Memory System Rules

The Phonetic Peg Memory System is based on the phonetic sounds produced by words and phrases. The advantage of the system is that no spelling ability is required. As a result, however, an ability to “hear” the sounds produced by a word and convert those sounds to numbers is required. Fortunately, this ability can be acquired with a little practice. The following number-letter code should be committed to memory.

For some tips on remembering these combinations, see Introduction. All of the vowel sounds (A, E, I, O, and U) are ignored. In addition the sounds created by the letters W, H, and Y are also ignored, or almost ignored. The exception is when an “h” follows a “c,” a “t,” or an “s.” These combinations — ch, th, and sh — are known as digraphs, and they produce a single phonetic sound. As shown in the chart above, the ch and sh digraphs are equivalent to the “J” sound, and the th digraph is equivalent to the “T” sound.

Another digraph — the dg combination — also produces the J sound. For example, the pronunciation of edge in a standard desktop dictionary is simply ‚ej.

The Hard Sounds and the Soft Sounds

The letters c and g take on one of two values depending upon whether the usage produces the hard sound or the soft sound of the letter. The hard sounds for both the c and the g produce a K sound. The soft c sound produces an S sound, and the soft g sound produces a J sound.

For example, the first c in circus is a soft c sound, whereas the second c is a hard c sound. Thus, the first c has a value of 0, and the second c has a value of 7. This is easy to see from the dictionary pronunciation of the word — ‚s„r-k„s.    

Likewise, the first g in garage is a hard g sound, whereas the second g is a soft g sound. Thus, the first g has the value of 7 and the second g has the value of 6. The dictionary pronunciation also clearly illustrates this conversion — g„-‚räj.

The -ture Ending

The beauty of The Phonetic Peg System is that almost every phonetic sound can be clearly placed into one of the ten categories of consonant sounds listed above. However, the editors of The Number Thesaurus have identified a particular letter combination —  -ture — that is subject to multiple interpretations. Take the word temperature, for example. A standard desktop dictionary offers four variant pronunciations of the word:

In addition, the parentheses indicate that whatever appears between them is present in some speakers’ pronunciations of the word but not in others. So, there could be as many as eight pronunciations of the word.

If the word temperature were written phonetically, the eight pronunciations and their numerical conversions might appear as follows:

Fortunately, the word temperature probably represents the maximum number of pronunciations of a word with a –ture ending. Some additional words ending with –ture and their pronunciations include:

In each of the four cases immediately above, the dictionary offers no alternative pronunciations. So, despite the presence of a t in each word, the dictionary pronunciation does not indicate that a T sound is present in any of the four words.

But the word mature has three variant pronunciations, with the T sound being preferred over the ch sound.

Thus, the editors of The Number Thesaurus were presented with a dilemma with respect to words ending in –ture. The alternatives appeared to be: (1) Look up the pronunciation of every word with a -ture ending and select the first pronunciation from the list, if more than one pronunciation were given; (2) choose the t sound or the ch sound, and treat all words ending in –ture the same.

The editors chose the second alternative — and selected the ch sound over the t sound — for the following reasons. First, despite the fact that the system is based on sounds rather than spelling, there appears to be an advantage to treating identical spellings in a consistent manner in this particular situation. For example, in a situation where a user originally selected mature as a numerical equivalent for 364, he or she will not be left wondering whether -tr is the primary pronunciation or whether -chr is the primary pronunciation when it is time to convert mature back into a number. Second, the ch sound was chosen by the editors over the t sound because in every instance of a word containing –ture found by the editors, the choice of pronunciations always included the ch sound. However, in many words with the –ture ending, the only choice was the -ch„r sound. Thus, it appears to the editors that -chr is the preferred pronunciation for the –ture ending.

Preferred Pronunciations

The word temperature also illustrates another rule in addition to the rule for –ture. For example, the preferred pronunciation of temperature appears to be either ‚tem-p„-ƒchr  or ‚tem-p„r-ƒchr because the first pronunciation listed in the dictionary is ‚tem-p„(r)-ƒchr. It is the (r) designation that creates the uncertainty for the editors of The Number Thesaurus. Should the number 13964 (‚tem-p„-ƒchr ) be assigned to temperature, or should the number 139464 (‚tem-p„r-ƒchr) be assigned to temperature as a result of the alternative pronunciation produced by the (r)?

The editors of The Number Thesaurus have resolved the dilemma with the following rule: Unless a letter is clearly silent (k in knee), then The Number Thesaurus will treat the letter as a significant consonant sound. Thus, temperature is listed in The Number Thesaurus as 139464.

Double Letter Sounds

An obvious corollary to the rule that The Phonetic Peg Memory System is based on sounds rather than spelling is that double letters produce only one sound, and therefore they convert to only one number. The table below illustrates the rule.

There are exceptions to most rules, and there is an exception to the double-letter rule. When the set of double letters produces two sounds, the numerical conversion should account for both sounds. The letter c will frequently produce two sounds — a K sound with the first c and an s sound with the second c, as in accident. The table below illustrates the conversion of words containing the cc combination.

The -ng Suffix

The Number Thesaurus converts the suffix –ng to the number 27 (2 = N and 7 = the hard g sound). It seems to the editors of The Number Thesaurus that no further discussion is necessary. However, there appears to be a school of thought that believes the proper conversion for the –ng suffix is only the number 2.

Because the editors cannot locate any documentation for this position, they are left to infer a reason based upon the treatment of the letter combinations of th, sh, ch, and dg discussed above. These digraphs produce a single sound, and The Phonetic Peg Memory System assigns those sounds to a single digit (1 = the th sound; 6 = the sh, ch, and dg sounds). It appears that in some interpretations of the rules of The Phonetic Peg Memory System, the –ng suffix is also treated as a digraph, which by definition produces only one sound. The proponents of the single-sound theory have apparently concluded that the N sound prevails over the G sound, and thus they assign the number 42 to the word ring, for example. The Number Thesaurus assigns the number 427 to the word ring.

The editors of The Number Thesaurus believe the preferred treatment is simply to ignore the digraph status for –ng (if, in fact, it is actually a digraph) and handle the two-letter combination as producing two distinct sounds — the N sound and the hard g sound.              

The “X” Factor

Thus far, the rules of The Phonetic Peg Memory System have accounted for 25 of the 26 letters in the alphabet. The letter “X” is a special case. It can produce three different sounds – and therefore three different numbers – depending upon its usage.

(1)   As used in the word complex, the x creates the sounds of a “K” and an “S” (‚käm-ƒpleks). Thus, the x in complex converts to the two-digit number 70 (k = 7 and s = 0).

(2)   As used in the word complexion, the x creates the sound of a “K” and the sound created by sh (k„m-‚plek-sh„n). Thus, the x in complexion converts to the number 76 (k = 7 and j (or sh) = 6).

(3)   As used in the word xylophone, the x creates the sound of a Z (‚zˆ-l„-ƒf‹n). Thus, the x in xylophone converts to the number 0 (z = 0).

And finally, as a test, what is the numerical equivalent for the famous copier company, Xerox?

 Answer: 0470.

Enjoy The Number Thesaurus!