SoundSpel

SoundSpel is a regular and mostly phonemic English-language spelling reform proposal. It uses a 26-letter alphabet that is fully compatible with QWERTY keyboards. Though SoundSpel was originally based on American English, it can represent dialectal pronunciation, including British English. With roots extending as far back as 1910 but largely complete by 1986, SoundSpel was developed "in response to the widely held conviction that English spelling is more complex than it needs to be." The American Literacy Council has endorsed the reform because anglophones can easily read it. Additionally, according to its proponents, " oundSpelis fully compatible with traditional spelling and can be mixed with it in any proportion desired."

History

In 1910, philologist Alexander John Ellis played a major role in developing an English-language spelling system now known as "Classic New Spelling". Walter Ripman and William Archer wrote the system's first dictionary, ''New Spelling'' (NuSpelling), which was republished in 1941 by the Simplified Spelling Society.

In the early 1960s, Sir James Pitman developed the Initial Teaching Alphabet, which would become one of SoundSpel's predecessors.

In 1969, Godfrey Dewey improved upon Ripman's and Archer's work, producing ''World English Spelling''. Dewey and Edward Rondthaler, a prominent typesetter and CEO of the International Typeface Corporation, corresponded from 1971.

In 1986, the American Language Academy published the ''Dictionary of Simplified American Spelling'', a book written by Rondthaler and Edward Lias. It calls for the improvement of English spelling, with clearer rules and better grapheme/phoneme correspondence. Its guidelines are less strictly phonemic than Classic New Spelling. For example, the sounds /θ/ and /ð/ are represented by the grapheme ⟨th⟩ in order to follow traditional spelling. Classic New Spelling opts instead for ⟨th⟩ and ⟨dh⟩, respectively.

The system was further reformed from 1987 on and became SoundSpel.

Description

Phonetics

Spellings here are matched to their sounds using the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). SoundSpel examples are accompanied by traditional spellings in italics if different. Note that writings in SoundSpel may not follow these tables exactly due to their time of writing or the author's personal preferences. These tables also do not account for proper nouns (which are discussed under "Exceptions").

Rules

SoundSpel has changed slightly over time. Listed below are generally the most recent guidelines. Obsolete or optional rules are also listed. Furthermore, the system is not a fait accompli. The ''Dictionary of Simplified American Spelling'' reads: " rther fine tuning f SoundSpelis owappropriate. Recommendations are welcome from all—phoneticians, linguists, educators, publishers, those with a special interest in the subject, and, very importantly, the public at large."

;False diphthongs:
If a pair of vowel letters do not match a SoundSpel digraph—such as ''ea''—then the syllable ends with the first vowel (as in ''react'', read as "re-act"), ''jeenius'' ("genius"), and ''creaetiv'' ("creative"). With three or more vowel letters, the syllable ends with the first digraph. For example: ''flooid'' ("fluid", read as "floo-id"), ''hieest'' ("highest"), and ''inueendo'' ("innuendo").

;Hyphens and syllable breaks:
Hyphens separate adjacent letters that can be mistaken for digraphs. Examples include ⟨nk⟩ in ''man-kiend'' ("mankind"), ⟨th⟩ in ''pent-hous'' ("penthouse"), and ⟨wh⟩ in ''cow-hand'' ("cowhand"). Where ⟨n-g⟩ would be visually awkward, ⟨nn⟩ marks the end of the syllable, as in ''enngaej'' ("engage") and ''enngraev'' ("engrave"). Hyphens also indicate when ⟨y⟩ is a consonant beginning a syllable (such as in ''barn-yard'') rather than a vowel ending a syllable (as in ''handyman'' or ''apreeshyaet'', "appreciate"), as the latter is much more common. Where ⟨-y⟩ would be visually awkward, a double consonant marks the end of the syllable (as in ''millyon'' for "million" and ''compannyon'' for "companion"). Beyond these examples and those double consonants following /ɔː/ (like in ''fall'' and ''cross''), all double consonants surround a syllable break. Examples include ''meelles'' ("mealless"), ''buukkeeper'' ("bookkeeper"), and ''cattael'' ("cattail"). Additionally, double consonants often represent geminates.

Following a prefix, a hyphen indicates that a vowel is long (''co-ed'', ''re-arm'', ''bi-lateral''). Any adjacent preceding vowel is also long (''bio-'', ''neo-''). Compare ''jeo-sentrik'' ("geocentric") and ''jeolojy'' ("geology").

;Schwa and schwi:
The spelling of ( schwa) in unstressed syllables remains unchanged (as in ''organ'', ''novel'', and ''lemon'') unless traditional spelling would suggest a mispronunciation (hence "mountain" is spelled ''mounten'').

To represent schwi (variably described as or ), there are three rules. First, ⟨e⟩ is used in a word's first syllable (''event''; ''eqip'' for "equip"). Second, ⟨i⟩ is followed by a schwa in the combinations ⟨ia⟩, ⟨io⟩, and ⟨iu⟩ (''insomnia''; ''joevial'' for "jovial"). Third, ⟨y⟩ is used terminally, or medially when not followed by schwa ⟨a⟩, ⟨o⟩, or ⟨u⟩ (''raedyo'' for "radio", ''joevyality'' for "joviality"). Using ⟨y⟩ terminally in monosyllabic words such as ''bee'' and ''see'' (instead of ⟨ee⟩) and their derivatives is discouraged. The letter ⟨y⟩ is also used to prevent ambiguity, such as in ''terryer'' ("terrier") and ''audyens'' ("audience"), in which ⟨ie⟩ would otherwise represent .

;Unstressed ⟨er⟩, ⟨ar⟩, and ⟨or⟩ ("schwer"):
SoundSpel retains the spellings of schwers (a portmanteau