Simpel-Fonetik

Try to remember especially these letters and their assigned sounds. Also, remember that for longer sounds, two letters are used.

A,a  as in  Arctic, aardvark, cup.

Ä,ä  as in  ant, cat, bad.

E,e  as in  end, let, bed.

I,i   as in  it, his, bid.

O,o  as in  on, fort, toy.

Ö,ö  as in  ago, sir, learn.

U,u  as in  put, look, two.

J,j  as in  yes, you, few (fju).

When you read Simpel-Fonetik words, you must pay attention to each letter.  When you read aloud, or read the Simpel-Fonetik text for the first time, learn to pronounce each letter.  Each letter has always the same sound, the sound given in the Simpel-Fonetik alphabet, regardless what letter is next to it.  (Exception: th is used as in present writing).

Please note that Simpel-Fonetik spelling can be used to represent different accents or dialects.  Different accents result in different spellings.  And the spelling of some words may be influenced by trying to maintain similarity with the present spelling. Standard or preferred spellings have not yet been established.

Common Expressions

Gud morning    Gud dei    Gud iivning   Gud bai    Pliis    

Hau ar ju    Fain, thänk ju   Ju ar welkam   Jes, sör

Nambers:   wan  tuu  thri  foor  faiv  siks  seven  eit  nain  ten

Conversation between Kevin and his Dad

"Hei, Kevin!  Wat's ap?"

"Däd, ai häv problems with spelling. It is so hard tu remember hau tu spell sam wörds."

"Kevin, ai olso häd problems. Änd ai stil du."

"Wai dasn't samwan fiks the spelling problems?"

"Ai was told thät thei kän not ögrii on ö soluushon."

"Mai tiitsher sed thät thär is ö pörfekt soluushon.  Wai not juus it?"

"Wat is it?"

"Luk ät this händaut thät the tiitsher geiv. This is wat Noah Webster sed in his  American Spelling Book thät was pablishd wei bäk in 1824:"

   "In a perfect language, every simple sound would be expressed by a distinct character; and no character would have more than one sound."

"Kevin, thät is veri interesting. It remainds mi of samthing thät ai löörnd wen ai was in Hawaii meni jiirs ögo.  Did ju nou thät the Hawaiian längwidsh kud bi konsiderd ö pörfekt längwidsh?"

"No.  Ai thoot thei spiik English in Hawaii?

"Jes, Kevin, thei du. Bat Hawaiian is the ather offishal längwidsh. It is juusd ool over Hawaii. Neims of tauns, striits, piipl änd meni ather things ar in Hawaiian längwidsh."

"OK, Däd, bat wai is Hawaiian ö pörfekt längwidsh?"

"Wel, bikoos in Hawaiian längwidsh evri leter häs ounli wan saund. Änd evri saund häs its oun leter."

"Did thät meik it iisi for ju tu riid änd spiik Hawaiian?"

"Wel, not rait öwei. Bat äs suun äs ai bikeim fämiliar with Hawaiian alfabet, ai häd no problems in riiding änd pronaunsing Hawaiian wörds. Wat meid it espeshali iisi was thät Hawaiian alfabet häs ounli twelv leters. It häs the seim faiv vauel leters äs English, bat onli seven konsonants. Thei dont häv the R or the S saund ät ool, änd thei dont juus C, Q, X, Y änd sam ather leters. Hawaiian längwidsh saunds gud, änd it is wel suuted for singing. Änd Hawaiians du laik tu sing."

"Wau!  Däd, let's muuv tu Hawaii."

"Hei, Kevin, ju beter get bäk tu jur houmwörk."

Please Keep In Mind

If you are a native English speaker, the Simpel-Fonetik writing may look strange to you. But you will soon get used to it as you use it more. New learners of English, and foreigners who are familiar with the single-sound-per-letter writing do not have that "strangeness" feeling. But they do experience that feeling whenever they deal with the present English writing.