www.lytspel.org Open in urlscan Pro
2a00:d0c0:200:0:b9:1a:9c:58  Public Scan

Form analysis
2 forms found in the DOM

POST

<form method="post">
  <div class="form-group">
    <label for="tradspell">Traditional spelling:</label>
    <textarea id="tradspell" name="tradspell" class="form-control vresize" placeholder="Type or paste text to convert." maxlength="20000" rows="10" autofocus=""></textarea>
  </div>
  <div class="text-right">
    <button type="submit" class="btn btn-success">Convert</button>
  </div>
</form>

Name: file-upload — POST /file

<form id="file-upload" name="file-upload" action="/file" method="post" enctype="multipart/form-data" onsubmit="return hideFileAlerts();">
  <div class="custom-file">
    <input type="file" class="custom-file-input" id="file" name="file" accept=".epub,.htm,.html,.markdown,.md,.rst,.txt,.xht,.xhtml,.xml" oninput="enableFileConversion();">
    <label class="custom-file-label" for="file" id="file-label"> Or select a file to convert <span class="wide-details">(plain text, HTML, or epub)</span>
    </label>
  </div>
  <div class="text-right mt-2">
    <input id="convert-file" type="submit" class="btn btn-success" value="Convert file" disabled="">
  </div>
</form>

Text Content

Lytspel
 * Converter
 * Idea and Motivation
 * Brief Overview
 * Complete Ruleset
 * International Pronunciation Differences
 * Dictionary Limitations
 * Command-Line Version
 * Privacy Policy
 * Contact
 * Samples:
 * Áliss’s Évidenss
 * Gétisburg Ádress
 * Uenivúrssel Decleraition ov Huemen Ryts


A SIMPLE PHONETIC RESPELLING FOR THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Traditional spelling:
Convert
Lytspel:
Or select a file to convert (plain text, HTML, or epub)



SCOPE AND PURPOSE OF THIS WEBSITE

The traditional English spelling system is afflicted with exceptions and
conflicting rules, making writing and reading texts unnecessarily hard.

Lytspel is a proposal for reforming the English spelling in order to establish a
predictable relationship between written letters and spoken sounds. Lytspel (for
«lytwait speling» or ‹lightweight spelling›) not only creates an unambiguous
mapping between the sounds used in English and their written representations, it
also indicates which syllable in each word is the stressed one. See Idea and
Motivation for more on why this makes sense and how it would make everyone’s
life easier.

In addition to the online converter found above, this website also contains a
short and a detailed explanation of the rules of Lytspel. We explicate how
pronunciation differences between regional varieties of English are handled and
discuss a few inevitable limitations of the dictionary used by the online
converter. Additionally, we explain how to install the converter on your own
computer if you prefer to do that.

This website also contains several sample texts, showing traditional and
reformed spelling side by side: the last chapter of Alice’s Adventures in
Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll; Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, and the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

As required by law and recommended by common sense, this website has a privacy
policy. You are welcome to contact us if you have questions, ideas for
improvement, or any other feedback.


UPDATE (2021)

Lytspel made it into the shortlist of six spelling reform proposals considered
in the final round of the International English Spelling Congress organized by
the English Spelling Society. The final winner was Traditional Spelling Revised
(PDF), a conservative proposal that eliminates the worst exceptions, but still
allows various spellings for most sounds, meaning that each word has to be
essentially memorized. While TSR would be a clear and considerable improvement
over the status quo and I therefore support its adaptation, I still think that a
principled solution such as Lytspel is ultimately preferable, since it would
largely eliminate the need for memorization and make English truly follow the
alphabetic principle.