Enganagri alphabet

The Enganagri alphabet was invented by David Kelley as an alternative alphabet for English. It was modelled on the Devanagari alphabet with influence from the Korean alphabet.

There are a number of different ways of writing English with Enganagri. The main difference between them is in the representation of vowels and diphthongs.

The version below is the comprehensive form, which was developed to represent all the sounds of the English language, including both Standard American and British Received pronunciation. The vowels, here, attempt to replicate English speech rather than English spelling. The example text represents the pronunciation of Standard American.

Notable features

Type of script: alphabet
Direction of writing: left to right in horizontal lines
Used to write: English (Standard American or British RP)

The Enganagri alphabet

Enganagri alphabet

Notes

The vowel diacritics are written over the consonant which follows them. If vowels appear at the end of a word, the diacritics are written over the vowel carrier (as above). The vowel carrier changes, in the case of non-rhoticized British RP vowels, to a larger version of the symbol for "schwa". The larger version can also be used in the case of words ending in simple "schwa".
Consonantal r has two forms: a full-sized form that is used to represent a single sound, and a smaller version that is attached to the base of other consonants when there is a consonant cluster. This is also attached to the vowel carrier in Standard American, to show the presence of that sound (in contrast to its absence in British RP words).
Consonantal l has two forms: a full-sized form that is used to represent a single sound, and a smaller version that is attached to the base of other consonants when there is a consonant cluster.

Sample text

Sample text in the Enganagri alphabet

Transliteration

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

Download a font for Enganagri (TrueType, 5K)

If you have any questions about the Enganagri alphabet, you can contact David at: hamadavid@hotmail.com

Other constructed scripts for English