Started tackling Number-Court pairs today.
This is the last hurdle to get over in terms of phonetic structure construction with Shadow System. (I still need to learn the other half of the suit pair phonetics and their words, but now I can parse all four ways of pairing numbers and courts.) The idea of using alt-suit sounds with S+ blends was a little bit intimidating because I was so used to seeing the suits I’ve learned and reading their standard sounds. I wasn’t sure how difficult it would be to switch sound rules on the fly.
But…
It works and is pretty easy!
I’ve started thinking about the card indexes as almost like a U shaped, three-zone space, with Value1, Value2, SuitCombo as those zones. Depending on the presence and location of a court card, I rotate my vision through that space in a particular direction or pattern to quickly “read” the card.
Here’s what I mean. The circle is the starting point for my visual scan when that format shows up.
So for number-court (non-king) I see the court card first, which triggers the suit to be read as it’s alt S-blend phonetic, then my vision loops up to the first value phonetic and finishes on the court card phonetics, in this case the R sound of the Queen. This pair reads as SP-8-4, “SPiFFy Robe” for me!
For number-king combos, just start with the suit pair phonetic and hop up to the number value. Ignore the king. If you’ve already developed a 2-digit major system list, the number-king cards (and J/Q-K pairs too) all map to words from that list, which makes it pretty easy to transition to! This pair reads as 1-0, “DiCe.”
For the Court-Number pairs, the Court value is noticed first, providing the first phonetic, then the path drops down to read the suit sound for the second, and finishes on the number value. Almost a u-shaped visual path. Kings in the first position follow the same rule. This one reads as 8-9-9, “VaPe Pen.”
For number-number pairs, start with the suit and rotate up clockwise to the first number value, then the second. This pair reads as 0-9-3, “SuBMarine”
For Court-Court (non-king second), start with the first Court value, then rotate clockwise through the second Court value, and finish with the suit phonetic. This one is 8-4-0, “FeRRiS.”
Finally, for king-second Court-Court pairs, simply start at the first Court value and just drop down to the suit pair phonetic. Ignore the king. This one is 8-9, “FoB.” Another map to my pre-existing 2-digit list.
The more I practice it, the easier it is to switch reading patterns as they appear. Pretty neat.
Also, I’ve now seen half of the card pairs!