The WildWords Project:NeD Respelling System

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In concession to the fact that the ways which people translate characters to sounds can differ wildly, NeD has decided to opt for a standardized respelling system to represent pronunciation of words. This system is as opposed to IPA, which NeD felt would pose too high of a barrier for understanding on first glance. Furthermore, usage of the IPA would assert one form of pronunciation over another, and would standardize the accent in which the words were produced without recognizing other modes of speaking that word. A respelling system, because it bases pronunciation off of other words, allows the readers to impose on the words their individual mode of speech which will remain consistent for the speaker, as opposed to consistent within an accent.

The System

This respelling system is drawn from Webster's New World Dictionary, published in 1995. This system was chosen due to high simplicity in readability without necessarily needing to refer to the chart. However, the chart still remains as a reference for any reader who is confused, and the standard for any writer adding to NeD.

Consonants

Symbol Sample Word
b bed
ch chin
d dip
f fit
g get
h he
j agile
k cat
l sail
m met
n need
ŋ sing
p put
r red, far
s sell
sh session
t top
th thin
th the
u up
v vat
w will
y yet
z zebra
zh azure

Vowels

Symbol Sample Word
a at
ā ate
ä father
e enter
ee bee
i is
ī ice
ō go
ô all
oo tool
ōō look
oi toy
ou out
ə ago
ər urn

Example entries

  • cathartic: [kathartik]
  • internal: [intərnäl]
  • please: [pleez]

Syllabication

Syllables will be separated by spaces. Stress will be indicated by an apostrophe at the end of a syllable before the space.

Example:

  • cathartic: [ka thar' tik]