C'z Iŋglis̈ Alfubet (C's English Alphabet)
Wï C, Wï? (Why C, Why?)
I'll explain, I swear.... later.
For now, just know that this has been 3 years in the making, with help from many many many (mostly either unwilling or mocking) students. If adopted, I predict the effective end of illiteracy. We learn the alphabet in Kindergarten, and then spend the next 12 years of school having to learn why it doesn't work. What if we threw off the shackles of our Roman/Latin oppressors and created an actual English alphabet, made for our language? What if in Kindergarten, you learned the alphabet, and then you could just read?
"That's Not Realistic C. You can't just change the alphabet."
Oh ya? The Turkish did it when they replaced the Arabic alphabet with their own Turkish one! Granted, they had the help of being a dictatorship.... Ok, how about Canada's switch to the metric system? It could happen like that.
Þë Alfubet (The Alphabet)
The table below shows all the differences between the Roman/Latin alphabet you are currently indoctrinated into using, and Mr C's new and improved English Alphabet. Most consonants are the same, with a couple exceptions. Five new consonants and one new vowel are required.
| Character (name) | Sound | Notes and Examples | Code |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic Consonants | Each letter only makes ONE sound. That means we have to fix up some problems with the current alphabet... | ||
| b, d, f, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, r, t, v, w, z | Just like you learned in Kindergarten. | These letters haven't changed. They work pretty well as is, and almost always make the same sound (with a few annoying exceptions) so we'll keep them. | |
c (doesn't exist anymore) | N/A | C has been cancelled. C is redundant. If it makes an 's' sound then use s instead, if it makes a 'k' sound use K instead. Bye bye C. | |
| g | ONLY sounds like the hard 'g' in gum. | Don't use the letter 'g' when it sounds like a 'j'. Use J instead:
| |
| q (doesn't exist anymore) | N/A | Q has been cancelled. Q is redundant. Use K instead. Bye bye Q. | |
| s | ONLY sounds like 's' in see. | Don't use the letter 's' when it sounds like a 'z'. Use z instead:
| |
| y | Sounds like:
| No more crazy fancy uses of Y. Examples:
| |
| x (doesn't exist anymore) | N/A | X has been cancelled, use 'ks' instead, or use Z if it makes a 'z' sound:
| |
Short Vowels | Short vowel sounds just use the normal vowel letters: a, e, i, o & u. | See instructions below for how to type special characters using this code | |
| a | The normal "short vowel" sound that "a" makes. Sounds like:
| Just like you learned in Kindergarten. | - |
| e | The normal "short vowel" sound that "e" makes. Sounds like:
| Just like you learned in Kindergarten. | - |
| i | The normal "short vowel" sound that "i" makes. Sounds like:
| Just like you learned in Kindergarten. | - |
| o | The normal "short vowel" sound that "o" makes. Sounds like:
| Just like you learned in Kindergarten. This is actually the hardest letter to use, since you brain is so used to pronouncing 'o' in so many different ways in so many different contexts. From now on, it just says 'o' like in pot! | - |
| u | The normal "short vowel" sound that "u" makes. Sounds like:
| Just like you learned in Kindergarten. | - |
ə | The "unstressed vowel" sound. Sounds like:
| The most common vowel sound in English doesn't actually have its own
letter. Instead of it's own letter, English just throws a
random vowel or combo of vowels and we have to guess how to pronounce it! | Windows: copy and paste =( Linux: u0259 |
| Long Vowels | Long vowels are when a vowel says it's own name (except 'u'). To differentiate long vowels from short vowels we had a line or double dots or something else fancy over the vowel. | See below the table for instructions how to use these codes. | |
| ä | Sounds like:
| Examples:
| Windows: Linux: a or A + u0308 |
| ë | Sounds like:
| Examples:
| Windows: Linux: e or E + u0308 |
| ï | Sounds like:
| Examples:
| Windows: Linux: i or I + u0308 |
| ö | Sounds like the 'o' in rope | This one is pretty easy. Example:
| Windows: Linux: o or O + u0308 |
| ü | Sounds like:
| This is the only long vowel that doesn't actually say it's own name. It's like the name of the letter "u" with the 'y' sound removed form the beginning. Examples:
| Windows: Linux: u or U + u0308 |
| New Characters | The best part, where we get to introduce NEW characters into the alphabet so we can write sounds that don't have their own letter in the Roman/Latin alphabet! | ||
s̈ or š (Any s with things above it!) | Sounds like:
| We need a letter for the 'sh' sound, so let's just add some dots above an 's'! Examples:
| Windows: Linux: S + u0308 |
| c or c̈ | Sounds like:
| Woah woah woah. I though the C was cancelled? Well, it's still on the keyboard so we might as well use it, so lets give it the 'ch' sound. To prevent confusing your brain, let's put double dots over it to make it consistent with the 'sh' character:
| Windows: just use the old "c" Linux: C + u0308 |
| z̈ or ž | Sounds like 'zh':
| This is one of the greatest examples of the failure of the Roman/Latin alphabet to capture the English language. There are a million ways that we spell the 'zh' sound, and none of them actually use 'zh' !?!!?
| Windows: Linux: Z + u0308 |
þ (thorn) | The voiced 'th' sound:
| Thorn, þ, has a cool history and actually was a letter used in Old and Middle English. You should read about it here.
| Windows: |
ð | The voiceless 'th' sound:
| Say "this" and "thing" and listen to what sound the 'th' makes. They make different sounds, so they need different letters! Another Old English letter with a neat history that was tossed out around the year 1000. Well, it's back baby!!
| Windows: Linux: u00F0 |
ŋ | Sounds like:
| Like an 'n' with a 'j' tail. Also has a cool history. Examples:
| Windows: copy and paste =( Linux: u014B |
Tïpiŋ Spes̈əl Kerəktərz (Typing Special Characters)
On WIndows:
Some of these characters can be type by holding Alt then typing a 4 digit number code on the number pad at the right of your keyboard - Make sure Num Lock is turned on! (Don't use the numbers at the top of the keyboard). The codes are provided in the table above. For example, to type a lowercase thorn character, þ, you would hit this combo of keys:
Alt + ( 0, 2, 5, 4 )
Unforuntately, only some characters are available like this, others you will need to copy and paste.
On Linux:
To type special characters in Ubuntu (and many other Linux distros) you can use the special code Ctrl + Shift+ U (which will appear as an underlined u) then type the four digit code for the character (e.g. 0259), then hit Space or Enter and the u will turn into the character for that code.
For example, to type thorn: þ, you would type this combo of keys:
Ctrl + Shift + U, 0, 0, F, E, Space
To create a long vowel with two dots or a line above it, type the vowel, then type the code combo for the symbol as described above. The line or dots will appear above the letter.
For example, to type ä, you would type:
A, Ctrl + Shift + U, 0, 0, F, E, Space