This is the preface page for the NEA site. It contains a brief history of alphabetic writing
leading up to the writing system we now use, but the primary content is the presentation of a new
alphabet for writing Modern English which is logically consistent and based on modern
pronunciation. There is a font and instructions on how to use it as well as tutorials and
reading material.
Some people hitting this site seem to be pursuing general information about the English alphabet
and its history. A sequence of pages with graphic illustrations, showing this history from
the Sumerians to the current alphabet, starts on this
page. These eight pages may prove useful. Following the "NEXT" link at the bottom
of each page will take you through the series.
Other individuals seem to be looking for information on modern dialects of English, while others
are pursuing information on English phonetics. Information on these topics begins on
this page, and a link will lead to a page on
pronunciation of American English with another to one on British English. May this
information prove useful.
The NEA (Modern English Alphabet) is an augmented version of the alphabet traditionally used to write English, and so to view several of the pages in this site correctly it will be necessary to download a new font into your Fonts folder. To get the most out of the site overall, it is recommended that you also download another font if you don't already have it. After you complete one or both downloads, you may have to reboot your computer to activate the fonts (sorry). With Windows it seems to be optimal to download the fonts into some other folder first and then follow the usual font installation procedure: 1) go to the Control Panel and hit the font icon. 2) Pull down the File menu and select "install new fonts". 3) locate the NEA font wherever you put it and select it. You may avoid the reboot this way. I would have made both fonts embedded in the web pages, but there is no uniform way of doing this yet. If you use some variety of Linux, download the file into the .fonts folder in your Home folder ( should read something like "/home/yourusername/.fonts" ). Then from a shell window run the sequence "su fc-cache -f -v /home/yourusername/.fonts" which will make the system aware of the font. You will need to have root privilege for this operation. After that, it will be available at all times. Remember, this font is not intended for presentation of ordinary English text, but only with the pages in this website specifically developed to be used with it. If you have any questions, please contact: tcgibian@cox.net
Then, if you cannot locate a font called "Bradley Hand ITC" in your fonts folder, you can download it also. Same instructions as above or on the FONT page.
The files above will work for Windows and Linux and for newer versions of Macintosh with OS/X. Here the fonts should be located in the "Library/fonts" folder. For those of you who have older Macs I can offer the following. My font tool, Font Forge, output the following two files as suitable for a Macintosh, but I have no way of verifying this. Use them with no guarantees.
Now before you reboot you may want to review your screen resolution and perhaps make an adjustment. If you are not sure what it is, go to Start-->Settings-->Control Panel. Now click the "Display" icon and hit the "Settings" tab. In the lower right there should be a "Screen Area" section where your resolution is shown. You may change it upward if your video card allows it. For this site 1024x768 is ideal and 800x600 is acceptable. If you change your resolution, click "OK" and you will be asked if you want to reboot. Select yes. Otherwise you will have to reboot by hand. Restart your browser using the same web address as before but add "/Homepage.htm" and you will jump right to the homepage for the site. You can also use the link below.
This site is a member of a webring containing several other sites dealing with various aspects of English spelling reform. Be sure to check them out for many additional ideas on this subject.
