The FLOSS Spelling System


Basic Definition



FLOSS (Fonemic Latin-One Spelling System) is a mostly phonemic writing system for American English.  It was derived from the FLEWSY dictionary notation (see this page), which was itself derived from MCM.  This document describes version 2.0 of FLOSS, current as of 7/11/2004.

FLOSS uses the following symbols.  Most symbols represent a single English phoneme.  A few symbols are more complicated, and are described in notes.  Each lower case letter represents a sound which is extremely common in traditional English spelling for that letter.  The remaining symbols were chosen to be mnemonic.


Symbol
FLOSS example
Traditional spelling
SAMPA
equivalent
Notes
a
ask
ask
{

b
big
big
b

d
dim
dim
d

e
end
end
E

ê
karpêt
carpet
I or @ or 1
indistinct i, between /I/ and /@/
f
fat
fat
f

g
gun
gun
g

h
hat
hat
h

i
if
if
I

j
jet
jet
dZ

k
kid
kid
k

m
man
man
m

n
net
net
n

o
hot
hot
A:
o is used for "short o".  See A
ø
Lemøn
lemon
@

p
pan
pan
p

r
rat
rat
r

s
so
so
s

t
tip
tip
t

u
sun
sun
V

v
van
van
v

w
win
win
w

µ
µispR
whisper
hw

y
yes
yes
j

ý
suný
sunny
i
ý represents unstressed /i/.  For /i:/, see I
z
zip
zip
z

A
brAvo
bravo
A:
A is used for "broad a".  See o
C
Cin
CeLo
chin
cello
tS

D
Den
then
D

þ
pasþ
fiLþ
passed
filled
d or t
past tense inflection
E
vEn
vein
eI

G
siG
sing
N

H
uHhuH
uh-huh
~
indicates nasalization
I
kIwI
kiwi
i:
I represents stressed /i:/.  For unstressed /i/, see ý
J
bEJ
.JAk
beige
Jacques
Z

L
Lip
lip
l

O
gO
go
oU

Ø
LØg
log
O:

Q
kQn
coin
OI

R
undR
under
@r
spelled ør when in different parts of a compound word
&
b&d
bird
3`

$
kat$
kan$
cats
cans
s or z
plural inflection
T
Tik
thick
T

U
trU
true
u:, u

V
sVt
soot
U

W
tWn
town
aU

X
Xip
aGXøs
ship
anxious
S

Y
tYp
type
aI



The following letter combinations are interpreted as follows:

Symbol
FLOSS
example
Traditional
Spelling
ar
marý
marry
er
wer
wear
ir
mirR
mirror
uL
kuLR
color
Ar
hArd
hard
OL
sOL
soul
Ør
stØr
store
VL
wVL
wool
Vr
pVr
poor



Some details


FLOSS differs from MCM in the following ways.  The MCM symbols o, O and 3 are changed to O, Ø and ø respectively.  The symbols o as distinct from A and ý as distinct from I are introduced.  The MCM symbols l, M and N are removed, and the meaning of L is changed.  The symbols µ, þ, ê, H and $ are added.  The sounds of µ /hw/ and ar /{r/ are normally represented rather than being reduced to w and er.  Details of the representations of foreign sounds are different.

The previous version of FLOSS used the symbols € and ¥ instead of ê and ý.  These representations were changed because in many fonts the currency symbols did not integrate well with the other symbols.  Also, the lower case l was replaced by the upper case L, because in many fonts it is difficult or impossible to distinguish an upper-case I from a lower-case l.

Because FLOSS is based on the FLEWSY notation of FEWL, the pronunciations listed in FEWL are taken as standard.  Note that the symbol ê represents not a specific sound, but rather a vowel which is pronounced differently by different speakers and is usually difficult to identify clearly.

Although FLOSS is intended primarily as a mechanism for indicating the pronunciation of individual words (a so-called pronunciation-guide spelling), it could be used to transcribe real texts.  When using it for this purpose, the following additional rules are needed:


FLOSS was devised for American English.  It is probably unsuitable for use with British English, and any attempt to use it in that way voids the warranty. If you do wish to use it to represent British English, the symbol o should be used only for the British short "o" sound, and the & symbol should be understood to represent a non-rhotic vowel.  Note that some of the examples in the tables are pronounced differently in British English.  For speakers of British English, the SAMPA equivalents should be used as the definition of the sounds.


A few English words use sounds from French and German.  The symbol K is used to represent either a soft or a hard German ch.  The vowels ã and õ are used to represent the French nasal a and o, as in kontrøtã (traditional spelling "contretemps") and kõsyerJ (traditional spelling "concierge").  Similarly, an umlauted vowel is used for the non-English vowels of French and German, as in .götø ("Goethe") and .kLer dø .Lün ("Clair de Lune").

Examples

Here are two samples of FLOSS, the first the traditional first paragraph of H.G. Wells' "The Star" (see here), and the second a transcription of a pop song by Dire Straits.  (Truth to tell, song lyrics are my usual transcription material.)

Dø stAr

.it wuz on Dø f&st dE uv Dø nU yir Dat Dø ønWnsmønt wuz mEd, ØLmOst sYmøLtEnýøsLý frum TrI øbz&vøtØrý$, Dat Dø mOXøn uv Dø pLanêt .neptUn, Dø WtRmOst uv ØL Dø pLanêt$ Dat µIL RWnd Dø sun, had bikum verý iratik.  .ø ritArdEXøn in its vøLosêtý had bin søspektêþ in .disembR.  .Den ø fEnt, rimOt spek uv LYt wuz diskuvRþ in Dø rIjøn uv Dø pRt&bþ pLanêt.  .at f&st Dis did not kØz ený verý grEt iksYtmønt.  .sYøntifik pIpøL, hWevR, fWnd Dø inteLêjøns rimArkøbøL inuf, Ivøn bifØr it bikEm nOn Dat Dø nU bodý wuz rapêdLý grOiG LArjR and brYtR, and Dat its mOXøn wuz kwYt difRønt frum Dø ØrdRLý progrøs uv Dø pLanêt$.

industrýøL dizIz

(w&d$ and myUzik bY .mArk .nopfLR)


Because this example is a pop song, I've omitted capitalization marks at the start of lines and also, in the style of rock lyrics everywhere, left out most of the punctuation.  I have however indicated capitalization for proper names.


wØrniG LYt$ Ar fLaXiG dWn at .kwoLêtý .køntrOL
sumbodý TrU ø spanR and DE TrU him in Dø hOL
Derz rUmR$ in Dø LOdiG bE and aGgR in Dø tWn
sumbodI bLU ø µisøL and Dø wØLz kEm dWn
Derz ø mItiG in Dø bØrdrUm, Der trYiG tU trEs Dø smeL
Derz LIkiG in Dø woXrUm, Derz ø snIk in .p&søneL
Sumµer in Dø korêdR, sumwun wuz h&d tU snIz
"gVdnês mI, kVd Dis bI industrýøL dizIz?"

Dø kertEkR wuz krUsêfYþ fØr sLIpiG at hiz pOst
rifyUziG tU bI pasêfYþ, its him DE bLEm Dø mOst
Dø woCdØg got rEbýz, Dø fØrmønz got Dø fLI$
evrýwunz køns&nþ øbWt industrýøL dizIz
Derz panik on Dø swiCbØrd, tuG$ Ar tYd in not$
sum kum Wt in simpøTý, sum kum Wt in spot$
sum bLEm Dø manijmønt, sum Dø impLQI$
and evrýbodý nO$ its Dø industrýøL dizIz

Dø w&k fØrs iz disgustêþ, dWn$ tUL$, wØk$
inøsøns iz injRþ, ikspirIøns just tøk$
evrýwun sIk$ damijê$, evrýwun øgrI$
"DIz Ar kLasik simptøm$ uv ø monêterý skwIz"
on :ITV and :BBC DE tØk øbWt Dø k&s
fêLosøfý iz yUsLês, TýoLøjý iz w&s
histRý bQL$ OvR, Derz øn ekønomiks frIz
sOsýoLøjist$ invent w&d$ Dat mIn industrýøL dizIz

.doktR .pArkønsøn dikLerþ "Ym not sRprYzþ tU sI yU hir
yUv got smOkR$ kØf frum smOkiG, brUR$ drUp frum driGkiG bir
Y dOnt nO hW yU kEm tU get Dø .betý .dEvês nI$
but w&st uv ØL yuG man, yUv got industrýøL dizIz"
hI rOt mI ø prøskripXøn, hI sed "yU Ar dipresþ
Ym gLad yU kEm tU sI mI tU get Dis Øf y& Cest
kum bak and sI mI LEtR, nekst pEXønt pLIz
send in ønuDR viktøm uv industrýøL dizIz"

Y gO dWn tU .spIkR$ .kØrnR, Ym TundRstruk
DE got frI spIC, tVrist$, pøLIs in truk$
tU men sE Der .jIzøs, wun uv Dem must bI rØG
DE got ø prOtest siGR, hIz siGiG ø prOtest sØG
hI sez "DE wont tU hav ø wØr sO DE kan kIp us on Wr nI$
DE wont tU hav ø wØr sO DE kan kIp Der faktRý$
DE wont tU hav ø wØr tU stop us bYiG .japønIz
DE wont tU hav ø wØr tU stop industrýøL dizIz
Der pQntiG Wt Dø enømý tU kIp us def and bLYnd
DE wont tU sap y& enRjý, inkArsREt y& mYnd
giv yU rUL .brêtanyø, gasý bir, pEj TrI
tU wIk$ in .espAnyø and .sundE strip tIz"
mInµYL, Dø f&st .jIzøs sez, "YL kyVr it sUn
øboLiX .mundE mØrniG and .frYdE aftRnUn"
Dø uDR wunz Wt on huGgR strYk, hIz dYiG bY dêgrI$
hW kum .jIzøs get$ industrýøL dizIz?





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