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Alternativ SPELLING
for the Milennium

Just as speakers pronounce words from TO dictionries with their own local accents,
so local variation continues in pronouncing Interspell.
But since its spellings are standard,
there is not the internationl uninteligibility that would result from 'spelling as you speak.'

 

1. Long vowels in initial and medial place, and final ù as in menù can be speld with grav accents, mainly as aids for lernrs, and not to be made into a burdn. Most accents can be omitd in adult text. Spelling patrns as in hoping/hopng can distinguish long and short vowels.

2. Consistent conventions for spelling classicl stems and sufixes
These result naturaly in th familiar slurrd pronunciations thru th efects of articulation -

i. /sh/ as in pasion spesial tisiu sufisient

ii. /tch/ as in question pictur nàtur

iii. /zh/ as in vizion trezur

iv. -ion can be condensed to -n as in competisn, sujestn , vizn, when preferrd.

3. Unclear vowels

i. Omit TO vowels that ar not spoken as in tecnikly, difrent.

ii. Sylabic consonants spelt as in patd, silabl, ansr, but a vowel can be insertd to
avoid long consonant strings, e.g. presentd or presented are both acceptabl.

iii. Unstressed sound 'schwa' as in her consert.

iv. Stressd sound 'schwa' spelld ur as in ocur disturb urbn, girl.

v. Unclear vowel in classicl afixes. Consistent 'a' spelng used as in
-abl, -ant, -an, - ans, -ari, -at, -aly, -ial .eg.
edabl, dependant,dependans, librari, seprat (contrast seperàt), fÌnaly special.

vii. Unclear vowel in final position is always r or a as in singr, mortr, banana

viii. Vowels can be insertd when the sound chanjes as in
metl -metallik, crètur- creatd, simbl - simbolic.

4. Irregular stress in words. i Irregular stress on the second syllabl can be shown by:

i. dubld consonants when needed, mainly for lernrs, e.g.
umbrella, canall reject -rejecct, content -contennt,
Lernr's books can use bold letrs to show pronunciation stress, as in reject.

ii. ur as in fraturniti contrasts with fratrnÌz, and purfect with perfect.

5. 'Pronunciation Spellings' - Some words could be pronounced according to their TO spelling, as they alredy are in some dialects: e.g
herb hour heir honest whol mothr brothr othr lov son.

one (TO) could be respeld won, to make a word family of only won wons alon.

 

6. Dubld consonants are used in only three ways, as needed:

i. Final /ss/. denss can be distinguishd from dens, prinsess from prinses.

ii. To show irregular stress . comitti distinguishd from comiti.

iii. RR to distinguish vowels, mainly for lernrs, as in carrot corral.

 

5. Words that sound the same (homofones) are speld the same except for five sets where context may not automaticaly direct the meaning: tu-too-tuw, no-kno, for-faur, hol-whol, and 'thay'r putting thair hats over ther'. Pronunciation Spelling might eventualy solv these potential confusions.

 

6. Forin words may be re-speld when they are suficiently adoptd into English, eg.
cadett, depo, debri, buti, merang, pastill, sarjnt but some words may remain obdurat special cases, eg. burjoisi, linjerie, boquet, milieu.

7. Temporary rules while TO fazes out: -

i. C and K follo th most comn rules in TO.

In Initial position: c as in cat, cot, cut - a o u-, k as in keg, kit -e i
Medial: Use c as in act ,caractr.
Final: Use k as in cok, màk, màking, màkr

ii. QU can be gradualy replaced with kw and X with KS if this proves desirabl.

 

iii A few very common 'sight words' can be temporarily retaind, eg.
all half, one once , put, was (ws?) what, who, whose. of = /ov/, off = /of/. These spellings may be changed slowly to preserv the apearance of text, and help to prevent rejection of reform on sight. A dozen 'sight words' are no burdn for lernrs - it is thousands that are the problem. could/would/should are problematic - how can these spellings be reformd now? - cd, cud, coud, cwd, cuud, cood, could?

iv. Internationl sientific vocabulary from Greek roots such as pneuma, pseudes, psi and pteris may retain initial silent letrs to avoid problems of dictionry serches and recognition e.g.
pnumonia, pseudonim, psycoloji, pteridofite.

v. No forced respelling of proper names. It is up to their ownrs to decide on changes and how dificult they want their spellings to be.

 1. From TH STAR by H G Wells
a) In text for adults, Interspel resembls some pijin spellings.

It was on th furst day of the nu year that the anounsment was màd almòst simultàniusly from three obsurvatrys, that the motion of the planet Neptùn, the outermost of al the planets that weel about the Sun, had becom veri erattik. A retardàtion in its velositi had been suspected in Desember. Then a fànt remòt spek of lìt was discovrd in the rejion of the perturbd planet. At ferst this did not cauz eni veri gràt exìtment. Sientifik pepl however found th intelijens remarkabl enuf, even befor it becàm knòn that the nu bodi was rapidiy gròing larjer and brìter and that its mòtion was quìt difrent from the orderli prògres of the planets.

.

Riters can opt for alturnativ vowel spellings such as maid, weel, lyt, brytr or colons as in exi:tment, li:t, if acsents are unwantd or not posibl, as in emails, or when using singl vowel letrs mìt alow confuzions, as with mad, wel, lit. Running text is 13.5% shortr. 95% of letters and 36% of words are unchanged. Apart from deletions, 79% of words are unchanged or changed by one letter.

 

b) Interspel for beginrs and English language lernrs can use acsents for all long vowels. Iregular stress on second sylabl is shown as in obsurvatrs, perturbd, remòt,erattik. Gravmarks apply here to around 4% of caractrs, one word in five. Only letrs added ir chanjed from TO ar markd in green here.

It ws on th furst day of th nù year that th anounsment ws màd almòst simultàniusly from thre obsurvatrys, that th mòsion of th planet Neptùn, th outrmòst of aul th planets that wèl about th Sun, had becom very erattik. A retardàsion in its velositi had bèn suspectd in Desembr. Then a fànt remòt spek of lìt ws discovrd in th rèjion of th perturbd planet. At ferst this did not cauz eny very gràt exìtment. Sìentifik pèpl howevr found th intelijens remarkabl enuf, èvn befor it becàm knòn that th nù body ws rapidly gròing larjr and brìtr and that its mòsion ws quìt difrent from th orderly prògres of th planets.

2. Th BUTIFUL PRINSESS in Interspel for lernrs

This piece is delibratly composed to demonstrate maximum text changes required to reform TO. Half the words hav irregular TO spellings. Th SurplusCut version is 8.3% shortr. Interspel is 15.4% shortr, and changes 8% of letrs, apart from added gravmarks.
U can see that most of th chanjes ar simply omitng surplus letrs.

3. As a Dictionry pronunciation gide. 95% of th spellings in this 104 word story cd be used as a dictionry pronunciation gide for beginrs. Tresurs, question, lafd, imajinasion and lovli require rules beyond th basic sound-symbol relationships and of is a 'sight word'.

See also