We dey build new computer system from ground up, wey everybody fit use. Every thing inside am, whether na person, shared space or piece of work, get name wey be long number wey nobody fit ever talk. So each one also get short spoken name, few simple syllables wey you fit read give person for phone for another country. Dat one go work only if di syllables sound different to everybody, no matter which language dem grow up with. Dis test na how we go find out which ones dey do so.
Each section below fit stand by itself. Open di ones wey you like.
For di system wey we dey build, every thing get one long, exact name: number wey dem work out from di thing own content, wey long pass for anybody to talk. So every thing also get koan, short way to talk dat name with mouth. We go take di start of di number, turn each piece of am to one of 64 simple syllables, and talk dem. Few syllables dey enough to name person. Four dey name shared space. Up to eight dey name one single thing. Di length dey tell you which kind thing you dey hear.
Koan na just way to talk di number. Two people wey pronounce am different, or use different sets of syllables, still mean di same number. To talk am different no dey change di thing itself ever. Na dat one make am possible for us to change di syllables later, if testing show say we choose wrong, without disturbing anything wey dem don already name.
Two sets of syllables dey wey we dey consider. set A dey use eight consonants (k t p m n s l w), di four vowels a e i u, and optional “ng” ending. set B dey use di same consonants, di vowels a o i u, and optional “n” ending. Eight consonants times four vowels times two endings na 64 for both. Di two sets differ for exactly di places wey we no sure say people fit hear: e against i, o against u, a against o, i against u, and n against ng.
Di first version of di alphabet get both r and l. For several billion people, including people wey dey speak Japanese, Korean and plenty languages for China, r and l na one sound, so half of di alphabet go collapse enter di other half. We learn dat one from paper study, wey score written spellings wey 55 computer voices read out and no use even one human ear. Di person wey start dis thing know am from experience.
Some pairs of sounds hard to tell apart for some languages and easy for others. Spanish speakers dey often hear v and b as one sound, and plenty of Latin America dey hear s and z as one. For Japanese, Finnish and Tamil, how long vowel be dey change di word, so stretched vowel fit survive bad phone line or e no fit. e and i, or o and u, dey blur for plenty accents. Nobody fit know which pairs matter from im own language alone, so we dey ask people from many.
Di aim simple: pick di 64 syllables wey pass number of people, for pass number of languages, for di worst phone line, still fit tell apart.
Earlier version of dis test (one voice, only English speakers, 10 people, 330 answers) find say dem never confuse r and l: 0 wrong out of 30. Na exactly wetin you go expect from English listeners, and e no tell us anything about di people wey we build di test for. e against i wrong 7 times out of 30, p against k 8 out of 30, and v against b 8 out of 30. Those na all small numbers and fit be chance.
Live numbers dey for di results page.
You go hear one syllable, and two spellings go show. You pick di one wey you hear. Each pair of sounds go show two times, for different syllables, and di two buttons dey swap sides at random, so if you dey always press di left one e no go look like good hearing. Dem be 28 questions.
Di voices wey already dey inside your browser dey speak di sounds, and di test dey change between all of dem. We dey record di voice name with each answer, because computer voice dey read spelling im own way: mistake na partly your ear and partly di voice. Many different voices, wey many different people hear, help us separate di two. So see your score as hint, no be judgement. Nothing here dey judge you: you be di measuring instrument, no be di thing wey dem dey measure.
For di end you go see your score for each pair next to everybody own, and next to people wey share your first language once dem plenty reach. You also go get your own koan: random one, wey dem make for your browser right there and show for both sets of syllables. Dem no save am or send am anywhere. We no dey translate di syllables and spellings, because na dem be di test; na only di words around dem we translate.
Wetin we keep for each answer: di syllable wey dem play, di other choice, di one wey you pick, which pair of sounds dem dey test, di voice (im name and language), di time, di language wey dem show dis page with, and random code wey dem make for your browser wey dey tie one person answers together. Wetin we keep once for each visit, only if you type am: your first language(s), other languages, and country or region, just as you write am. Your name na separate choice for di end.
Wetin di test no dey keep: your IP address, your device or browser details, any cookie, any account. We no dey look where di request come from. Di company wey dey host di page, Cloudflare, dey keep dia own standard logs, wey we no dey read and wey we no fit control.
How we dey use am: to decide which syllables go enter di spoken alphabet, and to publish wetin we find. Everything dey open. Di tables and spreadsheet of every answer (CSV) na public. Di spreadsheet get di language and region text wey you type, di voice, di answers, and di random code for your visit, and e no ever get name. Abeg no type anything for those boxes wey you no go like make people see.
For di end you go choose. Stay anonymous na di default: we go count you, we no go call your name. Or credit me as name or handle wey you choose, wey go show for di credits page. We dey keep di name separate from your answers and e no dey for di public spreadsheet. We no dey check names. Dem go refuse ones wey get links or code inside, and we go remove any wey be abusive.
Dis na small part of bigger piece of work, and everybody wey help go get dia name as credit if dem want.
Dis site dey for 24 languages so that people wey no read English fit join. Machine translate di words around di test and native speaker never check dem yet. Every translated page talk so. If you read any of dis languages, abeg use “Suggest a fix”: we go save your wording make person review am and we no dey apply am by itself. You fit get credit for am, or stay anonymous.