Pétur Knútsson, 27 Nov 2005, 20 March 2006
About p0 (p-zero)
Note: in order to read this file you must have p0 font installed.
p0 is a phonetics font for English which I developed very many years ago, first for a BBC
computer as a bitmap font (in the pre-mouse days when everything was in pixels), then
upgraded for a Macintosh, and finally only recently turned into a TrueType font for PCs. I
imagine it will appal professional font-makers, since it has evolved mostly through adoption
of patches and ad hoc solutions; but I am used to it, and can type in phonetic texts at a fair
speed; and I have logged up so many such texts over the years that I can’t do without it any
more.
And it has its merits. Its BEST POINT is that, unlike most if not all of the other
phonetics fonts you’ll find on the market, the phonemes of English are mapped onto normal
key-strokes (BUT with an Icelandic keyboard!) : you don’t have to hold down six keys at
once or keep mousing “Symbol…”. In general, the lax vowels are on the normal vowel keys,
while the tense vowels (+ length-mark à la Roach and Wells) are on the Upper-case keys.
Thus i
e a æ o u will give you i e a æ o u, while upper-case I E A O U will give you
I E A O U . The main inconsistency here is that upper-case æ gives you Æ !
Note that if you are reading this in WORD, you need p0 installed; and note that you
need to be able to print vowels with acute accents (áéíúó) (the Icelandic keyboard is fine!).
Here is a full list of p0 keystrokes (NB Icelandic keyboard)
Symbol Keystroke
Symbol
Keystroke
LAX VOWELS
TENSE VOWELS
KIT
FLEECE
shift I
i
I
i
DRESS
TRAP
LOT
STRUT
FOOT
SCHWA
e
æ
o
Æ
u
0
e
PALM
æ
THOUGHT
o
GOOSE
shift Æ
NURSE
PRICE
CHOICE
MOUTH
GOAT
NEAR
SQUARE
shift A
shift O
shift U
shift E
u
0 (zero)
DIPHTHONGS
FACE
A
O
U
E
other vowel symbols
ei
ai
öi
au
0u
i0
e0
ei
HAPPY
ai
TENSED U
öi
CARDINAL 7
au
EPSILON
0u
RAISED SCHWA
i0
KIT-SCHWA
e0
PALM
(GA)
í
ú
ó
é
=
Q
á
í (acute i)
ú (acute u)
ó (acute o)
é (acute e)
shift zero (=)
shift Q
á (a acute)
THOUGHT (GA
NURSE (GA)
ö
q
ö
q
CONSONANTS
The following keys are as normal (Icelandic keyboard):
bcdfghjklmnprstvwzþð
English consonants - fortis-lenis pairs
Plosives:
p, b
p, b
t, d
k, g
t,d
k,g
Fricatives:
f, v
Þ, ð
s, z
S, G
f,v
Upper-case Þ, ð
s, z
Upper case S and G
Affricates:
T,D
Upper-case T and D
Other English consonants
h
h
n
m
X
l
r
j
w
n
m
Upper-case X
l
r
j
w
Other consonant symbols
Upper-case H
H
K
L
N
M
W (=w6)
Ð
Upper-case K
Upper-case L
Upper-case N
Upper-case M
Upper-case W
Upper-case Ð
Some Icelandic symbols
Upper-case Ö
Ö
Y
a
y
x
C
Z
+
Upper-case Y
a
y
x
Upper-case C
Upper-case Z (sorry!)
+ (sorry!)
Other diacritics
unvoicing below : 6 after symbol
n6
n&
t7
:
;
0{
0}
0<
0>
Unvoicing above: shift-6 (&) after
symbol
dental: 7 after symbol
length :
half-length ;
raised vowel: { after symbol
lowered vowel: } after symbol
advanced vowel: < after symbol
retracted vowel: > after symbol
Prosody symbols
1
1p
!p
2p
"p
! (shift 1)
3p
#p
4p
$p
*p
.p
5
%
3
2
" (shift-2)
(Note that if you have smart quotes turned
on, you will need to hit UNDO (ctrl-Z) after
typing this symbol)
# (shift 3)
4
$ (shift 4)
*
. (stop)
5
% (shift 5)
Other symbols
B
F
þ
R
V
8
9
Upper-case Ö
Upper-case F
þ
Upper-case R
Upper-case V
8
9