science

World Orthography

World Orthography is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand World Orthography rather than just read about it. In short: The World Orthography (WO) is an abortive alphabet and transcription system based on the Africa Alphabet and the International Phonetic Alphabet. In Daniel Jones’s 1948 Difference between Spoken and Written Language, an adaptation of WO for English is given with the letters a b c d ð e ə f g h i j k l m n ŋ o p r s ʃ t θ u v w x y z ʒ.

Key takeaways

World Orthography belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect World Orthography to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of World Orthography from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The World Orthography (WO) is an abortive alphabet and transcription system based on the Africa Alphabet and the International Phonetic Alphabet. In Daniel Jones’s 1948 Difference between Spoken and Written Language, an adaptation of WO for English is given with the letters a b c d ð e ə f g h i j k l m n ŋ o p r s ʃ t θ u v w x y z ʒ. The capitals of ð, ə, ŋ, ʃ, θ, and ʒ are: Ð (shaped like Ƌ), Ə, Ŋ (shaped like large ŋ), Ʃ (shaped like sigma Σ), Θ, and straight-bottomed Ʒ (shaped like reversed sigma).

Examples English sample from Jones 1948:

Ðis paragraf ʃouz hwot Iŋgliʃ luks laik in wən form ov Wərld Orθografi. It wil bi noutist ðat it iz not posibəl tu yuz for pərposəz ov speliŋ ən egzakt reprezənteiʃon ov ði spic ov eni wən Iŋgliʃ-spiikiŋ gruup, bət ðat veiriəs adapteiʃonz hav tu bi meid in ordər tu rendər ðə speliŋ yuzəbəl bai ool sekʃonz ov ði Iŋgliʃ-spiikiŋ wərld. For instans, it iz probabli advaizabəl tu meik ði leter ə du dyuti for ði saund ʌ as wel az for ði saund ə, in akordans wið ði spiic ov meni in ði Norθ ov Iŋglənd and in Amerika hu du not distiŋgwiʃ ðiiz saundz. Laikwaiz it wil nou daut bi faund konviinien tu rait moust ov ði ənstrest ə-saundz wið ðeir prezənt speliŋz, sins ðei sou ofən ʃou releiʃonʃips tu aðər wərdz, az in pedant, pedantik, provident, providenʃal, meθod, meθodikal. Əgein it wil oolmoust sərtenli bi faund advanteijəs tu introdyus ə sərten nambər ov “wərd sainz” tu denout ʃort komon wərdz wið veiriabəl pronənsieʃion, for instəns a, ði, bi, mi, ʃi, du, tu, hu. A limited nambər ov wərdz wud hav oltərnativ speliŋz, e.g. pas, paas, grant, graant, soolt, solt, agein, agen, wið, wiθ. In Normal English:"This paragraph shows what English looks like in one form of World Orthography. It will be noticed that it is not possible to use for purposes of spelling an exact representation of the speech of any one English-speaking group, but that various adaptations have to be made in order to render the spelling usable by all sections of the English-speaking world. For instance, it is probably advisable to make the letter ə do duty for the sound ʌ as well as for the sound ə, in accordance with the speech of many in the North of England and in America who do not distinguish these sounds. Likewise, it will no doubt be found convenient to write most of the unstressed ə sounds with their present spellings, since they so often show relationships to other words, as in pedant, pedantic, provident, providential, method, methodical. Again, it will almost certainly be found advantageous to introduce a certain number of 'word signs' to denote short common words with variable pronunciation, for instance a, the, be, me, she, do, to, who. A limited number of words would have alternative spellings, e.g. pass, pass, grant, grant, salt, salt, again, again, with, with."

See also Africa Alphabet Latin-script alphabet International Phonetic Alphabet Lepsius Standard Alphabet

Notes

References Firth, J. R. (January 1933). "Notes on the Transcription of Burmese". Bulletin of the School of Oriental Studies. VII (1): 137–140. doi:10.1017/S0041977X00105488. S2CID 170841013. Firth, J. R. (January 1936). "Alphabets and Phonology in India and Burma". Bulletin of the School of Oriental Studies. VIII (2–3): 517–546. doi:10.1017/S0041977X0014114X. S2CID 162218142. Harley, Alexander Hamilton (1944). Colloquial Hindustani. K. Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co. Jones, Daniel (1942). The problem of a national script for India. Hertford: Stephen Austin and Sons. Jones, Daniel (1948). "Differences between Spoken and Written Language". Le Maître Phonétique. Troisième Série. 26 (63). Cambridge University Press: 1–8. JSTOR 44705274. MacMahon, Michael K.C. (1991). "The International Phonetic Alphabet". In Malmkjær, Kirsten (ed.). The Routledge Linguistics Encyclopedia. London: Routledge. Perera, H. S.; Jones, Daniel (October 1938). "The Application of World Orthography to Sinhalese". Bulletin of the School of Oriental Studies. IX (3): 705–707. doi:10.1017/S0041977X00078460. JSTOR 608231. S2CID 122081842.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with World Orthography

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what World Orthography claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to World Orthography before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about World Orthography ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of World Orthography

In research: World Orthography appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses World Orthography in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: World Orthography is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1948 introductions, Latin-script orthographies, Writing system stubs, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for World Orthography outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study World Orthography in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what World Orthography means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain World Orthography out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is World Orthography in simple terms?

Why does World Orthography matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study World Orthography?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on World Orthography.