

C3

oi

boy oil, void, choice

oi

oi

oi

oi

oi

oi

Q

q

q

b

Q

oi  aw-ee

A4

odd wad, ox, pot,, on*

o.

o

o

o

au

o

c q

o

o

on

x

q

q  ah

B4

:

awe off, cross, walk, all

o

ao

oo

o:

au

aw

o

Y

Y

awe

x

o

o  aw

C4

ou

oak solo, owe, snow

o'  oá

ou

ou

o'

o

oe

O

O

O

X

O

O oh, oa

A5

u

hook put, wool, would

u.

u

u

u

a

uu

J

U

U

u

c

u. oo-uh

B5

u:

hoop zulu, ooze, cruise

u

uu

uu

u:

u

oo

V

M

M

k

C

u  oo

C5

ju

you ewe, few, fuse

iu

yu

yu

iu

u

ue

U

V

V

Yk

U

U  ew, yoo

D1

a:

are car, star, far

ar

aa

ac

ar

aar

ar

C cr

R

R

xr

qr

qr  ah-uhr

D1b

ai

ire  fire, liar, admire

'yr

ai

aic

yr

aayr

ier

Yr F

x

X

Ir

Ir

Ir  ah-ee-uhr

D2

e

air error, dare, ferry

er

e

ec

er

er

aer

B er

X

x

air

Ar

er

er  eh-ee-uhr

D3

i

ear, irrigate, pier, leer

ir

i

ic

ir

ir

eer

ir D

C

C

Er

ir

ir ee-uhr

D4

or ore, four, more, door

or

o

oc

or

or

awr

or P

P

P

xr

or

or aw-uhr

D5

yu

cure, sure, fewer

ur

ju

uc

ur

iur

uer

Ur

Vr

Vr

Ur

Ur

Ur yoo-uhr

D5b

u

tour pour, poor, moor

iur

u

iuc

iur

ur

oor

Vr

Ur

Ur

kr

Cr

toor

D6

au

our hour, power, tower

aur

au

auc

aur

aur

our

Wr

Qr

Qr

mr

Vr

aur ah-oo-uhr

The chart above can be said to map 12 notational systems to IPA.  Some find the more complete treatment of individual notations at Map-IPA to be more satisfactory.  This page provides additional side by side text samples.

Unigraf began as an attempt to find intuitive locations on the standard keyboard for 40 plus unique sound signs.  These are needed to build a phonetic font.  Others have done the same without paying too much attention to the consequences of their choices.  The first 25 phonogram assignments are easy and most developers of phonetic fonts have been in agreement on these.  ANJeL II, deviated from intuitive assignments due to an over concern for the legibility of the particular font used for video captioning.  Q and O were dropped as being too easily confused with zero.

There are two competing with respect to shape discrimination.  Bett prefers similar shapes for similar sounds and holds that misidentification rarely has any serious consequences under these circumstances.  If the awe symbol is mistaken for ah, the word can still be identified and pronounced [dog/dqg, cot/cqt in Unigraf].

In the name of simplification, many orthographers would prefer to merge phonemes that overlap across dialects.  Globish uses au for both cot and caught [caut/caut] and reserve o strictly for /ou/. Others want to magnify small differences [e.g., th# or dh for eth] to bring them to the attention of casual language users.  The use of unobtrusive markers such as the mid-dots in CKS and similar shapes in Unigraf provide the best of both worlds.  The differences are so small that they would be overlooked by many but are there for those who champion precision.

While certain letters should never be used in tiny alpha-numeric serial numbers, letter number confusion in running text is rarely a problem.  Thus in Chekt Spelling, 2 is used for zh and 5 is used for sh.  The latest version of Ian's Saund Spel makes use of even more numbers for phonograms.

There is certainly good justification for using unigrafs in place of digraphs. Digraphs such as TH create code overlaps and diminish the elegance and consistency of a notational system.  Not all digraphs are equally offensive. Digraphs for combinations of pure vowels [ei in they] is a way to simplify spelling. The TH digraph which might confuse the pronunciation of lighTHouse is relatively benign.  Even the inability to distinguish between a phonetic rendering of thy/thigh [xy/thy in CKS] is not that serious.  What is serious is the accumulation of code overlaps and exceptions.

The only reason for retaining H and E as silent markers is because TO readers are familiar with them.  If the orthographers' goal is to minimize visual disparity with respect to the traditional orthography, then they should retain the digraphs but attempt to minimize other code overlaps.

There are 52 ASCII letter characters but most scripts make use of only 26 as unique sound signs. Unigraf employs the lower case letters as distinct sound signs. Each letter in TO has 2 allographemes, eg. [G g] making it a dual redundant system. [k, K] in Unigraf refer not to one but two sounds /k/ and /tsh/, commonly known as [ch]. The
discarded letters [cC, qQ] refer to vowels not consonants. In the standard Unigraf, these sound-signs are referred to as
"lazy-U's" /u:/ and /u/. In Unigraf for Shavian, they are reserved for ah and are.  The upright U is resevered for "you".  In
Unigraf for the Shaw alphabet [US], the lazy-U's were replaced by J (hook) and V (hoop).  a & @ were reversed so that
[a] refers exclusively to schwa (ado), and [@] to /æ/ ash.  When available, such as in commercial printing, @ would
be replaced by æ.

Unigraf-S is a kind of ITA (intial teaching alphabet) for the Shaw alphabet.  Phonemic writing is not something that most TO readers are used to so there has to be a way to practice.  Unigraf provides that stepping stone because it can usually be read without a key.    "Unigr@f provydz xat stepiG stOn bicoz it c@n UZUali bE red wiTWt a kE."

Unigraf uses q for both /o/ and /aa/ - the checked and free form of [ah].  Shavian has distinct sound signs for these two related sounds so Unigraf-Shaw has to add [V] for /aa/ and [H] for ar.

The logic for these selections is convoluted as a result of being some of the last letters assigned. V looks like a turned A form.  If numbers could be used, 5 is a perfect analog which is basically a rotated 5.  V is the roman numeral for 5. H might suggest a rotated double C.

Shavian [ah] character (a rotated 5). In a simplified Shavian, the long and short form of ah would be merged as they are in many pronunciation dictionaries. I would use the same shape or perhaps a  for the short ah, the long ah could be a simple modification, something like a 5.  The awe would be something like a 2.  In the end they would not change much.  Compare these renderings for "ox or cart" qx or kqrtks 2 k5t. oks P kRt

One still has to distinguish are [ah+r] from or [awe+r].  [are] might be visualized as a double  connected at the top while [or] is a double  connected at the bottom.  ah, awe, and are are all C-shapes in Shavian.

UNi Unigraf	I BqT du utr YeLO KOT weN I So du PRIS. upsize I bqt x uxR yelO kOt Wen I so x prIs.   downsize
Folik	Ai boat dhu udher ielou cout huen ai soa dhu prais.
NFolik	`I bo:t th uthr ielo' co't wen `I so: th prys.
NuSpl	Ie baut thu udher yeloe coet wen Ie sau thu pries
Truespel	Ie baut thu uther yeloe coet wen Ie sau thu pries
OGD	I baut the uther yelo coat wen I saw the pryss.
CutSpl	I bot th othr yelo coat wen I saw th price.
CS	'I bot th othr yelo' co't hwen 'I so th pr'ys.
CKS	I bot x oxr yelo' co't wen I so x prys
TO	I bought the other yellow coat when I saw the price
UniTO	I bot xu uxR yelO kOt Wen I so xu prIs.
Unigraf-S	Y bot x axR yelO kOt wen Y so x prYs
KShaw	F bYt Ha aHD jelO kOt wen F sY Ha prFs
ShawA	F bYt Ha aHD jelO kOt wen F sY Ha prFs
Lionspaw	F bYt H aHD jelO kOt wen F sY H prFs

Download Shaw Alphabet Fonts to view the last two transcriptions
Notice how compact Chekt Spelling and Unigraf are with respect to the other notations.
Compactness Rank:  CKS, Unigraf, Keyboard Shavian, Cut Spelling, NuFolik
Shavian when printed at 12 point is as compact as the keyboard notations

Chekt Speling	I sei nu boi go' aut
Keybd. Shavian	F sE nM bq gO Qt
Unigr@f	Y sA nC bQ gO Wt
Shavian	F sE nM bq gO Qt
Restored English Spelling	I say nu boy go out

Compare the readability of KS (keyboard shavian) and Unigraf-S above.
One basic difference is the way the free vowels (long) vowels are represented
AEIOU for TO, AEYOU for Unigr@f and EIFOV for Keyboard Shavian.

L-Matrix 3.gif   Illustrates the antecedents of Shavian and a pictographic version of Shavian - PMF.

Traditional Orthography	"That quick beige fox jumped in the air over each thin dog. Look out, I shout, for he's foiled you again."
Truespel	"That kwik baezh faaks jumpd in thu air oever eech thhin daug. Look out, ie shout, for heez foild yue uggen."
IPA	ðæt kwik beiZ fks tZ^mpt in ð e ouv i:tsh þin d:g.  luk aut ai shaut f:r hi:z foild ju: gen.
Chekt Speling	Xa·t kwi·k bei2 fo·x ju·mpt in x er o'vr ich thi·n dog.  Lu·k aut 'I shaut, for hiz foild iu a'gen.

Latin-1

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