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Overview of Basic Voyce Writing
Phoneme Symbols in Voyce Writing
Voyce Writing Phoneme Table
The Alternate Symbol in Voyce Writing
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Basic Voyce Riting originated from the observation that four of the English phonemes are spelled exactly the same way in nearly every instance in American English. This raises the question of what the spellings would look like if we did in fact spell these four fonemes exactly the same way every time. The result is Basic Voyce Riting, which you are reading now.In Basic Voyce Riting, you control the appearance of your riting. You can make subtle enhancements that are scarcely detectible, or you can embellish the apppearance of your riting at will. Basic Voyce Riting frees you from some of the more unnessary contradictions of common English spelling, and gives your riting an air of sophistication. Basic Voyce Riting can be used in practically any application, including the most formal. For most people, Basic Voyce Riting eliminates any reason to ever use the common spellings again.
The four phonemes of Voyce Writing are redefined as follows:
The sound "thuh" as in the word "thin" is always spelled with the letters "th". In the common spellings the sound "thuh" is almost awlways spelled with the letters "th", but the pecular spelling "phth" sometimes occurs in the names of certain chemicals such as "phthalic" acid. In Voyce Writing the sound "thuh" is always spelled with the letters "th", so this word becomes "thalic" instead of "phthalic". This simplification makes the spelling of this consonant uniform throughout the English language.The consonant "thuh" is a single speech sound, even though it is spelled with two letters. Some phonemes have to be spelled with two or even three letters because the Roman alphabet does not have enough letters to go around. In Enhanced Spelling consonants are assigned names by adding the vowel "uh" to the consonant to produce a pronouncable name. We call this sound the phoneme "thuh" or the consonant "thuh". This distinguishes the sound "thuh" from the letters "Tee-Aych".
The sound "a" as it occurs in the word "hand" is written with the letter "a", except that the word "baa" retains its common spelling including its spelling in all larger words containing it. In the common spellings the sound "a" is usually spelled with the single letter "a", but there are some exceptions, as in the words "plaid", "aunt", "dahlia", "graham", "ingenue", "au vins", and "baa". In Voyce Writing these words are spelled "plad", "ant", "dalia", "gram", "angenue", "au vas" and "baa".
An exception is made for the verb "baa" which means the bleeting of sheep. Some readers may not recognize this word if it were changed to "ba", so this spelling is not changed. This exception applies to all larger words that contain this this word, such as "baaed" and "baaing".
The sound "o" as in "spot" is written with the letter "o", except when it ends a word it's spelled with the letters "ah" instead. The common spelling is retained for the words "honor", "honest", and "baa", including their spellings in all larger words containing them. In Voyce Writing the vowel "o" is usually spelled with the letter "o", but it's spelled with the letters "ah" whenever it ends a word, as in "chutspah" and "hooplah". The "ho" spelling is not changed in words such as "honor", "honoring", "honest", and "honestly". The word "baa" has two standard pronunciations in American English, but it is always spelled "baa" in Voyce Writing.
The sound "oy" as in "ploy" is written with the letters "oy". This spelling was selected because it is easily recognized in all contexts. The spelling "oi" was not chosen because of its limited compatibility with other spellings. For example, compare the spellings in Voyce Writing "annoy", "annoyed" and "annoying" with the alternatives "annoi", "annoied" and "annoiing".
The spellings of the four phonemes of Voyce Writing are shown in the table below with key words showing the various common spellings for each. The pronunciation symbols typically used by dictionaries are also shown.
Phoneme Key Dictionary
Symbols Words Symbols
a hand yeah graham au vins plaid a
aunt yeah dahlia ingenue salmono spot father trauma lingerie yacht bureaucracy ä calm entree dahlia johnboat lasagna knowledge
ah chutspah hoopla eclat troisoy ploy void buoy hautbois öi
th thin phthalic th
The words "baa", "honor" and "honest" retain their common spellings including their spellings in all larger words containing them, such as "baas", "baaed", "baaing", "honors", "honororing", "honorable", "honorary", "honesty", "honestly" and so on.
The vowel "o" is usually spelled with the letter "o", but it's spelled with the letters "ah" whenever it occurs at the end of a word, as in "chutspah", "hooplah", "eclah" and "twah".
There are some additional rules that refine Voyce Writing into a coherent system of spelling.Some readers would have difficulty recognizing small words if the spellings were changed because few familiar letters would remain. A provision known as the "Rule of Small Words" makes a blanket exception to spelling changes for all words having three letters or less in the common spelling. For example, the spelling of the three letter word "oil" is not changed, but four letter words like "oyls" and "oyly" employ the "oy" spelling because the additional letter provides enough additional information to properly cue the reader.
Each component of a compound or hyphenated word is treated as if it were a separate word. Words such as "oilman" and "re-oil" retain the "oil" spelling to keep the spellings uniform. This provision is known as the "Rule of Components".
Other useful rules include the "Rule of Convertible 'Yuh'" and the "Rule of Convertible 'Wuh'". When changing the spelling of a word containing the consonant sounds "yuh" or "wuh", sometimes the spelling can be further improved by substituting the letter "y" or "w". For example, when changing the spellings of the words "lasagna" and "marijuana" to "lasona" and "marijuana", the spelling can be further improved by substituting the letters "y" and "w" to obtain "lasonya" and "mariwona".
The remaining rules are self-explanitory. All the Rules of Voyce Writing are listed below:
The Rule of Small Words specifies that the common spellings are retained for all words having only three words or less in the common spellings.The Rule of Components specifies that each component of a compound or hyphenated word is treated like a separate word for spelling purposes.
The Rule of Convertible "Yuh" grants the option to insert the missing letter "y" into any word containing a spelling revision wherever the sound "yuh" is pronounced but is not represented by the letter "y".
The Rule of Convertible 'Wuh'" grants the option to substitute the letter "w" in lieu of the common spelling whenever the sound "wuh" occurs in any word containing a spelling revision.
The Rule of Names specifies that the spelling of a proper name should not be cahnged unless the bearer of that name chooses to adopt the new spelling.
The Rule of Imports allows the writer to import spellings that are foreign to the level of spelling in use. The use of italic print is recommended to distinguish these spellings.
The Rule of Hyphenation specifies that hyphens should be used whenever necessary to clarify the pronunciations of words. A hyphen should always be used whenever a word would otherwise contain the same letter three times in a row.
The Rule of Punctuation specifies that puctuation marks should not be included inside quotation marks unless the punctuation is a part of the quotation itself.
For comprehensive details on the use and applications of Voyce Writing and other levels of spelling reform, order Jirard Spellriyter's new book How to Reed and Spel Riyt.
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