For the last few days I have been dabbling in the Shavian alphabet. If you haven’t heard of Shavian before, it’s a phonetic alphabet designed in the 1960s specifically to represent English. I wrote a wiki page with more information about it for the curious.
What this experience reminds me of is the alphabet I invented for myself as a teenager. Have I ever mentioned I did that? Unfortunately I no longer remember all the letters, but it was a system where a single “character block” represented a whole syllable. I didn’t have explicit knowledge of English phonotactics then so my sistem wasn’t perfect, but the vowel would occupy the middle third of the block, the onset would be at the top (with liquids and semivowels represented by a diacritic), and the syllable coda at the bottom. I had a letter for “zero consonant” (because obviously not every syllable starts and ends with a consonant). I also invented a new letter for [ส], and I think another for [ฮธ] and [รฐ] together, but otherwise didn’t cater to English phonemes too well, so my blocks got messy when I had to write diphthongs haha. Or the word “strength”. Noneยญtheยญless, I used my private little alphabet consistently for years whenever I wanted to daydream in class, writing my stories without any risk my classmates could look over my shoulder and laugh, or that the teacher might take it off me and read it to the class, etc.. I never reached a point where I could read back my own alphabet as fluently as I can Roman, but I got pretty fast considering the only place I ever saw these letters was my own notes.
Obviously the Shavian alphabet is not my own creation, and there are (a small number of) other people who know how to read it. However, Vivian sure doesn’t know how to read it, so as I’ve been practising by writing random crap in my notebook, I still get that feeling of writing in a secret code.
I’ll admit that there are some tricky things about it. A lot of the characters are the same as another character mirrored or rotated 180ยฐ, so there’s a lot of times I know the letter I want could be one of two things, lol. I’m not sure it’d make a good alphabet for dyslexics. For me the compound letters are also difficult, and because the majority of them are for rhotacised vowels and my accent is non-rhotic, I don’t even always remember to use them instead of the non-rhotic equivalents haha. But I’m trying, and overall I think the so-called “Androcles standard” finds a good compromise between North American and “southern” (Standard Southern British, southern hemisphere) standardsโฆ except that trying to unmerge the weak vowels (because in Shavian they’re supposed to be distinguished) is like Mission: Fucking Impossible to this Australian, lol.
So, there we have it! There’s no doubt that the part of me drawn to the Shavian alphabet is the same as the part of me drawn to auxlangs like Ido and Occidental. I guess you could say I have a super idealistic streak that cares little for how much practical use things have, and just wants to learn them because they’re really cool, and an improvement on established norms. (Indeed, it was actually through the auxlangs Discord that I rediscovered Shavian the other day.) Still, there’s no harm in that, and if anything quite the opposite, only upside, right? ๐
๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐๐ฑ๐๐พ๐ฏ
๐ ๐ ๐ค๐ญ๐๐ ๐๐ฟ ๐๐ฑ๐ ๐ฒ ๐ฃ๐จ๐ ๐๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐๐จ๐๐ค๐ฆ๐ ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ ๐๐ฑ๐๐พ๐ฏ ๐จ๐ค๐๐ฉ๐๐ง๐. ๐ฆ๐ ๐ฟ ๐ฃ๐จ๐๐ฉ๐ฏ๐ ๐ฃ๐ป๐ ๐ ๐๐ฑ๐๐พ๐ฏ ๐๐ฉ๐๐น, ๐ฆ๐๐ ๐ฉ ๐๐ฉ๐ฏ๐ง๐๐ฆ๐ ๐จ๐ค๐๐ฉ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ฉ๐๐ฒ๐ฏ๐ ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ 1960๐ ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ฆ๐๐ฆ๐๐ค๐ฆ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ง๐๐ฎ๐ฉ๐๐ง๐ฏ๐ ๐ฆ๐๐๐ค๐ฆ๐. ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ด๐ ๐ฉ ๐ข๐ฆ๐๐ฆ ๐๐ฑ๐ก ๐ข๐ฆ๐ ๐ฅ๐น ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐๐ผ๐ฅ๐ฑ๐๐ฉ๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐๐ฌ๐ ๐ฆ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฉ๐.
๐ข๐ช๐ ๐๐ฆ๐ ๐ง๐๐๐๐ฆ๐ฎ๐พ๐ฏ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ฏ๐๐ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ ๐ฆ๐ ๐ ๐จ๐ค๐๐ฉ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐๐ง๐ฏ๐๐ฉ๐ ๐ ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐๐ง๐ค๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ฉ ๐๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฑ๐ก๐ผ. ๐ฃ๐จ๐ ๐ฒ ๐ง๐๐ผ ๐ฅ๐ง๐ฏ๐๐ฉ๐ฏ๐ ๐ฒ ๐๐ฆ๐ ๐๐จ๐? ๐ณ๐ฏ๐๐น๐๐ฟ๐ฏ๐ฉ๐๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ค๐ช๐๐๐ผ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ง๐ฅ๐๐ผ ๐ญ๐ค ๐ ๐ค๐ง๐๐ผ๐, ๐๐ณ๐ ๐ฆ๐ ๐ข๐ช๐ ๐ฉ ๐๐ฆ๐๐๐ฉ๐ฅ ๐ข๐บ ๐ฉ ๐๐ฆ๐๐๐ค “๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ฉ๐๐๐ผ ๐๐ค๐ช๐” ๐ฎ๐ง๐๐ฎ๐ฉ๐๐ง๐ฏ๐๐ฉ๐ ๐ฉ ๐ฃ๐ด๐ค ๐๐ฆ๐ค๐ฉ๐๐ฉ๐ค. ๐ฒ ๐๐ฆ๐๐ฉ๐ฏ๐ ๐ฃ๐จ๐ ๐ง๐๐๐๐ค๐ฆ๐๐ฆ๐ ๐ฏ๐ช๐ค๐ฆ๐ก ๐ ๐ฆ๐๐๐ค๐ฆ๐ ๐๐ช๐ฏ๐ฉ๐๐จ๐๐๐ฆ๐๐ ๐๐ง๐ฏ ๐๐ด ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐๐ฆ๐๐๐ฉ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ช๐๐ฉ๐ฏ๐ ๐๐ป๐๐ฉ๐๐, ๐๐ณ๐ ๐ ๐๐ฌ๐ค ๐ข๐ซ๐ ๐ช๐๐ฟ๐๐ฒ ๐ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐๐ฉ๐ค ๐๐ป๐ ๐ ๐ ๐๐ค๐ช๐, ๐ ๐ช๐ฏ๐๐ง๐ ๐ข๐ซ๐ ๐๐ฐ ๐จ๐ ๐ ๐๐ช๐ (๐ข๐ฆ๐ ๐ค๐ฆ๐๐ข๐ฆ๐๐ ๐ฏ ๐๐ง๐ฅ๐ฆ๐๐ฌ๐ค๐ ๐ฎ๐ง๐๐ฎ๐ฉ๐๐ง๐ฏ๐๐ฉ๐ ๐๐ฒ ๐ฉ ๐๐ฒ๐ฉ๐๐ฎ๐ฆ๐๐ฆ๐), ๐ฏ ๐ ๐๐ฆ๐ค๐ฉ๐๐ฉ๐ค ๐๐ด๐๐ฉ ๐จ๐ ๐ ๐๐ช๐๐ฉ๐ฅ. ๐ฒ ๐ฃ๐จ๐ ๐ฉ ๐ค๐ง๐๐ผ ๐ “๐๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ด ๐๐ช๐ฏ๐๐ฉ๐ฏ๐ฉ๐ฏ๐” (๐๐ฉ๐๐ช๐ ๐ช๐๐๐พ๐๐ค๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ช๐ ๐ง๐๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ๐ค๐ฉ๐๐ฉ๐ค ๐๐๐ธ๐๐ ๐ฏ ๐ง๐ฏ๐๐ ๐ข๐ฆ๐ ๐ฉ ๐๐ช๐ฏ๐๐ฉ๐ฏ๐ฉ๐ฏ๐). ๐ฒ ๐ญ๐ค๐๐ด ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐๐ง๐ฏ๐๐ฉ๐ ๐ฉ ๐ฏ๐ฟ ๐ค๐ง๐๐ผ ๐ “๐”, ๐ฏ ๐ฒ ๐๐ฆ๐๐ ๐ฉ๐ฏ๐ณ๐๐ผ ๐ “๐” ๐ฏ “๐” ๐๐ฉ๐๐ง๐๐ผ, ๐๐ณ๐ ๐ณ๐๐ผ๐ข๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ฆ๐๐ฉ๐ฏ๐ ๐๐ฑ๐๐ผ ๐ ๐ฆ๐๐๐ค๐ฆ๐ ๐๐ด๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ ๐๐ต ๐ข๐ง๐ค, ๐๐ด ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐๐ค๐ช๐๐ ๐๐ช๐ ๐ฅ๐ง๐๐ฆ ๐ข๐ง๐ฏ ๐ฒ ๐ฃ๐จ๐ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ฆ๐๐๐ช๐๐ ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฃ๐ญ. ๐น ๐ ๐ข๐ป๐ “๐๐๐ฎ๐ง๐๐”. ๐ฏ๐ณ๐ฏ๐๐ฉ๐ค๐ง๐, ๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐๐ ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ฒ๐๐ฉ๐ ๐ค๐ฆ๐๐ฉ๐ค ๐จ๐ค๐๐ฉ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ฉ๐ฏ๐๐ฆ๐๐๐ฉ๐ฏ๐๐ค๐ฆ ๐ ๐๐ฝ๐ ๐ข๐ง๐ฏ๐ง๐๐ผ ๐ฒ ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐๐ฉ๐ ๐ ๐๐ฑ๐๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐๐ค๐ญ๐, ๐ฎ๐ฒ๐๐ฆ๐ ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐๐๐ท๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ ๐ข๐ฆ๐๐ฌ๐ ๐ง๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐๐ ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐๐ค๐ญ๐๐ฅ๐ฑ๐๐ ๐๐ซ๐ ๐ค๐ซ๐ ๐ด๐๐ผ ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐๐ด๐ค๐๐ผ ๐ฏ ๐ค๐ญ๐, ๐น ๐๐จ๐ ๐ ๐๐ฐ๐๐ผ ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ฑ๐ ๐ฆ๐ ๐ช๐ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ ๐ฆ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐๐ค๐ญ๐, ๐ง๐๐.. ๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ง๐๐ผ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐๐ ๐ฉ ๐๐ถ๐ฏ๐ ๐ข๐บ ๐ฒ ๐๐ซ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐จ๐ ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ด๐ฏ ๐จ๐ค๐๐ฉ๐๐ง๐ ๐จ๐ ๐๐ค๐ต๐ฉ๐ฏ๐๐ค๐ฆ ๐จ๐ ๐ฒ ๐๐จ๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ด๐ฅ๐ฉ๐ฏ, ๐๐ณ๐ ๐ฒ ๐๐ช๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ฆ๐๐ฆ ๐๐ญ๐๐ ๐๐ฉ๐ฏ๐๐ฆ๐๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ ๐ ๐ด๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐๐ค๐ฑ๐ ๐ฒ ๐ง๐๐ผ ๐๐ท ๐๐ฐ๐ ๐ค๐ง๐๐ผ๐ ๐ข๐ช๐ ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ด๐ฏ ๐ฏ๐ด๐๐.
๐ช๐๐๐พ๐๐ค๐ฆ ๐ ๐๐ฑ๐๐พ๐ฏ ๐จ๐ค๐๐ฉ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฆ๐ ๐ฏ๐ช๐ ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ด๐ฏ ๐๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐๐ฉ๐ฏ, ๐ฏ ๐๐บ ๐ธ (๐ฉ ๐๐ฅ๐ท๐ค ๐ฏ๐ณ๐ฅ๐๐ผ ๐) ๐ณ๐๐ผ ๐๐ฐ๐๐ค ๐ฃ๐ต ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฌ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ ๐ฆ๐. ๐ฃ๐ฌ๐ง๐๐ผ, ๐๐ฆ๐๐พ๐ฏ ๐๐ท ๐๐ณ๐๐ฉ๐ฏ๐ ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฌ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ ๐ฆ๐, ๐๐ด ๐จ๐ ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐๐ฎ๐จ๐๐๐ฆ๐๐ฆ๐ ๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฒ๐๐ฆ๐ ๐ฎ๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ฉ๐ฅ ๐๐ฎ๐จ๐ ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ด๐๐๐ซ๐, ๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฆ๐ค ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐จ๐ ๐๐ฐ๐ค๐ฆ๐ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฒ๐๐ฆ๐ ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฉ ๐๐ฐ๐๐ฎ๐ฉ๐ ๐๐ด๐.
๐ฒ๐ค ๐จ๐๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ ๐๐จ๐ ๐๐บ ๐ธ ๐๐ณ๐ฅ ๐๐ฎ๐ฆ๐๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ๐๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ฌ๐ ๐ฆ๐. ๐ฉ ๐ค๐ช๐ ๐ ๐ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ฉ๐๐๐ผ๐ ๐ธ ๐ ๐๐ฑ๐ฅ ๐จ๐ ๐ฉ๐ฏ๐ณ๐๐ผ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ฉ๐๐๐ผ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ผ๐ ๐น ๐ฎ๐ด๐๐ฑ๐๐ฉ๐ 180ยฐ, ๐๐ด ๐๐บ๐ ๐ฉ ๐ค๐ช๐ ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฅ๐ ๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ ๐ค๐ง๐๐ผ ๐ฒ ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ ๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐ฐ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฏ ๐ ๐๐ต ๐๐ฆ๐๐, ๐ค๐ช๐ค. ๐ฒ๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ช๐ ๐๐น ๐ฆ๐๐ ๐ฅ๐ฑ๐ ๐ฉ ๐๐ซ๐ ๐จ๐ค๐๐ฉ๐๐ง๐ ๐ ๐๐ฆ๐๐ค๐ง๐๐๐ฆ๐๐. ๐ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ ๐๐ช๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ ๐ค๐ง๐๐ผ๐ ๐ธ ๐ญ๐ค๐๐ด ๐๐ฆ๐๐ฆ๐๐ฉ๐ค๐, ๐ฏ ๐๐ฉ๐๐ช๐ ๐ ๐ฅ๐ฉ๐ก๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ๐๐ฆ ๐ ๐๐ง๐ฅ ๐ธ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ด๐๐ฉ๐๐ฒ๐๐ ๐๐ฌ๐ค๐ ๐ฏ ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐จ๐๐๐ง๐ฏ๐ ๐ฆ๐ ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ-๐ฎ๐ด๐๐ฆ๐, ๐ฒ ๐๐ด๐ฏ๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ฉ๐ฏ ๐ท๐ค๐ข๐ฑ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ง๐ฅ๐๐ผ ๐ ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ง๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐๐๐ง๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ-๐ฎ๐ด๐๐ฆ๐ ๐ง๐๐ข๐ฆ๐๐ฉ๐ค๐ง๐ฏ๐ ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฃ๐ญ. ๐๐ณ๐ ๐ฒ๐ฅ ๐๐ฎ๐ฒ๐ฆ๐, ๐ฏ ๐ด๐๐ผ๐ท๐ค ๐ฒ ๐๐ฆ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ด-๐๐ท๐ค๐ “๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ฎ๐ด๐๐ค๐ฐ๐ ๐๐๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ผ๐” ๐๐ฒ๐ฏ๐๐ ๐ฉ ๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐ช๐ฅ๐๐ฎ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ฉ๐๐ข๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฏ๐น๐ ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ง๐ฎ๐ฆ๐๐ฉ๐ฏ ๐ฏ “๐๐ณ๐๐ผ๐ฏ” (๐๐๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ผ๐ ๐๐ณ๐๐ผ๐ฏ ๐๐ฎ๐ฆ๐๐ฆ๐, ๐๐ณ๐๐ผ๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐ง๐ฅ๐ฆ๐๐๐ฝ) ๐๐๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ผ๐๐โฆ ๐ฆ๐๐๐ง๐๐ ๐๐จ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ฒ๐ฆ๐ ๐ ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ป๐ก ๐ ๐ข๐ฐ๐ ๐๐ฌ๐ค๐ (๐๐จ๐๐ช๐ ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐๐ฑ๐๐พ๐ฏ ๐๐บ ๐๐ฉ๐๐ด๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ฐ ๐๐ฆ๐๐๐ฆ๐๐๐ข๐ฆ๐๐) ๐ฆ๐ ๐ค๐ฒ๐ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐๐ฉ๐ฏ: ๐๐ณ๐๐ฆ๐ ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐๐ช๐๐ฆ๐๐ฉ๐ค ๐ ๐๐ฆ๐ ๐ช๐๐๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ค๐พ๐ฏ, ๐ค๐ช๐ค.
๐๐ด, ๐๐บ ๐ข๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐จ๐ ๐ฆ๐! ๐๐บ๐ ๐ฏ๐ด ๐๐ฌ๐ ๐๐จ๐ ๐ ๐๐ธ๐ ๐ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐๐ฎ๐ท๐ฏ ๐ ๐ ๐๐ฑ๐๐พ๐ฏ ๐จ๐ค๐๐ฉ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฆ๐ ๐ ๐๐ฑ๐ฅ ๐จ๐ ๐ ๐๐ธ๐ ๐ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐๐ฎ๐ท๐ฏ ๐ ๐ฌ๐๐๐ค๐จ๐๐ ๐ค๐ฒ๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ด ๐ฏ ๐ช๐๐๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ฏ๐๐ญ๐ค. ๐ฒ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฟ ๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐ฑ ๐ฒ ๐ฃ๐จ๐ ๐ฉ ๐๐ต๐๐ผ ๐ฒ๐๐พ๐ค๐ฆ๐๐๐ฆ๐ ๐๐๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐จ๐ ๐๐บ๐ ๐ค๐ฆ๐๐ฉ๐ค ๐ ๐ฃ๐ฌ ๐ฅ๐ณ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐จ๐๐๐ฆ๐๐ฉ๐ค ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ฆ๐๐ ๐ฃ๐จ๐, ๐ฏ ๐ก๐ณ๐๐ ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐๐ ๐ ๐ค๐ป๐ฏ ๐๐ง๐ฅ ๐๐ฉ๐๐ช๐ ๐๐บ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ค๐ฆ ๐๐ต๐ค, ๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฏ ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐๐ฎ๐ต๐๐ฅ๐ฉ๐ฏ๐ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ง๐๐๐จ๐๐ค๐ฆ๐๐ ๐ฏ๐น๐ฅ๐. (๐ฆ๐ฏ๐๐ฐ๐, ๐ฆ๐ ๐ข๐ช๐ ๐จ๐๐๐ฉ๐ค๐ฆ ๐๐ฎ๐ต ๐ ๐ฌ๐๐๐ค๐จ๐๐ ๐๐ฆ๐๐๐น๐ ๐๐จ๐ ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐๐ฆ๐๐๐ช๐๐ผ๐ ๐๐ฑ๐๐พ๐ฏ ๐ ๐ช๐๐ผ ๐๐ฑ.) ๐๐๐ฆ๐ค, ๐๐บ๐ ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ฃ๐ธ๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐๐จ๐, ๐ฏ ๐ฆ๐ ๐ง๐ฏ๐ฆ๐๐ฆ๐ ๐๐ข๐ฒ๐ ๐ ๐ช๐๐ฉ๐๐ฆ๐, ๐ด๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ณ๐๐๐ฒ๐, ๐ฎ๐ฒ๐? ๐