GenZamin Franklin: An Alphabet Inspired by Ben Franklin’s Proposed English Reforms

Exploring the GenZamin Franklin Alphabet: A Creative Twist on Language Evolution

Imagine a world where the spelling and symbols of the English language are reimagined through the lens of Benjamin Franklin’s proposed reforms, infused with vibrant Gen Z emoji culture. While the idea of adopting entirely new symbols or letters may seem challenging—and in this case, is purely hypothetical—we can experiment with existing universal symbols and versatile rules to simulate such a transformation.

Recently, I pondered a playful hypothetical: What if Benjamin Franklin had succeeded in reshaping English, and not Noah Webster? Instead of creating new characters or alphabets, I explored how existing symbols can be combined and repurposed to mimic this envisioned linguistic evolution. My goal was to craft a system that balances readability, creativity, and humor—something intriguing enough for language enthusiasts, curious minds, or anyone bored with the routine.

To that end, I devised the GenZamin Franklin Alphabet, a whimsical stylization blending Franklin’s spelling ideas with contemporary emoji flair. This system employs specific rules for replacing certain sounds and letters, allowing the transformation of regular text into a chaotic yet recognizable form.

Key Rules of the GenZamin Franklin Alphabet

• Letters to Keep (approved by Franklin):
  A, B, D, E, F, G, H, I, K, L, M, N, O, P, R, S, T, U, V

• Letters to Replace:

• C becomes K (for sounds like ‘cat’) or S (as in ‘city’) depending on pronunciation
• J is replaced with 🌀 or “dge”/“zh”
• Q transforms into “KW”
• W changes to “UU” or “OO”
• X becomes “KS”

• Y turns into I or EE

• Syllable or Sound Substitutions:

• SH → 🤫
• CH → 🧊
• TH (voiceless) → 👅
• TH (voiced) → 👄
• NG → 🧠

• ZH (as in ‘vision’) → 🌀

• Optional stylistic flourishes:

• Indicate long vowels by doubling letters or adding colons (e.g., ‘see’ → ‘sii’ or ‘si:’)
• Emphasize words with