the development of the internet quasi-phonetic alphabet (iq-pa)

8/14/2019 The Development of the Internet Quasi-Phonetic Alphabet (IQ-PA)

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Pamela Fox

LING 301

Ania Lubowicz

May 3, 2005

The Development of the Internet Quasi-Phonetic Alphabet (IQ-PA)

The rise of blogs, instant messaging, and text messaging has caused a new form of English

spelling to evolve, developed mostly by the teenage population. This new spelling, littered with numbers

and abbreviations, is sending shockwaves through the K-12 teaching population who are beginning to

see the new spellings in their students papers and are worried their students may never learn proper

spelling. But many linguists recognize their new lingo as a linguistic revolution: the English written

language, notorious for its silent letters and misleading spellings, has been released from its confines

and is rapidly becoming a truer reflection of English pronunciation. Though the Generation Text

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doesnt consciously realize it, their new simpler spellings are similar to the phonetic transcriptions that

linguists perform, and theyre unknowingly developing their own phonetic alphabet of symbols mixing

traditional English spelling with completely new purely phonetic symbols.

In writing their text messages or blog entries, the youth writer generally has two goals: 1) to

simplify: minimize the number of letters required to type the word, and 2) to stylize: convey a

(seemingly youthful) personality. In accomplishing those goals, theres also the requirement that the

newly generated spelling shouldnt have an ambiguous pronunciation; the reader should always know

exactly what word has been written. If only the two goals existed, then a writer could just simplify by

making up new arbitrarily shorter spellings for English words. The stylizing comes inherently from the

seemingly rebellious new spelling. But the reader has two bodies of knowledge in their head: the

standard spelling surface forms, learnt in K-12 education, and the underlying pronunciations of our

language, learnt as a child. In order for the reader to understand, the writer must use one or both of

those knowledge bases in crafting the new spelling. So in modifying the standard spellings, the writer

has only one option left: relate it to the underlying pronunciations stored in readers minds. Their new

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spelling resembles English spelling but replaces silent, redundant, or excessive letters with phonetic

symbols. Because many writers have been going through this process simultaneously in the past five

years on the Internet, theyve mostly converged to the same spelling shortcuts and without official

documentation, effectively developed their own Internet Quasi-Phonetic Alphabet. Though the original

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) took an entire dedicated organization and language professors to

create, Generation Text has unknowingly created their own nearly-as-powerful phonetic alphabet

without realizing it.

Because of the plethora of sounds in languages, the IPA uses letters from many alphabets

(Greek, Latin, etc) in order to represent each phonetic segment with its own symbol. But Generation

Text only has the standard keyboard to create the IQ-PA phonemes: 26 (lowercase/uppercase) letters, 10

numbers, and punctuation symbols, and the English language is usually said to have at least 41

phonemes. An analysis of a sampling of internet spelling reveals that they have indeed succeeded in

creating phonetic symbols from just the 26 letters with a few numbers thrown in. Admittedly, there are

some phonemes (d as in judge, as in pleasure) that the IQ-PA acknowledges no specific symbol

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[] pleasure, beige -[h] ham {h}[m] man, ham {m}

V ow el p h one m e s[] father {a}, { ah}[i] see {E} , { ee }, { eC e} , { i}[] city {i}, {iCC}[] bed {e}, { eCC}[] bir d -[] bad, cat {a}, { aCC}[ ] arm {a}[] run, enou gh {u}, {uCC}[] not, wasp {o}, {oCC}[] law , cau ght {a}, { aCC}[] put {u}, {uCC}[u]

soo n, throu gh{U}, {ue}, {uCe},{oo }, { ew}

[] about{a}, {u}, {a CC},{uCC}

[]winner

{a}, {u}, {a CC},{uCC}

D i p th ong p h one m e s[e] day {A} , { ae }, {a Ce }[a] my {I} , { ie }, { iC e}[] boy {oi }[] no {O} , { oe }, { oC e}[a] now {ow }[] nea r , here -[] hai r , there -[] tour -[ju] pupil -

Mul t i - se gmen ta l p hon e mes (n o t r ep r e s en ted b y s i ng l e p hon eme s in I PA )[ks ] Tax , k ic ks {x}[ex] Exc ep t {x}[si ] See {c}

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[yu ] You {u}[a ] why {y}[f ] Fou r {4}[en ] En joy {n}[tu] to {2}

SIMPLIFICATION.

More interesting than the existence of the IQ-PA is the question of how the alphabet developed.

Some of the sounds have multiple phonetic representations in the IQ-PA because they developed from

the context of actual words, and the rules writers followed in creating the symbols differed depending

on the environment. The first rule applied produces the most drastic shortening: the replacement of

multi-segmental sounds by one IQ-PA symbol. At the beginning or as the sole component of a word,

letters of the alphabet can be used to represent the sound they make when pronounced in the alphabet

recitation. For example, {n} represents [n] in #njoy# (enjoy), {y} represents [a] in #y# (why),

and {u} represents [yu] in #u# (you). In any position of a word (because their pronunciation is

unambiguous), numbers can be used to represent the sound they make when pronounced. For example,

{4} represents [f] in #b4# (before) and {2} represents [tu] in #d2day# (today).

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The next major rule applied is the simplification of vowel and consonant clusters, often

cluttered with redundant or silent letters in English spelling, to just one IQ-PA symbol for that sound.

Consonant clusters often represent just one sound in English and are thus easily and obviously replaced

with an IQ-PA symbol representing that sound. The IPA and IQ-PA symbols for consonants are very

similar, because we have a good grasp on the most prevalent pronunciation of our consonants. To

clarify more, occasionally multiple consonant letters are used to spell one consonantal sound but

usually, a consonant letter (or some combinations, like th) only has one pronunciation, or its alternate

pronunciations are understood as exceptions to the rule. There are a few sounds, like the alveopalatal

fricatives, that the IQ-PA has no symbol for because they lack a dominant spelling representation, and

thus those sounds must be represented by the original spelling. Examples of consonant cluster

reductions are the change from would to {wud} and pick to {pik}. But a cluster like dg in

widget representing the alveopalatal voiced fricative doesnt have a correspnding IQ-PA symbol and

thus cannot be simplified. Consonant cluster simplification is a more obvious process than vowel cluster

simplification because the English language already has enough consonant letters to represent the many

consonantal sounds. Compared to languages like Spanish, the English language has many vowel sounds

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(but the same amount of standard vowel letters a, e, i, o, u), so its difficult to create symbols for each

of them, but IQ-PA users have found a way. Tense vowels can be represented by appending an e

immediately after the vowel, or after a single consonant after that vowel, like the {i_C_e} that represents

[a] in #fite# (fight), or the {oe} that represents [] in #noe# (know). This append-e symbol

developed because of a common occurrence in English to pronounce tense vowels when followed by an

e or a consonant plus e, as in the English words tote, bite, mate, doe, and die. It is one of

those spelling patterns that are so frequent that it could be adapted into a phonetic representation. An

alternate way to represent tense vowels is by simply capitalizing the vowel, like the {O} in #thO#

(though) or the {A} in #dA# (day). Coincidentally, the capitalization of tense vowels is a

convention used in some scientific papers as well. The best explanation for disparate groups converging

on the same representation is that tense vowels tend to be longer than lax vowels (explaining why

English K-12 teachers often refer to them as long vowels), and capitalizing a vowel seems like a

lengthening. Now with so many phonetic symbols for tense vowels, lax vowels are represented by

phonetic symbols that contrast to those. If the lax vowel is followed by a consonant in the original

spelling, the lax vowel can be represented by duplicating the consonant, resulting in a {VCC} spelling.

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Again, this symbol developed from the English commonality to pronounce short vowels when followed

by a double consonant cluster, as in butter, and brimming. Our acknowledgement of this

pronunciation commonality is better seen when contrasting minimal English spelling pairs, like

matted vs. mated and rided vs. ridded. And since the tense vowels are represented by adding

an e or capitalizing, lax vowels that arent followed by a duplicatable consonant can often be

represented by simply using the lowercase version of that vowel. There are a few dipthong vowels that

have such common representations in English spelling that the common representation has become an

IQ-PA symbol, like {oi} as in the [] of #boi# (boy) or the {ow} as in the the [a ] of {hows}

(house). There are also some sounds with multiple phonetic symbols (besides the general tense/lax

symbols) in IQ-PA, like {oo} as in [u] of #dood# (dude) and {ew} also representing [u] of #kewl#

(cool). So for some sounds, IQ-PA users can pick from up to 3 phonetic symbols. This multiplicity of

symbols helps Generation Text writers accomplish their second goal of stylization without losing clarity.

Many of the processes discussed above as pertaining to consonant cluster and vowel cluster

simplification can also apply to individual consonants and vowels, and can be thought of as a re-

representation of that vowel or consonant. For example, the plural ending s is pronounced as [z] after

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voiced sounds, so many IQ-PA writers will write {z} at the end of such plural words, like {dogz}, even

though the same number of letters is being used to spell the word. An example of vowel re-

representation is the change of the vowel from what to {wut}. After simplifying the consonant cluster

from wh to {w}, the writer then changes the a to more accurately reflect the sound to a {u}.

In generating a new spelling, there are a few more rules to be followed to ensure clarity of

mental pronunciation. If, while applying the above rules, the new form exactly resembles an already

existing English spelling ofanotherword, something has to change or the reader will confuse it for the

word originally spelled that way. For example, a writer might want to spell show as *shoe*, using the

{oe} symbol representing []. However, shoe is already an English word (pronounced atypically due

to historical changes), so the writer would instead need to pick {O} to represent that sound and spell it

as {shO}.Another way that writers can ensure comprehension is to use either all IQ-PA phonetic

symbols in spelling a word, or only original spelling. This way the reader doesnt have to switch

between their two knowledge bases, the underlying forms and the original spellings, in reading one

word. For example, if a writer wanted to simplify enough into *enouf,* they should also do the

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vowel-cluster simplification into {enuf}. Of course, these rules are subconsciously understood and these

mistakes are rarely seen in Internet text.

STYLIZATION.

Besides varying the IQ-PA symbol chosen to represent a particular sound as discussed earlier,

most Internet text stylization comes from actually changing firstthe underlying pronunciation of the

target word, and then subsequently changing the spelling to fit that pronunciation change. The

pronunciation change can vary by teen culture as each of those, in real world conversing, have

developed dialectal differences. A blogger in the hip-hop teen culture spells today as {tadai} and

shit as [shyte], because of that cultures tendency to pronounce [e] and [] as [a] in those words in

real conversation. That blogger also appends an {h} after vowels (like {mah} (my)) to emphasize

their extreme lengthening, another characteristic of hip-hop speech. The {h}-appending to signify

lengthening is an intuitive symbol for English speakers because of our onomatopoeic words ah and

oh, known for their length. A different blogger from the asian anime culture spells that as {dat}

and the as {da} because of that cultures pronunciation tendencies. In this case, the pronunciation

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change makes their speech resemble childs speech because it eliminates complex sounds (fricatives). A

general stylization of most Generation Text writing, in blogs and messages, is the lack of capitalization

(except when used as an IQ-PA phonetic symbol). Since capitalization doesnt reflect a property of

speech, phonetic transcriptions rarely use them. The use of punctuation varies, but there is significantly

less than in formal writing. Periods and commas are used when necessary to indicate pauses, and

exclamation points and question marks are used to indicate an excited or questioning tone of voice.

Phonetic transcriptions performed by linguists also never use capitalization and rarely punctuation.

In the following examples from real Internet text, the multi-step process of generating the new

spellings is described according to the rule followed.

En glis h s pel lin g IQ -PA sp elli ngWhat are you doing today? wut r u doin 2dai?

I was going to go see the dolphins, except Im low

on money.

i wuz gonna go c da dolfinz, xcept im lo on $$

I hope you enjoy the show! ah hope u njoi da sho

Why should I fight you? y shud i fite u?

For all I know, youre still in school 4 all I noe, ur still in skool.

The quality of that work isnt high. Da kwalitE of dat work isnt hi.

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what Consonant cluster simplification:Replace wh with {w}

{wat} Vowel re-representation:Replace a with {u}

{wut}

are Alphabet letter representation:Replace whole word with {r}

{r}

dolphins Consonant cluster simplification:Replace ph with {f}

{dolfins} Consonant re-representation:Replace s with {z}

{dolfinz}

fight Consonant cluster simplification:Replace ght with {t}

!fit! Vowel re-representation:Replace i with {i_e}

{fite}

school Consonant cluster simplification:Replace ch with {k}

{skool}

should Vowel cluster simplification:Replace ou with {u}

!shuld! Consonant cluster simplification:Replace ld with {d}

{shud}

for Number representation:Replace whole word with {4}

{4}

quality Consonant re-representation:Replace qu with {kw}

{kwality} Vowel re-representation:Replace y with {E}

{kwalitE}

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As the IQ-PA luckily hasnt been officially documented by many people (perhaps only myself), it

isnt restricted to any confines right now and will most likely continue evolving and finding more precise

representations for all of the many sounds of this crazy language we call English. We can then hope to see many

of the bloggers of Generation Text matriculate as linguistics majors once realizing that theyve been doing

phonetic transcriptions all of their online life. Though the teachers may be frightened, this linguistic revolution

should prove to be question-provoking: why do we make fun of bad spellers when our original spelling system is

so counter-to-fact? Were simply putting down those who cant memorize arbitrary mappings. Would children or

foreigners learn English better if we used IQ-PA instead of the original spellings? Considering that much of

internet speech resembles childrens spelling errors, this seems plausible. The IQ-PA suggests many possibilities

but ull jus haf2 w8 n c wut happenz!

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Works Cited

Dunnewind, Stephanie. Ge neration Tex t' : T eens' IM lingo evo lving in to a

hybrid

lang uage. Seattle Times. 11 Mar 2005. Available WWW:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/text/134673768_immain12.html.

The International Phonetic Alphabet. Wikipedia. 1 May 2005. Search term: IPA.

Available WWW: http://www.wikipedia.com.

Transl8tit. 1 May 2005. Available WWW: http://www.transl8it.com.

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http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/text/134673768_immain12.htmlhttp://www.wikipedia.com/http://www.transl8it.com/http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/text/134673768_immain12.htmlhttp://www.wikipedia.com/http://www.transl8it.com/


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