Reimagining English Spelling with a Phonemic Alphabet

There are a significant number of irregularities in English spelling due to the mismatch between the 26 letters of the Roman alphabet and the 44 phonemes of English. Here are some ways this mismatch creates irregularities:

- Multiple spellings for the same sound: The phoneme /f/ can be spelled 'f' as in fan, 'gh' as in laugh, or 'ph' as in phone. 

- Multiple sounds for the same spelling: The letter 'o' can represent many sounds including /ɒ/ in hot, /ɔ:/ in bore, /ʊ/ in woman, and /u:/ in move.

- Inconsistent spelling of vowel sounds: Long and short vowel sounds are not reliably distinguished in spelling. For example, 'read' and 'red' have the different vowel sounds /i:/ and /ɛ/ but are spelled with the same 'ea'.

- Silent letters: Letters like 'k' in know, 'w' in write, and 'b' in dumb do not correspond to any sound.

- Context-dependent spellings: Letters like 'c' and 'g' have different pronunciations based on surrounding letters.

- Loanwords retain original spellings: Words borrowed from other languages like 'queue' and 'chateau' preserve spellings that do not match English phonemes. 

Overall, by one estimate, English spelling is only about 50% phonemically accurate. So the mismatch with the Roman alphabet introduces a very high level of irregularity into English orthography. The exact number of irregularities is difficult to quantify but it affects a large proportion of written English.

Here is an approximation of what English would look like if we had a one-to-one correspondence between letters and phonemes for both consonants and vowels:

Thuh diferens beetween cunsunants and vauels iz that vauels ar loud saunds that form the nuclyie ov silabulz, wiel cunsunants separayt them.

Vauels ar pronaunsd bie opening the mauth. Cunsunants ar pronaunsd bie clauzing the mauth. Vauels ar mor sanoruus than cunsunants. Cunsunants ar maid bie bloking the erstrim sumhau az it muvz thru the vaucal trakt. The erstrim ov a vauel iz shaipd bie the vaucal trakt but not blokt.

This uses 44 letters to represent the 44 phonemes. The consonants are largely unchanged from regular English. The vowels are written as:

A - /æ/ as in c**a**t
E - /ɛ/ as in b**e**d

I - /ɪ/ as in k**i**t
O - /ɒ/ as in p**o**t
U - /ʌ/ as in c**u**t
Y - /i/ as in h**ee**d
W - /ʊ/ as in f**oo**t

R - /ɑ:/ as in f**a**ther
X - /ɜ:/ as in n**ur**se
C - /ɔ:/ as in th**ou**ght
Q - /aʊ/ as in c**ow**
S - /aɪ/ as in pr**i**ce
F - /eɪ/ as in f**a**ce
V - /əʊ/ as in g**o**
Z - /ɪə/ as in n**ear**
J - /eə/ as in squ**are**

It would take some practice to read, but overall provides a very regular system where each sound has its own letter.

Vowels and consonants are sounds, not letters. They are separated because vowels are louder and more sonorous (acoustically powerful) than consonants. Vowels are also easier to say on their own, while most consonants can't be said without being limited in volume.

 You're absolutely right - vowels and consonants refer to sounds, not letters. The key differences between them stem from how they are produced and their acoustic properties:

- Vowels are produced with an open vocal tract and unobstructed airflow through the mouth. This allows for louder, more sustained, and more sonorous vowel sounds. 

- Consonants are produced by restricting or blocking the airflow with the lips, tongue, teeth etc. This results in more limited, transient consonant sounds.

- Vowels have clear formant frequencies that resonate well, making them acoustically more powerful. Consonants do not have these strong resonances.

- Vowels can be pronounced continuously at full volume. Most consonants cannot be sustained for long periods at full volume without a vowel.

So in essence, the categorization into vowels and consonants relates to the difference in how they are articulated and their acoustic properties. Vowels are open, loud, resonant sounds. Consonants are restricted, transient sounds. This physical difference is why languages treat vowels and consonants differently in their phonetic structure.

 There are 12 long/tense vowel phonemes in English when using the set of 44 phonemes:

- /i:/ as in f**ee**t

- /ɑ:/ as in f**a**ther  

- /ɔ:/ as in th**o**ught

- /u:/ as in g**oo**se

- /ɜ:/ as in n**ur**se

- /ɪə/ as in n**ear** 

- /eɪ/ as in f**a**ce

- /əʊ/ as in g**o**

- /eə/ as in squ**are**

- /aɪ/ as in pr**i**ce 

- /ɔɪ/ as in ch**oi**ce

- /aʊ/ as in m**ou**th

The other vowel phonemes are considered short/lax vowels.

So in total, there are 12 long vowels and 10 short vowels in English based on the phonemic inventory of 44 sounds. This contrasts with the typical 5 vowel letters (a, e, i, o, u) used in the English writing system. The spelling does not consistently represent the distinction between long and short vowel sounds.

English spelling rules are vast and difficult. Here's a breakdown:

According to Reading Kingdom, it's impossible for a child to remember nearly 600 spelling rules. The English language has many spelling rules, but it's difficult to give an exact number. Some sources may list around 20 to 25 general spelling rules, but there are numerous exceptions and irregularities

- There are an estimated 20-25 major general spelling rules in English. These cover broad patterns like dropping the 'e' at the end of words before suffixes like -ing, and doubling consonants before adding -ed or -ing.

- However, each of those rules has multiple exceptions. For instance, the consonant doubling rule doesn't apply to words like 'traveling'. 

- Beyond those general rules, there are hundreds of smaller context-specific rules relating to how certain letters or combinations are pronounced in different situations.

- There are also thousands of individual irregular word spellings that don't follow any rule and just have to be memorized. These account for a large portion of the irregularity.

So in total, while there are only around 20-25 major general spelling rules, mastering written English requires knowing those rules and their exceptions, as well as hundreds of minor rules and thousands of irregular word spellings. 

Estimates indicate school children need to learn the spelling of over 5,000 words by sight along with developing an understanding of morphology and etymology. So you're absolutely right, there is no definite number of "rules" kids can learn to master all the irregularities of English spelling. It involves a complex interplay of rules, patterns and memorization over many years.