---
title: The Shavian Alphabet
tags:
  - english
  - alphabet
  - unicode
summary: An alphabet designed to fit the English language's phonemes more closely
links:
  wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shavian_alphabet
---
I've really enjoyed learning the Shavian alphabet! 𐑲'𐑝 𐑮𐑽𐑤𐑰 𐑧𐑯𐑡𐑶𐑛 𐑤𐑻𐑯𐑦𐑙 𐑞 𐑖𐑱𐑝𐑰𐑩𐑯 𐑨𐑤𐑓𐑩𐑚𐑧𐑑!

Because it does away with all the dipthongs and tripthongs of English in the latin [alphabet](/tags/alphabet) it's much shorter (which… is a plus, I guess?) and surprisingly easy to read (once you can recognise the characters).

(For some reason the Shavian alphabet is also a part of [unicode](/tags/unicode), so you can type it too! If you're on a mac, just open the emoji panel with `^ ⌘ space` and type "shavian" to see all the characters)

I created a flashcard pack for [AnkiApp](https://www.ankiapp.com/) (you can [download it here](./flashcards.zip)) and got to being able to read the characters (slowly!) within a week — it's a lot of fun to be able to read what's effectively a secret code 😄

## Tall and deep letters

| Shavian letter | Pronunciation | Name/example |
|-|-|-|
| 𐑐 | /p/ | **p**eep |
| 𐑚 | /b/ | **b**ib |
| 𐑑 | /t/ | **t**ot |
| 𐑛 | /d/ | **d**ead |
| 𐑒 | /k/ | **k**ick |
| 𐑜 | /ɡ/ | **g**ag |
| 𐑓 | /f/ | **f**ee |
| 𐑝 | /v/ | **v**ow |
| 𐑔 | /θ/ | **th**igh |
| 𐑞 | /ð/ | **th**ey |
| 𐑕 | /s/ | **s**o |
| 𐑟 | /z/ | **z**oo |
| 𐑖 | /ʃ/ | **s**ure |
| 𐑠 | /ʒ/ | mea**s**ure |
| 𐑗 | /tʃ/ | **ch**urch |
| 𐑡 | /dʒ/ | **j**udge |
| 𐑘 | /j/ | **y**ea |
| 𐑢 | /w/ | **w**oe |
| 𐑙 | /ŋ/ | hu**ng** |
| 𐑣 | /h/ | **h**a-ha |

## Short letters

| Shavian letter | Pronunciation | Name/example |
|-|-|-|
| 𐑤 | /l/ | **l**oll |
| 𐑮 | /r/ | **r**oar |
| 𐑥 | /m/ | **m**ime |
| 𐑯 | /n/ | n**u**n |
| 𐑦 | /ɪ/ | **i**f |
| 𐑰 | /iː/ | **ea**t |
| 𐑧 | /ɛ/ | **e**gg |
| 𐑱 | /eɪ/ | **a**ge |
| 𐑨 | /æ/ | **a**sh |
| 𐑲 | /aɪ// | **i**ce |
| 𐑩 | /ə/ | **a**do |
| 𐑳 | /ʌ/ | **u**p |
| 𐑪 | /ɒ/ | **o**n |
| 𐑴 | /oʊ/ | **oa**k |
| 𐑫 | /ʊ/ | w**oo**l |
| 𐑵 | /uː/ | **oo**ze |
| 𐑬 | /aʊ/ | **ou**t |
| 𐑶 | /ɔɪ/ | **oi**l |
| 𐑭 | /ɑː/ | **ah** |
| 𐑷 | /ɔː/ | **awe** |

## Ligatures

| Shavian letter | Pronunciation | Name/example |
|-|-|-|
| 𐑸 | /ɑːr/ | **are** |
| 𐑹 | /ɔːr/ | **or** |
| 𐑺 | /ɛər/ | **air** |
| 𐑻 | /ɜːr/ | **err** |
| 𐑼 | /ər/ | **arr**ay |
| 𐑽 | /ɪər/ | **ear** |
| 𐑾 | /iə/ | **ia**n |
| 𐑿 | /juː/ | **yew** |