Generation Z’s Franklin Alphabet: Recreating Ben Franklin’s Suggested Modifications to English

Exploring a Creative Take on Language: The GenZamin Franklin Alphabet

Have you ever wondered what English might look like if it were reimagined through the lens of historical spelling reforms combined with modern digital culture? Recently, I stumbled upon an intriguing concept—an inventive linguistic system inspired by Benjamin Franklin’s proposed alphabetic changes, infused with the expressive flair of Gen Z emoji slang.

While Franklin’s ideas for reforming English alphabetically were never officially adopted, imagining how language could evolve with some creative modifications can be both fun and thought-provoking. Instead of implementing a whole new set of symbols, this approach modifies existing letters based on their sounds, replacing or adjusting them to produce a distinctive, chaotic yet recognizable text style.

I initially considered utilizing Unicode symbols to represent new characters, but faced technical limitations because many specialized symbols tend to display as black rectangles—adding a layer of complexity. Instead, I opted to develop a set of semi-universal symbols and substitution rules that are easy to apply and widely supported.

This system maintains the core structure of sentences but substitutes certain letters and sounds to create a visually unique variant of English that’s a bit more playful and expressive. For example, the letter “C” transforms depending on its pronunciation, “J” becomes a swirl or a “dge,” and common sounds like “ship” or “change” are replaced with emojis or creative spellings. Additionally, stylistic touches like elongated vowels and emphasis markers add flair.

Here are some ground rules for this playful linguistic style:

• Retain certain classic letters such as A, B, D, E, F, G, H, I, K, L, M, N, O, P, R, S, T, U, V.
• Replace specific letters based on their sounds:
• “C” becomes “K” when sounding like in “cat” or “S” in “city”
• “J” is transformed into “🌀” or “dge”
• “Q” becomes “KW”
• “W” turns into “UU” or “OO”
• “X” to “KS”
• “Y” to “I” or “EE”
• Convert certain consonant combinations into emojis:
• “SH” to 🤫
• “CH” to 🧊
• “TH” (voiceless) to 👅
• “TH” (voiced