Phonetic Alphabet with Franklin’s Comments
AD: American Philosophical Society
o old o the first Vowel naturally, and deepest sound; requires only to open the Mouth, and breathe
thro’ it.
[] John, Folly the next, requiring the Mouth open’d a little more or hollower.
a man, can a the next, a little more.
e mane, lane e the next, requires the Tongue to be a little more elevated
i een, seen i still a little more,
u tool, fool u the next, requires the Lips to be gather’d up, leaving a small Opening.
[; ] um, un, as in umbrage, unto, &c. the next, a very short Vowel, the Sound of which we should express in our present Letters
thus, uh, a short and not very strong Aspiration.
h hunter, happy, high huh a stronger or more forcible Aspiration.
g give, gather gi the first Consonant, being form’d by the Root of the Tongue, this is the present hard g.
k keep, kick ki a kindred Sound, a little more acute, to be us’d instead of the hard c.
[] sh, ship, wish ish a new Letter, wanted in our Language, our sh, separately taken, not being proper Elements
of the Sound.
[] ng, ing, reaping, among ing a new Letter, wanted for the same Reason; these are form’d back in the Mouth.
n end en form’d more forward in the Mouth, the Tip of the Tongue to the Roof of the Mouth.
r art ar the same, the Tip of the Tongue a little loose or separate from the Roof of the Mouth.
t teeth ti the Tip of the Tongue more forward, touching and then leaving the Roof.
d deed di the same, touching a little fuller.
l ell, tell el the same touching just about the Gums of the upper Teeth.
[] th, think e the Tongue under and a little behind the upper Teeth, touching them nearly but so as to
let the Breath pass between.
[; ] dh, thy e the same a little fuller.
s essence es this Sound is form’d by the Breath passing between the moist End of the Tongue and the
upper Teeth.
z ez, wages ez the same a little denser and duller.
f effect ef form’d by the lower Lip against the upper Teeth.
v ever ev the same fuller and duller.
b bees bi the lips put full together and open’d as the Air passes out.
p peep pi the same but a thinner Sound.
m ember em the closing of the Lips, while the e is sounding.
Remarks
  It is endeavoured to give the Alphabet a more natural
o
Order, beginning first with the simple Sounds form'd by
to
the Breath, with none or very little Help of Tongue, Teeth
huh
and Lips, and produc'd chiefly in the Windpipe.
ish   Then coming forward to those form'd by the Root of gi
ing the Tongue next to the Windpipe; ki
r n   Then to those form'd more forward by the forepart of
t d the Tongue against the Roof of the Mouth;
  Then those form's still more forward in the Mouth, by
es ez
the Tip of the Tongue, apply'd first to the Roots of the
el
upper Teeth,
eth, {   Then to the Ends or Edges of the same Teeth; } edh
ef   Then to those form'd still more forward by the under Lip
ev apply'd to the upper Teeth;
bi   Then to those form'd yet more forward by the upper and
pi under Lip opening to let out the sounding Breath;
  And lastly ending with the Shutting up of the Mouth or
m
closing the Lips, while any Vowel is sounding.
In this Alphabet c is omitted as unnecessary, k supplying its hard
Sound and s the soft.
The Jod j is also omitted, its Sound being supplied by the new
Letter ish , which serves other purposes, assisting in the formation
of other Sounds; thus the with a d before it gives the Sound of the
Jod j and soft g, as in James, January, Giant, gentle, deems,
danueri, dyiant, dentel; with a t before it, it gives the Sound of ch
soft, as in cherry, chip, tert, tip; and with an z before it the French
sound of the Jod j, as in jamais, zame.
Thus the g has no longer two different Sounds, which occasion'd
Confusion, but is as every Letter ought to be, confin'd to one; the
same is to be observ'd in all the Letters, Vowels and Consonants,
that wherever they are met with, or in whatever Company, their
Sound is always the same. It is also intended that there be no superfluous
Letters used in Spelling, i.e. no Letter that is not sounded,
and this Alphabet by Six new Letters provides that there be no
distinct Sounds in the Language without Letters to express them.
As to the Difference between short and long Vowels, it is naturally
express'd by a single Vowel where short, a double one where long;
as, for mend write mend, but for remain'd write rime en'd; for did,
write did, but for deed, write diid, &c.
  What in our common Alphabet is suppos'd the third
Vowel, i, as we sound it is not a Vowel but a Diphthong,
consisting of two of our Vowels join'd, viz. a as sounded
in all or u as sounded in unto and e: any one will be sen-
sible of this, who sounds those two Vowels ae or ue quick
after each other; the Sound begins aw or y and ends ee.
The true Sound of the i is that we now give to e in the
words deed, keep, &c. [Remainder missing.]
this
to be
altered