Handywrite System Summary
To
better understand the above, study the following. Notice how, in the
examples, each sound is often spelled several different ways.
Consonants: (as in....)
n m knit—mit , knife—calm (no l sound)
t d two—do , stopped (one p, ends in t)—fiddle
k g coat—goat , back—ghost
r l rake—lake , wrong—tell
p b pin—been , happy (only one p sound)—rabbit
f v fairy—very , laugh—of (v not f)
h w how—wow , who (starts with h)—wine
sh ch shin—chin , ocean—watch
("ch" is the sound of t+sh, but gets a symbol of its own)
zh j azure—jam , measure—bridge
("j" is the sound of d+zh as in "edge")
ng nk sing—sink , long—lank
("nk" is the sound of ng+k)
Th th thin—then (same vowel) , thigh—breathe
("Thin"
and "then" are the only two common words distinguished solely by the
two forms of th, so if you get them mixed up writing other words, no big
deal. By the way, the "th" in "then" or "the" occurs about ten times
more often in writing than "Th" in "thin" or "think")
(s, z, and x may curve two ways, whichever seems best)
x y example—yet , extra—onion
("x"
is the sound of k+s in fox, eh+k+s in extra, or eh+g+z in exact—if you
need to be excruciatingly exact you could write extra as )
(These
sounds are from foreign words such as "llama" when pronounced like "y"
instead of "l." In Spain "ll" is like the "lli" in "million." The "ny"
sound is the "ñ" in "mañana" or "canyon")
Vowels: (as in...)
ae bat , plaid , half , laugh, can ,
glad
eh bet , many , said , says , bread ,
leopard
ih bit , mini , Sid , busy , women ,
hymn
a bot or bought, father , Don , far , caught ,
heart
uh but , done , alone , circus , pencil
ey bait , age , aid , say , they , vein
i beet , team , people , key , equal
ay bite , height , aisle , eye , lie , high
(may be written with a forward or backward slant, but generally down)
o boat , sew , open , toe , beau , yeoman
yu butte , new , few , feud , beauty , view
u boot , shoe , rule , blue , fruit , adieu
c book, put , full , wolf , good , should
au bout , house , bough , now, towel
oy boil , boy , toil , voice , oil
aw bawl , dawn , law , yawl—y'all ,
drawl
(This is a minor vowel very close to the "short o" in Don. In practice this vowel sound can be represented by the symbol without confusion. So "all" or "awl" could be written or and
so forth, but if you need to distinguish between "dawn" and "Don" or
"la" and "law," "tock" and "talk," then you can—these being the among
the few examples I have encountered that differ solely on the basis of
these vowel sounds. Some words, like "bought" (bawt) and "bot" (baht)
may be pronounced the same by some people, and so may be written the
same. Note that when writing this symbol there is always at least one
sharp angle between it and a consonant to distinguish it from the
vowels and which may also be tear shaped when they sometimes blend in with two consonants— in which case there is no angle.)
r bur , bird , first , word , honor , zephyr
(A
little known or acknowledged fact: "r" is a vowel, not a consonant.
Generations of English teachers have mislead you. While I did list "r"
with the consonants, I'm now giving you the straight dope. A vowel sound
is one you can make in a continuous manner using your vocal cords with
mouth open until you run out of breath. Try it. Consonants are the
various ways vowels can be modified at the beginning or end of them. Say
"ahahahahahahahah," now say "rrrrrrrrrrrrr." Obviously "R" is a vowel.
Some admit only that it's a semivowel, but I prefer to say the emperor
has no clothes and claim it's a vowel. Next time you're around an
English teacher or other language expert, argue this point ad nausium until they concede.)