Modern Phonetic English

Traditional English

The written English language is notoriously difficult to teach and learn.  One reason is the many different ways English words can be spelled, and the amount of times the "rules" can be broken.

For instance, children are taught an "e" at the end of a word makes the vowel say its name (e.g. "make" and "name").  But English loves to have exceptions (two in just this sentence).

Written languages like Korean, however, have consistent characters that always make the same sound, making them extremely easy to learn.

Modern Phonetic English modernizes the English language with strict rules that are easy to follow and flow naturally.  In fact, Modern Phonetic English seems almost childish in its simplicity, and ends up mimicking some of the shorthand we've naturally developed.

Modern Phonetic English doesn't suggest any grammatical or verbal changes to the language; just its written form.

There are pros and cons to any attempt at making English phonetic, but we considered multiple facets such as efficiency, familiarity, and even they layout of keyboards in our attempt to devise the best approach.  We invite you to read over the rules below, and let us know your suggestions for improving the English written word.

Modern Phonetic English

4 Simple Rules

Each letter can have one sound and one sound only.
3 Exceptions
1. Two consecutive vowels in a row say their name.
2. Any word made up of a single vowel says the vowel's name.
3. Per convention, "s" is used for the plural ending of a word over "z", which has a similar sounds at the end of a word.

Stats

	MPE	Traditional
Average word length (letters)	7.5	7.7
Number of words under 3 letters	3094	1853
Maximum word length	37	34

Downsides

The two-vowels rule makes some very short words longer.
(we -> wee, he -> hee, she -> shee.)
Some words with many long vowels become much larger.
(notoriously -> nootuwreeuslee)
Homophones that could have been differentiated in writing no longer can be.
(medal, meddle, metal, mettle -> medul)
The "y" shortcut representing a vowel sound at the end of words isn't available.
(my -> mii, fancy -> fansee)
"are" becomes "or", which is especially confusing given their frequency of use.

Credit

This tool makes heavy use of the Carnegie Mellon University Pronouncing Dictionary, which itself utilizes ARBABET as developed by DARPA.