Should TS be classified as logografic?
Traditional written English (TS) is standardized not at the foneme or syllable level but at the whole word level. It has been classified as morfo-fonemic but an equal case could be made for classifying it as a logografic writing system. This would place it the same category as another mixed logografic system – Chinese. A purer logografic system is the Hindu-Arabic number system. This system is totally devoid of fonemic cues altho some people use it for texting: 4-sale, gr8. If an alfabet is a ‘uni-bet'(both unigrafic and unifonic) then the foundation of the traditional writing system is a multi-bet: based on more than one code. The principal codes are Anglo-Saxon, Norman French, and Latin. To this mix one must add shifted long vowel pronunciations and the morfemic principle whereby plurals and past tenses are standardized. An ITA should be viewed as a uni-bet backbone on which multi-bet orthografic options are added. The pronunciation guide spelling found in an ITA does not have to be
