Lesson 3: Shapes
This sections describes how you can transcribe phonemes other than those printed on the keys.
Linguists divide syllables into three parts: onset, nucleus, and coda. The onset is the initial consonant sound or sounds, the nucleus is the vowel sound in the middle, and the coda is the final consonant sound or sounds.
Chorded phonemes under the left hand:
| Initial consonant | Left-hand stroke |
|---|---|
| /f/ | sb |
| /v/ | sd |
| /k/ | pb |
| /l/ | td |
| /j/ | wr |
| /tʃ/, /tj/ | twr |
| /dʒ/, /dj/ | dwr |
| /ʃ/ | swr |
| /g/ | pt |
| /h/ | ptw |
| /n/ | bd |
| /m/ | bdr |
| /θ/, /ð/ | bt |
Some secondary vowel sounds are shown in the diagram above. Diphthongs /aɪ/, /eɪ/ and /aʊ/ arise naturally from the layout, whereas strokes for the other vowel sounds are less obvious.
| Stroke | Vowel |
|---|---|
ae |
/ɒ/ or /o/ |
ɪʊ |
/iː/ or /iːə/ |
eʊ |
/uː/ |
aɪʊ or sometimes a
|
/ɑː/ |
aeɪʊ |
/ɔː/ |
aeʊ |
/əʊ/ or /oʊ/ |
eɪʊ |
/əː/ or /ɜː/ |
- |
/ə/ |
Notice that when transcribing /ə/ you’re not pressing any vowel keys at all. eɪʊ is used to differentiate between, for example, unstressed verb 'has' (/həz/) and stressed pronoun 'hers' (/həːz/). The former has a short, unstressed /ə/ sound, so no vowel keys are pressed; whereas the latter has a longer, drawn out sound /əː/ and so eɪʊ is used instead.
Chorded phonemes under the right hand's fingers:
| Final consonant | Right-hand stroke |
|---|---|
| /p/ | -ft |
| /b/ | -ftʃ |
| /k/ | -td |
| /θ/, /ð/ | -tdʃ |
| /ŋ/ | -ng |
| /m/ | -ftnd |
Here is the full diagram for reference:
