sweet-absurd.htm
 
Absurdities of English spelling
by Henry Sweet-(1845 - 1904)
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Digitized from Sweet's book, Principles of Spelling Reform, by James Chandler
Formatted and expanded by Steve Bett
Related pages:  sweet-short, badarguments, chaos poem
 sweet-nomic  |  sweet-story  |  table  |  saxon-spanglish

1: Heteric equivalents of English vowel sounds [3H]
'Heteric' means belonging to another system, oddball

The vowel sounds of English all have several different symbolizations in the present heteric orthography. (heterophones-homophones) The following list was compiled with the help of A. Ellis, Plea for Phonetic Spelling, 1848. The examples given relate to British RP.

 [a:] a in father, au in aunt, ar in card, er in clerk, ear in heart, uar in guard

 [e] a in many, ai in said, ay in says, e in let, ea in head, eo in leopard, ie in friend, u in bury, ue in guess [head is OK as an extended e, the others have to change to match e or ea.  menny, sedd, sez, leaperd, frend, berry, gess.  gu is an orthographic modification gess=jess. as in gem, gentry, gent, gesture. it is another i,e, rule.  as in cent and city.

 [i] e in pretty, ea in guineas, ee in breeches, ei in forfeit, i in pit, ia in marriage, ie in sieve, 
      o in woman,  u in busy, ui in build, y in physics, ey in money 
      [pritty, guiniz, brichez, forfit, marrij, siv, wimmen, bizzy, bild, fissics, munny].

 [o] a in want, au in laurel, o in on, ou in cough, ow in knowledge
       [waant, lorel, on, coff, nolaj]  weunt wo:nt

 [u] o in woman, oo in wood, ou in would, u in bull       [list of 18 ways to spell /u:/]
       wuman, wud, wud, bul  huk, 

 [æ] a in sat, ai in plait, plaid, 
        [satt, platt, pladd, saet] 

 [L] u in humble, o in son, oe in does, oo in flood, ou in double 
       [u.  hummbl, sunn, duzz, fludd, dubbl]  [alt. san, daz, flad]

 [i:] ae in minutiae, e in be, ea in each, eae in fleaed, ee in feet, ei in conceit, eo in people, ey in key, 
       eye in keyed, oe in foetus, ie in grief, i in magazine, uay in quay, ui in mosquito
       [minushii,  bii, iich, fliid, fiit, consiit, piipl, kii, kiid, fiitas, griif, maggaziin, kii, moskiiteu ø]

 [o:] a in fall, aor in extraordinary, au in haul, aw in awful, or in fork, oa in broad, ou in ought

 [u:] ew in brew, ewe in brewed, eu in rheumatic, o in do, oe in shoe, oeu in manoeuvre, oo in too, 
        ooe in wooed, ou in soup, u in ruling, ue in true, ui in fruit, wo in two  [18 ways]

 [ai] a in naive, ai in aisle, ei in height, ey in eying, i in bind, ie in die, ui in guide, uy in buy, y in fly, ye    
        in dye [naiiv, ail, hait, aiying aing  aiq, baind dai, gaid, bai, flai, dai]. nYiv, Yl, hYt, Yiq,Yying dY

 [au] ou in noun and aloud, ow in cow, owe in allowed  [naun, cau, alaud]  all OK

 [ei] a in mating, ai in pain, ao in gaol, au in gauging, ay in play, aye in played, ea in great, ei in veil, 
       ey in they, eye in conveyed [meiting, pein, geijing, pley, pleyd, greit, veil, they, conveyd]

 [oi] oi in noisy, oy in boy, oye in enjoyed, uoy in buoy, uoye in buoyed

 ['u] ao in pharaoh, au in chauffeur, eau in beau, eo in yeoman, ew in sew, ewe in sewed, o in post, 
         oa in oats, oe in doe, oo in brooch, ou in soul, ow in know ø [eu=q ø]
         [ farrø, shøfer, bø, yøman, sø, pøst, øts, dø, brøch, søl, nø nolaj ]
         [ faereu, sheufer, beu, yeuman, seu, peust, euts, deu, breuch, seul, neu, nolaj ]

 ['] a in brilliant, eo in dungeon, io in cushion, o in motion, iou in conscious, oi in tortoise, 
       eu in amateur, u in suffice, oa in cupboard, ou in viscous, e in condiment
       brillyant, dunnjan, cushan, meushan, conshas, tortas, ammater, safais/suffais, cubbard, vishas, 
       condimant,   [sc retained as sh in conscious, no longer scip science  was this ever sheeans]

See Chris Upward's longer list of heterografs.



 
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2: Sounds associated with the vowel letters [H3b]
Dewey compiled a more complete list - avg. 20.7 sounds/letter
Return to spelling reform page


Most combinations of vowel symbols in the present "heteric" ( Ellis's term, meaning "belonging to another system" ) spelling have more than one phonetic value in any given accent of English. 
Some [vowel symbols] have numerous possible sound values. [20.7 to be exact -Dewey].
The following list was compiled with the help of Ellis, Plea for Phonetic Spelling, 1848. Phonetic values are given for British RP.

(Note that, at least in the case of RP, if not of other accents, the list could be made still more ample by the inclusion of the combinations in r: ar in start, eer in beer etc., even ire in fire.)

a: [ei] in hating, [a:] in father, [o:] in water, [e] in many, [æ] in hat, [o] in want, ['] in brilliant, [e] in various, [i] in village.     heiting, faather, woter, menny, hatt, wont, brillyant, vaerias, villaj/villij

ae: [i:] in minutiae, [e] in aerial, [ei] in Israel    izraael?  izreili

ai: [ei] in sail, [e] in said, [æ] in plait, [eii] in dais, [ai] in aisle, [aii:] in naive

ao: [ei] in gaol /jeil/, [eio] in chaos [kaos], [u/ou] in pharaoh /ferrow/    [ferlow]

au: [ei] in gauging /geijiq/, [a:] in aunt, [o:] in haul, [u/ou] in chauffeur /showfr/, [o] in laurel

aw: [o:] in awful  /olfwl/   paw, crawl [see all]  aa+u  close to [oh]  sao=sau

ay: [ei] in pray, [e] in says  [prey, sez]

e: [i:] in be, [i] in pretty, [e] in let, ['] in open   bi, pritty, lett, oupen/eupen

ea: [i:] in heal, [ei] in great, [i] in guineas, [e] in head, [i:æ] in react, [i] in area, [i:ei] creator

eau: [u/ou] in beau, [ju:] in beautiful /byutifwl/   [ref: eh+ah+u  @u]

ee: [i:] in feet, [i] breeches

ei: [i:] in conceive, [ei] in veil, [i] in forfeit

eo: [i:] in people, [u] yeoman, [i] in galleon, [e] in leopard, ['] in dungeon, [i:] in theologian, [i:o] in theology

eu: [ju:] in feud, [i:ju:] in reunion

ew: [u] in sew, [u:] in brew, [ju:] in new    [ref: @u]

ey: [i:] in key, [ei] in they, [i] in turkey, [ai] in eying

i: [i] in sin, [ai] in bind, [j] in onion

ia: ['] in parliament, [iei] in mediate, [i] in carriage, [aiei] in hiatus, [iæ] in triviality, [j] in Britannia

ie: [i:] in grief, [i] in sieve /siv/, [e] in friend /frend/, [ai] in lie, [i:i] in earliest /3:li:'st/, [ai] in science, 
['] in conscience /ka:nsh'ns/ /connsh'ans/   science is a word repronounced rather than respelled.

ieu: [u:] in lieu, [ef] (!) in lieutenant

iew: [ju:] in view  /vyu/

io: ['] in motion, [iu] in mediocre /mediocr/, [io] in mediocrity, [ai] in violation, [aio] in ionic, [j] in million /millyn/

o: [u] in go, [u:] in do, [i] in women, [o] in on, [] in son, [u] in woman, [3] in colonel

oa: [o:] in broad, ['u] in coal, ['uei] in oasis, ['uæ] in coagulate

oe: [i:] in foetus, [u] in doe, [u:] in shoe, ['] in does, ['ui] in poet

oeu: [u:] in manoeuvre

oi: [wa:] in chamois, ['] in connoisseur, [oi] in noisy, [ui] in stoic, [u:i] in doing

oo: [u] in brooch, [u:] in brood, ['] in flood, [u] in wood, [u:] in zoological, [u:o] in zoology

ou: [o:] in ought, [u] in soul, [u:] in soup, [o] in cough, [L] in doubling,  ['] in various,
      [u] in would, [au] in noun

ow: [u] in know, [o] in knowledge, [au] in now

oy: [oi] in boy

u: [u:] in rule, [i] in busy, [e] in bury, [] in cut, [u] in pull, [ju:] in using, [w] in persuade

ua: [a:] in guard, [wei] in persuasion, [wa:] in guano

uay: [i:] in quay

ue: [u:] in true, [e] in guess, [u] in cruel, [ju] in duel

eue: [u:] in queue

ui: [i:] in mosquito, [u:] in fruit, [i] in build, [ai] in guiding, [wi] in languid, [wi:] in suite, [u:i] in fruition

uoy: [oi] in buoy

y: [i] in marry, [:] in myrrh, [ai] in fly

ye: [ai] in dye, [ai:] in hyena



 
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 3: Phonetic value of heteric consonant combinations

Nearly all consonant combinations in the present heteric spelling have multiple sound values, despite the fact that defenders of this spelling point to the consonant letters as having fairly constant values. 

Dewey compiled a longer list and showed that the typical consonant can have 14 different sound values in the traditional spelling.

b: [b] in be, mute in lamb

c: [k] in can, [s] in cell, [S] in special and suspicion, [ ] mute in yacht

ch: [tS] in chain, [dZ] in spinach, [k] in architect, [S] in chef, mute in yacht

d: [t] in sucked, [d] in deep, [dZ/j] in soldier, mute in handkerchief  suckt, diip, soljer, myuut, hankerchiif

f: [f] in foe, [v] in of, mute in stiff ?

g: [dZ] in gem, [g] in geese, [Z] in rouge, [ ] mute in gnaw

gh: [p] in hiccough, [g] in ghost, [f] in laugh, mute in straight

h: [h] in hat, [] in eighth

j: [dZ] in just

k: [k] in kill, mute in know

l: [l] in lace, mute in salmon

m: [m] in am, mute in mnemonics

n: [n] in can, [] in finger, mute in hymn

p: [p] in pity, mute in cupboard

ph: [f] in philosophy, [p] in shepherd, [ph] in haphazard, mute in phthisical

qu: [k] in quay, [kw] in queen, mute in lacquer

r: [r] in ray, mute in myrrh

s: [s] in see, [z] in as, [S] in sugar, [Z] in vision, mute in isle

sh: [S] in shine, [sh] in mishap

t: [t] in toe, [S] in motion, mute in soften

th: [t] in thyme, [] in thigh, [] in the, [t] in eighth

v: [v] in veal

x: [z] in xylophone, [ks] in vex, [gz] in exalt, [k] in except

y: [j] in yard, mute in prayer

z: [ts] in pizza, [z] in zeal, [Z] in azure, mute in rendezvous 



 
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4: Phonetic Systems for American English

F'netik sist'mz for 'merik'n Inglish

A fonetic systm for American English
On dhis peij iz prizendid ' f'nedik sist'm 'v riformd speliq f'r 'merik'n iqglish.
' teibl 'v dh' simblz 'v dh' sist'm iz fal'ud bai thrii spesimin teksts.

Sweet developed serveral systems of sound spelling.  The different versions of broad romic where quite similar.  E.G.,   /ou/ became oa and /o:/ or / / became ao.

For an alternate broad romic, see Dr. Kelly's Romajii

  25 consonants, 22 vowels, 47 total    t-voice for d
 
 
25 Consonant symbols
22 minimum
22 pure phonemes
b [b] big, baby, mob
c [tS] chip, church, pitch
d [d/] did, pinned, butter
dh [ð] the, then, with
f [f] five, photo, tough
g [g] good, giggle, big
h [h] hit, have, behold
j [dZ] job, ginger, bridge
k [k] kill, kick, cat
l [l] live, lolly, pool
m [m] mad, mammoth, him
n [n] nod, pain, reign
q [h] sing, bringing, finger
p [p] pit, pepper, shepherd
r [r] rim, bury, hearing
s [s] sip, missing, cross
sh [S] ship, machine, motion
t [t] tip, trip, heat
th [q] thin, wrath, pithy
v [v] very, live, vivid
w [w] win, water, bewitch
hw [hw] what, which, white
y [j] young, yes, beyond
z [z] zebra, rose, dizzy
zh [Z] pleasure, vision, rouge

21 Vowel symbols
12  pure phonemes
BR
SS
IPA
Sp
CKS
Sample Words
ä 9 ae [æ] ae acc a. man, scatter, bath
a aa o [a] aa o. q palm, lot, stop, pot
ei ei [ei] ey ei aim, lane, reign
ar aar [ar] aar qr arm, lark, start
er eer [er] er eir er chair, pear, fare
e e [e] e e bed, head, said
ii j [i:] i seed, meal, believe
ir iir, jr [ir] ir ir beer, fear, here
ai ai  [ai] ai 'y ai height, light, sky
i i [I] 'i  icc i.  y bit, reform, luggage
o o oo [o:] o ao o. cloth, thought, strong
ou 6 ou [ou] ow o' boat, soul, though
oi oi [oI] oy oi boil, toy, employed
uu uu [u:] u u soon, truth, shoe
or oor [or] or or north, storm, warmth
or our [oUr] owr or force, mower, roar
au au [au] au au sound, clown, plough
ü a [L] 'u 'o v cut, other, blood
u u [U] w uu w put, could, hood
''r 3 ? [3:] 'r  r  'r burn, stir, hurry
ur uur [u:r] ur ur moor, tour, cure
' a e [] 'e 'o
'a 'i
'e father, bottom, colo
tenant, unit, column
Problem areas or areas of disagreement are highlighted
Whenever Saudspel or Romajii were different, 
the alternate grapheme is shown in the SS column.
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Go to Latin-1
 

Samples

1.

dispyuut wüns 'rouz bitwiin dh' wind 'nd dh' sün, hwic w'z dh' stroqg'r 'v dh' tuu, 'nd dhei 'griid t' put dh' poind an dhis ishuu, dh't hwicev'r suunist meid ' trävl'r teik of hiz klouk, shud bi 'kaundid dh' mor pau'rful. dh' wind bigän 'nd bluu widh ol hiz maid 'nd mein' bläst, kould 'nd firs 'z ' threish'n storm; b't dh' stroqg'r hii bluu dh' klous'r dh' trävl'r räpt hiz klouk 'raund him, 'nd dh' taid'r hii gräspt it widh hiz händz. dhen brouk aut dh' sün: widh hiz welk'm biimz hii disp'rst dh' veip'r 'nd dh' kould; dh' trävl'r felt dh' jiiny'l wormth, 'nd 'z dh' sün shoun braid'r 'nd braid'r, hii sät daun, ouv'rküm widh dh' hiit, 'nd käst hiz klouk an dh' graund. 

[Spanglish] A dispyuut wunns areuz betwien the winnd and dhe sunn, hwich waz dhe stroqger av dhe tuu, and they agried to put the point on thiss ishu, that hwicevver suunist meid a travvler teik of hiz klouk, shud bi akauntid the mor pauerful.  Dhe winnd bigann and bluu widh ol hiz mait and meid a blaest, ceuld and firs az a threishan storm; butt dhe stronger hii bluu dhe kouser the traevler raept his cleuk arouind him and the taiter hii graspt itt widh hiz hanndz.  Dhen breuk out dhe sunn; with hiz welcam biemz hi disperst the veiper and the keuld; dhe travvler fellt the jienyal wormth, and az dhe sunn sheun braiter and braiter, hi satt daun, euverkumm width the hiet, and kasst his kleuk on dhe graund.
 

2.

id 'pirz dh't dhe'r ar in iqgl'nd 'nd weilz, in raund nümb'rz, faiv mily'n cildr'n 'v dh' leib'riq papyuleish'n, huu mei bi ikspektid tu 'tend püblik elimendri skuulz. wii mei estimeit dh'd 'baut häf ' mily'n cildr'n änyu'li päs dh' limid'v dh' skuul eij 'nd end'r an ' laif 'v leib'r. dh' haiist ständ'rd fikst in dhiiz skuulz, dh' siksth ständ'rd, rikwai'rz dh' pyuupl t' riid ' short päsij fr'm ' buk or nyuuzpeip'r,'nd t' raid ' short thiim widh k'rekt speliq - nad ' veri hai rikwai'rm'nt s'rtnli. hau meni cildr'n riict dhis ständ'rd? ounli twendi thauznd; hwail dh' nümb'r 'v tiic'rz, inkluudiq pyuupltiic'rz, imploid iz 'baut fifti thauznd; dhäd iz, tuu pyuuplz p'r än'm f'r evri faiv tiic'rz! ounli'baut wün hündr'd thauznd cildr'n änyu'li ev'r get biyand dh' th'rd ständ'rd, hwic miinz dh' riidiq 'v 'n iizi storibuk, 'nd raidiq ' short päsij fr'm dh' seim widh k'rekt speliq. 

[Spanglish] It apirz dhat dherr aar in iqgland and weilz, in raund nümmberz, faiv milyan cildran av dhe leiberiq papyuleishan, huu mei bi ikspektid tu atennd pübblik ellimenntri skuulz. wii mei estimeit dhat abaut häff a milyan cildran ännyuali päss dhe limit av dh' skuul eij and ennter on a laif av leiber. Dhe haiist stännderd fixt in dhiiz skuulz, dhe sixth stännderd, rikwaierz dhe pyuupl to riid a short pässij frumm a buk or nyuuzpeiper, and to rait a short thiim widh kereckt speliq - naat a verry hai rikwaiermant sertnly. hau menny cildran riict dhis stännderd? eunli twenti thauznd; hwail dhe nümmb'r av tiicerz, inkluudiq pyuupl tiicerz, imploid iz abaut fifty thauznd; dhätt iz, tuu pyuuplz p'r ännam for evvry faiv tiicerz! eunli abaut wünn hünndrad thauznd cildran ännyuali evver get biyand dhe therd ständ'rd, hwic miinz dhe riidiq av an iizy storybuk, and raitiq a short pässij frumm dhe seim widh kerekt speliq. 

3.

süm piipl mei äsk hwai ' sai'ntifik w'rk'r shud divoud empti au'rz 'v fai'r-waciq in äb'rdiin tu' täsk hwic pr'fesh'nl liqgwists mait mor prap'rli ünd'rteik. dhe'r iz wün s'fish'nd äns'r t' dhis kwesc'n. jüst bikaz dhei ar pr'fesh'nl liqgwists, pr'fesh'nl liqgwists ar äpt tu ünd'reit dh' liqgwistik'bilidiz 'v ordnri piipl, 'nd hens tu ünd'reit dh' soushl impord'ns 'v dh' läqgwij ishuu viiz-a-vii w'rld piis 'nd w'rld-waid hyuum'n kouap'reish'n. bikaz näcr'l sai'ns iz dhi ounli igzistiq form 'v hyuum'n kouap'reish'n an ' plänideri skeil, men 'v sai'ns, huu häv t' t'rn t' j'rnlz püblisht in meni läqgwijiz f'r nes'seri inf'rmeish'n, ar'kyuutli 'we'r dh't dh' beibl 'v tüqz iz ' soushl prabl'm 'v dh' f'rst mägnituud. men 'v sai'ns, mor dh'n üdh'rz, häv't dhe'r fiqg'r-tips 'n ind'rnäsh'nl voukäbyuleri hwic iz olredi in igzist'ns; 'nd ' baial'jist huu luks forw'rd tu ' helth-kansh's fyuuc'r känat feil t' rek'gnaiz hau papyul'raizeish'n 'v nuu helth ständ'rdz iz deili ädiq t' dh' stak-in-treid'v ind'rnäsh'nli k'r'nt w'rdz in deili yuus.

[Spanglish] Sümm piipl mei ässk hwai a saiantifik werker shud divoud empti auerz av  faier-waciq in äbberdiin tua täsk hwic prafeshenl liqgwists mait mor praperli 
ünnderteik. dheer iz wün safishend ännser ta dhis kwescan. jüst bikaz dhei ar 
profeshenl liqgwists, prafeshenl liqgwists ar äpt tu ündereit dhe liqgwistikabilidiz 
av ordnri piipl, and hens tu ündereit dhe soushl impordans av dhe läqgwij ishuu 
viiz-a-vii werld piis and werld-waid hyuuman kouaapereishen. bikoz nächral saians  iz dhi ounli igzistiq form av hyuuman kouaapereishen an a plänniteri skeil, men av saians, huu hävv ta tern ta jernalz pübblisht in menni läqgwijaz fer nessaseri informeishen, arakyuutli aweer dhet dhe beibl av tüqz iz a soushl prablam av dhe ferst mägnituud. men av saians, mor dhen üddherz, hävv at dhear fiqger-tips an internäshenl voukäbbyuleri hwic iz olredi in igzistans; and a baialajist huu luks forwerd tu a helth-kanshes fyuucer känat feil ta rekagnaiz hau papyuleraizeishen av nuu helth stännderdz iz deili ädiq to dhe stak-in-treidav indernäshenli kerant werdz in deili yuus.

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