Initial Teaching Alphabet (Pitmanita)

See Initial Teaching Alphabet in Wikipedia.

To see this page correctly you must have installed the Pitmanita font. If the font is installed á looks File:Half-hook a.png. If the font is not installed see Initial Teaching Alphabet.

## Example

Example using the i.t.a. alphabet
File:Ita example.png

Example using the Pitmatita font
The following text should be identical to the image above.

Tradišonally wun ov ðe fiûst tásks ov ðe infant scôl wož tõ téç çildren tõ réd.
It iž still, kwít rítly, a mæjor preoccúpæšon, sins rédiñ iž a ké tõ muç ov ðe leûning ðat will cum læteû.

## Alternative versions

i.t.a. has alternative versions. For example *i.t.a. Correspondence Course* prefers "ks" for "x", and other references prefer "cs" (possibly because the transition form "cs" to "x" will be easier). In this article we use the recommendations of *i.t.a. Correspondence Course*.

## Consonants

Double consonants mean exactly the same as single consonants. The same is valid for "ck", "tç", "dj", "dý" and "ûr".

## Vowels

### Non-rhotic vowels

**cute** is a new lexical set, with the sequence /juː/.

**goose** is a new lexical set, with /uː/ not preceded by /j/.

GOOSE = **goose** + **cute**

### Rhotic vowels

In this section there are many digraphs and trigraphs which are indicated with asterisks.

(\*) Digraph or trigraph

(\*\*)

* Exceptionally "or" and "orr" are not digraphs/trigraphs.

* General American and other American dialects, in these four words: sorry, sorrœ, borrœ, tomorrœ.
* Received pronunciation: in words like torrid, forest, forein (including sorry, sorrœ, borrœ, tomorrœ). See Pronunciation exercises: \ɒrV\ vs \ɔːrV\.

* õr is a digraph only in dialects where tourist and guru have different initial vowels.

* Exceptionally ór is not a digraph in dóry (t.o. "dowry").

* ír is not a digraph in words like spíral, vírus.

**cure** is a new lexical set, with the sequence /jʊə/.

**poor** is a new lexical set, with /ʊə/ not preceded by /j/.

CURE = **poor** + **cure**

### Non-rhotic vowels followed by /r/

In these cases the vowel sounds with its normal sound, at least in Received Pronunciation. In General American there are exceptions for a, o and u (Mary-marry-merry merger, ɒr-ɔːr merger, and hurry-furry merger). These exceptions must be considered digraphs or trigraphs.

## r vs û

In i.t.a. in Received Pronunciation û  and r (and ûr and rr) are silent unless they are followed by a vowel. Below we can see all valid combinations of a vowel followed by r or û.

## Suffixes

Words ending in "-ure" in traditional orthography are spelled with -úr in i.t.a.

Words ending in "-ion" in traditional orthography drop the "i". Other suffixes keep it.

## The BATH lexical set

The "half-hook a" is an "a" with a big loop and a small hook (á). This letter was added to i.t.a to account for the BATH lexical set, which is pronounced /ɑː,*BrE* æ*AmE*/.

á  is used in print in words like báþ  or ásk. Children and teachers are supposed to write bàþ, àsk or baþ, ask according to their accent.

### BATH in American i.t.a.

The [American] Initial Teaching Alphabet Foundation doesn't use the i.t.a. symbol á. This means that their books are not useful in the UK or Australia (which doesn't matter, because i.t.a currently is used only in the United States) and also, that some American children will have problems.

## The CLOTH lexical set

i.t.a. added á  to be compatible across accents.

A similar situation happens with the CLOTH lexical set, pronounced /ɒ,*BrE* ɔː*AmE*/. The lack of special character is not problematic for several reasons:

* Apparently there are no minimal pairs between CLOTH and LOT.
* Words pronounced with /ɒ/ in Received Pronunciation and /ɔː/ in the United States can be divided in more than one set. Below we put some examples taken from Oxford Learner's Advanced Dictionary.

* /ɔː/: belong, cloth, cost, cough, cross, dog, froth, gone, moth, soft, song, strong, wrong
* /ɔː, ɑː/: across, albatross, alcohol, along, boss, catalogue, coffee, donkey, floss, fog, frog, furlong, loft, log, long, loss, lost, oblong, off, offer, office, often, quarrel, toss, warranty
* /ɑː, ɔː/: broth, chocolate, diphthong, golf, gong, on, onset, ostrich, resolve, solve, squash, upon, wash
* /ɒ/ as an innovation in Received Pronunciation:

* /ɒ*BrE*, ɔː*AmE*/: austerity, Australia, Austria, cauliflower, because, sausage
* /ɔː,*BrE* ɒ*BrE*, ɔː*AmE*/: auction, hydraulic, salt

We don't want to add five new letters for these five sets.
* In the United States the Cot-caught merger is very common, and in that accent LOT and CLOTH are pronounced with the same vowel, /ɑː/.
* All or almost all the words in the different CLOTH sets are spelled with "o" in t.o. and also with "o" in i.t.a.

The only problem generated by the lack of CLOTH vowel is the /ɒrV-ɔːrV/ split. The i.t.a. sequence "or" as in forest is o+r in Received Pronunciation and â+r or a clipped version of œ+r in General American. Therefore, the children being taught i.t.a. in American English must know an exception, which is that or actually sounds âr or œr  (with the exception of sorry, sorrœ, borrœ, and tomorrœ, which have a regular pronunciation).

An alternative would be to have another letter (e.g. ø to spell førest). In this case or could be used for sorry. We even could use ø for all of the CLOTH lexical set (assuming we can agree on one).

### CLOTH in current American i.t.a.

The [American] Initial Teaching Alphabet Foundation uses o for octopus and à for ostrich. Since ostrich is in the CLOTH lexical set it seems the current i.t.a. Foundation decided to make their materials adapted for a subset of the American population.

## The FORCE lexical set

i.t.a. can manage the FORCE lexical set very easily: fœrs, stœry, fœr, ov cœrs. However in Winny ðe magpie we see the spelling story. Similarly, in the cover of Storiž about Jéžus ðe helpeû we see Storiž  instead of Stœriž.
In *Indian tô fét and his hors* "of course" is spelled ov cors instead of ov cœrs.

### FORCE in current American i.t.a.

The [American] Initial Teaching Alphabet Foundation shows a student that uses œr for the FORCE lexical set, as suggested above.

## National spellings

If i.t.a. were used in just one country (as it is now, because it is used only in the United States) it could be adapted to the local pronunciation. For a global alphabet this is absurd, because i.t.a. was modified (adding á) specially to accommodate for different accents.

The following national adaptations could be done. However accents are not uniform in all of the same country, so there is some risk of alienating even a minority of the local population.

### Variant words

Some words don't follow a pattern, just like currently we have "carburettor" and "carburetor" (càrburettor and càrburætor in i.t.a).
The following words either have different spellings in Received Pronunciation and General American, or a compromise spelling must be selected. See also American vocabulary vs. British vocabulary § Variant words.

(\*)Since in i.t.a. or sounds /ɔː(r)/, there is no independent to represent /ɒr/. Here we propose orr and o·r. A better solution would be that oû sounds /ɔː(r)/. In that hypothetical case we would have the following table.

## Redundant symbols

Several symbols are redundant, and the one preferred is the most similar to traditional spelling.

### Homophones

Homophones
 chilly | çilly
 their, there | ðær | they're | ðæ'r(\*)

(\*) speculation. Maybe they're is spelled ðær in i.t.a.

## Contextual or ambiguous symbols

Several symbols have a different meaning depending on the context

* i

Stressed it is /ɪ/: kit
Unstressed it is /i/ or /ɪ/ (the happY vowel): taxi, matérial
It can be /j/: opinion
* y

Before a vowel it is /j/: yes, biyond
Stressed it is /ɪ/: myþ
Unstressed it is /i/ or /ɪ/ (the happY vowel): copy, polynœmial
Note that "polyandrous" (t.o.) either is ambiguous (polyandros = /pɒliːˈændrəs/ or /pɒlˈjændrəs/) or it must be written "poliandros").

In the following cases V is any vowel.

* arV, arrV

In General American "a" is /æ/ and "arr" and "ar" are /eə/, as in "carry", "charity"
* erV, errV

In General American "e" is /e/ and "err" and "er" are /eə/, as in "cherry", "very"
* irV, irrV

In General American "i" is /ɪ/ and "irr" and "ir" can be /ɪə/, as in "mirror", "spirit"
* orV

Normally it is /ɔː/: glory
It can be /ɒ,*BrE* ɔː*AmE*/: forist
* orrV

Normally it is /ɒ,*BrE* ɔː*AmE*/: corridor, torrid
It can be /ɒ,*BrE* ɑː*AmE*/ in these four words: sorry, sorrœ, borrow, tomorrœ
It is /ɔː/ in -ing forms: abhorriñ  (this word probably was never printed in i.t.a.)
* urV, urrV

In General American "u" is /ʌ/ and "ʌrr" and "ur" are /ɜː/, as in "hurry", "curij".
### Heteronyms

Unfortunately there are heteronyms in i.t.a. because the stress is not represented.

## Number of symbols

It is usually said that i.t.a. has 45 symbols, 24 letters of the alphabet and several special symbols and ligatures:

* 24 letters of the alphabet: a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, r, s, t, u, v, w, y, z
* 8 special symbols: á, à, õ, ô, ñ, û, ž, ý
* 13 ligatures: æ, é, í, œ, ú, â, ò, ó, ç, š, þ, ð, ù

In addition i.t.a. has several digraphs and trigraphs

* Several vowels followed by the symbol û ("r" with left tail)
* The combinations dj, dʒ, ck, ûr and tç
* The double letters of traditional orthography: bb, cc, dd, ff, gg, ll, mm, nn, pp, rr, ss, žž, tt, zz
* Double letters used very seldom in traditional orthography: kk, vv

The "e" of "teяm" /ɜː/ is different from the "e" of "çeriš" /e/. This means that "eû" must be considered a digraph, and not two symbols. The same is valid for iû and uû. In the spirit of i.t.a. these digraphs could have been ligatures, and the "tail" that is part of the û symbol easily blends with the previous letter. However, since û was added later to i.t.a., probably it was thought it would be easier to ad one symbol instead of three ligatures.

Similarly the "o" of "north" /ɔː/ is different from the "o" of lot /ɒ,*BrE* ɑː*AmE*/, and the "o" of forest /ɒ,*BrE* ɔː*AmE*/. Therefore "or" should be considered a digraph.
Since "or" is a digraph, we need to explicitly say that in Received Pronunciation "orr" is normally /ɒr/, as in "torrid". This means that "orr" is a trigraph.

* 12 rhotic digraphs and trigraphs: eû, iû, or, orr, uû, õr, yû, ær, ér, ír, úr, ór

In the case of "àr" and "âr" (start, dinosâr) the vowel sound is the same as "à" and "â" (fàðeû, dâteû), and therefore it is not necessary to consider these as digraphs.

Additionally, children may use "œr" when i.t.a. prefers "or".

### Conclusion

i.t.a. has 61 symbols, digraphs and trigraphs

* 24 letters of the alphabet
* 8 special symbols
* 13 ligatures
* 12 rhotic digraphs and trigraphs
* 5 consonantal digraphs and trigraphs

The total is 76 if we add the double letters (78 with "kk" and "vv"). And we didn't count, œr, the optional digraph for children.

## Number of sounds

Sometimes it is said that i.t.a has 44 symbols for 44 sounds. This count excludes the half-hook a (á).

The following sections show the sounds supported by i.t.a.

### Consonants

(\*) /ʍ/ is normally merged with /w/

i.t.a. supports 25 consonants, but /ʍ/ is not present in most English dialects.

### Vowels in Received Pronunciation

The total number is 21, but we must subtract /juː/ and /jʊə/, because /j/ is a separate symbol, already counted as a consonant.

### Vowels in General American

The total number is 19, but we must subtract /(j)uː/ and /(j)ʊr/, because /j/ is a separate symbol, already counted as a consonant.

### Conclusion

i.t.a. supports 25 consonants, 21 British vowels and á, a vowel for compatibility. In total i.t.a. supports 47 sounds, and it does not have a special symbol for /ə/.

## Comma gets a cúr

### Standard i.t.a. spelling

Well, hér’ž a story for yô: Sara Perry wož a veterinary nuûs hô had bén wuûkiñ dæly at an œld zô in a dežeûted district ov ðe territory, sœ šé wož very happy tõ stàrt a nú job at a súpeûb prívit practis in Norþ Skwær nér ðe Dúk Strét Tóeû. Ðat æria wož muç néreû for heû and mor tõ heû líkiñ. Éven sœ, on heû fiûst morniñ, šé felt stresst. Šé ate a bœl ov porridý, çeckt heûself in ðe mirror and wošt heû fæs in a hurry. Ðen šé põt on a plæn yelœ dress and a flés jacket, pickt up heû kit and heded for wuûk.

Ùen šé got ðær, ðær wož a wõman wið a gôs wætiñ for heû. Ðe wõman gæv Sara an offišial letteû from ðe vet. Ðe letteû implíd ðat ði animal cõd bi suffeûiñ from a rær form ov fõt and móþ dižéž, ùiç wož suûprížiñ, becož normally yô wõd œnly ekspect tõ sé it in a dog or a gœt. Sara wož sentimental, sœ ðis mæd heû fél sorry for ðe bútiful biûd.

Befor loñ, ðat itçy gôs began tõ strut arónd ði offis lík a lônatic, ùiç mæd an unsanitary mess. Ðe gôs’ž œneû, Mæry Harrison, kept câliñ, “Comma, Comma”, ùiç Sara þât wož an odd çòs for a næm. Comma wož stroñ and húj, sœ it wõd tæk sum fors tõ trap heû, but Sara had a different ídéa. Fiûst šé tríd jently strœkiñ ðe gôs’ž lœeû back wið heû pàm, ðen siñiñ a tún tõ heû. Fínally, šé administeûd éþeû. Heû efforts weû not fútile. In nœ tím, ðe gôs began tõ tír, sœ Sara wož æbl tõ hœld ontõ Comma and giv heû a relaksiñ báþ.

Wuns Sara had manijd tõ bæð ðe gôs, šé wípt heû off wið a cloþ and læd heû on heû rít síd. Ðen Sara confiûmd ðe vet’s díagnœsis. Âlmœst immédiatly, šé remembeûd an effectiv trétment ðat rekwírd heû tõ meýuû ót a lot ov medisin. Sara wornd ðat ðis cors ov trétment mít bi ekspensiv-éðeû fív or siks tímž ðe cost ov penisilin. Í cán’t imajin pæiñ sœ muç, but Mrs. Harrison-a millyonær lâyeû-þât it wož a fær prís for a cúr.

*Comma gets a cúr* and derivativ wuûks mæ bi úžd frély for eny puûpos wiðót spešial peûmišion províded ðe prežent sentens and ðe follœiñ copirít nœtificæšon accumpany ðe passij in print, if réprodúst in print, and in âdiœ format in ðe cæs ov a sónd recordiñ: Copyright 2000 Douglas N. Honorof, Jill McCullough & Barbara Somerville. {Âl ríts režeûvd.

### i.t.a. with a Received Pronunciation accent

In i.t.a. children can spell according to their accent. Here we show a text the way it could look if produced by a child who speaks with a Received Pronunciation accent (or, equivalently, with Estuary English accent).

Wel, hér’z a stâry fâr ú: Sareû Pery woz a vetrinery nuûs hô had bén wuûkiñ dæly at an œld zô in a dizuûtid distrikt ov ðe teretry, sœ šé woz very hapy tõ stàt a nú job at a súpuûb prívit praktis in Nâþ Skwær nér ðe Dúk Strét Tóeû. Ðat æréeû woz muç néreû fâr huû and mâr tõ huû líkiñ. Éven sœ, on huû fuûst mâniñ, šé felt stresst. Šé et a bœl ov porij, çeckt huûself in ðe mireû and wošt huû fæs in a hury. Ðen šé põt on a plæn yelœ dres and a flés jakit, pikt up huû kit and hedid fâr wuûk.

Wen šé got ðær, ðær woz a wõmen wið a gôs wætiñ fâr huû. Ðe wõmen gæv Sareû an efišel leteû from ðe vet. Ðe leteû implíd ðat ði animel cõd bi sufeûiñ from a rær fâm ov fõt and móþ dizéz, wiç woz seûpríziñ, bicoz nâmely ú wõd œnly ikspekt tõ sé it in a dog or a gœt. Sareû woz sentimentel, sœ ðis mæd huû fél sory fâr ðe bútifel buûd.

Befâr loñ, ðat itçy gôs bigan tõ strut arónd ði ofis lík a lônetik, wiç mæd an unsanetry mes. Ðe gôs’z œneû, Mæry Harisen, kept câliñ, “Comeû, Comeû”, wiç Sareû þât woz an od çòs fâr a næm. Comeû woz stroñ and húj, sœ it wõd tæk sum fâs tõ trap huû, but Sareû had a difrent ídéeû. Fuûst šé tríd jentely strœkiñ ðe gôs’z lœeû bak wið huû pàm, ðen siñiñ a tún tõ huû. Fínely, šé edministeûd éþeû. Huû efets wuû not fútíl. In nœ tím, ðe gôs bigan tõ tír, sœ Sareû woz æbel tõ hœld ontõ Comeû and giv huû a rilaksiñ bàþ.

Wuns Sareû had manijd tõ bæð ðe gôs, šé wípt huû of wið a cloþ and læd huû on huû rít síd. Ðen Sareû confuûmd ðe vet’s díagnœsis. Âlmœst imédéetly, šé rimembeûd an ifectiv trétment ðat rikwírd huû tõ meýuû ót a lot ov medsen. Sareû wornd ðat ðis câs ov trétment mít bi ikspensiv-éðeû fív or siks tímz ðe cost ov penisilin. Í càn’t imajin pæiñ sœ muç, but Mrs. Harisen-a milúnær lâyeû-þât it woz a fær prís fâr a cúr.

*Comeû gets a cúr* and dirivativ wuûks mæ bi úzd frély fâr eny puûpes wiðót spešel peûmišen prevídid ðe prezent sentens and ðe folœiñ copirít nœtificæšen ecumpeny ðe pasij in print, if répredúst in print, and in âdéœ fâmat in ðe cæs ov a sónd ricâdiñ: Copyright 2000 Douglas N. Honorof, Jill McCullough & Barbara Somerville. Âl ríts rizuûvd.

### i.t.a. with a General American accent

Here we show a text the way it could look if produced by a child who speaks with a General American accent.

Wel, hér’z a story for ú: Sara Pæry wuz a veterenæry nuûs hô had bin wuûkiñ dæly at an œld zô in a dizuûtid distrikt uv ðe tæretory, sœ šé wuz væry hapy tõ stàrt a nú job at a súpuûb prívit praktis in Norþ Skwær nér ðe Dúk Strét Tóeû. Ðat æréa wuz muç néreû for huû and mor tõ huû líkiñ. Éven sœ, on huû fuûst morniñ, šé felt stresst. Šé æt a bœl uv porij, çeckt huûself in ðe méreû and wošt huû fæs in a huûy. Ðen šé põt on a plæn yelœ dres and a flés jakit, pikt up huû kit and hedid for wuûk.

Wen šé got ðær, ðær wuz a wõmen wið a gôs wætiñ for huû. Ðe wõmen gæv Sara an efišel leteû frum ðe vet. Ðe leteû implíd ðat ði animel cõd bi sufeûiñ frum a rær form uv fõt and móþ dizéz, wiç wuz seûpríziñ, bicâz normely ú wõd œnly ikspekt tõ sé it in a dâg or a gœt. Sara wuz sentimentel, sœ ðis mæd huû fél sàry for ðe bútifel buûd.

Befor loñ, ðat itçy gôs bigan tõ strut arónd ði âfis lík a lônetik, wiç mæd an unsanetæry mes. Ðe gôs’z œneû, Mæry Harisen, kept câliñ, “Coma, Coma”, wiç Sara þât wuz an od çòs for a næm. Coma wuz strâñ and húj, sœ it wõd tæk sum fors tõ trap huû, but Sara had a difrent ídéa. Fuûst šé tríd jentely strœkiñ ðe gôs’z lœeû bak wið huû pom, ðen siñiñ a tún tõ huû. Fínely, šé edministeûd éþeû. Huû efeûts wuû not fútel. In nœ tím, ðe gôs bigan tõ tír, sœ Sara wuz æbel tõ hœld ontõ Coma and giv huû a rilaksiñ baþ.

Wuns Sara had manijd tõ bæð ðe gôs, šé wípt huû âf wið a clâþ and læd huû on huû rít síd. Ðen Sara confuûmd ðe vet’s díagnœsis. Âlmœst imédéetly, šé rimembeûd an ifectiv trétment ðat rikwírd huû tõ meýuû ót a lot uv medesen. Sara wornd ðat ðis cors uv trétment mít bi ikspensiv-éðeû fív or siks tímz ðe câst uv penisilin. Í can’t imajin pæiñ sœ muç, but Mrs. Harisen-a milúnær lâyeû-þât it wuz a fær prís for a cúr.

*Coma gets a cúr* and dirivativ wuûks mæ bi úzd frély for eny puûpes wiðót spešel peûmišen prevídid ðe prezent sentens and ðe folœiñ copérít nœtificæšen ecumpeny ðe pasij in print, if répredúst in print, and in âdéœ format in ðe cæs uv a sónd ricordiñ: Copyright 2000 Douglas N. Honorof, Jill McCullough & Barbara Somerville. Âl ríts rizuûvd.

### Original version

“Ðis feðeû will not lie doun!” cried Winny ðe magpie tõ heû frend Sylvia, ðe robin.
“I hav tried tõ keep it flat.”
just ðen Winny spíd a spottid cat.
Ðe cat was scratçing its toe-nælž on a garden hœ.
Winny nú ðis cat was heû foe.
But Winny cried, “ðe cat cán’t creep up to ðis soft nest ov dried twigž!"

Fínd and copy from ðe story
was

wuûdž with **ie** or **oe** in ðem

Næm and copy ðe pictúrž
Hav yô seen a magpie? Ûít abót it.

### Regularized version

“Ðis feðeû will not lí doun!” críd Winny ðe magpí tõ heû frend Sylvia, ðe robin.
“Í hav tríd tõ kép it flat.”
Just ðen Winny spíd a spotted cat.
Ðe cat wož scratçing its tœ-nælž on a gàrden hœ.
Winny nú ðis cat wož heû foe.
But Winny críd, “ðe cat cán’t crép up to ðis soft nest ov dríd twigž!"

Fínd and copy from ðe story
wož

wuûdž with **í** or **œ** in ðem

Næm and copy ðe pictúrž
Hav yô sén a magpie? Ûít abót it.

## References

i.t.a. Correspondence Course, Instructional Course for Teachers on the Initial Teaching Alphabet, 1966. Available in ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), i.t.a. Correspondence Course, Instructional Course for Teachers on the Initial Teaching Alphabet.

1. ↑ Lars Törnqvist, PItman's Initial Teaching Alphabet, select "Pitmanita font package".
2. ↑ *i.t.a. Correspondence Course*, p. 52 of the PDF, p. 59 of the document.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 *The principles of spelling in i.t.a.*, page dj dʒ. Posted by InitialTeachingAlphabet in Facebook. The principles of spelling in i.t.a. dj dʒ. This is the same reference as *i.t.a. Correspondence Course*, page 52 of the PDF, page 59 in the document.
4. ↑ *The principles of spelling in i.t.a.*, page r я. Posted by InitialTeachingAlphabet in Facebook. The principles of spelling in i.t.a. r я. This is the same reference as *i.t.a. Correspondence Course*, page 51 of the PDF, page 58 in the document.
5. ↑ '*i.t.a. Correspondence Course*, p. 51 of the PDF, item (7).
6. ↑ '*i.t.a. Correspondence Course*, p. 53 of the PDF, item (16).
7. ↑ *i.t.a. Correspondence Course,* p. 42.
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 [American] Initial Teaching Alphabet Foundation, The i.t.a. Chart.
9. ↑ Wikipedia, Pronunciation of English ⟨a⟩ § TRAP-BATH split - North American accents.
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Winnie the magpie, Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, available in Gallery.
11. ↑ The Wee Web, Ladybird ITA Books
12. ↑ *{{{I}}}ndian tຜ fϵϵt and his hors*. Posted by InitialTeachingAlphabet in Facebook. *{{{I}}}ndian tຜ fϵϵt and his hors*, page 15.
13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 YouTube, Introduction to the Initial Teaching Alphabet(i.t.a.), @9 min 2 sec. Linked from What is i.t.a.? in i.t.a. Foundation website.

## External links

* Encyclopedia.com, Initial Teaching Alphabet, 1998.
* BBC News, Educashunal lunacie or wizdom?, 5 September 2001.
* Eye Magazine, The Initial Teaching Alphabet, Spring 2005.
* Initial Teaching Alphabet Foundation
* Christopher Jolly, *Remedial teaching of reading: a trial with reformed spellings*, in Spelcon 2008 - The Cost of English Spelling.
* workbõk tõ accompany bõk 5. Cover and two pages available in imgur, How I learned to read or why I can't spell!
* Wordtree, Synthetic phonics and ITA.