Iňliš

Iňliš is an orthographic system I am designing to represent the English language more closely to how I pronounce it. It utilizes the characters available on the Google smartphone keyboard for Swedish.

The core design principle is to unify spelling, disambiguate pronunciation, and eliminate unnecessary digraphs by embracing obsolete characters and diacritics.

Consonants

The consonants remain relatively unchanged compared to standard English, with these exceptions:

C - has been removed from the system, except to replace the “ch” /t͡ʃ/ digraph, written as “Č”

F - always makes the /f/ as in “father,” never the /v/ as in “of”

G - always makes the /ɡ/ as in “gold,” never the /d͡ʒ/ as in “gem”

Q - makes the /kw/ sound without needing a following “u”

R - makes the /ɹ̠/ sound found in most American English dialects

S - always makes the /s/ as in “sound,” never the /z/ as in “is”

X - always makes the /ks/ as in “ax,” never the /z/ as in “xylophone”

Y - always treated as a consonant, never a vowel

Þ - makes the /θ/ as in “three,” replacing the “th” digraph

Ð - makes the /ð/ as in “the,” replacing the “th” digraph

Š - makes the /ʃ/ as in “she,” replacing the “sh” digraph

Ž - makes the /ʒ/ as in “vision”

Ň - makes the /ŋ/ as in “sing”

Vowels

The vowels are where the major differences come into play:

A - makes the /ɑ/ as in “thought”

Ä - makes the /eɪ/ as in “able”

E - makes the /ɛ/ as in “dress”

Ë - makes the /i/ as in “eat”

I - makes the /ɪ/ as in “bit”

Ï - makes the /aɪ/ as in “hide”

O - makes the /ʊ/ as in “hood”

Ö - makes the /o/ as in “boat”

Ō - makes the /ɔ/ as in “or”

U - makes the /ə/ as in “bust”

Ū - makes the /u/ as in “boot”

Æ - makes the /æ/ as in “ash”

Æw - makes the /aʊ/ as in “mouth”

Ōi - makes the /ɔɪ/ as in “boy”

Iňliš iz un ôþögræfik sistum Ï æm dizïniň tū reprëzent ðu Iňliš längweg mör klöslë tū hæw Ï prunæwns it. It yūtulïzez ðu kärekturz uvälubl an ðu Google smartfön këbōrd fōr Swëdiš.

Ðu kōr duzïn prinsupl iz tū yūnifï speliň, disæmbigyūät prönunsëäšun, ænd ëliminät unnesisärë dïgræfs bï embräsiň absulët kärekturz ænd dïukritiks.

Kansunents

Ðu kansunents rëmän relutivlë unčängd kumpärd tū stændurd Iňliš, wiþ ðëz exsepšuns:

C - hæz bën rëmūd frum ðu sistum, exept tū rëpläs ðu “ch” /t͡ʃ/ dïgræf, ritun æz “Č”

F - alwäz mäx ðu /f/ æz in “father” [faðr] nevur ðu /v/ æz in “of” [uv]

G - alwäz mäx ðu /ɡ/ æz in “gold” [göold] nevur ðu /d͡ʒ/ æz in “gem” [jem]

Q - mäx ðu /kw/ sæwnd wiþæwt nëdiň u falöwiň “u”

R - mäx ðu /ɹ̠/ sæwnd fæwnd in möst Umerikæn Iňliš dïulekts

S - alwäz mäx ðu /s/ in “sound” [sæwnd] nevur ðu /z/ æz in “is” [iz]

X - alwäz mäx ðu /ks/ æz in “ax” [æx] nevur ðu /z/ æz in “xylophone” [zïlufön]

Y - iz alwäz trëted æz u kansunent, nevur u væl

Þ - mäx ðu /θ/ æz in “three” [þrë], rëpläsiň ðu “th” dïgræf

Ð - mäx ðu /ð/ æz in “the” [ðu] rëpläsiň ðu “th” dïgræf

Š - mäx ðu /ʃ/ æz in “she” [šë], rëpläsiň “sh” dïgræf

Ž - mäx ðu /ʒ/ æz in “vision” [vižun]

Ň - max ðu /ŋ/ æz in “sing” [siň]


Væls

Ðu væls ar wär ðu mäjer difrensiz kum intu plä:

A - mäx ðu /ɑ/ æz in “thought” [þat]

Ä - mäx ðu /eɪ/ æz in “able” [äbl]

E - mäx ðu /ɛ/ æz in “dress” [dres]

Ë - mäx ðu /i/ æz in “eat” [ët]

I - mäx ðu /ɪ/ æz in “bit” [bit]

Ï - mäx ðu /aɪ/ æz in “hide” [hïd]

O - mäx ðu /ʊ/ æz in “hood” [hod]

Ö - mäx ðu /o/ æz in “boat” [böt]

Ō - mäx ðu /ɔ/ æz in “or” [ōr]

U - mäx ðu /ə/ æz in “bust” [bust]

Ū - mäx ðu /u/ æz in “boot” [būt]

Æ - mäx ðu /æ/ æz in “ash” [æš]

Æw - mäx ðu /aʊ/ æz in “mouth” [mæwþ]

Ōi - mäx ðu /ɔɪ/ æz in “boy” [bōi]

Note that because Iňliš is meant to convey my personal speech patterns, it is not meant to be a reference to proper pronunciation. Even when I am being careful of my words I still do not pronounce everything “correctly,” and much less so when speaking normally. (e.g. see “væl”)