In some instances the script is unique to the language. In most instances a script is shared between multiple languages (albeit with some modifications). Historically languages have stayed with their original scripts. However there are instances where a language uses more than one script e.g. Serbian which uses Cyrillic and Latin, Konkani uses 5 scripts Devanagari, Kannada, Malayalam, Persian, and Roman. Scripts have been replaced too. Hungarian has adopted 3 different scripts through history. Turkey changed from Arabic to a modified Latin script in 1929.

Let us be absolutely clear about our philosophy. At Ekalipi we absolutely love the diversity of the world's languages. We do find it important to distinguish between the language and the tool, namely the script that is used for communicating the intent.

Even within Latin, there is a large variation in the number of characters in the alphabet and the sound(s) represented by each character. The numbers range from 26 in English to 44 in Turkish and many in between.

There are only 15 characters that are not in the English alphabet. The 24 "English" characters represent the most common root sound of the character as they are used in English. We estimate that it will take 1-2 hours for a person familiar with a phonetic script to be proficient in this script. For a person not familiar with a phonetic script we estimate that it will take about 3-4 hours. Compare this investment to the lifetime benefits that you receive. And remember that you are proficient in your current script only because you have spent many years of your life mastering it.

And all this is just for English. Each language needs its own IPA. Ekalipi on the other hand believes in the well-known Pareto principle (the 80-20) rule. We think that Ekalipi can provide up to 95% coverage. We feel that the 39 characters in Ekalipi today (may be expanded to 48) is sufficient for most languages. We feel that most of us will not be willing to use something that requires learning more than 48 characters. In short IPA is probably good for linguists, scientists to do their research into linguistics. For the rest of us Ekalipi is the solution.

English speakers now talk in one language but write a different one.It is estimated that the average child in English speaking countries (UK, US, Australia etc.) is 2 years behind their counterpart in countries where the language and script are consistent it one another. What a colossal waste! It is high time English adopted a script like Ekalipi. If you don't want to learn it for yourself, learn it and teach it to them for your kids future. This article explains it far better than I can: How the English language is holding kids back Note: The article is focused exclusively on English. Remember that Ekalipi goes way beyond that. It is one solution for all the world's languages.

• Devanagari uses character modifiers that are above and below the central line of characters (even if modifier does not exist the space has to be left for such a possibility. This means that either one uses 3 times the space used by a linear script or the main characters become one third the size (very difficult to read).
• The scripts have multiple modifier characters for the same sound making them difficult to learn.
• The scripts do not add new characters to support sounds that are present in a foreign language (one exception is the Marathi version of Devanagari which has added two vowels to support sounds from European languages. It also uses special symbol (.) to distinguish sounds in Arabic).
• The scripts are used by about 300 million people. That’s a lot but it represents only 4% of the world's population. So 96% of the population will have to learn these characters.
• The characters are complex. Writing and typing is a chore.

In the case of Ekalipi since the focus is on the spoken language the problem is not surmountable. There could be an issue with inflection/intonation changing the meaning of a word but we are working on a common solution for both Chinese and some African languages.

Ekalipi is expected to be operational by April 2014. Since our developers, supporters and stake holders are spread all over the world, we plan on using this web site to share all vital information, pictures of our innovation, progress, and news.

1. If the root sound of the character on the US “qwerty” keyboard is needed by Ekalipi it is used. They are the following 23 characters: W, E, R, T, Y, U, O, P, A, S, D, F, G, H, J, K, L, Z, C, V, B, N and M.
2. Since Ekalipi has 13 characters, the number row is used for 11 characters (đ, ā, @, å, Δ, ŧ, ö, ɉ, λ, ø, č)

The fonts for the English-Latin and Greek alphabet are supported by most PC and phone manufacturers natively. The choice of these particular characters was made to ensure that the user would not have to install custom font libraries to accommodate the Ekalipi keyboard. If you have any recommendations/suggestions for different characters, please let us know.

So please let us know before December 2015 if you would like to see any changes (add/change/delete) and let us know why. We will carefully examine your suggestions and implement them if they are feasible.
Here are some criteria we would like you to consider:

• Simple and easy to read.
• Easy to handwrite and to type.
• Conforms to the qwerty keyboard layout as much as possible.
• Does not require special fonts to be downloaded and installed.

We are experimenting with lower case letters and making capitals optional. Please study the current keyboard layout and the suggested lower case keyboard and let us know which one you prefer.

Depending on your votes, we will standardize the keyboard layout.

• An accent is ‘a distinctive way of pronouncing a language, especially one associated with a particular country, area, or social class.Accent also refers to the stress or emphasis that has to be placed on a letter in a particular word. Having a different accent does not mean that you are speaking a language incorrectly.
• Dialect originally meant a variation from the parent language. For example, Italian from Latin. In modern times it means a variation from a major language such as American English or Australian English. Even within the UK there can be different dialects of English.
• Pronunciation is the manner in which a word should be articulated for the better understanding of it.

Ekalipi handles both pronunciation and dialect as long as the text is written to mimic the spoken words. Getting the accent right requires either intensive training or moving to a place where everyone speaks in the particular accent and mimicking the locals. The bottom line is that Ekalipi can get you two thirds of the way to sounding natural.

It is now up to you to become Ekalipi evangelists. Tell your friends and family about it and encourage them to learn and use it. Convince them that the hour or two that they spend learning it will bring a lifetime of rewards. We are working hard to make training materials available to make this task easy.

Transliteration is difficult to use and typing in Roman involves a lot of guesswork on the part of the reader. Why not use Ekalipi the perfect solution instead? We can promise you that once you start using it, you will agree and so will your friends.