Spanglish phonemic transcription system and phonographic alphabet
Spanglish is either a mostly Spanish hybrid vocabulary or a hybird orthography
This page describes a consistent Latin based orthography for English
This parallel pronunciation guide spelling system will make sense to Spanish speakers
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S  A  X  O  N Phonemic Transcription System Pronunciation Guide Spelling that reveals the basic code

Saxon Spanglish is a phonemic transcription system for American and British English. SS is based on the ancient Saxon augmented Roman alphabet. This is why the orthography retains a certain latin or spanish flavor. It uses the same devices for distinguishing vowel sounds as in traditional English.  The difference is that it uses them consistently for both Germanic and Latin root words.  A sample of Saxon spelling.  The Saxon alphabet.

If the ascii keys were used more rationally, there would be little need for an augmented alphabet. The following table shows how the letters on a 26 letter keyboard could be used to represent 42 or more sounds. The two letter combinations or digraphs are found in many English words. The difference is that in Spanglish they are used consistently and with no code overlaps.  ow cannot be used for both low - below and cow-allow. [Spanglish lo below and cau alau ].

The strategy closely parallels the one used by Saxon scribes to represent Old English:  e.g., distinguish short vowels by following them with a double consonant [batter, better, bitter, bottle, butter].  Mark long vowels with an extender letter, e.g., [oa] [ie].   baar, field, fraid, faot, foald, fuud.  Except for ie for /i:/, th, and ch, all the letters can be pronounced even when they occur in a digraphic symbol.  This is not essential but it makes learning and retention easier.

Like the ancient Saxon writing system, Spanglish marks stress by either doubling vowel letters or doubling the consonant following letters representing short vowels. Consequently there are two ways to represent one syllable words: stressed vowel or unstressed vowel: catt cat  call cal  cell cel  fill fil  soll sol  cutt cut  putt put Mark Twain called for a new phonographic alphabet.  One  where each symbol represents one and only one important speech sound.  There are at least 40 sounds in English, so the alphabet has to have at least 40 symbols - not 26.  The Saxon alphabet uses letter combinations or digraphs for the missing sound signs.  Except for the extra vowel phonograms, this is a phonographic alphabet but it does not look much different from the traditional one. Instead of 5 vowels there are 17 vowel phonograms. The important difference is that in the Saxon alphabet there is a much closer connection between speech and writing: Except for the semi-vowels, each symbol stands for one and only one sound. The key positions are before and after a consonant. There is no long short ambiguity when a vowel occurs at the end of a word so it does not have to be doubled unless to show stress. A FONOFGRAFIC ALFABET The Saxon augmented Latin alphabet contains 17 vowels and 25 consonants among its 42 phonograms.  There are only two unfamiliar consonants - thh and zh. and three unfamiliar vowels - ae, ai, uu.  The real difference with a phonongraphic alophabet is stricter adherence to the principels of one sound per symbol and no code overlaps.  There are 12 new vowel phonograms plus 7 explicit semi-vowels. The traditional system contains PRISM which could be spelled PRISAM.  Spanglish makes wider use of semi-vowels, e.g., LITTL.  Thus there are often two spellings available: OTHR or OTHER. HURR or HER or HR. HURRY however could not be cut to HERY or HRY without the loss of a clear stress marking. There mayu be two ways to spell some words but only one way to read and pronounce them.  Spanglish is not the only possible phonographic alphabet. There are dozens. While the Saxon alphabet does not require an extended Latin-1 aphabet, it could benefit from the availability of more phonograms.

I N D E X   P A G E A fonemic transcriptions system for the English language A family of related notations based on the restored Saxon Alphabet In regularized English, only werds that cannot be understood when pronounced alphabetically are respelled.  Less than a 15% change. All 100% Phonemic transcriptions  respell 60% of the TS words For a  version with less graphics - click here > no graphics problem - dyslexia - basic code - number of phonemes - solution Humor 12 - JSSS  28  29

I  N  D  E  X - Problems 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | - Dyslexia & writing systems 1 | 2 - Basic Code  1  2  3  4  5  6 - Number of phonemes  46 |  - Needed Solution  1  2  3  4 - Criteria for adequate solutions - Start with a unifonic alphabet - Rationale for the SS solution - Arguments against  1  2  3   4 - Humor 1 | 2  3  4  5 - JSSS  28  29 | 30  32

- Problem - The traditional writing system is more complex and difficult than it needs to be.  There are simpler, more consistent, and easier ways to code the 40+ sounds of English speech.  No linguists contests this fact.  The problem has been that there are a hundred different ways to improve on the old system.  There has been no criteria established which could be used to determine which of the alternatives was the best and no strong support for any particular alternative.  Criteria - Since there is no agreed on criteria for evaluating proposals, it is very difficult to conclude that one solution is better than another.  Not only are there at least a dozen different dimensions that could be used,  there is disagreement as to how much one dimension should be weighted relative to another.  The goal is easy to state:  A writing system for English that is as consistent and phonemic  as the writing systems for Spanish and Italian.  Spanglish is just one of several ways this could be achieved. If there were agreement, this would be an easy goal to achieve.  English once had a writing system that was as good as Italian.  There is no reason other than inertia and tradition that a phonographic alphabet could not be re-established.  Spanglish is, in some respects, a return to the original solution that was largely abandoned after the Normal conquest in 1066.  Continuing with the complex code means continuing with the low rates of literacy and high rates of dyslexia in English speaking courntries.  The inability to handle complex codes is evenly distributed across the world, the display of it symptoms  [e.g. code confusion] is rarely found in countries with simple codes.  As a code, the main deficiency of the traditional system is polyvalence or multiple values for each symbol and multiple symbols for each sound category or phoneme.  There are several sources of polyvalence in the traditional writing code.  [1]  spelling conventions from different eras and different languages, [2]  a shift in the way that some words are pronounced [vowel shift] which was not corrected with a revision in the spelling of those words. [beak/break]  [3]  the use of non-phonemic principles in the design of spelling, namely morhemic principles and etymological principles.  [4]  there are real problems with regional variations in English speech which means that some people will either have to learn a spelling dialect or that the idea of standardized spelling will have to be abandoned. Solutions - There have been strong arguments in favor of keeping the exisiting chaotic system and against some of the proposed solutions. These are usually straw man arguments against an imagined proposal rather than one that has been carefully developed.  The basic argument against reform is that it is too much trouble and only benefits new learners.  Those who have mastered the traditional code will have to learn a new code and no one wants to go through this ordeal a second time. The Saxon alphabet differs from the "traditional" alphabet in displaying all of the vowel phonograms. Germanic alphabets have a difficult time representing all of the phonemes with just 5 vowel letters.  The Saxon alphabet is the traditional alphabet before the English alphaabet lost its connection to letter sounds.  The writing system codes an ancient dialect of English, not today's English.  If the Saxon alphabet is used, English will retain its connection with the past without the complication of spellings that have little connection to today's word pronunciations.  This is not a drastic change because the shift was primarily with respect to the long vowels and diphthongs.  Saxon-alfa Saxon-Span Saxon-Spanglish

Problem - the traditional system is more complex and difficult than it needs to be.  There are easier ways to code the 40+ sounds of English speech.  Continuing with the complex code means continuing with the low reates of literacy in English speaking courntries.  It also means continuing with the high incidence of code confusion or dislexia.  As a code, the main deficiency is polyvalence or multiple values for each symbol and multiple symbols for each sound category or phoneme.  There are several sources of polyvalence in the traditional writing code.  [1]  spelling conventions from different eras and different languages, [2]  a shift in the way that some words are pronounced [vowel shift] which was not corrected with a revision in the spelling of those words.  [3]  the use of non-phonemic principles in the design of spelling, namely morhemic principles and etymological principles.  [4]  there are real problems with regional variations in English speech which means that some people will either have to learn a spelling dialect or that the idea of standardized spelling will have to be abandoned.

Solutions - There have been strong arguments in favor of keeping the exisiting chaotic system and against some of the proposed solutions. These are usually straw man arguments against an imagined proposal rather than one that has been carefully developed.  The basic argument against reform is that it is too much trouble and only benefits new learners.  Those who have mastered the traditional code will have to learn a new code and no one wants to go through this ordeal a second time.
 

The heart of our trouble is with our foolish alphabet. It doesn't know how to spell, and can't be taught. In this it is like all other alphabets except one -- the phonographic. This is the only competent alphabet in the world. It can spell and correctly pronounce any word in our language.
 

Twain, writing in the 1890's, identified a problem we are still grappling with 100 years later.  We still do not have a good set of symbols for the phonemes of speech. 

Edward Carney, who wrote the most recent comprehensive survey of the regularities in English spelling, commented, "Perhaps the greatest practical problem in dealing with spelling is that people do not have a familiar and generally accepted way of tacking the phonetic side of correspondences."[1994, p. 33]

Phonemes map onto traditional letters only 40% of time rather than 85% or more as in alphabetical writing systems. In other words, in the tradtional English writing system, spelling corresponds to pronunciation only about 40% of the time.  English has about 42 important sound categories or phonemes, the writing system has over 560 ways to spell these sounds. [see Dewey]

The IPA or International Phonetic Alphabet was developed just before 1900 to address this problem.  The IPA approach was to extend the alphabet and to substitute special characters for ambiguous letters.  This worked but other than in dictionary pronunciation guides, it was rarely used and generally never taught outside of linguistics departments.  Two other factors inhibited the wider adoption of IPA symbols [1] the special characters were not supported by most keyboards and [2] the transcriptions were difficult to read.

Spanglish is an attempt to create an ascii-IPA.  If your dictionary provides an IPA transcription of a word, it is easy to convert it to Spanglish because Spanglish letters and digraphs are isomorphic with IPA. Spanglish even shows primary stress.

Ol fonemic noteishanz for English will riespell 60% av the werds. Thaet iz the prais av consisstency.  Truespel, for instans, respells 90% av the werds. Spanglish daz not trai tu bi perfect.  The goal iz tu bi az consisstent az Espaanyol.  Spanglish iz aolso desaind tu bi diconstructed:  e.g., let tion = shan, let ce = s, ...

What would the English writing system look like if all the devices used to distinguish long and short vowels and different diphthongs were applied rationally?  That is, applied in such a way to avoid code overlaps and polyvalence or multiple sound values for symbols. The result would be a phonemic transcription system similar to the one described here - Saxon Spanglish.
 

Phonemic Transcriptions:  IPA is the most popular code for dictionary pronunciation guides. Normally it looks rather odd when used for more than a couple of words.  Sweet's version below is as attractive as it gets.  The version where he replaces the eth [ð] with the Greek delta d  is  better.  Spanglish,  one of several  ASCII-IPA notations compatible with e-mail,  is an IPA  equivalent that uses no special characters or diacritics.    It is supposed to look less alien than  IPA.   Please write and tell me  [sbett@lycos.com ]  if it achieves its aesthetic goal  and  if you could read it without a key.

IPA-International Phonetic Alphabet	SS- Saxon-Spanglish Fonemic Notation
W'ns 'pon ' taim ð' bjutif'l do:t' 'v ' greit m'd3iò'n want'd mo:': p':lz tu: put 'm'h h': tre3ju':z."Luk thru: ð' sent': 'v  ð' mu:n hwen it iz blu:," sed h'r m'th' in æns': tu: h': kwestò'n, "Ju: mait faind j': ha':tz dizair." Sweet's ipa	Wans apon a taim the biutifal doter av a greit majishan waanted mor perlz tu put amang her trezherz."Luk thru the center av the muun hwen it iz blu," sed her mather in aenser tu her queschan, "Yu mait faind yur haartz dyzair."  Spanglish - fonetic

Sweet's broad IPA  transcription  is quite readable.  Most IPA transcriptions are not.  The IPA notaton may work in dictionary pronunciation guides but are not ideally suited for large blocks of text. 

Besides not requiring a special font or special keyboard, the chief advantage of Spanglish is that it is much easier to read than IPA.  Spanglish looks like English and can be read without a key.  A key may be helpful when reading Spanglish text aloud:  e.g., tomaato is not pronounced tomeito.  Spanglish is pronunciation guide spelling.  Learning a restored unifonic [one sound per symbol] alphabet can provide insight into traditional spelling and improve phonemic awareness. 

IPA would be a solution if it were widely used and supported by the publishing industry. IPA's turned characters for new symbols was a convenient solution in a hard type era.  It is not a good solution in a digital era.  Since it is not supported by keyboards and coding systems, there are probab
 
 

Long and short vowels in four notations and two dialects
aa  ee  ii  oo  uu  -  ae aeiou ai  [ a=@  ]  and is a free vowel]

SENTENCE CONTAINING ALL THE LONG VOWELS The early green grass grew fairly tall	SENTENCE CONTAINING ALL THE SHORT VOWELS I  put the cat up in a copper kettle
Southern Educated British 4i eely grjn graas griuu feely tool.  . Ianspel-RP Thi ealy grien graas griu fealy tol.    Spanglish-RP General American The erly grien grass gru ferrly taol.  SS - GA Dhx xrlii griin graes gruu ferlii tool   Englik Dx RlE grEn gras grU ferlE tool      xenglik	Southern Educated British Ai put dha kaet ap in a caapa ketl   Ianspel-RP Ai put dha caet ap in a caapa  ketl.  SS - RP General American Ai pwt the caet upp inn a copper kettal. SS - GA Ai put dhx kaet xp in x kaapxr ketxl       Englik Y put Dx kat vp in x kqpR ketL             xenglik

Long and short vowels in Old English distinguished by accent marks
 

The West Saxon Standard - Englisc   a æ e i o u 'r èr long ah * eh-ey eel awe-oh hoop her short ago æsh ej-edge ill awe* hook othèr accents à * è  ì ò ó ù à è

Why make such big changes as A=ah, I=eel, O=awe, U=ooze?  The main reason is that this set of correspondences allows learners to use spelling pronunciation.  Pronouncing all A's as ah produces understandable results.  The alt. of pronouncing Ha as Hay doesn't quite work.  Pronouncing all O's as awe unless in the terminal position also works better than other alternatives.

.

Spanglish restores most of the Saxon Alphabet but not the Saxon vocabulary or word pronunciation.  Words are spelled as they are pronounced today.

Any real solution to the alphabet problem should, in  the opinion of Mark Twain, start with a new alphabet: a phonographic alphabet.  Most alphabets start out as phonographic [a collection of sound signs] but they do not stay that way unless changes in the pronunciation of a word is followed up with a respelling of that word.  English started with the Saxon augmented roman alphabet.  A phonograpic alphabet or sound-symbol correspondences that Spanglish attempts to restore. To respell a word, you need a grapheme-phoneme correspondence table such as the one on the left. It is too late to respell or soundspell all the words in English.  The Saxon alfabet, however, can identify 10% that need respelling in order to be understood when each letter is pronounced. --------------------------------------------------

The vowels in this chart are arranged in traditional aeiou order There are six short [checked] vowels and eight long [free] vowels.  All 14 of the pure [uncombined] vowels are coded in a yellowish tint.  Diphthongs are coded green.  Unvoiced consonants are also tinted green.  The gray vowels were considered thripthongs and not listed in Jone's minimal list of 21 vowels.  If there was a symbol for schwa, EIR would be ER as it is in IPA [e']. Consonant order is a little arbitrary.  It is in approximate alphabetical order.

sall sael saul sol

Here is another chart with just the 14 pure vowels according to D. Jones. These are the 14 pure vowels of English. This is where the agreement ends.  Then there is a problem of how these phoneme categories shold be used.  How do you use one phoneme marker for two different pronunciations of the same word?  E.G., baather or baother?  boDcr or bxDcr

The most needed characters are . .    a [schwa] ø  x &  '    ae [short a]   æ    oa [long awe]  å   oo    ai [eye sound]  î    I or Y    ei [long A]     â   A or E    ou [long o]    ô   O [left] The 14  pure vowels are identical to IPA.  The chart shows more combinations than found in Jones' list of 21 vowels.  iu, aar, air, our are included here [teal]. Typically, each vowel letter represents a short vowel and two free vowels. U is a special case, it has two short forms . These can be distinguished either by two trailing consonants are by using w and v as semi-vowels. butter = bvter woolen = wulan, wwlan

White=unstressed vowel  Yellow =vowel Tan = diphthong,   blue=consonant Green = semi vowel or syllabic consonant [right] Notice that each vowel letter represents three sounds.  Usually there are two free vowels and a checked vowel.  U has two checked vowels up and hook.  In a complete alphabet, there are almost as many vowels as there are consonants.

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References splbib: Phoneascii. 

SAMPA...SAMPA .. WRITING SYSTEMS ..Asciibet..Map-IPA