Hitchhiked Orthography
  English text transcribed rather than translated - sounds as written in other writing systems - Index
 WWhat happens when English is transcribed using the orthography of another language? Two things: [1] It looks odd and [2] it becomes more consistent and easier to spell. When English is transcribed (or hitchhiked) using another writing system, there may be gaps. There may be sounds that cannot be expressed because these phonemes are not used or marked by the foreign language. The English [eth ð] is an example of a phoneme that is generally not found in other languages.

 WSpanish has only 5 vowels but an extensive set of diphthongs or vowel combinations. It solves the problem of how to consistently represent /ei/ and /ai/ with [ey as in rey] and [ai as in ---]. It does not solve the problem of how to represent /ae/ , /i/ and /dh/.

  Dr. Valerie Yule's story of the Beautiful Princess has been used a extensively to compare alternate notations for English. The story contains at least 40 of the phonemes found in English speech. This exercise is part of the World Orthography initiative. The goal is to find a basis for selecting particular grapheme - phoneme correspondences that work not only in English but in related languages as well. 

gold pharaoh with hieroglyphicsSounds can be represented in any alphabetic orthography including hieroglyphics. Those who know the code can transcribe or spell the English speech sounds. This graphical representation can be decoded or transcribed back into meaningful sounds. With a good code, anyone who knew the code but not the language could read the code aloud and be understood by native speakers. 

This is not a translation but a transcription that uses the conventions of the foreign writing system to portray sounds.One point of the exercise is to show that different writing systems split sound segments and represent similar sounds different ways. 

Below: the story has been transcribed into the orthographies German, Dutch, Portuguese, Danish, Norwegian, and Icelandic. 

The title comes from an article by Ze de Rock in the Simplified Speling Journal (1998)
English in
Checkt Spelling
Notation (1998)

Transcribed by Dr Steve Bett

 Dutch

Transcribed by Dr John M Gledhill
J.Gledhill@coventry.ac.uk
Coventry University

 Deutsch (German)

Transcribed by John Reilly
attorney and writer
Wu'ns u'pon a tiem, the b'utifu.l dotr ov a' grea't ma'jisha'n wanted mor perlz tu p.ut amu'ng h'r trezhrs. 

"Lu.k thru th sentr ov th mun wen it iz blu," sed h'r mu'thr in a.nsr tu h'r kweschn,"Yu m'yt f'ynd yur hartz dizyr." 

Th prinses laft dautingli bicoz shi wu.d not aksept thies w'rds. Insted, shi iuzd h'r ima.jineshn, muvd intu th fotografi biznes, and tu.k pikchrs of the lunar s'rfa's in cu'lr. 

"aI persiev mo'st sertnli that it olweiz a'pirs ho'li w'yt," shi thot. 

Shi olso' faund tha.t shi ku.d me'k inuf mu'ni in eit mu'nths so' tha.t shi ku.d b'y herself tu inorma's hiuj nu juls tu.

 wons upon u taaim THe bioetifoel dortu ov u greit madzjisjun wontud mor peulz toe poet umong heu trezjuz.

"loek THroe THu sentu ov THu moen wen it iz bloe," sed heu muTHu in ansu toe heu kwestsjun, "joe maait faaind jor haartz dizaaiu." 

THu prinses laaft daautingli bikors sjie woed not aksept THiez weudz. insted, sjie joezd heu imadzjineisjun, moevd intoe THu fotoGrafie biznis, and toek piktsjuz ov THu loenu seurfis in kulu. 

"Aai peursiev moost seurtunli THat it orlweiz upieuz hooli waait," sjie thort. 

sjie orlsou faaund THat sjie koed meik inuf muni in eit munTHs soo THat sjie koed baai heurself toe inormus hjoej njoe dzjoeulz toe.

 Uonss upan a teim, dhe biutifull dotter ow a greet medschischon uanted mor perls tu putt among her treschurs. 

"Luck thru dhe senter ow dhe mun uen itt is blu," sed her modher inn ansser tu her kuesstschon. "Yu meit feind yor harts deseir."

Dhe prinssess laft dautingli bekos schie uudd nott axept dhies uerds. Insstedd, schie yusd her immadschineeschon, muwd intu dhe fotograffi
bisness, end tuck picktschurs ow dhe luner serfiss in koller. 

"Ei perssiew moost sertinnli dhat itt olluees appiers hooli ueit," schie thott. 

Schie ollsso faund dhatt schie kudd meek enuff munni inn eet munnths so dhatt schie kudd bei hersself tu enormiss hiudsch nu dschuls, tu.
Comments:

This is about as compact as you can get in a fully phonemic notation. It contains most of the abbreviations of Cut Spelling including the non-representation of shwa with [the]. In the full CCS notation, [th] is replaced with [x]. 

 Comments:

<capitals> indicate a sound not present in Dutch. Viz <TH> and <G>.
A dutch speaker would pronounce the voiced final consonants wrong in
this example, as they are always unvoiced in Dutch.
Some of the "spellings" below actually reflect the way I speak English
rather than Dutch, eg "among", "wons".
Dutch uses <e> for schwa in unstressed positions, but also <u> which
I've used here.
<w> is not an exact match, as it is a labiodental in Dutch (but not
=/v/ as it isn't a fricative). John Gledhill

 Comments:

This is about as close as I can come. There are positional spelling problems in German. As far as I know, there is no way to start a German word with an /s/ sound, and no way to end one with a /z/ sound. (In the middle of a word, of course, you can distinguish /s/ and /z/ by using "ss" and "s" respectively.) If there is a convention for presenting these sounds in foreign words, I have not come across it. The rest of the unusual forms I employ here I have seen in German texts, though how common they are I do not know. John J. Reilly 
Comment

Translations needed - contact Steve Bett if you want to make a contribution
English in ALC Fonetic

This orthography achieves a level of consistency and phonemicity on par with the other writing systems.

 Portuguese (Portugués)

Transcribed by Dr Steve Bettl

 Spanish (Español)

Transcribed by Paul New
New Jersey
Wuns upon a tiem, the buetiful dauter of a graet majishan wonted mor perls to puut amung her trezhers. 

"Luuk thru the senter of the moon when it is bloo," sed her muther in anser to her question,"You miet fiend yur harts dezier." 

The prinses laft doutingly becauz she wuud not acsept thees werds. Insted, she uezd her imajinaeshun, moovd into the fotografy biznes, and tuuk pikchers of the loonar serfis in culor. 

"I perseev moest sertenly that it allways apears hoely whiet," she thaut. 

She allso found that she cuud maek enuf muny in aet munths so that she cuud by herself too enormus huej nue jooels too.

 wons upon u taaim THe bioetifoel dortu ov u greit madzjisjun wontud mor peulz toe poet umong heu trezjuz.

"loek THroe THu sentu ov THu moen wen it iz bloe," sed heu muTHu in ansu toe heu kwestsjun, "joe maait faaind jor haartz dizaaiu." 

THu prinses laaft daautingli bikors sjie woed not aksept THiez weudz. insted, sjie joezd heu imadzjineisjun, moevd intoe THu fotoGrafie biznis, and toek piktsjuz ov THu loenu seurfis in kulu. 

"Aai peursiev moost seurtunli THat it orlweiz upieuz hooli waait," sjie thort. 

sjie orlsou faaund THat sjie koed meik inuf muni in eit munTHs soo THat sjie koed baai heurself toe inormus hjoej njoe dzjoeulz toe.

 Uonss upan a teim, dhe biutifull dotter ow a greet medschischon uanted mor perls tu putt among her treschurs. 

"Luck thru dhe senter ow dhe mun uen itt is blu," sed her modher inn ansser tu her kuesstschon. "Yu meit feind yor harts deseir."

Dhe prinssess laft dautingli bekos schie uudd nott axept dhies uerds. Insstedd, schie yusd her immadschineeschon, muwd intu dhe fotograffi
bisness, end tuck picktschurs ow dhe luner serfiss in koller. 

"Ei perssiew moost sertinnli dhat itt olluees appiers hooli ueit," schie thott. 

Schie ollsso faund dhatt schie kudd meek enuff munni inn eet munnths so dhatt schie kudd bei hersself tu enormiss hiudsch nu dschuls, tu.
Comments: Comments: 

i

 Comments: 

This

 Incomplete - volunteer transcribers needed
Norwegian

Transcribed by

 Danish 

Transcribed by

 Icelandic

Transcribed by 
Wu'ns u'pon a tiem, the b'utifu.l dotr ov a' grea't ma'jisha'n wanted mor perlz tu p.ut amu'ng h'r trezhrs.

"Lu.k thru th sentr ov th mun wen it iz blu," sed h'r mu'thr in a.nsr tu h'r kweschn,"Yu m'yt f'ynd yur hartz dizyr." 

The prinses laft dautingli bicoz shi wu.d not aksept thies w'rds. Insted, shi iuzd h'r imajinaeshun, muvd into the fotografy biznes, and tuuk pikchers of the loonar serfis in culor. 

"I perseev moest sertenly that it allways apears hoely whiet," she thaut. 

She allso found that she cuud maek enuf muny in aet munths so that she cuud by herself too enormus huej nue jooels too.i

 wons upon u taaim THe bioetifoel dortu ov u greit madzjisjun wontud mor peulz toe poet umong heu trezjuz.

"loek THroe THu sentu ov THu moen wen it iz bloe," sed heu muTHu in ansu toe heu kwestsjun, "joe maait faaind jor haartz dizaaiu." 

THu prinses laaft daautingli bikors sjie woed not aksept THiez weudz. insted, sjie joezd heu imadzjineisjun, moevd intoe THu fotoGrafie biznis, and toek piktsjuz ov THu loenu seurfis in kulu. 

"Aai peursiev moost seurtunli THat it orlweiz upieuz hooli waait," sjie thort. 

sjie orlsou faaund THat sjie koed meik inuf muni in eit munTHs soo THat sjie koed baai heurself toe inormus hjoej njoe dzjoeulz toe.

 Uonss upan a teim, dhe biutifull dotter ow a greet medschischon uanted mor perls tu putt among her treschurs. 

"Luck thru dhe senter ow dhe mun uen itt is blu," sed her modher inn ansser tu her kuesstschon. "Yu meit feind yor harts deseir."

Dhe prinssess laft dautingli bekos schie uudd nott axept dhies uerds. Insstedd, schie yusd her immadschineeschon, muwd intu dhe fotograffi
bisness, end tuck picktschurs ow dhe luner serfiss in koller. 

"Ei perssiew moost sertinnli dhat itt olluees appiers hooli ueit," schie thott. 

Schie ollsso faund dhatt schie kudd meek enuff munni inn eet munnths so dhatt schie kudd bei hersself tu enormiss hiudsch nu dschuls, tu.
Comments: Comments: 

i

 Comments: 

This

Transcribed Poem

Dutch/English Fonetic Line by line.

Wuns upon a tiem, the buetiful dauter
wons upon u taaim THe bioetifoel dortu

of a graet majishan wonted mor perls
ov u greit madzjisjun wontud mor peulz

to puut amung her trezhers. "Luuk thru
toe poet umong heu trezjuz. "loek THroe

the senter of the moon when it is
THu sentu ov THu moen wen it iz

bloo," sed her muther in anser to her
bloe," sed heu muTHu in ansu toe heu

question,"You miet fiend yur harts dezier."
kwestsjun, "joe maait faaind jor haartz dizaaiu."

The prinses laft doutingly becauz she wuud
THu prinses laaft daautingli bikors sjie woed

not acsept thees werds. Insted, she uezd
not aksept THiez weudz. insted, sjie joezd

her imajinaeshun, moovd into the fotografy
heu imadzjineisjun, moevd intoe THu fotoGrafie

biznes, and tuuk pikchers of the loonar serfis in culor.
biznis, and toek piktsjuz ov THu loenu seurfis in kulu.

"I perseev moest sertenly that it allways
"Aai peursiev moost seurtunli THat it orlweiz

apears hoely whiet," she thaut.
upieuz hooli waait," sjie thort.

She allso found that she cuud maek enuf
sjie orlsou faaund THat sjie koed meik inuf

muny in aet munths so that she cuud bi
muni in eit munTHs soo THat sjie koed baai

herself too enormus huej nue jooels too.
heurself toe inormus hjoej njoe dzjoeulz toe.


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