fɑnɛtɩks

Mæni ʌv yu me bi wʌnderiŋ wʌtʰ wiv bɩn stʌdiiŋ̣̣̣̣ d̵ɩs ɩz æn ɛksæmpl ʌv ɑᵘr fɑnɛtɩkṣ̣ klæs.

Translation: Many of you may be wondering what we've been studying. This is an example of our phonetics class.

We learned a set of symbols (over 70) that represent different speech sounds. Our English alphabet is limited to 26 letters, however, many more sounds are represented by those 26 letters. For example: what is the word "ghoti"
Well, if you take the "gh" in "enough" it sounds like "f"
Take the "o" in the word "women" and it sounds like an "i"
take the "ti" in "nation" and it sounds like "sh"

so in all reality "ghoti" spells "fish"!

Good 'ol English.

With phonetics, each symbol represents only one sound. Unlike our English "a" that sounds one way when you say "cat" another way when you say "father" and yet another way when you say "lake". Each of these "a" sounds would be represented by a different phonetic symbol. This way, when we are someday learning an unwritten tribal language, we can learn it more accurately by assigning each sound with a specific phonetic symbol. From there, we'll decide how to make an alphabet with the help of a language consultant. Anyway, hope that gives you some insight as to what we're learning.

We've just finished a newsletter and if you attend Exeter Bible, Millersville Bible, or Ganson Street Baptist, it should be available in the next week or so. We do have it available by email if you have Microsoft Word. Just email us at jjmeyers@hotmail.com and we'll send you a copy. If you would like a copy by snail mail, we're more than happy to send one to you.

Take care and drop us a note when you can. If you respond to the "comments" section, we cannot reply to your email, so please send us a note at our email address.