Shavian alphabet

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shavian_alphabet

Real quick to learn, alternative alphabet (for English and others) that you can use for fun, or for keeping what you are writing a secret.

Takes 20 minutes to learn, and you have nothing better to do.

I could make a better alphabet while dildoing my anus

>you have nothing better to do.
Wanking is better than learning this bullshit.

>>...that you can use for fun, or for keeping what you are writing a secret.
I already have an alphabet like this, which I invented in 2003 while I was bored during classes at school. I used it to write a few journals, and I use it whenever I need to write down an appointment in my diary.

Anyway, this shavian alphabet looks interesting, but I think there might be problems involved with fully phonetic writing systems. There are many different accents and pronunciations for different words. Depending on how this system works, it could be a problem. I haven't looked at this very closely though, so I don't know. It just occurred to me that it might be a problem. You're a real penis master now.

Shavian helped me understand the difference between "voiced" and "unvoiced" sounds, which made learning other languages a tad bit easier.

It would be nice if it were widely used, as you would immediately know how to pronounce something rather than have to listen to someone say it first, or guess.  Oftentimes people will mispronounce words they hear, so this would be great.

However the world is full of anti-idealistic cynics that are too lazy to push for progress.

>>5
>>It would be nice if it were widely used, as you would immediately know how to pronounce something rather than have to listen to someone say it first, or guess.  Oftentimes people will mispronounce words they hear, so this would be great.

That may be the case in theory. But English has many diverse accents and dialects, and pronunciations are extremely variable. I don't think things would work that easily.

>>6
Surely a better way to present a word's pronunciation would just be to write it straight up in IPA?
While this alphabet is more logical and is limited only to sounds present in English, IPA would be better for pronunciation guidance; and if you want to use a 'code' you would be better inventing your own alphabet, rather than using a fairly well known one.

>>6
The current system doesn't help with that, it just makes it even harder.  Shavian at least allows you to show which accent you are using.

>>5
>However the world is full of anti-idealistic cynics that are too lazy to push for progress.
how exactly is this alphabet progress? Do  you know what it takes to switch over to a new alphabet?

how exactly is this alphabet progress?
Each letter corresponds to one sound.  With the writing sytem we use now, there are many irregularities.  The current system means reading something does not necessarily mean you know how to pronounce it- many, many words have irregular spelling.

Do  you know what it takes to switch over to a new alphabet?
Depends on how far you want to take it.  It could be used as a secondary alphabet that assorted people/sites/signs used alongside English.

>>10
yeah, let's change from the alphabet that millions of people know and love that's the most used alphabet around the world to go to some alphabet no ones ever heard of
real progress faggot

>>11
Not the one you're replying to.
But you really don't seem to know what the fuck means "progress".
Progress is very that, changing something everyone know and love for something better. Keeping it is conservatism.

>>12
But would it be progress in the right direction?

>>12
implying it's something better

-all the letters look alike
-it's utter shit for handwriting
-it only works for English

>>15
>implying other languages matter

>>16
>implying other languages matter

-back to the imageboards, please
-this is the foreign language board

>>17
implying you aren't a nigger

Bumping a dead thread and replying to people who are no longer around to notice my reply.

>>6
>English has many diverse accents and dialects, and pronunciations are extremely variable. I don't think things would work that easily.

This is an oft-cited criticism and I don't see where the problem lies. Writing systems are supposed to reflect the spoken word and this would do just that, moreover distinguishing someone's accent through phonetic spelling is a lot more meaningful than arbitrary regional differences like color/colour -ization/-isation that don't confer any useful information even as we somehow cope with them.

>>7

Correct me if I'm wrong, but IPA doesn't really make many concessions to ease of writing, and I think it's maybe a little too complicated for popular consumption. It's also very "noisy" in a visual sense.

>>15
>all the letters look alike

This is very true, nearly everything in Shavian has a corresponding inverse, sometimes two more which are flipped or mirrored. The only parallel in the latin alphabet I can think of is bdpq. Deseret and Unifon are a lot better in this regard.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deseret_alphabet
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unifon

>it's utter shit for handwriting

That's wrong, it derives from shorthand, it's great for handwriting. Everything is one stroke.

>it only works for English

It's designed for English, but that doesn't stop it from being adapted to other languages, and with 47 characters it'd definitely fare better than the Latin alphabet which requires a dozen trigraphs for common sounds in nearly every language. Regardless, it was created to solve a problem that's most acute to English compared to other European languages, namely the hideous orthography we have. Most other Western languages had this solved ages ago.

I've been reading and writing in Shavian casually in modest bits for a while and I still have mixed feelings about it, but English in the Latin alphabet is a pitiful mess and always has been, and it's all the more embarrassing given how much more functional Anglo-Saxon Futhorc was. It's worth studying alternatives if only to appreciate how terrible the status quo really is.