Some of the problems of our current alphabet are listed by David Abercrombie in his essay "Extending the Roman Alphabet: Some Orthographic Experiments of the Past Four Centuries." The problems include: inconsistent spelling and pronunciation, lack of letters that specify certain sounds (sh, wh, ng), and the confusing variation in vowel pronunciation.
One answer to the problems of our current alphabet is to adopt a new orthography. New sorts (printed characters) could be created to identify sounds in English more specifically as well as making spelling more phonetic. Another suggestion is to keep our current alphabet but to add diacritics (dots, dashes, and other marks placed above and below letters). Several more ideas are included in the reading: reversing letters, structural modification (add bars and dashes), extending the current alphabet, and inverting letters. Adding new letters is the most satisfactory answer for phoneticians, spelling reformers, and governments who desire literate populaces.
Several attempts at creating new alphabets are shown in Reading A. The main problem with all of the attempts is that the sorts are too familiar. Benjamin Franklin dabbled in spelling reform, however, his new letters for sh and the two th sounds looked too much alike to be successful. Although there is still a need to address the problems in paragraph one, no acceptable solutions have yet presented themselves.
STUDY QUESTIONS1. What are some of the problems or limitations of our current alphabet?
2. What is the main problem with all of the replacement alphabets thus far created?
3. What are some of the ways suggested to alter our current orthography?