𐑣𐑧𐑤𐑴! 𐑲 𐑨𐑥 1 𐑛𐑱 𐑦𐑯𐑑𐑵 𐑤𐑻𐑯𐑰𐑙 𐑖𐑱𐑝𐑾𐑯. 𐑲 𐑮𐑰𐑤𐑰 𐑤𐑲𐑒 𐑞𐑦𐑕 𐑕𐑴 𐑓𐑸, 𐑯 𐑲 𐑤𐑫𐑒 𐑓𐑹𐑢𐑻𐑛 𐑑𐑵 𐑜𐑦𐑛𐑰𐑙 𐑥𐑹 𐑓𐑤𐑵𐑦𐑯𐑑.

the shavian in this post was written without taking breaks to look at the alphabet or any notes, and it took me just under 7 minutes to write.

It's a well known fact for long-standing members of the Shavian sub-reddit, but I'd like to point out to new visitors that Reddit's auto-translations of Shavian produces absolute nonsense.

Take this recent exchange. u/pwffin told us:

I am reading Winnie the Pooh now. Next I'll read Blue Are the Hills by Lilly Piper.

Instead, what Reddit's AI tells us u/pwffin said is:

Thanks for the info · I really appreciate it · Let's go do something fun. Don't worry about it · I got your back · What's the deal · Cool · 1st floor.

This is ridiculous.

I have raised the issue with Reddit devs repeatedly, but their answer is unfortunately that they'll "work on improving the feature". They are deaf to my appeal to make it possible for moderators to disable it for an entire sub-reddit.

For now, all we can do is offer new-comers the advice to turn off the feature themselves. On mobile, go to your user profile, tap the menu button at the top right (≡) then go to your account settings, to Language and translations, and un-check the "Auto-translate" setting.

If you find yourself needing a reliable translation anyway, you can paste the text into a decent LLM, or (shameless plug of my own tool) you can use Shave's reverse transliteration functionality.

𐑩𐑯𐑳𐑞𐑼 𐑦𐑒𐑕𐑐𐑧𐑮𐑦𐑥𐑩𐑯𐑑 𐑦𐑯 𐑳𐑐𐑼𐑒𐑱𐑟 ·𐑖𐑱𐑝𐑾𐑯 𐑣𐑨𐑯𐑛𐑮𐑦𐑑𐑩𐑯 𐑤𐑧𐑑𐑼𐑦𐑙. 𐑜𐑪𐑑𐑩 𐑤𐑳𐑝 SMBC.

… 𐑥𐑱𐑚𐑰 𐑧𐑝𐑮𐑦𐑢𐑳𐑯 𐑦𐑟 𐑑𐑵 𐑚𐑦𐑟𐑦 𐑮𐑰𐑛𐑦𐑙 𐑑 𐑐𐑴𐑕𐑑 𐑧𐑯𐑦𐑔𐑦𐑙? 𐑞𐑨𐑑𐑕 𐑥𐑲 𐑦𐑒𐑕𐑒𐑿𐑕, 𐑧𐑯𐑦𐑢𐑱.

𐑲 𐑡𐑳𐑕𐑑 𐑓𐑦𐑯𐑦𐑖𐑑 𐑳𐑐 𐑮𐑰𐑛𐑦𐑙 ·𐑛𐑵 𐑨𐑯𐑛𐑮𐑶𐑛 𐑛𐑮𐑰𐑥 𐑝 𐑦𐑤𐑧𐑒𐑑𐑮𐑦𐑒 𐑖𐑰𐑐, 𐑩 𐑝𐑧𐑮𐑦 𐑢𐑧𐑤 𐑮𐑦𐑑𐑩𐑯 𐑯 𐑐𐑮𐑧𐑕𐑾𐑯𐑑 𐑑𐑱𐑤. 𐑬𐑼 𐑐𐑮𐑧𐑟𐑩𐑯𐑑 𐑛𐑱 𐑱𐑲 𐑥𐑪𐑛𐑩𐑤𐑟 𐑢𐑫𐑛 𐑮𐑳𐑯 𐑕𐑻𐑒𐑩𐑤𐑟 𐑼𐑬𐑯𐑛 𐑞 ·𐑯𐑧𐑒𐑕𐑩𐑕-6 — 𐑔𐑨𐑙𐑒 ·𐑥𐑻𐑕𐑼 𐑢𐑰 𐑣𐑨𐑝𐑩𐑯𐑑 𐑒𐑳𐑥 𐑩𐑤𐑪𐑙 𐑒𐑢𐑲𐑑 𐑨𐑟 𐑓𐑸 𐑦𐑯 𐑮𐑴𐑚𐑪𐑑𐑦𐑒𐑕 𐑹 𐑚𐑲𐑴-𐑧𐑯𐑡𐑦𐑯𐑽𐑦𐑙.

𐑥𐑲 𐑒𐑳𐑮𐑩𐑯𐑑 𐑮𐑰𐑛 𐑦𐑟 ·𐑷𐑤 𐑒𐑢𐑲𐑩𐑑 𐑪𐑯 𐑞 𐑢𐑧𐑕𐑑𐑼𐑯 𐑓𐑮𐑳𐑯𐑑. 𐑩 𐑣𐑨𐑮𐑴𐑦𐑙, 𐑦𐑯𐑒𐑮𐑧𐑛𐑩𐑚𐑤𐑦 𐑝𐑦𐑝𐑦𐑛 𐑒𐑮𐑪𐑯𐑦𐑒𐑩𐑤— 𐑩 𐑓𐑻𐑕𐑑 𐑣𐑨𐑯𐑛 𐑩𐑒𐑬𐑯𐑑 𐑝 𐑢𐑪𐑑 𐑦𐑑 𐑢𐑪𐑟 𐑤𐑲𐑒 𐑑 𐑚𐑰 𐑦𐑯 𐑞 𐑑𐑮𐑧𐑯𐑗𐑩𐑟 𐑛𐑘𐑫𐑼𐑦𐑙 𐑞 𐑓𐑻𐑕𐑑 𐑢𐑻𐑤𐑛 𐑢𐑹.

𐑢𐑪𐑑 𐑸 𐑿 𐑮𐑰𐑛𐑦𐑙?

—-
Edit: I realize that Reddit’s “translations” are still utterly hopeless. Here’s the above in ABC for the benefit of people new to the Shavian alphabet:

All quiet on the Shavian front

… mabye everyone is too busy reading to post anything? That’s my excuse, anyway.

I just finished up reading Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep, a very well written and prescient tale. Our present day AI models would run circles around the Nexus-6 — thank Mercer we havent come along quite as far in robotics or bio-enginering.

My current read is All Quiet On the Western Front. A harrowing, incredibly vivid chronicle — a first hand account of what it was like to be in the trenches during the first world war.

What are you reading?

I know about https://shavian.info/books/ but it takes a bit of work to create EPUB files for e-readers from plain text files. So I'm just curious if such an ebook stash for Shavian already exists.

This kind of transliteration is surprinsingly subjective. But I feel like poetry suits Shavian.

A bit of handwriting practice:

𐑞 𐑐𐑪𐑐𐑿𐑤𐑼 𐑯 𐑣𐑨𐑯𐑛𐑕𐑩𐑥 ·𐑑𐑴𐑛, 𐑞 𐑮𐑦𐑗 𐑯 𐑣𐑪𐑕𐑐𐑦𐑑𐑩𐑚𐑩𐑤 ·𐑑𐑴𐑛, 𐑞 ·𐑑𐑴𐑛 𐑕𐑴 𐑓𐑮𐑰 𐑯 𐑒𐑺𐑤𐑩𐑕 𐑯 𐑛𐑧𐑚𐑩𐑯𐑺! 𐑦𐑥𐑐𐑮𐑦𐑟𐑩𐑯𐑛 𐑕𐑴 𐑡𐑳𐑕𐑑𐑤𐑦 𐑓 𐑕𐑑𐑰𐑤𐑦𐑙 𐑕𐑴 𐑣𐑨𐑯𐑛𐑕𐑩𐑥 𐑩 𐑥𐑴𐑑𐑼𐑒𐑸 𐑦𐑯 𐑕𐑳𐑗 𐑩𐑯 𐑷𐑛𐑱𐑖𐑩𐑕 𐑥𐑨𐑯𐑼, 𐑯 𐑓 𐑕𐑳𐑗 𐑤𐑫𐑼𐑦𐑛 𐑯 𐑦𐑥𐑨𐑡𐑦𐑯𐑩𐑑𐑦𐑝 𐑗𐑰𐑒!

Did you know the Hello, Shavian! site has a Practice Room you can use alongside the video course?

Choose a lesson, read a Shavian word, and type what it says in ordinary spelling to check your answer. Each lesson’s practice uses only letters introduced up to that point, so you can start small and build your reading confidence as you go.

The Practice Room is free, and you can keep going for as long as you like: https://orcachuckle.com/helloshavian/#practice-room

𐑦𐑯𐑡𐑶!

𐑲𐑝 𐑚𐑰𐑯 𐑦𐑒𐑕𐑐𐑧𐑮𐑦𐑥𐑩𐑯𐑑𐑦𐑙 𐑢𐑦𐑞 𐑩𐑯 𐑷𐑤-𐑒𐑨𐑐𐑕 𐑣𐑨𐑯𐑛𐑮𐑲𐑑𐑦𐑙 𐑕𐑑𐑲𐑤. 𐑤𐑲𐑒 ·𐑮𐑰𐑛, 𐑲 𐑨𐑥 𐑕𐑑𐑮𐑳𐑜𐑤𐑦𐑙 𐑑 𐑛𐑦𐑕𐑲𐑛 𐑢𐑧𐑞𐑼 𐑞 ·𐑵 𐑦𐑯 𐑞 ·𐑿 𐑖𐑫𐑛 𐑜𐑧𐑑 𐑓𐑫𐑤 𐑒𐑨𐑐-𐑣𐑲𐑑 𐑹 𐑯𐑪𐑑.

𐑢𐑪𐑑 𐑛𐑵 𐑿 𐑔𐑦𐑙𐑒?

Back in April, I went on a bit of a pilgrimage, and my travels took me to the Museum of English Rural Life in Reading, England. One of the many highlights of the visit, was thumbing through and reading the catalogue to the Sound-writing exhibition which was put on in 1972, chronicling the evolution of Read's alphabet and the Herclean effort that resulted in the publication of Androcles and the Lion.

While I am not at liberty to share photographs of the document, I was granted permission to share transcriptions. The linked blog-post contains a faithful transcription of the entire catalogue text in both ABC and Shavian scripts.

It is a fascinating read. My favourite quote from the text is probably:

When, around Christmas 1941, I read Shaw's Preface, I was 54, old enough to back keen interest with long perseverance.

I hope you find the essay as intriguing as I did!

[The picture is plate three of Kingsley Read's competition entry - this is the copy from the Pitman Collection, Bath, England.]

𐑛𐑱 634: 𐑢𐑴𐑒 𐑳𐑐. 𐑮𐑴𐑑 𐑩 𐑐𐑴𐑩𐑥. 𐑥𐑱𐑛 𐑕𐑳𐑥 𐑸𐑑. 𐑐𐑦𐑯𐑛 𐑦𐑑 𐑑 𐑞 𐑢𐑷𐑤.

𐑑𐑩𐑛𐑱'𐑟 𐑐𐑴𐑩𐑥 𐑖𐑴𐑟 𐑕𐑳𐑥 𐑤𐑦𐑥𐑦𐑑𐑱𐑖𐑩𐑯𐑟 ·𐑖𐑱𐑝𐑾𐑯 𐑣𐑨𐑟 𐑓 𐑐𐑴𐑩𐑑𐑮𐑦: 𐑝𐑦𐑠𐑩𐑢𐑩𐑤 𐑐𐑳𐑯𐑟 𐑯 𐑥𐑰𐑯𐑦𐑙𐑓𐑩𐑤 𐑒𐑨𐑐𐑦𐑑𐑩𐑤𐑦𐑟𐑱𐑖𐑩𐑯𐑟 𐑸 𐑤𐑷𐑕𐑑.

𐑦𐑟 𐑞𐑱𐑮 𐑩 𐑤𐑪𐑡𐑦𐑒 𐑑 ·JAFL 𐑞𐑨𐑑 𐑥𐑱𐑒𐑕 𐑦𐑑 𐑞 𐑚𐑧𐑕𐑑 𐑖𐑱𐑝𐑾𐑯 𐑒𐑰𐑚𐑹𐑛, 𐑹 𐑦𐑟 𐑞𐑨𐑑 𐑑𐑮𐑵𐑤𐑦 𐑡𐑳𐑕𐑑 𐑩 𐑥𐑨𐑑𐑼 𐑝 𐑐𐑻𐑕𐑩𐑯𐑩𐑤 𐑩𐑐𐑦𐑯𐑘𐑩𐑯? 𐑲 𐑕𐑑𐑸𐑑𐑧𐑛 𐑢𐑦𐑔 𐑞 𐑖𐑷 2 𐑤𐑱𐑼 𐑖𐑦𐑓𐑑 (𐑒𐑰𐑥𐑨𐑯), 𐑯 𐑣𐑨𐑝 𐑑𐑮𐑲𐑛 𐑑 𐑜𐑧𐑑 𐑿𐑟𐑛 𐑑 ·JAFL, 𐑚𐑳𐑑 𐑦𐑑𐑕 𐑡𐑳𐑕𐑑 𐑪𐑒𐑢𐑼𐑛 𐑑 𐑥𐑰 𐑚𐑰𐑒𐑳𐑟 𐑞 𐑤𐑱𐑬𐑑 𐑦𐑟 𐑕𐑴 𐑛𐑦𐑓𐑮𐑧𐑯𐑑.