Shavian
Shavian is a script that can be used to represent English speech, offered as an alternative to the Latin alphabet. It was designed by the appropriately named Kingsley Read.
Unlike standard English spelling, which naturally evolved out of multiple other languages, Shavian's aim is to keep spelling simple and consistent. It's phonemic, similar to phonetic, only slightly less accent-dependent. Two people might pronounce the same letter slightly differently to each other, yet each should still pronounce it reasonably consistently. Given how fractured English pronounciation is, this goal isn't entirely achievable, but Shavian gets as close as any other script. Probably much closer.
Each sound you make is represented by one letter, and can be written with a single penstroke. In addition, five especially common words are abbreviated to single letters. This makes Shavian efficient, both in terms of being compact on the page or screen, and also fast to read and especially write, once you're suitably familiar with it.
Admittedly, this single-stroke simplicity can make for some similar symbols. If your handwriting's as bad as mine, it can sometimes be tricky to differentiate ๐ค from ๐ฑ, ๐ฎ from ๐ฒ, ๐ฏ from ๐, ๐ฅ from ๐, ๐จ from ๐, ๐ฉ from ๐, ๐ช from ๐ (and even ๐ ), and ๐ง from ๐ (and even ๐). It turns out the Latin alphabet's redundant strokes may reduce each letter's ambiguity, with a more efficient script like Shavian risking what amounts to signal loss.
Although Shavian's 48 letters may seem intimidating at first, bear in mind English's 26 are actually 52 once you take uppercase and lowercase equivalents into account. Shavian has no distinct cases. Proper nouns are prefixed with a bulletpoint-style dot (ยท), while initialisms are prefixed with a small circle (โธฐ).
As Shavian was consciously designed, it also uses a bunch of neat ideas to make the letters more memorable, and almost intuitive. For example, the deep letters for B, D, and G (๐, ๐, and ๐, respectively) are the tall letters for P, T, and K (๐, ๐, and ๐) upside down, as the physical movement you make to say them is similar but lower down. Eight letters are simply compounds of others, such as Y (๐) and Oo (๐ต) making You (๐ฟ).
Again, this can be a bit of a double-edged sword: it's quicker to learn rotated counterparts like ๐, ๐, and ๐ alongside ๐, ๐, and ๐, but it can be harder to tell them apart if you're dyslexic.
Given the constructed script's inevitable rarity, Shavian isn't especially useful as a means of communication with other people. However, given its sparing use of letters, and of penstrokes within each letter, it can be quite useful as a shorthand for taking notes. It can also serve as an impediment to anyone looking over your shoulder while you write in public.
๐ฆ๐ ๐ญ๐ค๐๐ด ๐ค๐ซ๐๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐, ๐๐ด๐ฏ๐ ๐ฟ ๐๐ฆ๐๐?
Tips
The Read Lexicon, as linked below, offers translations of many words. Using these phonemic translations of Received Pronunciation and General American, rather than your personal accent, means you'll be spelling words the same way as other people reading and writing Shavian. Whether that's important to you or not depends on whether you're looking to socialise using the script, or merely read your own notes. As with any language, no-one can prevent you from modifying it to suit your whims and purposes.
Further reading
Personal wikis
- "Shavian Alphabet" Jessica Smith, Jayeless, Jul 2022
Tips
- "Shavian Alphabet Info โ The Alphabet"
- "A Slightly Nerdy Crash Course to Shavian Letters" salsarosada, Reddit
- "Read Lexicon"
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Shavian: Shavian dictionary
