How does Shavian handle loanwords from French and German?
Shavian treats French and German loanwords with the same phonetic principles as native English words, using dedicated consonants and ligatures to capture foreign sounds…
Read article48 letters One sound at a time
English sounds,
written clearly.
Meet Shavian: a phonemic alphabet built for English. Learn its shapes, convert familiar words, and start reading a different way.
- 48purpose-built letters
- 0capital letters
- U+10450Unicode ready
Conventional English
Hello, world.
same sounds
Shavian
𐑣𐑩𐑤𐑴, 𐑢𐑻𐑤𐑛.
𐑱
𐑤
𐑯
Learn it. Type it. Use it.
Four tools, one clear path.
Go from first contact to fluent recall without installing anything. Every tool works in your browser and on mobile.
01Open tool →
02Open chart →
03Start typing →
04Start a quiz →
EnglishHello→𐑣𐑩𐑤𐑴
Convert
Shavian Translator
Turn conventional English into phonemic Shavian text.𐑖/ʃ/ · Sure
Explore
Interactive Alphabet
Meet every glyph, sound, name, and letter pair.𐑐𐑰𐑐
Compose
On-Screen Keyboard
Type, copy, and download Shavian Unicode anywhere.𐑔
Practice
Flashcards & Quiz
Train sound recall, spelling, pairs, and reading speed.Your first ten minutes
Start with shapes.
Finish with words.
Shavian looks unfamiliar only at first. Its visual system becomes much easier when you learn related letters together, then immediately use them in short words.
- 01
Meet the letter families
See tall, deep, short, and compound forms as a coherent system.
- 02
Connect shape to sound
Use IPA, names, and example words to make each form memorable.
- 03
Read something real
Move from letters to words, short sentences, and timed passages.
Read and understand
Guides for curious minds.
Clear explanations about spelling, design, history, and everyday use.
Browse all articlesShavian Historical Figures: Who Used the Alphabet in Their Works?
Shavian, George Bernard Shaw’s phonetic alphabet, offers a clear way to spell English. This guide explores its history, who used it, how to convert…
Read articleCan Shavian Be Used to Transcribe Other Languages Beyond English?
Shavian, the phonetic alphabet devised by George Bernard Shaw, offers a straightforward way to transcribe English and other languages. Its 48 letters map directly…
Read articleDesigning a Shavian Keyboard Layout for Desktop Systems
Discover how to build a desktop keyboard for the Shavian alphabet—learn its 48 letters, convert English text, and type using Unicode. ShawAlphabet.com offers converters,…
Read articleCan Shavian be a useful tool for people with dyslexia?
ShawAlphabet.com shows that Shavian’s phonetic consistency can significantly aid dyslexic readers by matching each English sound to a unique symbol, simplifying learning and everyday…
Read articleShavian homographs: How to handle words like ‘lead’ and ‘read’ in text‑to‑speech systems
Learn how Shavian’s phonetic spelling solves homograph issues for TTS, with practical conversion tips, keyboard tricks, and a beginner’s guide to the 48‑letter alphabet.
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Beginner Guide
A step-by-step introduction to the Shavian alphabet.
Alphabet
Reference for the 48 Shavian letters, their names, and punctuation.
Spelling
Rules and patterns for converting English words into Shavian spelling.
History
The origins and development of the Shavian alphabet.
Comparisons
Side-by-side comparisons with other phonetic and spelling systems.
Keyboards
Keyboard layouts and input methods for Shavian.
Built for careful learning
Clear about what Shavian is—and what it isn’t.
Independent
An educational publication, not an official successor to any earlier project on this domain.
Technically precise
Our converter is presented as phonemic transcription—not translation of meaning.
Useful by design
402 articles and four browser-based tools connect reference with practice.
Ready when you are
Write your first line in Shavian.
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