![]() ![]() In the phonetic alphabet, “long” vowel pronunciations are achieved using double vowels. Franklin also limited the remaining letters to one sound, “as every letter ought to be,” including vowels. The “hard” and “soft” sounds of a C, for example, can easily be replaced by a K and S. Political, Miscellaneous, and Philosophical Piecesįranklin’s analysis resulted in removing six letters from the alphabet – C, J, Q, W, X, AND Y– that were, in his view, redundant or confusing. The introductory table to Benjamin Franklin’s “A Reformed Mode of Spelling” ![]() ![]() Franklin gave preference to “Sounds formed by the Breath, with none or very little help of Tongue, Teeth, and Lips and produced chiefly in the Windpipe.” His proposal, “A Reformed Mode of Spelling,” opens with an analysis of spoken English in the form of a table prioritizing the alphabet by sound and vocal effort. It was the ultimate test of Franklin’s scholarship and polymathy, a phonetic alphabet designed to have a “more natural Order,” than the existing system. However, because, Webster lacked the type blocks to illustrate Franklin’s changes, the alphabet wouldn’t be seen until Franklin had new blocks cast to print the alphabet for his 1779 collection of writings, Political, Miscellaneous, and Philosophical Pieces. He also proposed a redesigned alphabet – a new language for a new nation.įranklin developed his phonetic alphabet in 1768 but it wasn’t published until 1789, when Noah Webster, intrigued by Franklin’s proposal, included its description in his book Dissertations on the English Language. For instance, there’s his suggestion that the turkey was a more appropriate national symbol than the eagle, which he saw as “a bird of bad moral character.” Franklin’s vision for American didn’t stop with independence and iconography. But he also had some notions that, while founded on sound logic and pragmatism, seem quite bizarre in retrospect. Politician, scientist, inventor, printer author, he was a visionary whose ideas helped shape America. ![]()
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