This table lists the phonetic pairings and associated letters in the Major Mnemonic System, which can be used to easily memorize any number. This page is a work-in-progress; soon, I’ll add more examples and details – including some of the tweaks I’ve made to the system for my own uses.
| Number | Speech sounds (IPA) | Associated letters | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | /s/, /z/ | s, z, soft c (as in cereal), x (as in xylophone) | Zero begins with Z. Other letters sound similar when spoken. |
| 1 | /t/, /d/, | t, d, th (as in Thor) | t and d each have one downstroke, and sound similar when voiced. |
| 2 | /n/ | n | n has two downstrokes when written. |
| 3 | /m/ | m | m has three downstrokes when written. |
| 4 | /r/ | r | 4 and R are nearly mirror images of each other. |
| 5 | /l/ | l | In the Roman numeral system, L represents 50. |
| 6 | /tʃ/, /dʒ/, /ʃ/, /ʒ/ | ch (as in chess), soft g, j, sh, c (as in cello), s (as in issue) | j has a curve near the bottom, like 6 does. Also, uppercase G looks like a 6 flipped. I use the former mnemonic myself. |
| 7 | /k/, /g/ | k, hard c, ch (as in loch), q, hard g | If you take two 7's, put them back-to-back, and turn the combination 90 degrees, it looks like a K. |
| 8 | /v/, /f/ | f, v, ph (as in Phil), gh (as in laugh) | I associate V with "V8". F sounds like V when spoken. |
| 9 | /p/, /b/ | p, b | 9 rotated 180 degrees looks like b. 9 flipped horizontally looks like p. P and B sound similar when spoken. |
| Unassigned to numbers | /h/, /j/, /w/, all vowel sounds | h, y, w, a, e, i, o, u, d (as in sludge), t (as in satchel), all silent letters | These letters/sounds can be used in conjunction with other letters in the system to form easy-to-remember words. |