Simpel-Fonetik is a system of English-language spelling reform that simplifies the reading, writing, and pronunciation of words in English. It was created by Allan Kiisk, a multilingual (English, German, Latin, and Estonian) professor of engineering. [1]
Based on phonetic languages including Estonian, [2] Finnish, and Hawaiian, it removes common difficulties of learning to communicate in English by correlating one unique letter per sound and one sound per letter.
Simpel-Fonetik writing is based on the following principles:
The Simpel-Fonetik alphabet is based on the Latin script, with the addition of three letters with diacritics: ä, ö, and ü (with umlaut). The alphabet does not include the letters c, q, x, or y, which are only used when writing unassimilated foreign terms or proper names.
The 25-letter alphabet is: [3] [4]
| Letter-glyph | Example usage | IPA |
|---|---|---|
| Vowels and semivowels | ||
| A | kap (cup) | ʌ |
| Ä | hät (hat) | æ |
| E | end | e |
| I | fit | ɪ |
| J | fjord | j |
| O | on | ɒ |
| Ö | pörtöörb (perturb) | ə |
| U | fut (foot), fuud (food) | ʊ |
| Ü | übör (über) | y |
| W | win | w |
| Consonants | ||
| B | big | b |
| D | dog | d |
| F | left | f |
| G | golf | g |
| H | help | h |
| K | kilo | k |
| L | leg | l |
| M | lemon | m |
| N | tenant | n |
| P | pet | p |
| R | risk | r |
| S | send | s |
| T | tent | t |
| V | vivid | v |
| Z | zuu (zoo) | z |
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