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The English Phonotypic Alphabet is a phonetic alphabet developed by Sir Isaac Pitman and Alexander John Ellis originally as an English language spelling reform.[1] Although never gaining wide acceptance, elements of it were incorporated into the modern International Phonetic Alphabet.[2]
It was originally published in June 1845.[3] Subsequently, adaptations were published which extended the alphabet to the German, Arabic, Spanish, Tuscan, French, Welsh, Italian, Dutch, Polish, Portuguese and Sanskrit languages.[4]
Letters
The letters are as follows (with some approximations to accommodate Unicode)
Late 1843 (English)
At this stage, long vowels had a cross-bar, and short vowels did not
- Long vowels
Ɨ /iː/, E /eɪ/, A /ɑː/, Ɵ /ɔː/, Ʉ /oʊ/?, ᗻ (for some fonts ᗼ) /uː/
- Short vowels
I /ɪ/, ⵎ /ɛ/, Ʌ /æ/, O /ɒ/, U /ʌ/, ᗯ /ʊ/
(the letter for /ʊ/ was like ⟨Ɯ⟩ but with the middle stem not so tall as the others, and did not have a serif at the bottom right)
- Diphthongs
Ɯ /juː/ (like Iᗯ), ⅄ /aɪ/ (like ɅI) , Ȣ /aʊ/ (like Oᗯ)?
- Reduced ('obscure') vowels
Ǝ /ə/, ⵎ /ᵊ/
- Consonants
P B, T D, Є J /tʃ dʒ/, K G
F V, Θ Δ /θ ð/, S Z, Σ Σ /ʃ ʒ/,
L R, M N, И /ŋ/, Y W H.
1845
Vowels
Monophthongs
| Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|
| Close | Ɛɛ• | •ᗯɯ |
| Near-close | Ii• | •Ꞷꞷ |
| Open-mid | Ee• | Uu•Oo |
| Near-open | Aɑ• | Āᶐ•Ɵɵ |
Diphthongs
Beginning with an unrounded vowel
| Back | |
|---|---|
| Close | •Աᶙ |
Ending with an unrounded vowel
| Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|
| Close-mid | ᗩa• | |
| Near-open | •ⵚơ | |
| Open | ┼ᶖ• |
Ending with a rounded vowel
| Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|
| Close-mid | •𐐗ɷ | |
| Open | రȣ• |
Consonants
| Pulmonic section | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labial | Coronal | Dorsal | Laryngeal | ||||||
| Bilabial | Labiodental | Dental | Alveolar | Postalveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
| Nasal | •Mm | •Nn | •И̡ŋ | ||||||
| Plosive | Pp•Bb | Tt•Dd | Cc•Gg | ||||||
| Sibilant affricate | Єꞔ•Jj | ||||||||
| Sibilant fricative | Ss•Zz | Σʃ•𐅠ʒ | |||||||
| Non-sibilant fricative | Ff•Vv | ⅂ҽ•Ƌꞛ | Hh• | ||||||
| Approximant | •Rr | •Yy | |||||||
| Lateral approximant | •Ll | ||||||||
| Co-articulated section | |||||||||
| Labial-velar | •Ww | ||||||||
References
- ↑ Daniels, Peter T. (1996). The World's Writing Systems. Oxford University Press. p. 831. ISBN 0-19-507993-0.
- ↑ Coulmas, Florian (12 March 1999). "English Phonotypic Alphabet". The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Writing Systems. Wiley. ISBN 0-631-21481-X.
- ↑ "Completion of the Phonotypic Alphabet". The Phonotypic Journal. Bath: Phonographic Institution. 4 (42): 105–106. June 1845.
- ↑ "Extension of the Phonotypic Alphabet". The Phonotypic Journal. Bath: Phonographic Institution. 4 (43): 121–123. June 1845.