English Phonotypic Alphabet

Street sign of Kingston Buildings in Bath, once seat of The Phonetic Society[1]
Letters of the English phonotypic Alphabet (1847)
Additional letters for other languages in 1845
The American version of the alphabet of 1855, as reprinted in a medical dictionary in 1871
An early version of the alphabet, 1843

The English Phonotypic Alphabet is a phonetic alphabet developed by Sir Isaac Pitman and Alexander John Ellis originally as an English language spelling reform.[2] Although never gaining wide acceptance, elements of it were incorporated into the modern International Phonetic Alphabet.[3]

It was originally published in June 1845.[4] Subsequently, adaptations were published which extended the alphabet to the German, Arabic, Spanish, Tuscan, French, Welsh, Italian, Dutch, Polish, Portuguese and Sanskrit languages.[5]

  1. ^ Mason, Cai (25 January 2019). "Bath Abbey: Revelations from Abbey Chambers, Kingston Buildings and the 4th Fonetik Institut". Wessex Archaeology. Retrieved 26 October 2024.
  2. ^ Daniels, Peter T.; Bright, William, eds. (1996). The World's Writing Systems. Oxford University Press. p. 831. ISBN 0-19-507993-0.
  3. ^ Coulmas, Florian (12 March 1999). "English Phonotypic Alphabet". The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Writing Systems. Wiley. ISBN 0-631-21481-X.
  4. ^ "Completion of the Phonotypic Alphabet". The Phonotypic Journal. 4 (42). Bath: Phonographic Institution: 105–106. June 1845.
  5. ^ "Extension of the Phonotypic Alphabet". The Phonotypic Journal. 4 (43). Bath: Phonographic Institution: 121–123. June 1845.