9
October 2004
In
this essay, sounds must be contrasted to the spelling of traditional
orthography (TO). To do this, sounds must be enclosed: <Ig> or /s{mpA/.
Everything else is spelling. Ig is a subset of TO with exceptions: thin = /TIn/
= <thhin> from Truespel, measure = /mE,Z3`/ = <me-zhq>,
<aic%uqxeyow> = <AIC8UQXEIOW> = /{IOUV3`AEiou/ = Fat is all good;
but sir, not yet, eat no food. (The contest is yet to begin.) Symbols % and 8
can be vertical representations of <oo> as in the word good. These
vertical symbols are easily improvised in longhand. They are not necessary. One
has a choice. A set of rules for Ig can be found at http://www.lafn.org/~bj957/rules.htm.
Ig
works because a syllable has only one major vowel be it a monothong, diphthong
(or triphthong?). In addition to this major vowel there can be semivowels, also
known as approximants. They are /r/ /j/ /w/ and /ww/, <r> <iy>
<w> and <w%>: roy, yes, when, and woo <roy, iyes, wen, w%w>.
They come immediately before the syllable’s major vowel. They are limited, and
they can be looked for. Only the semivowel /r/ comes at the end also, and is
special for other dialects and Spanish, but is not really used with our NBC
dialect.
Common
American English, as spoken by newscasters and the like, is also known as NBC
in contrast to BBC. The NBC dialect of English is special because the semivowel
/r/ almost always increases its duration at the end of the syllable to become
/3`/. The one possible exception is after the sound of /A/ <x> as in the
word harvest <hxr-vist> /hAr,vIst/. The increased voice of /r/ at the end
of a syllable can technically require the addition of a syllable as explained
below for the word very. This increased voice of /r/ at the end of a syllable
is one main reason for the NBC dialect is so soft and flowing, and should be
spotted easily when its sounds are recorded on paper with Ig.
I
have changed my mind about the word harvest in the above paragraph. I want to
make the ar a diphthong /A3`/ <xq>, and sound the word <hxq-vist>.
The idea is to give less voice to /3`/ with the diphthong, and to avoid the
indication of checked pronunciation if <r> were to be used as a coda in
sounding. Syllables: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syllable.
The
Ig system has only 11 vowel elements for sounding words of the USA common
dialect, and these eleven include the elements of the semivowels. The sound
elements of <r> <iy>, <w>, and <w%>, /r/ /I/ /i/ /u/
/wU/, are used as stressed vowels, unstressed vowels, and as semivowels when Ig
has been used to sound words. When the Ig <w> sound element is placed in
a word, how do we know which way it is used? Ig uses the syllable to know the
timing of its vowels and semivowels. The syllable has one major vowel called
the nucleus, but can have any of the semivowels before (called the syllable’s
onset), and at least one of the semivowels <r> after the nucleus in other
dialects, called the syllable’s coda. Thus, if the Ig symbol for a vowel
element used as a semivowel is not alone in a syllable, there could be a
semivowel before in all dialects and /r/ after the main vowel in other dialects.
As semivowels, they have less voice and stress even in a stressed syllable. Can
we have two major vowels in a syllable of equal stress forming a diphthong? I
said no with two exceptions. The vowels /e/ <ey> and /Ai/ <xy> were
tentatively the only two exceptions. Now I add the third, /A3`/ <xq>. The
Ig semivowel for /j/ is the meaningful digraph <iy>: <i> and
<y> are the sound elements of /j/. The semivowel /j/ is found in words
like yellow <iye-lo> /'jE,lo/, fuse <fiywz> /fjuz/, beyond
<by+iycnd> /bi'jOnd/, onion <un-iyun> /'Vn,j@n/. The Ig sound elements
<i> and <y> alone are not semivowels. The union of <i> and
<y> in -<iyng> for the suffix -ing can be considered a diphthong
because the special glide /j/ is not present. The word out <xwt> gives more
stress to <x> than <w>. We can say <-x-wt> trying to make the
two vowels equal; but when we say them this way, it carries emotion. So the
word out is a diphthong that uses /u/ with less stress. For now, I leave open
the possibility that the major vowel of a syllable can even be a triphthong
without semivowels, but the vowel elements of semivowels as semivowels will
always be at the beginning (onset) of the syllable’s major vowel, and /r/ is an
exception at the syllable’s end (coda) other dialects that is handled by
<q> with our dialect as /3`/ that can add to the major vowel (nucleus) or
require a separate syllable. You must decide by sounding.
The
first word I would sound for a child would be yes <iyes>. Then, I would
spell yes to show how spelling can leave sounds out. The sound <y> /i/ is
very high, and we must glide up to it with <i> /I/. In contrast when we
end high with the <y> sound, we do not have to glide down. This is why we
can use the letter y <wxy> for both sounds of the semivowel /j/ when we
begin to spell a syllable, but when we end a syllable with <y> /i/, we
can always remain high when the NBC dialect is used. This is the position rule
for y <wxy> in spelling. The child rapidly learns that spelling leaves
sounds out to save time writing, and we must build a path from sounds to
spelling to be able to spell with understanding. These paths are the rules we
must learn to spell well. In contrast, when we sound, we have only one serious
rule: a syllable has only one vowel of major voice, and that vowel can be a
diphthong (or even a triphthong?). With the Ig system, we have all the sounds,
but need this position rule for the identification of semivowels.
The
semivowel /r/ is the consonant /r/. In the Ig system, the consonant element
<r> must stand alone to be the vowel /3`/. I have experimented with the
use of <q> as the r vowel, because it is so important to the NBC dialect
of Ig. Now I want to consider <r> alone in a syllable as discussed above
for other semivowels. I thought this would allow the letter q <kiyw> to
be used for other sound elements in other dialects. The goal is to give our
little ones the sounds of their dialect in only their lowercase (or only their
uppercase) alphabet. They can use these sounds to spell only when traditional
orthography has not yet been learned. They could use their simple alphabet
(like we use SAMPA) for their dialect. Beyond this, they would know the vowel
elements of their sounds. They could understand the word phoneme, and know that
a given dialect has only so many seats at the table. To define the dialect's
system, a given seat seats the sound of its phoneme. There can be wiggle room
to allow other sounds called allophones to substitute at the seat for a given
word. Allophones are not necessary to define the dialect's number of seats at
the table of our brain's separation of words. The allophone can be another
phoneme borrowed from another seat or something new. Another dialect may have
more seats at the table. If we understand, we define phonemes one dialect at a
time. The dialect's phonemes constitute the dialect's system. The system is
unique to the dialect as are the use of the system’s terms phoneme and
allophone that build the system. When two similarly constructed words occur
that have only one sound different at the same position in both words, we have
a minimal pair that can define the two phonemes (sounds) that are different.
The question has been whether we can use the fewer vowel elements as the
"phonemes" for our system with the added higher structures such as
syllablization, position, and marked stress that could build the more numerous
established phonemes such as the semivowels. The path to TO using fewer
phonemes would require more understanding, but would give a firm basis upon
which understanding can be taught.
Consider
the following as an experiment to test the use of <r> for both /r/ and
/3`/: Secure <se+kiy%-r> /sE'kjU,3`/, securer <se+kiy%r-r>
/sE'kjU3`,3`/, throw <thhro> /Tro/, thorough <thhr-o> /T3`,o/.
My
conclusion from the experiment above, is to use <q> as the r vowel and
keep <r> as the semivowel /r/ as a separate syllable coda for British
English and Spanish. This helps me with the word secure <se+kiy%q> versus
securer <se+ki%q-q>. When you say <%q> in the word secure, are they
equally balanced? Is the onset of
the last syllable <kiy%>?
I
do not have one Ig system for NBC, BBC, and American Spanish; but I tried until
an understanding of phoneme systems set in. Sounding is a very personal thing;
one examines how he or she communicates by sounds. For example, the phoneme
<o> /o/ in the word “or” has an NBC allophone I am told; it is <c>
/O/. If this is true, the word or can be <oq> or <cq> in the NBC
dialect. Let every dialect build
their own Ig system or better. Moreover, let every dialect map their sounding
system into traditional orthography with rules. Let us also negociate word by
word with officials of other English dialects to change traditional orthography
for the better. One word at a time, like the respel systems of Allen. They may
be best. Has Allen already anticipated the future changes?
The
NBC dialect is a simplification built on the r vowel /3`/, but the symbol is
yet r <xq> even though it is no longer a semivowel. The /r/ semivowel,
more often than not, extends its duration to change from semivowel /r/ to the
full vowel /3`/ and can add a syllable to the word. Consider the word very
<ve-q-y> not <ver-y> or <ve-ry> which sound like a foreign
words to the NBCer, because r is used as a semivowel distinct from q which is
used as the vowel /3`/ in the Ig system. If we say the syllables slowly, the
word in all its beauty should surface correctly. Once this concept is grasped,
we can build a path into traditional orthography with NBC sounds. We must build
these paths with all the mnemonics and stories that children need. Within a
syllable we can have many vowels, and our tongue moves through them rapidly to
give them proper timing and duration (voice). This can be done without
consonants, except for semivowels. Semivowels are officially considered
consonants, but we consider them the vowels of very short duration, because we
have the complete power to separate syllables without the use of consonants in
the Ig system for sounding. These semivowels classified as different phonemes,
but they are made up of common elements. Publications of the past in
linguistics are great monuments to our progress at that time. We must move on,
thinking as much or more than they did. Where phonemes are formed in the mouth
may not be as important as what the brain thinks it hears, and we should not
mind if accepted phonemes are built with vowel elements.
Teachers
and students can define their own Ig systems depending upon the dialects spoken
in class. Moreover, we can always fall back on a simple SAMPA system where a
difference between dialects is important. Ig should be at least phonemic, while
SAMPA is phonetic, and can cover the phonemes and allophones of many dialects.
The following site is the best I know for common American English IPA: http://www.tulane.edu/~ling/IPA_for_Teens/consonants.html.
Check out approximants.
If
all our children feel they understand, instead of being told that the concepts
are too difficult to understand, they will feel and see the real thing: their
sounds accurately on paper before them. When we say all our children, we should
emphasize the word all. Such children as linguists of their own dialect, will
in time evolve their dialect and language to perfection - there will be no one
else to stop them.
Our
highest goal must be to give our little ones ability with traditional orthography.
Their lives depend upon it. Can we do better than SAMPA using just the elements
to give them the comfort of just the lowercase of their alphabet? Immagine the
excitement when a child places the sounds for his alphabet on paper as names
(words) for the letters. The real thing! Our children need an early space in
which to play using their new power. Ig or better can be that place as TO is
learned.
This
essay is a work in progress. Corrections can be found at http:\\www.lafn.org/~bj957/use.htm.
This
essay is free to all without restrictions. You can improve upon what has been
said and the way it is said - you can make it your own and better. In this way,
the concepts can be viewed from every angle.
Updated
8 March 2005: http://www.lafn.org/~bj957/use.htm.