According to Royal Skousen, several witnesses to the translation process claimed that Joseph Smith sometimes spelled out names to the scribe. And we find evidence in the original manuscript in support of this process. Frequently the first occurrence of a Book of Mormon name is first spelled phonetically, then that spelling is corrected; in some instances, the incorrect spelling is crossed out and followed on the same line by the correct spelling, thus indicating that the correction is an immediate one. For example, in Alma 33:15 the text of the Original Manuscript reads as follows: “for it is not written that Zenos alone spake of these things but Zenock Zenoch also spake of these things.”
Oliver Cowdery first wrote Zenock using the expected ck English spelling for the k sound when preceded by a short vowel. But then Oliver crossed out the whole word and immediately afterwards, on the same line, wrote Zenoch, thus indicating that the spelling agrees with the biblical name Enoch. This example also suggests that Joseph Smith spelled out the ch sound rather than with the correct k sound in order to help Oliver get it down right… .
Emma Smith and David Whitmer claimed that Joseph Smith sometimes spelled out, in addition to names, English words that were difficult to pronounce:
Emma Smith (Edmund C. Briggs interview, 1856):
When my husband was translating the Book of Mormon, I wrote a part of it, as he dictated each sentence, word for word, and when he came to proper names he could not pronounce, or long words, he spelled them out … (See Welch and Rathbone, “The Translation of the Book of Mormon,” p. 8)
David Whitmer (Chicago Tribune interview, 1885):
In translating the characters Smith, who was illiterate and but little versed in Biblical lore, was ofttimes compelled to spell the words out, not knowing the correct pronunciation … (Cook, David Whitmer Interviews, p. 174)
However, there appears to be no firm evidence in what remains of the Original Manuscript to support this claim of Emma Smith and David Whitmer [that Joseph spelled out words in addition to names] … [Royal Skousen, “Translating the Book of Mormon, Evidence from the Original Manuscript,” in Book of Mormon Authorship Revisited, pp. 75-77]
Alma 33:22 Begin to believe in the Son of God, that he will come to redeem his people … (Illustration): Chart: “Consistent Elements in Nephite Declarations of Faith.” Alma 33:22 is not the only place in the Book of Mormon where its seven principles of Nephite faith in Jesus Christ are revealed. Eight other important compact doctrinal passages list many, if not all, of these seven principles. Source: John W. Welch, “Ten Testimonies of Jesus Christ from the Book of Mormon,” in Doctrines of the Book of Mormon: The 1991 Sperry Symposium, ed. Bruce A. Van Orden and Brent L. Top (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1992), 223-42. [John W. & J. Gregory Welch, Charting the Book of Mormon: Visual Aids for Personal Study and Teaching, F.A.R.M.S., Chart #43]