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Ronald Kingsley Read

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Ronald Kingsley Read (February 19, 1887 – February ??, 1975) was one of four contestants chosen to share the prize money for the design of the Shavian alphabet, a completely new alphabet intended for writing English and totally separate from the Roman alphabet. Over four hundred entries were made to the competition. He was later appointed sole responsible designer. In 1966, after extensive testing of Shavian with English speakers from around the world, Read introduced Quikscript, a revised form of his Shavian alphabet. Quikscript, which is also known as the "Read alphabet", has more ligatures than Shavian which makes it easier to write by hand. Its appearance is more cursive than Shavian.

A few days before his death, he completed a new script called Soundspell (now called Readspel), based, probably for increased chances of popular acceptance, on the existing standard roman alphabet.