This page serves as a simplified overview of our booklet.
This guide jumps into reformed english without the theory.
Written English is broken. None know this better than her native speakers. While every other written European language has (to some extent) followed the tides of the common man's speech, English alone has not. The written word and the spoken word but hint at one another. Thus, The Reformation American English Alphabet (RAEA) is an attempt to fix this broken English spelling and orthography.
The RAEA only aim to appease the dialects of North America (US & Canada).
Many of the changes will appear dramatic but are largely inspired by the orthographies of other European Languages and their reforms. Much influence comes from the other Germanic Tongues.
Aa (/ɑ/): Found in 'father' (faðer) or 'art' (art)
Ää (/æ/): Found in 'cat' (kät) or 'ash' (äsh)
Ii (/ɪ/): Found in 'bit' (bit) or 'hill' (hil)
Íí (/i/): Found in 'beet' (bít) or 'free' (frí)
Ee (/e/): Found in 'bet' (bet) or 'hell' (hel)
Uu (/ʉw/): Only ever seen in the glide UW. Found in 'boot' (buwt) or 'tune' (tuwn)
Úú (/ʊ/): Found in 'book' (búk) or 'good' (gúd)
Oo (/o/): Only used on its own before an 'L' or 'R', such as 'bowl' (bol) or 'bore' (bor)
Óó (/ɑ/): Same sound as A. Used to keep familiarity with classical spellings like in 'hot' (hót) or 'long' (lóng)
Â,Ô,Û (/ə/): All three forms represent the same sound, the schwa. This approach allows for visual similarity to classical spellings while still maintaining accuracy. These forms should not be seen as independent letters but as a variation of the root letter. Found in 'anew' (ânuw), 'from' (frôm), or 'hut' (hût).
AJ (/aj/): Found in 'bite' (bajt) or 'my' (maj)
EJ (/ej/): Found in 'bait' (bejt) or 'lay' (lej)
OW (/ow/): Found in 'boat' (bowt) or 'tow' (tow)
AW,ÓW (/aw/): Found in 'cow' (ków) or 'mouse' (maws)
ER (/ɝ/): Found in 'burr' (ber) or 'fur' (fer)
EJR (/eɚ/): Found in 'fair' (fejr) or 'dare' (dejr)
ÍR (/iɚ/): Found in 'dear' (dír) or 'beer' (bír)
Cc (/ts/): Represents the sound TS. This letter is only found in words whose classical spellings already use C in this context like 'once' (wônc) or 'fence' (fenc). Thus in all circumstances TS should remain as TS like in 'pits' (pits) or 'midst' (midst). For classical spellings in which this letter represented a different sound it should be replaced with the correct letter as in 'car' (kar) or 'cent' (sent).
Ðð (/ð/): Voiced TH sound. Found in 'weather' (weðer), 'father' (faðer), or 'that' (ðät)
Þþ (/θ/): Voiceless TH sound as in 'thorn' (þorn), 'bath' (bäþ), or 'path' (päþ)
Gg (/g/): Only found in its hard form as in 'gift' (gift) or 'gun' (gûn)
Jj (/j/): The semivowel previously represented by Y, like in 'year' (jír) or 'yes' (jes)
Qq: Only used in foreign words. Sounds should be transcribed to corresponding letters like 'queen' (kwín)
Xx (/ks/): Equivalent to KS. Only found in words whose classical spellings used the letter in this context, else it should be replaced with the correct corresponding letter(s).
Yy: Found only in foreign words
Žž (/ʒ/): Found in 'measure' (mežer) or 'plesure' (pležer)
Ʒʒ (/dʒ/): Found in 'jump' (ʒûmp) or 'hedge' (heʒ)
Š / SH (/ʃ/): Š is always correct to be used for this sound. Words whose classical spelling use SH may continue to be spelled with them. Seen in words like 'ship' (ship), 'passion' (päšôn), 'lash' (läsh), or 'sugar' (šûger)
Č / CH (/ʧ/): Same usage rules as Š/SH. Seen in words like 'chip' (chip), 'nature' (nejčer), 'hatch' (häch), or 'virtue' (verčuw)
NG (/ŋ/): Same as classical NG as in 'sing' (sing) or 'ring' (ring)
TT (/ʔ/): Glottal stop. Found in 'cotton' (kóttn) or 'button' (bûttn)
OJL: Sound of 'foil' (fojl) or 'boil' (bojl)
ÚL Sound of 'wool' (wúl) or 'wolf' (wúlf)
ÛL: Sound of 'full' (fûl) or 'pull' (pûl)
UWL: Sound of 'fool' (fuwl) or 'pool' (puwl)
AJER: Sound of 'fire' (fajer) or 'tire' (tajer)
-t: Used when final sound is unvoiced, like 'fish & fished' (fish & fisht) or 'kick & kicked' (kik & kikt)
-d: Used when final sound is voiced, like 'lay & layed' (lej & lejd) or 'hum & hummed' (hûm & hûmd)
-id: When word ends in D or T, like 'hunt & hunted' (hûnt & hûntid) or 'taste & tasted' (tejst & tejstid)
-s: Final sound unvoiced, like in 'duck & ducks' (dûk & dûks) or 'cat & cats' (kät & käts)
-z: Final sound voiced, like in 'owl & owls' (ówl & ówlz) or 'son & sons' (sôn & sônz)
-íz: Word ends in Z, S, C, X, SH (Š), CH(Č), or Ʒ like 'horse & horses' (hors & horsiz) or 'fox & foxes' (fóx & fóxiz)
THE should be spelled as ÐE. 'The boy jumped' (Ðe boj ʒûmpt).
NO should still be spelled NO (this makes KNOW spelled NO as well).
'Is that a yes or a no?'' (Iz ðät â jes or â no?). 'What do you know?' (Wât duw juw no?)
Words classically spelled with multiple vowels leading into a syllabic consonant should be changed to only bearing the final vowel reduced (turned into a schwa). Like in 'ferocious' (ferowšûs), 'conscious' (kónšûs), 'nation' (nejšôn), or 'vision' (vižôn).
Words with a syllabic consonant spelled with an E should replace the E with a Û. Like in 'system' (sistûm), 'travel' (trävûl), or 'level' (levûl).
As shown above, plurals and possessives are now written the same. 'For the cats, the cat's day' (for ðe käts, ðe käts dej).
The '-n’t' contraction is now just the suffix '-nt'. Seen in 'isn’t' (iznt) or 'couldn’t' (kúdnt)
Guillemots («») should now be used as secondary quotes (or stylistic primaries).
Capitalization no longer should be used for the pronoun I, days of the week, or month names
There is an additional inverted opening tone mark (¿ or ¡) which can be used to further emphasize the tone being carried throughout the whole sentence. 'Who are you?' compared to the more emphatic '¿Who are you?'.
There is the addition of the sarcasm-mark (not present in fonts yet but is pictured in the booklet) which can be used for the ever so elusive tone.
Finally, many latin abbreviations have been replaced with anglicized offerings (see the booklet for a list of the common replacements).
Below is a paragraph utilizing all these rules. It takes time to internalize these new spellings and they will feel foreign for a while, but will become quite clear far quicker than one may expect.
Äz suwn äz aj ârajvd aj mejd ân âtempt tuw fajnd maj howst, bût ðe tuw or þrí pípl ôv huwm aj äskt hiz wejrâbówts stejrd ät mí in sûch ân âmejzd wej, änd denajd so vehímentlí eni nóliʒ ôv hiz muwvments, ðät aj slûnk óf in ðe derekšôn ôv ðe kóktejl tejbl—ðe ownlí plejs in ðe gardûn wejr â singl män kúd linger wiþówt lúking perpôslis änd âlown.
As soon as I arrived I made an attempt to find my host, but the two or three people of whom I asked his whereabouts stared at me in such an amazed way, and denied so vehemently any knowledge of his movements, that I slunk off in the direction of the cocktail table—the only place in the garden where a single man could linger without looking purposeless and alone.
More content written with the RAEA can be found in our library.