Table of Contents
English-7
This is a set of alternate ‘spelling systems’ for the English language, and the basis of my own romanization systems.
Introduction
A long time ago, I had started working on a personal project. The project’s goal was to recreate the English language from scratch, so I could learn to understand it better, among other reasons. This project…was very very stupid…so I abandoned it soon afterwards.
However, I had created an alternative spelling system during this project. It was intended to be more phonetic and regular. Interestingly, while the personal project was abandoned, I continued to work on the spelling systems. This is what I’m sharing here.
The project was called ‘English-7’ and since this is a completely different thing now, I plan to rename it at some point…but it’s alright for now.
Consonants & Vowels
These are the tables for the consonants and vowels in the English language, represented using the IPA. While I think it is accurate, I can’t be sure.
The following sections explain the use of particular letters in more detail.
| Consonants | labial | dental | alveolar | postalv. | palatal | velar | glottal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| nasal | m | n | ng, n /ŋ/ | ||||
| plosive/affricate | p | t | ch /tʃ/ | k | |||
| b | d | j /dʒ/ | g | ||||
| fricative | f | th /θ/ | s | sh /ʃ/ | h | ||
| v | dh /ð/ | z | zh /ʒ/ | ||||
| approximant | w | l | y, ȷ /j/ | (w) | |||
| rhotic | r |
| Vowels | non-back | back | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| tense | lax | tense | lax | |
| close | í /i:/ | i /ɪ/ | ú /u:/ | u /ʊ/ |
| mid | è /ə/ | |||
| open-mid | é /ɜː/ | e /ɛ/ | ó /ɔː/ | ù /ʌ/ |
| open | a /æ/ | á /ɑː/ | o /ɒ/ | |
Orthographic Rules
Here things get a bit complicated, as I’ve created several different spelling systems. Unfortunately, due to my general incompetence, I don’t know if there are 2 or 3.
The reasons behind creating multiple systems will become more clear.
Pure/Advanced (P/A)
This is a purely phonemic system.
I’ve forgotten why I originally created it, but it eventually settled into a way to write words out phonetically, without relying on the IPA (which doesn’t look very good).
The other system(s) rely on this one, and I use it as a kind of ‘standard’ romanization for my conlangs (WIP).
Additional Rules
- Vowels
- The Schwa (ə) is represented using an e with a grave (◌̀).
- The /ʌ/ is represented using a u with a grave (◌̀).
- Long vowels are written with the acute (◌́).
- á (aa); í (ii); ú (uu); é (ee); ó (oo)
- The diphthongs in English are represented in one of two ways:
- Any diphthong that contains a /ɪ/ is represented as the preceding letter with a diaeresis (◌̈).
- ë (ei); ö (oi); ä (ai)
- Any diphthong that contains a /ʊ/ is represented as the preceding letter with an overdot (◌̇).
- ȧ (au); ȯ (ou)
- Consonants
- Digraphs
- /tʃ/ is represented with Ch ch.
- /θ/ is represented with Th th.
- /ð/ is represented with Dh dh.
- /ʒ/ is represented with Zh zh.
- The /ŋ/ sound has the following rules:
- If the following letter is a k or g it is represented with the letter n.
- In all other cases, it is represented with Ŋ ŋ
- If the preceding letter is a consonant, the palatal approximant (/j/) is represented with a dotless j (ȷ).
Misc Notes
I variously made use of a few alternate letters, especially for the digraphs. However, the letters I tried using didn’t look all that great.
I’ve become aware that there’s a bit of a problem in representing the vowels /ʊ/ and /ʌ/. I will attempt to fix this at some point. I believe I have fixed it.
Regular (R)
This was initially 2 separate systems that I ended up merging. This was because both ended up having the same result most of the time.
The Regular system is more complex than the P/A, this is mostly for æsthetic reasons.
As far as I can tell, the system is usable but still incomplete. ‘Incomplete’ meaning ‘not ideal.’
Additional Rules
Unless a rule here directly contradicts a previously established rule, you should assume that the rules of P/A apply.
- Individual Letters
- If a long vowel ends a word, the diacritic is removed and the letter -h is added.
- /ɪ/ is represented with a y if it’s at the end of a word. However, diphthongs have a few extras:
- The ä (ai) is represented with ÿ (ai).
- The ë (ei) is represented with ey at the end of a word.
- The /ə/ is represented with a è. When the letter is on its own it’s represented with a a.
- The /k/ has two special rules:
- Represented with c when at the start of a word.
- Represented with q when at the end of a word.
- /ks/ and /gz/ are represented with x.
- /ŋ/ is represented with ng when at the end of a word.
- The ï is a variant of ä. Use of it is generally optional.
- Multiple Letters
- /er/ is represented with -re, but only when at the end of a word.
- /èr/ is represented with -rè.
- /ju:/ is represented with eu-, but only when the word is related to Europe.
- I’m changing my mind on this. I think that eu- should always be read as /ju:/ now.
- /kʃ/ is represented with ct when in the middle of a word.
- /kw/ is represented with qu-.
- /ʃ/ can be represented with sc when in the middle of a word, unless there’s a suffix following it.
Misc Notes
Extraneous (E)
This might be the last system. It is even less complete than R. This one is meant to resemble English as closely as possible, while still being somewhat ‘regular.'
The rules are effectively the same as R, but additional rules are added to remove diacritics and stuff for æsthetics.
As it’s incomplete, I don’t believe it can actually be comfortably used.
- Individual Letters
- Long Vowels:
- When at the start or middle of a word:
- á - ah
- í - ie
- ú - oo
- é - ee
- ó - au
- When at the end of a word or on its own:
- Every one ends with a h. ah; ih; uh; eh; oh;
- Diphthongs:
- When in the middle of a word:
- ï - ai
- When following a Qu: i.
- When the following letter is a t, it is represented as ite.
- When the following letter is a k, it is represented as ike.
- ë - ei
- When the following letter is a t, it is represented as ate.
- When the following letter is a k, it is represented as ake.
- ö - oi
- ȧ - ao
- ȯ - oa
- When at the end of a word or on its own:
- ï - I
- Multiple Letters
- Being worked on…
Trivia
- It should be kept in mind that I’m not a professional linguist. Most of my knowledge comes from a combination of disconnected sources.