Fwd: Truespel Analysis of USA English - Book One

Tue Aug 10 14:20:00 UTC 2004

Interestingly, the archaic distinction between "w" and "wh" (e.g. witch vs. which) is not preserved in this system but the archaic distinction between "short o" and "open o" (e.g. cot vs. caught) is maintained.

BTW, "archaic" here means used by Dennis Preston. : )

-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society on behalf of Laurence Horn
Sent: Tue 8/10/2004 8:50 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject:      Fwd: Truespel Analysis of USA English - Book One

In case anyone is interested in a reformed "phonetic spelling" system
for English based on, yes, the well-established "General American"
dialect...

--- begin forwarded text

Date: Mon, 9 Aug 2004 19:12:20 -0700 (PDT)
From: tom zurinskas <tzurinskas at yahoo.com>
Subject: Truespel Analysis of USA English - Book One

Hello,

I've rewritten the English language into a simple
phonetic system called "truespel".  The aim is to
replace the present phonetic spelling in dictionaries
with a simple, keyboard enterable phonetic spelling
that will be easy to use and have many applications.
The truespel database has been used to analyze USA
English as shown below.  I'm looking to partner for
testing of truespel applications for reading
development and implementation of such truespel
products as a dictionary with truespel as the
pronunciation key, ESL tools, beginning reader tools,
etc.

Let me know if interested.  The truespel group address
is  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/truespel/
See write-up below.

Tom Zurinskas

Truespel Analysis of USA English

A new book ìTruespel Book One: Analysis of the Sounds
(Phonemes) of USA Englishî gives a new understanding
of the sounds English.  It shows the frequency of use
of the phonemes of English, USA accent.  It compares
those phonemes to other languages and graphs the
differences.  It compares how often a phoneme appears
in the dictionary versus common usage as in news
print.  Its biggest contribution is the detailed
listing of the number of ways the USA English speech
sounds are spelled, showing percentages.

Things can be gleaned from Truespel Book One about USA
English that you didnít know before:
-       What are  the commonest and least common sounds.
-       What sounds appear more frequently in speech than
the dictionary.
-       What are the commonest ways each of our speech
sounds are spelled.
-       Which sounds are spelled the most various ways.
-       Which sounds are mostly ignored and not spelled at
all.
-       What sounds never appear next to other sounds.
-       What various sounds can come from certain
traditional letter combinations.

To accomplish this analysis, the author, Thomas E.
Zurinskas, has respelled the English language in a
60k-word conversion dictionary.  Truespel is, in fact,
a replacement pronunciation guide for USA English
dictionaries.  The use of regular letters to spell the
40 sounds of USA English allows computer keyboard
entries.  English pronunciation is taken from talking
dictionary, typical of USA media.  Thus, it can be for
modeling USA accent.

Other truespel uses are as an initial phonetic
spelling system for learners and as a standard
spelling for translation guides.  It integrates for
the first time these three literacy areas
(pronunciation guide, beginning reader, and
translation guide).  Children using a phonetic system
as a beginning reader can begin writing as well as
reading.  This approach has been demonstrated  by the
late Dr. Henry Martin with 10,000 children ages 5-6,
using IBM's "Writing to Read" phonetic method.  They
later transition to traditional spelling with no
difficulty, yet maintain a new capability for
phonetic spelling.

Truespel is freely available.  A free
English-to-truespel converter is on the web at
http://www.foreignword.com/dictionary/truespel/transpel.htm
  Teachers can use it to make pronunciation lessons.
The key is on the first page at bottom (or see
truespel.com).  Thus, any text or book file in English
is just a conversion away from being written in
truespel.

Truespel Book One also includes the text of a tutorial
that can be obtained as a CD for training.  It takes
only 1-hour to achieve fair proficiency.  The CD uses
nonsense words.  It also has an aptitude test for
phonemic awareness at the end that can be emailed for
grading.

Truespel Book One: Analysis of the Sounds (Phonemes)
of USA English is available at
http://www.authorhouse.com/bookstore/itemdetail.aspx?bookid=16593
($16.75) and as an ebook at  ($3.95) or call
Authorhouse at 800/839-8640 (Toll Free) 812/339-6000
(Outside USA and Canada).  ìTruespel Book Two:
Phonetic Dictionary of USA Englishî (Authorhouse.com)
is in production and should be out in a month or two.

Interested individuals can contact the author at
tzurinskas at yahoo.com.  The truespel group address is
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/truespel/

Thomas E. Zurinskas, creator of truespel
322 Pine Ridge Circle, B-2
Greenacres, FL  33463

=====
Convert text to truespel USA accent by copy/pasting text at:
http://www.foreignword.com/dictionary/truespel/transpel.htm

For truespel discussion and phoneme frequency files go to
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/truespel/  or truespel.com

Read ìTruespel Book One: Analysis of the Sounds (Phonemes)
of USA English (Authorhouse.com)

__________________________________
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