The problems with our current alphabet
This is the current alphabet we use in English. It is based on the Latin alphabet with a few added letters. It works most of the time. But there are many problems. Some of these problems are:
| A a | B b | C c | D d | E e | F f | G g | H h | I i | J j | K k | L l | M m |
| N n | O o | P p | Q q | R r | S s | T t | U u | V v | W w | X x | Y y | Z z |
The alphabet
My idea for a solution to this problem is to fix the way English is written. Now, I will not be doing this with an alphabet made from scratch or switch English to using a different alphabet. I will amend the existing alphabet. Below this I will outline my plan for fixes to the alphabet. Also a ground rule I will be following is to not force letters to make a sound they usually never make, this will just be confusing for someone new to this alphabet.
The letter C is the third letter of the alphabet. Depending on how it is used most of the time it makes the K or S sound. It makes the K sound in cut. It makes the S sound in cease. There is no reason for the letter C to exist except in the letter combination of ch. Therefore in my alphabet the letter C will not exist.
The letter W is an important letter for the English alphabet but I feel like it could be changed. Having it just be two already existing letters just put together (U or V) doesn't fit well into the language. Instead we should use the letter Ƿ (originally called wynn, but I have changed it to Ƿin). This is it's own letter and was made for the purpose of the sound that Ƿ/W.
Þ, pronounced thorn, makes the th sound in words. It was used in English for hundreds of years before being killed by the printing press. The letter Þ is used in tons of everyday sentences and isn't replicated by any other letter. Th is what we use to represent the sound but if you try to pronounce Th then it doesn't make the Þ sound. Because of this I added þorn as the third letter of the alphabet.
Sh makes its own sound separate from the sounds of S and H. Therefore I think it should get its own letter. I decided to use the existing letter Ʃ, pronounced esh. This will fill spot Sh usually takes in words like should (ʃud).
I have decided to use the letter ezh for the ch sound. It is written like Ʒ. Since the ch is distinct and can't be easily made with multiple letters I decided it deserved its own letter.
The letter Ŋ represents the sound ng makes in words that use ing in them. It is called eng. Normally if you sounded out ng it wouldn't make the Ŋ sound we use so often. This is a vital sound in everyday english so it should have a letter.
I decided to add accents over letters to English. The accents make whatever letter they are over say the letters name. As in the A in fate, or as in the O in foe. These could instead be written as fát and fó. This would make it easier to communicate what sound the letters are making and would help remove silent letters from words.
The one problem with this is the letter Z. Easy could be written as éź if you are American but that would not work for British English. A solution would be to write ézé and it would still sound like “easy”.
A lot of words in English are not spelled how they sound. In this alphabet things are spelled phonetically every single letter will only make one sound unless they have an accent to show it is different. All the consonant letters that are carried over from the existing alphabet sound the same. You can find more information here.
| Letter | Word | Letter | Word |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | Apple | N | None |
| B | Butter | O | Food |
| Þ | Þu or The | P | Play |
| D | Dad | Ʃ | Ʃé or She |
| E | Bet | R | Rot |
| F | Food | S | Sat |
| G | Good | T | Take |
| H | Hello | U | Us |
| I | It | V | Very |
| J | Joke | Ƿ | Ƿut or What |
| K | Kick | Ʒ | Ʒek or Check |
| L | Low | Y | Yes |
| M | Mellow | Z | Zebra |
| Ŋ | Siŋ or Sing |
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
Þe kwik brawn foks jumps óver þe lazé dóg.
She sells seashells by the seashore.
Ʃé selz séʃels bí þe séʃor.
Picked a peck of pickled peppers.
Pikd u pek uv pikld peprs.
Jinxed wizards pluck ivy from the big quilt.
Jiŋksd wizrds pluk ívé frum þe big kwilt.
