Mârshen

All this talk about respelling English gave me an idea.

Mârshen is the official language of the planet Mars; in origin it's a
dialect of English with its own spelling, regionalisms, and numerous
borrowings from the other native languages of the Martian colonists.
Mârshen spelling started as a sort of game among the first colonists, to
pass the time during the long and tedious journey from Earth.

Since the earliest Martian colonists came from different regions of Earth,
and spoke different dialects of English, it was an interesting puzzle to
sort out all the differences and come up with a consistent spelling that
would work equally well for the different dialects. The end result was the
result of numerous compromises. Although not entirely regular, the
colonists regarded it as far superior to the traditional spelling, which
they abandoned along with the awkward pounds, miles, and feet of
traditional "English" measurement. Since nearly all reading materials in
the colony were already in electronic form, conversion to the new spelling
was greatly facilitated. By the time it became economically feasible to
print books, Mârshen spelling was already established.

The spelling of consonants in Mârshen is almost entirely regular.

b  as in Bet          n  as in Nice or siNk
ch as in CHirp        ng as in siNGer or siNGle
d  as in Deer         p  as in Pipe
dh as in THat         r  as in Rock
f  as in Fake         s  as in System
g  as in Gulf         sh as in SHore
gh as in loCH         t  as in Tone
h  as in Hat          th as in THick
hw as in WHich        v  as in Valley
j  as in Jam          w  as in Witch
k  as in Keep         y  as in Yoyo
l  as in Love         z  as in Zebra
m  as in Mouse        zh as in meaSure

Mârshen vowels, on the other hand, are a bit messy.

a  as in bAt, fAng, mArry      â  as in grAss, fAther, mArs
   unstressed: lavA, llamA     å  as in wAtch, bOx, bOrrow
ai as in bIte, fIre
au as in shOUt, sOUr
e  as in bEt, pEnguin, vEry    ê  as in bAIt, bEAr, vAry
   unstressed: Alive, sofA     ë  as in fUR, fURry
i  as in bIt, rIng, vIrulent   î  as in bEEt, bEArd, wEAry
   unstressed: rEfer, citY
o  as in bOss, wrOng, Orange   ô  as in bOUght, wALk, shOre
   unstressed: Obey, echO      õ  as in bUt, tOngue, wOrry
oi as in bOY, cOIn
ou as in bOAt, gOld, shOW
u  as in pUt, fUll, fOOt       û  as in bOOt, tOUr
   unstressed: hindU, voodOO   ü  as in fEW, nEW, pUre

Not all the vowels written the same sound alike in all dialects, and not
all the vowels that sound alike are written the same. Diacritics are
omitted on a number of common words. A few words, such as "tomaeto" and
"ziebra", have irregular combinations of vowels reflecting a variation in
pronunciation (/t@'meto/ vs. /t@'mAto/, /'zibr@/ vs. /'zEbr@/).

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