In a Lingua Franca post a few weeks ago, I needed to use the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) to represent the different pronunciations of the English word People still talk about speech sounds ...

An investment banker has developed a new phonetic writing system to help language learners. But will it ever catch on, asks Anne Merritt. By Anne Merritt 20 March 2013 • 7:00am Language learning: ...

The elegant pictorial writing system of the ancient Egyptians—known as hieroglyphics—has fascinated generations of archeologists. Its precise origins are uncertain. One ancient Egyptian legend holds ...

Standing in front of the cashier in the take-out line, you tell them your name so you can pick up that pizza you called in 20 minutes ago. The confused cashier tells you, “Hmm, I don’t have an order ...

People who work with language need a phonetic script: something which gives, not the spelling, but the actual sound of the word, for example, to distinguish between the long 'a' of 'bath', in Dorset, ...

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