An Inconvenient Futh (Unpub)

I. Re: 26-letter, 5-vowel alphabet (“VV”) in which 

letter Y is treated -- initially -- as a consonant.

     Disposition 1

If the vowels of the alphabet as it is known today ("VV")

are seen to line up in a vertical column when the full 

complement of 26 letters is arrayed in rows in order from 

left to right, the beginning portion of the resulting array 

appears as in fig. 1.1:

fig. 1.1

                                  

 

In order for the next vowel in the sequence, letter O, to 

line up directly below the earlier vowels and thus continue 

their columnar alignment, the letters of consonantal dyad 

M/N must interrupt the established pattern and position to 

the left of letter O -- the subsequent letters reverting to 

the earlier patterning, as appears in fig. 1.2:

fig. 1.2

 

A similar repositioning occurs when the following two 

letters, the consonantal dyad S/T preceding the vowel U, 

are reached, with the continuing series of letters reverting 

once again to the earlier-established columnar alignment. 

The final two letters, the consonantal dyad Y/Z, position 

directly below the earlier M/N and S/T dyads, and the 

final array appears as shown in fig. 1.3:

                                                                                                                 

fig. 1.3

The resulting array exposes several troubling gaps in an 

otherwise nearly perfect 6x6, 36-letter -- or, rather, a 

36-position -- grid. The flaws in this array, though the 

array possesses some positive characteristics, are clearly 

displayed in fig. 1.4: 

fig. 1.4

 

As fig. 1.4 reveals, the array of this first disposition is 

asymmetrical and fails to account for fully 10 missing 

letters, including, significantly, a missing vowel. More 

importantly, the vertical column of vowels skews left -- 

a so-called “progressive tendency” likely to prove 

problematical later, as have such tendencies during past 

attempts at alphabetical reform. When this asymmetry 

is corrected by providing additional positions for currently 

unrevealed letters -- by providing, in fact, an entirely 

new vertical column positioning to the left of the array 

as it appears in fig. 1.4, such that the vertical vowel 

column now appears at the center within the array -- 

the resulting array is as appears in fig. 1.5:

fig. 1.5

This adjustment, however, exposes the existence of an 

unprecedented 16 missing letters, among them the still 

unaccounted for vowel. (It may be helpful to note here 

that an array which posits a six-vowel universe -- i.e., 

one in which the letter Y is treated as a vowel (the so-

called “VIV” or “Six-Vowel Universe”) -- reveals a 

disposition configured as appears in fig. 1.6:

fig. 1.6

 

 

Although the missing vowel noted in the five-vowel array 

is now accounted for in this new six-vowel array, there do 

remain 16 missing letters. Where are these lost elements? 

Why are there so many? No simple answers to these 

questions and others have as yet presented themselves, 

but perhaps an entirely new disposition, if it doesn't posit 

some answers, may at least address the questions.

     Disposition 2

In this revisionist disposition, the first nine letters of the 

current alphabet are displayed in a single horizontal row 

in order from left to right. The resulting pattern is beautifully 

symmetrical, consisting of a primary triad disposed in three 

monads of vowels (A/E/I) interrupting two triads of consonants 

(B/C/D and F/G/H), as is shown in fig. 2.1:

fig. 2.1

If the remaining 17 letters of the current alphabet are positioned 

from left to right in a horizontal row beneath the first row, this 

second row also proves symmetrical, appearing as a kind of 

proportional expansion on the structure of the first row in that 

it displays, among other units, two monads of vowels (O/U) 

which are elements, along with three flanking pentads of 

consonants (J/K/L/M/N, P/Q/R/S/T and V/W/X/Y/Z), in a 

higher-order, five-element grouping, as is shown in fig. 2.2:

fig. 2.2

   

 

This second disposition, though its implied 17x2, 34-element 

array is not perfect (critics of a Chomsky persuasion have 

suggested it to be pluperfect, but these have not, in the 

final analysis, proven credible – nor have their theories), 

may be considered an improvement over Disposition 1 in 

that (a) its construction reveals only eight missing letters 

(four on both the left and right flanks of the top row) -- and 

no missing vowels -- and that (b) it displays a telling series 

of parallelisms, as is revealed in figs. 2.3 and 2.4:

fig. 2.3

 

fig. 2.4

Of particular note are the pentadic resonances displayed in 

fig. 2.3. -- the lower row consisting of a group of three 

consonantal pentads interrupted by a pair of vowels -- the 

O/U dyad -- to form a higher-order pentad of elements -- 

the three lower-order pentads and the two vowels -- and 

the upper row consisting of a single pentad composed of the 

three vowels and the two triadic consonantal groupings 

mentioned earlier -- and the analogous triadic resonances 

displayed in fig. 2.4. The final full disposition appears as in 

fig. 2.5:

fig. 2.5

One improvement over Disposition 1 exhibited by this new 

disposition’s solution are a reduction by half of implied missing 

characters, from 16 to 8. But can this disposition be improved 

upon even further?

     Disposition 3

Returning to a predominantly vertical five-vowel columnar 

arrangement, the characters are arrayed leaving gaps as 

space holders to allow a perfect array to unfold, as is shown 

in fig. 3.1:

fig. 3.1

 

Though the left-leaning tendency of the now vertical column 

of vowels (resulting from the abandonment of the centered 

vertical column of vowels, regardless of the number of 

characters) continues problematical, the overall order displayed 

is commendable. Still, there do remain the four missing 

elements. What are they? Where have they gone? The latter 

question may be unanswerable at present. As to the former, 

they must prove to be new graphic signs, possibly representative 

of new sounds. What new sounds they might represent, and 

whether those sounds might be vowels (an eventuality which 

would call for an entirely new disposition) or consonants -- this 

question, too, may be at present unanswerable. But more than 

a few candidates offer themselves for consideration as 

representatives of these new signs. One solution is to create 

these new letterforms from graphic materials already provided 

by the so-called central vowels -- i.e., the second, third and 

fourth vowels (E, I and O) -- namely, the circle, the vertical 

stroke and the series of horizontal strokes. Fig. 3.2 displays 

several examples from possibilities employing these materials:

fig. 3.2

 

Inserting these new graphics into the spaces provided yields a 

new alphabet -- a 30-letter array (five vowels, 25 consonants) 

disposed in a 6x5 grid appearing as in fig. 3.3:

fig. 3.3

 

But, as mentioned earlier, the names and the sounds of these 

letters, and any others like them, remain yet to be determined.

II. Re: 24-letter, 6-vowel alphabet (“VIV”) in which Y is treated 

as a vowel.

     Disposition 4

Continuing to anticipate that, as the letters are disposed in 

horizontal rows in order from left to right, the vowels will align 

themselves in a vertical column, the newest disposition appears 

as in fig. 4.1:

fig. 4.1

 

The consonantal dyad M/N then moves from its original position 

in that array (fig. 4.1) to the vacant spaces at the end of the last 

row of the array created by the exhausting of the letter sequence 

of the original alphabet, as in fig. 4.2:

fig. 4.2

 

The consonantal dyad S/T similarly repositions to spaces left 

vacant in an implicit seventh row, leaving space for an implied 

vowel to position beneath the vowel column. This disposition 

appears as in fig. 4.3:

fig. 4.3

 

One procedure for avoiding the necessity of creating for the 

new seventh row several additional new letters (or, alternatively, 

of discovering lost ones) -- letters voiced with new sounds and 

employing new orthographical functions -- is to eliminate 

entirely this newly created row in which the consonantal dyad 

S/T currently positions. Spaces in which to insert the S and 

the T can be located within the array -- e.g., the functions of 

letter F can be performed by the PH letter combination, thus 

allowing the elimination of letter F and the replacement of it 

by letter S. Further, the functions of letter J can be performed 

by the letter I, thus allowing the elimination of letter J and the 

replacement of it by the letter T. Eliminating these two letters 

and replacing them with S and T reveals an array as is shown 

in figs. 4.4 and 4.5:

fig. 4.4

 

fig. 4.5

This new array displays a 4-row, 6-column, 6-vowel, 24-letter 

alphabet (the vowels are in boldface) and a set of mnemonics 

useful in committing to memory the new letter sequence for 

all familiar with the early sing-song rhyme (researchers are 

currently developing a new sing-song rhyme using these 

mnemonics to replace the old):

                                                          A  B  C D = ("Cab D")

                                                          E  S  G H = ("Sheg") 

                                                          I   T  K L = ("Klit")

                                                          O  P  Q R = ("Porq")

                                                          U  V  W X = (" Wu15")

                                                          Y  Z  M N = ("Mynz")

This new alphabet provides all the functionality of the current 

26-letter version -- and, perhaps more importantly, displays 

a very attractive regularity. As the positive and negative 

aspects of each of these dispositions continue to be reviewed 

and evaluated, an examination of the alphabet from an entirely 

new perspective, that of its characters’ graphic shapes, may 

prove timely.

III. Re: 26-letter, 7-vowel alphabet (“VIIV”) -- a digression

     Disposition 5

Using the five fingers of the left hand (amputees and readers 

repelled by shameless puns are advised to disregard this digression) 

as a kind of “digital” computer, and disposing the traditional 

26-character alphabet in a continuing sequence vertically into 

five-unit subgroup columns, retaining the first letter in each 

5-character column and eliminating from consideration letters 

two through five in each column, an alphabet is created which 

possesses a new order, as is shown in the figure below:

     (additional figures to come: a work in progress)

Note the regular -- almost! -- distribution of vowels in this 

disposition. No vowels appear in the second half of the alphabet; 

all appear in the first half. In fact, every second character in the 

first half is a vowel, the single anomaly being  the letter K 

within this so-called left vowel hemisphere. The arguably inevitable 

conclusion -- that K is a vowel -- has been disavowed (disavoweled?) 

by a narrow but not insignificant majority of responsible critics, 

while the researcher originally drawing this conclusion, along with 

all supporters, has been, not inappropriately, disemvowled.

It must be noted, by the way, what has not gone unnoticed by 

many researchers: That this disposition is capable, prior to the 

elimination of expendable letters in the lower columns below the 

retained alphabet, of doing double duty as a word search game, 

four from among a host of solutions to which (i.e., ‘chins,’ ‘snide,’ 

‘snot’ and ‘swag,’) are indicated by the figs. below. The overall 

theme for such a search (if it exists) remains

undetermined.

 

Any further inferences to be drawn from this digression must be 

postponed for the time being.

IV. Re: 13-letter (5 vowels, 7 consonants) alphabet: An Inconvenient 

Futh (an “IF” and/or a "butt")? 

What about an alphabet designed, rendered and organized based 

on the shapes of its component letterforms? What might be the 

advantages and pitfalls of such an alphabet?

First, some preliminary observations.

There are, in the current 26-letter alphabet, a multiciplity of stroke 

characteristics exhibited. Strokes can be seen as straight or curved. 

Straight strokes can be seen as vertical, horizontal or diagonal. 

Regarding characters with multiple straight strokes, the strokes 

can be of a single quality (i.e., vertical only, diagonal only, etc.) 

or be composed of strokes of more than one quality (i.e., vertical 

and horizontal, vertical and diagonal, etc.). (Imagined characters, 

exhibiting the qualities indicated in the various column headings 

but not appearing in the current 26-character alphabet, appear in 

shaded boxes. The letter M may appear in either of two categories.)

 

Further, there are, in the current 26-letter alphabet, a multiplicity 

of symmetries exhibited.

4.1 The Five Strōkularities of the IF, consisting of:

     4.1a: The Fifteen Invariants:

          I. The Four Pure Diagonoids or Diagonoid Only (diag. I)* 

{X, M, W, V}

          II. The Five InvariBlends or Diagonoid + Horivert (diag. II) 

{Z, A,Y, K, N}

          III. The Six Pure Horiverts or Horivert Only (diag. III) 

{T, I, L, F, H, E}

          * M and its invert W are together herein treated as 

diagonoids, even though occasionally their graphs, as expressed 

in one or another particular typeface, do not consist strictly of 

pure diagonoid elements. The abbreviation ’diag.,’ of course, 

designates the various diagrams below and is not to be confused 

with the diagonoids.

     and 4.1b: The Eleven Arciformants:

          IV. The Eight ArciBlends or Mixed Arci/Invar (diag. IV) 

{G, Q, R, B, D, P, J, U}

          V. The Three Pure Arciformants (diag. V) {S, O, C}

4.2 The Seven Symmetricals:

     4.2a The Omnisymmetrical

          (The “O” Subgroup)

     4.2b The Duplasymmetrical

          (The “HOXI” Subgroup)

     4.2c The Vertisymmetrical

          (The so-called "Hoxi/ViewMyWat" -- “HOXI/VUMYWAT" Subgroup)

     4.2d The Horizometrical

          (The so-called “Hoxi/DavidBeckham” -- “HOXI/DBECK” Subgroup)

     4.2e The Diagometrical

          (The so-called “Cream Cheese” -- “LOX” subgroup)

     4.2f The Diag/Revertrical

          (The so-called “Hoxi/Achoo!” (“Ox/SNeeZe”) Subgroup)

     4.2g The NoNoNometrical

          (The so-called “FaGs & JaPs & QueeRs” -- “FG/JP/QR” 

Subgroup)

4.3 A Sidebar: Quartal and Octal Torque

 

4.4 The “Thweet Thirteens”

 

4.5 The Thweetest Thirteen:

ABC = CAB; DEF = FED; MJONUZY = NYJUZOM; or,

Cab Fed Mo' NY Juz! an Inconvenient Futh

A   B   C    D   E   F    M   J   O   N   U   Z   Y

C   A   B / F   E   D / M   U   J   O / Z   Y   N 

(to be continued; a work in progress; 

explanatory figures will be inserted soon)