Bigfoot Encounters
Sasquatch Phonetic Alphabet
and Transcription Standard
by R. Scott Nelson
The Sasquatch Phonetic Alphabet (
The existence of the Sasquatch Being is hereby assumed, since any creature must exist before his language. Any argument for the existence of Sasquatch or his language should be given outside of this standard and outside any transcription endeavor that uses this standard. Transcripts should stand alone as tools for the language researcher; whereas
The purpose of this is to standardize all future transcription of suspected Sasquatch Language and to facilitate comparison of language articulations by future researchers; the ultimate goal being the recovery of Sasquatch Language.
Sasquatch Language is spoken approximately twice as fast as any known language in most analyzed recordings, therefore it must be slowed down to be transcribed accurately. 50% of real-time will be the standard; transcription at any other speed will be noted, e.g. (75%). Real-time will be noted as (rt). Tape-time hacks will be given as minute:second.1/100thsecond, e.g. 17:23.54.
Since this is an unknown language, transcribed for the first time, the grammar and syntax of it, likewise, cannot be known. Therefore, to differentiate between small and capital letters is useless and misleading. Sasquatch articulations will be transcribed using capital letters, human voices are to be transcribed by the standards of the language that is spoken (proper English, Russian, etc.). This eases reading of the transcripts when human and Sasquatch voices are mixed or alternating. Since words cannot be known, and only suspected in cognates, Sasquatch utterances will be given as individual morphemes (or syllables). An umlaut (Ä) is used rather than a macron (-) to avoid confusion with the English use of the same symbol.
Small letters within parenthesis will be used, in accordance with military transcription standards, to abbreviate specific notes, e.g. (2-3m) to mean (two or three words or morphemes are missing or inaudible here). Untranscribable vocalizations such as grunts or screams will be noted with capital letters within parenthesis, e.g. (G) or (SC). An abbreviation key follows the phonetics key.
Any document using this alphabet should be labeled (
Use in first-hand witness accounts:
This alphabet is not intended to be used solely for the transcription of recorded language, but will be highly useful in first-hand witness accounts of Sasquatch phenomena where the witness perceived spoken language. Researchers, when documenting witness accounts, should endeavor to transcribe each Sasquatch utterance as accurately as possible using this alphabet. As a valuable aid to the language researcher, several questions should be asked of the witness to correlate with the utterances of the Sasquatch Being:
What was occurring at the moment of each specific utterance?
How many Sasquatch Beings do you believe were present; how many were speaking?
Did you feel that the Sasquatch Beings were speaking to each other or to you (the witness)?
What do you think the Being was trying to communicate?
What do you feel was the emotional state of the Being (for each specific utterance)?
Was there interrogative inflection in the utterance (did it sound like a question)?
Was there imperative or command inflection in the utterance (did it sound like the Being was telling you or another Sasquatch to do or not do something)?
___
This alphabet is expected to grow as additional verified recordings of Sasquatch Language are collected and analyzed, and new extra-human articulations are documented. For example; the well-documented howls, whoops, growls, screams and whistles of Sasquatch may someday be found to have linguistic meaning; wood- and rock-knocking or tooth-popping may be found to be encoded. It should not be discounted that manipulated tree, limb and stick formations could be graphic expressions of Sasquatch Language, much like runic or pictographic human writing systems.
Since auditory perception is subject to the same limitations of all human perception, review and revision of any transcript by other qualified Crypto-Linguists or voice- transcription experts should be welcomed. With the recovery of Sasquatch Language being the anticipated outcome, cooperation and consensus between language researchers should be the first rule of this study.
The first two pages of Berry Tape I transcription are attached as an example of the prescribed usage of this alphabet.
Ä = a in father
A = a in can
B = b in bib
D = d in did
Ë = a in make
E = e in set
F = f in fife
G = g in gag
H = h in ham
Ï = i in machine, ee in meet
I = i in sit
J = y in yes, i in union
K = k in kite, c in cut
L = l in lull
M = m in mom
N = n in nine
Ö = o in lone
O = o in log
P = p in pipe
R = r in roar
Rr = rolled r, as in Spanish or in Scottish Brogue
S = s in sister
T = t in tight
Ü = u in plume, oo in boot
U = u in run, o in union
V = v in verve
W = w in way
Y = oo in book
Z = z in zebra, s in is
' = glottal stop
c = tongue click, not evident in BMT
> = phoneme drawn out
ÄÏ = i in like, y in my
JÜ = as in you, u in fume
KH = ch in Scottish loch, x in Spanish Quixote, x in Russian (khah)
SJ = sh in shirt
TSJ = ch in church
ZJ = z in azure, s in treasure
DZJ = j in jail, g in age
NG = ng in sing
? (Greek Delta) = th in then
T (Greek Theta) = th in thin
(rt) = transcribed at real-time
(75%) = transcribed at a speed other than 50%
(h) = human vocalization
(1-2m) = one or two words or syllables are missing or inaudible here
(int) = interrogative inflection
(dr) = inflected as a direct response
(imp) = imperative or command inflection
(w) = whispered
(q) = very low audibility, quiet, almost imperceptible at normal speeds
(im) = human imitating or mimicking a Sasquatch Being
(ma) = possible male Sasquatch Being
(fe) = possible female Sasquatch Being
(ju) = possible juvenile Sasquatch Being
(G) = grunt, growl or grumble, possible language
(W) = whistle or squeak, possible language
(SN) = snarl, possible language
(SC) = scream, possible language
(TP5) = tooth pop, number in sequence, possible language, not evident in BMT
(WK3) = wood knock, number in sequence, possible language
(RK4) = rock knock, number in sequence, possible language
Transcribed by R. Scott Nelson
0:15.11
0:17.52 NÖ U PLÄ MEN TI KHU
0:18.82 NÄR LÄ
0:20.21 NA GÖ KÜ STEP GÄ KÜ BLEM
0:21.25 Ü KÜ DZJÄ
0:21.76 FRrÄP E KHÜK LE
0:22.65 ÜN Ï KÜ O GÜ AKH (int)
0:23.85 DÖ WÄÏ NÖ (dr)
0:24.52 MÜ Ï FWI KÖ PÏ KHU' SJ?
0:31.43 (ma) HU Ö NÖ> KHÄ HÜ
0:32.95 PLEN DÜTSJ TISJ
0:33.61 SÏ DZJAÖ GLÖ PÜ MËKH
0:34.90 PÄ KHÏ KÖ DÜ TÜ SEKSÏ
0:35.88 WA HEP DÜ TSJE DÜ FU HEP
0:36.95 (ma) FI KÜ ÄÏ> KHÜ'
0:44.80 FÄ LIP ÄBÄSJ KHU'
0:45.03
0:47.03 FÖ WÄ Ï>
0:48.08 WA KHU? KVÄM
0:49.16 ITS KÄÏM VÄR
0:51.27 MÖ> FER BÏ KEN JÄ Ä VÄÖN SÏ RYK MI RO GHAP –
GÏ GO WYP
0:53.66 MÏ WÄTSJ FYD PLËN FYD NÜ AÖ> KHE KHU'
0:55.34 NÖ ÄÏ ÄKHSJ HÜ
0:57.13 (h) Come on, boy.
0:58.04 (h) Come on, let's eat.
1:00.93 BÏ KAER FYL NAÖ PRÖS GYD
01.87
NÖÄ Ö JA LET KHE
02.99
MÖÏ PISJ FE KHE KHU'
(h) Come on.
1:11.58 KHU BEK
1:12.63 KHËÄ KHU'
1:13.77 Ä LÄF
1:14.46 MÖ VE KHÜ
1:14.86
1:15.35 NÖ KHÏÄ
1:16.01 KHÖ VË ÄER ZÏ RÄ KIL WÄ KÜ 'ÜSJ
1:17.49 BÜ GÄ TÄÏSJ KHU'
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