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A MANUAL
OF
BY
HUGH L. CALLENDAR, BA.
FELLOW OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE.
Hon&on: c. J. CLAY
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS WAREHOUSE,
AVE MARIA LANK.
1889
Price Two Shillings.
Ex Libris
C. K. OGDEN
A MANUAL
OF
CUESIVE SHOBTHAND
BY
HUGH L. CALLENDAR, B.A.
FELLOW OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE.
Honlron: c. J. CLAY AND SONS,
CAMBRIDGE UNIVEESITY PEESS WAREHOUSE,
AYE MAEIA LANE.
1889
All Rights reserved.
PRINTED BY C. J. CLAY. M.A. AND SONS,
AT THE BKIVKHSITY PKESS.
PREFACE.
HITHERTO the use of Shorthand has been chiefly con-
fined to clerks and reporters : it has not as yet, to any
appreciable extent, supplanted longhand for use in
ordinary writing.
The reason of this appears to be that the majority of
existing systems are either, like Taylor's, deficient in
completeness (that is, they cannot distinguish words with
sufficient accuracy), or, like Pitman's, involve too many
ambiguities and refinements, and cannot be fully written
at a reasonable speed (see p. 15).
The conditions which a system of shorthand for general
use should satisfy, are discussed at some length in the
Introduction to the present work. The argument is briefly
recapitulated on p. 40, to which the reader is referred for
a summary of the claims of ' Cursive Shorthand'.
The chief features of 'Cursive' are facility, complete-
ness, and freedom from refinements; but it must not
be supposed that it is therefore wanting in brevity. The
ordinary style of Cursive, besides being much clearer,
is also much shorter than the corresponding style* of
* It would not of course be fair to compare the ordinary full style of
Cursive with the reporting style of Pitman's. I mention the point
because I have noticed that Mr Pitman, in a widely circulated pamphlet
on Professor Everett's system, compares a short paragraph written
in the latter's ordinary style, with the same in the most abbreviated
style of Phonography. The two specimens are set side by side "to speak
for themselves ", without the least hint that the comparison is not a fair
one. In the Everett specimen more than 80 vowels are definitely ex-
pressed ; only three are inserted in the Pitman.
1—2
iv Preface.
Pitman's. In the reporting style, if equally abbreviated,
Cursive has still the advantage in facility and clearness.
This point is more fully illustrated in the 'Comparison
with Pitman' p. 102, and in the Introduction.
In comparing the two systems it must be remembered
that the primary object of Cursive is general utility, and
that the present manual is not intended to teach the
reporting style. Moreover, Cursive, as its name implies,
was invented with a view to being written with a '•running'1
hand, and does not show to advantage in a type-metal cut ;
whereas Pitman's, being a 'geometric' system, is specially
adapted to that mode of illustration, but very difficult
to write accurately.
The difficulty of satisfactorily imitating the natural
peculiarities of a ' script ' system in a type-block is so
great that works of this kind are almost invariably illus-
trated by photolithography. I have all the more therefore
to thank the type-cutter, Mr Saunders, whose work in
connection with the illustration of shorthand systems is so
well known, for the great care and skill he has bestowed
on the laborious task of executing the cuts for the present
work.
I wish also to thank my friends, Mr H. M. Innes, M.A.,
Fellow of Trinity College, Mr C. F. Clay, M.A. of Trinity
College, and Mr J. B. Holt, B.A. of Christ's, for their
kindness in reading proof-sheets, and for many valuable
suggestions they have made while the book was passing
through the press: having had the advantage of their
revision the work should be free from serious errors.
H. L. CALLENDAR.
TRINITY COLLEGE,
CAMBRIDGE,
Dec. 1888.
INTRODUCTION.
ON THE PEINCIPLES OF SHOETHAND.
1. CURSIVE SHORTHAND is designed to supply the need of a
system sufficiently easy, regular, and legible, for general use,
and at the same time brief enough to be adapted to reporting
purposes.
The advantages to be derived from a knowledge of short-
hand are sufficiently obvious, and are moreover very fully set
forth by many other writers on the subject. The principles
upon which a good system should be constructed are much less
generally understood. I may be pardoned therefore if in
publishing a new system I proceed at once to the considera-
tion of the principles it involves, taking it for granted that the
reader fully appreciates the benefits resulting from a practical
acquaintance with the art, and seriously desires to master it.
The aim of every shorthand inventor has always been
to produce a system of writing which should be as brief as
is compatible with the conditions that it should also be simple
to learn, easy to write, and easy to read. The widest divergence
of opinion exists, however, in the interpretation of these re-
quirements. The relative importance to be attached to the
qualities of Brevity, Simplicity, Facility, and Legibility, de-
pends in part on the purpose to which shorthand is applied.
For reporting purposes brevity is a most essential condition ;
but for general use legibility is much more indispensable, and
a very high rate of speed is comparatively valueless. The
reason why shorthand is not more generally practised, appears
to me to be that this point is not sufficiently kept in view.
A system adapted for reporting may be more or less un-
2 On tlie Principles of Shorthand.
suitable for general use. For instance, the system known as
Legible Shorthand, by Mr E. Pocknell, was specially con-
structed to secure the greatest possible brevity, and is con-
sequently, as the author himself admits, unnecessarily difficult
and delicate for general use. The same remark applies to
Pitman's system, which, moreover, is much less regular than
PocknelPs. Mr Pitman, however, claims that his system of
phonography is, at once, "as legible as longhand and six times
as brief"*; and "so simple that a child can master it"t.
In explaining the conditions which a system for general use
must satisfy, I have drawn my illustrations mainly from
Pitman's Phonography, both because it claims to be the uni-
versal system J, and because from practical experience I am
well acquainted myself with its merits and drawbacks.
For convenience of arrangement, the subject is divided into
four general headings, (1) Conditions of Facility, (2) of
Simplicity, (3) of Legibility, (4) of Brevity. It must however
be understood that these conditions are not generally indepen-
dent of each other : the conditions of brevity are often opposed
to those of legibility, which again are dependent on those of
facility and simplicity ; other things being equal, the more
simple and facile a system is, the greater the speed with which
it can be legibly written. The suitability of a system for
general use, depends, not on excessive attention to any one
point, such as neatness or brevity of appearance, but on the
blending of all the various qualifications in due proportion.
For a brief summary of the claims of Cursive Shorthand as
a system for general use the reader is referred to p. 40.
CONDITIONS OF FACILITY AND CLEARNESS.
2. DISTINCTIONS OF FORM. In order that any kind of
writing may be scribbled without becoming illegible, too fine
distinctions of form must be avoided.
* Tract entitled, "A Persuasive to the Study of Phonography."
t Pitman, Leaflet No. 13.
t During the last year or two several articles have appeared in
Pitman's Journal, asserting that it is the only system fitted for general
use, and advocating its adoption to the exclusion of all others.
Cutiditions of Facility aiid Clearness. 3
In my experience, which I find is endorsed by many skilful
stenographers, and in particular by Professor Everett, it is
impossible in rapid writing to distinguish more than two sizes
of character, as in longhand.
Pitman distinguishes four : for instance
• " stands for you or beyond according to position.
^ mt as in might, met, meeting, etc.
^—^ m as in me, my, him, may, am, etc.
^ — ^ mtr, mdr, or mthr as in matter, mother, etc.
Difference of curvature, by itself, apart from difference of
size or direction, is not a safe means of distinction. For
instance, the Pitman outline ^~\ Ir (liar, lore, allure, lower,
etc.) differs but slightly in shape from m or mtr, and is easily
mistaken for either if badly written.
Difference of direction is a good means of distinction, pro-
vided that too many directions are not recognized. In Cursive
Shorthand four directions are practically distinguished ; the
downstrokes / and \ , the upstroke / , and the horizontal
stroke — . Pitman distinguishes the vertical stroke | from the
back downstroke / ; each of these strokes however is some-
times awkward ; by adopting, instead of them, the intermediate
slope / (which may of course have any convenient inclination
between the two extremes), an immense gain of clearness and
facility is secured.
The forward downstroke \ is certainly less facile than the
other directions ; but it is waste of material to reject it al-
together, as so many script systems do : a better plan is to use
it for comparatively rare sounds.
3. DISTINCTION OF THICKNESS. In Pitman's and similar
systems, difference of thickness of stroke is employed to dis-
tinguish pairs of letters like | t and | d, ~~\ r and "^ rch,
s~~~. m and /—s mp or mb : it is very difficult in rapid writing to
preserve this distinction accurately, even after years of practice.
It is true that the difference of sound in many of these
4 Conditions of Facility and Clearness.
pairs (as between ( and d) is not very great ; but the confusion,
even in this case, becomes very serious, when more than half
the sounds are omitted, so that the writing is not strictly
phonetic. In Professor Everett's system, which is very strictly
phonetic and literally represents ' talking on paper ', con-
fusion of thickness is not nearly so serious as in Pitman's,
in which the vowels are generally omitted, and the phonetic
principle is otherwise less accurately observed.
In writing with a pencil the distinction of thickness is
particularly difficult to give clearly ; with a stylograph it is
quite impossible to make it at all. Some writers no doubt
possess the light touch required to enable them to preserve
it in a large number of cases when using pen and ink, but
the majority of ordinary folk would probably never acquire
the requisite skill. It must therefore, I think, be regarded as
a device unsuitable for general use.
Cursive Shorthand uses only two sizes of characters, and
does not employ the distinction of thickness. Thus, where
Pitman distinguishes the ten* varieties, \ of, \ all, \ pt,
\ bd, ^ p, "^ b, \w pp, >^ bb, ^^ bp,
N. pb : Cursive Shorthand distinguishes only two, \ £, as
in ell, and \. ey, as in they: and so on throughout the
alphabet. It is therefore, on this account alone, much more
easy to write legibly, and much more simple to learn.
It might appear at first sight as though by recognizing five
times as many distinctions it would be possible to make a
system, say, twice as short. This is by no means the case, even
in theory; and as a matter of fact, Pitman's Phonography, as
will appear later, is not only not shorter, but actually takes
very much longer to write than Cursive Shorthand, when
fully written.
* Pitman admits also an occasional treble length in words like
attitude (p. 35). The additional distinction of position (see p. 31) is
applied to many of these signs. Pocknell distinguishes only eight
varieties, and does not use ticks standing alone.
Conditions of Facility and Clearness.
CHEONOGRAPHIC EXPEEIMENTS.
4. With a view to ascertain for my own edification what
sort of combinations were most facile, and what forme
could be most clearly distinguished in rapid writing, I put
together an electric chronograph capable of recording auto-
matically to the hundredth part of a second the time taken to
form any portion of any stroke in any kind of writing. At the
Cambridge laboratories we have every facility for this kind
of work. The clockwork, electro-magnets, and other parts of
such an apparatus being ready to hand, very little has to be
specially constructed. The special portions of the apparatus in
the present case were made after a design suggested by my
friend Mr Horace Darwin ; its performance was all that could
be desired.
The apparatus was so arranged that by comparing the
actual writing with the record on the chronographic cylinder,
a complete solution of the time-question could be obtained.
A great many experiments were made on various kinds of
writing, including specimens of Phonography (Pitman's) by a
skilled reporter. Space would not suffice to give a full descrip-
tion of the experiments; only a few of the more interesting
results will be incidentally mentioned as the questions arise to
which they refer: but to myself the experience thus acquired
was of the greatest practical value in the endeavour to esta-
blish the present system on a sound basis.
5. LENGTH OF OUTLINES. Among the general results of
these experiments we may here mention that, as is evident
a priori, the actual length of an outline has little relation to
its facility. One often sees estimates of the relative facility of
two systems based almost entirely on a comparison of the dis-
tances traversed by the pen, whereas the order in which a
series of strokes is made, and, above all, the way in which they
are joined, are a great deal more important than the length or
direction of the individual strokes.
In deciding questions of relative facility and in esti-
6 Conditions of Facility and Clearness.
mating speed, the method of repetition has, I believe, been
exclusively adopted by previous experimentalists. It has the
merit of simplicity, but the information it affords is not
complete and may even be misleading. For instance, in
describing a series of strokes, such as \, in succession, the
hand and arm are unconsciously placed in the most favourable
position for that particular direction, so that, in an experiment
thus conducted, it may happen to appear more facile than it
really is. The chronographic method has the advantage that
the actual conditions of the problem are more closely repro-
duced ; it is possible to determine the exact time corresponding
to each portion of an outline, and to allow for imperfections of
formation, and for loss of time from hesitation or other causes.
A common method of estimating the time required to write
any given passage, is to count the number of ' pen-strokes' or
' inflections'. Not to mention the difficulty of fixing definitely
the meaning of an 'inflection', this is a very rough and in-
accurate method, especially if lifts of the pen are not taken
into account*. For instance, on this plan, the combination
~\ ^/ might be counted as two pen-strokes, and the combina-
tion n as three, whereas in reality the latter is much the more
facile.
In comparing different specimens of the same system, or of
similar systems, Professor Everett's rulef would give reliable
results, although it makes no allowance for the great differences
that occur as regards good and awkward joinings. But in
comparing a script with a geometric system, it would be
absurdly unfair to the former, because no account is taken of
its most essential feature, namely that the majority of the
outlines and joinings are easy. No such simple rule in fact
can be made to meet this case.
The objection to all such rules is that they cannot take
account of clearness as apart from ease of joining; the easiest
* See the controversy on Shorthand Systems in The Bazaar, 1882-83.
t Shorthand. May, 1884. 'All round Criticism.' (This is the organ
of the Shorthand Society, and must not be confused with Ford's
Shorthand Magazine.)
Conditions of Facility and Clearness. 7
joinings are often the most indistinct. The real question is
not the making of a number of marks, but of distinctions; not
how briefly a word can be written, but at what speed it can be
safely distinguished. A system abounding in outlines that
cannot be clearly distinguished unless carefully drawn to scale,
and that cannot therefore be written fast without spoiling most
of its characteristic features, however neat and brief it may
appear in print, ia quite unsuitable for general use, and cannot
be compared with a system in which such faults are avoided.
6. STRAIGHT LINES VERSUS CURVES. It is commonly stated
that straight lines are more facile than curves. This is true of
a series of straight lines described independently ; but the curve
often has the advantage in the matter of joining to other cha-
racters, for its curvature may generally be varied, especially
near the ends, so as to make the joining easier. The most
facile directions for straight strokes are the up and down
strokes of longhand / / , the horizontal stroke — , and the
upstroke /. The backward slope \ is generally awkward
unless the arm be held in an unnatural position. The hori-
zontal curves r\ w are the most facile curves; they do not
leave the line of writing, and they generally present good
joinings,
In Cursive Shorthand the arrangement of the alphabet is
such that curves are more common than straight lines: the
majority of the strokes are on the slope of longhand writing,
and lines in the awkward direction are comparatively rare.
7. SCRIPT SYSTEMS AND GEOMETRIC SYSTEMS. Since every
educated person must learn to write longhand, and generally
acquires considerable facility therein, he will evidently find a
system of shorthand easier to write, the more closely it imitates
the outlines and joinings with which he is already familiar in
longhand.
The objection to script systems in general (such as that of
Gabelsberger) is that the distinction between different charac-
ters is often too vague and indefinite ; they cannot usually be
8 Conditions of Facility and Clearness.
defined by simple geometrical forms. The outlines resemble a
series of flourishes in which the component characters cannot
easily be traced; and the points of distinction are often so
subtle as to be difficult to recognize even in an engraving.
On the other hand a strictly geometrical system abounds in
polygonal outlines, like these /~\ \x~i "^ ^/\/ (taken
from Taylor, 1786), which are very far from cursive and are
difficult to write freely. Again there are several good outlines,
such as Q/ fl I (j , which are common and familiar in long-
hand, but of which a geometric system cannot make any use
proportionate to their facility.
I have endeavoured in Cursive Shorthand to combine the
advantages of both methods. The characters of the alphabet
are defined as far as possible by simple geometrical forms, but
are assigned to the various sounds of the language in such
a way that the majority of the outlines are cursive, and as
similar as possible to those of longhand. The other class of
outlines, however, are not altogether rejected, but are relegated
to the representation of comparatively rare combinations of
sounds ; such as x~\ Oh-eh, in Oasis.
8. BLUNT ANGLES. Whenever a blunt angle occurs in an
outline there is a tendency in rapid writing either to sharpen
or slur it. The great objection to geometric systems is that
they abound in blunt angles.
An outline such as \ pk (Pitman), when written
rapidly, tends to become | or \ (usually the latter), which
both mean something totally different. A blunt angle is most
difficult to mark distinctly when it occurs before or after a
curve in the same direction, as in the Pitman outlines,
r^ help'd, ^y flirt, ex; wearer, V^/""^ forum.
Outlines of this kind, in which the blunt angle cannot
be rounded off without causing confusion, become indistinct
when written fast.
The chronographic experiments showed that a blunt angle
was never correctly given, even by accident, without consider-
Conditions of Facility and Clearness. 9
able waste of time, and that to mark it with the minimum of
distinctness took longer than to make two sharp angles. A
sharp angle, such as •> <u, is the most rapid and distinctive
joining of all, being slightly superior to a circle between two
curves in the same direction, such as VJ^. Two characters
joined continuously, like kk (Pitman) from — k and — it
take little longer to write than one; but such a joining is of no
value as a means of distinction apart from the difference of
length, if it is not clear from other evidence where one charac-
ter ends and the other begins, unless, for instance, there is a
point of inflection, as in ^ from n and u . In any case
two continuous joinings in succession must generally be
avoided, as they make the outline indistinct and wanting in
sharpness. It is one of the chief merits of Pitman's Phono-
graphy that he is enabled to avoid continuous joinings in many
cases, and thus to secure greater neatness and sharpness of
outline than the majority of geometric systems, by the use of
his numerous alternative characters ; but, as we shall see, from
want of system and regularity in their application, this advan-
tage is only gained at an enormous sacrifice.
In Longhand, when clearly written, sharp angles predomi-
nate, two continuous joinings hardly ever follow in succession.
Cursive Shorthand aims at utilising sharp angle joinings as
far as possible, and avoiding blunt angles, and so arranges
matters that wherever blunt angles occur, they may, except
in very rare cases, be slurred or sharpened without detriment
to legibility.
9. SLOPING CURVES. Among other generally recognized
sources of indistinct outlines are the sloping curves _/ x. \ (
which Taylor and others reject on this ground. It is only in
certain combinations that these characters are liable to produce
confusion ; to reject them altogether is to waste much valuable
stenographic material. Pitman avoids the difficulty by using
alternative characters for I, sh, and r, besides hooks for I, r,
and/; when the natural outline of a word is bad, he writes it
some other way. He still retains, however, several outlines
10 Conditions of Facility and Clearness.
which I should regard as not sufficiently distinct. For in-
stance, it is very difficult in writing to keep the double-sized /
V ftr, fdr, or fthr, distinct from both I f/*,andV fk,
which are outlines having the same length, and similar slope
and curvature, without confusing it with some other outline,
such as \^y pn. Again pn, even in print (see Pitman's
publications passim), may be often mistaken, when too much
flattened, for double-sized n x '; and similarly / N rm
for f Itr, Idr, Ithr ; or /" N mtr, mdr, mthr.
In Cursive Shorthand the bad combinations are almost
entirely avoided by the arrangement of the alphabet : the few
that remain are eliminated by using alternative characters.
10. ALTERNATIVE CHARACTERS are otherwise objectionable
as increasing the complexity of a system and the number
of possible ways of writing each word. Systems, however,
which do not use them, must submit to the worse evil of
indistinct and awkward outlines. Pitman utilises his numerous
alternative ways of writing a word, primarily for the purpose of
securing good outlines, directing the student generally to choose
for himself those outlines that he finds clearest and easiest.
In Cursive Shorthand the number of alternative characters
employed is as small as possible. They are used chiefly for the
purpose of securing clear outlines: rules are given in every case
showing how this is best effected.
11. LINEALITT. Longhand is perfectly 'lineal', that is to
say, every character returns to the line of writing.
In Cursive Shorthand lineality is secured by giving to all
the commonest sounds characters which return to the line of
writing, such as w d, s~\ b, \s> th, r I, A r, f m, l n, fj nd;
and by using characters which do not satisfy this condition,
either for the rarer sounds, as T > C f°r #> .1 > or mainly as
prefixes and terminations.
* See T. A. Reed, Review ofDnploj/e's Shorthand, p. 5, end.
Conditions of Facility and Clearness. 1 1
12. USE OF SYMBOLS. By a ' symbol ' is meant a hook or
circle or loop attached to a character to signify the addition of
some other sound, instead of writing the latter by its proper
alphabetic sign. The ' symbols ' in a geometric system form
a kind of subsidiary alphabet. They are used for various
purposes: by Pitman chiefly as alternative characters to pro-
vide clear outlines for words of which the full alphabetic form
would involve awkward joinings (see § 10).
13. CIRCLES. In Cursive Shorthand the small circle is used
initially for h (forwards) and sh (backwards), and medially
in forming a whole class of characters, as o / (ph) from <"> p,
^ th from v t, <s ch from c k (hard c). This arrange-
ment is easily learnt, and gives very full employment to a
device commonly admitted to be of the greatest utility.
In Taylor's alphabet several characters, such as <*— m from
— s, \ b from \ / or v, f p from | t, ^ I from / r,
are formed by adding circles at the beginnings of other charac-
ters. Initial circles however are much less facile than medial
or final circles; and a circle on a straight stem tends in rapid
writing to curve the stem, changing its meaning. A circle
between straight strokes in the same direction (thus n .)
is particularly awkward, and liable to be miswritten. The
circle is most facile when it comes between two curves, as in
x^.a/ ; or after a curve, as in ^9 f~i> (^ etc.
In a specimen of Taylor taken at random, three-quarters of
the circles were found to be initial, the majority were applied
to straight strokes, and many of the medial circles were
awkward. In Cursive Shorthand circles occur most commonly
(i.e. in about 90 per cent, of the cases) at the ends of curve
characters, in which case they are not liable to these objections;
initial circles are rare, and awkward circles very rare indeed.
The large circle is used in Cursive Shorthand as a prefix for
con-, and as a termination for -tion, -sion. Used as a prefix it
is always written like the circle of the letters a, d, q, in long-
hand, and is therefore extremely facile, and never clashes with
the small circle. Pitman appropriates circles entirely to the
12 Conditions of Facility and Clearness.
representation of s and z : this hardly gives sufficient scope
to so useful a device.
14. HOOKS are a very common stenographic device. They
are objectionable as limiting seriously the compactness of the
writing, because the characters must be made large in com-
parison, or they may be confused with the hooks. Medial hooks
often present awkward, and sometimes impossible joinings.
Professor Everett uses hooks very sparingly, and even of the
few that he uses he says: "The hooked letters, though neat in
appearance, and convenient for leisurely writing, are particu-
larly liable to be spoiled in scribbling". From my own ex-
perience of Pitman's system I can fully endorse the Professor's
statement. In rapid writing hooks are often so badly formed
as to be misread for ticks or circles, and accidental hooks,
changing entirely the meaning of an outline, are liable to be
introduced in the endeavour to sharpen a blunt angle or ease
the hand. If a hook is made too large it may often be
mistaken for a half-size character. Pitman uses two sizes of
hooks, which considerably aggravates the difficulty.
In Cursive Shorthand very few hooks are used. They are
carefully selected, and restricted to cases in which they cannot
clash with other characters. They are not applied to straight
strokes, because they tend to produce curvature. Medial hooks
are entirely avoided except in cases where they facilitate a
joining.
15. LOOPS. The only really facile loops are those which
occur in longhand in the letters \ 7j & *J~ , etc. These are
largely used in Cursive Shorthand and give very facile and dis-
tinctive characters: for example V •¥ I, A- A »', CZ ngg as in
anger, y. ngk as in inker, anchor.
Pitman uses loops for st, str in certain cases, applied to the
stems of other characters, thus : \» pst. Thus used they are
not generally facile, they often present bad joinings, which
have to be avoided by arbitrarily writing the word some other
way. They are also very liable to be miswritten, or to curve
Conditions of Facility and Clearness. 13
the character; compare the Pitman outlines V> fst, \ pst.
A strictly geometric system is in its very nature unable to
utilise the facile loops adequately.
16. DETACHED VOWEL MAKKS. Nearly all geometric systems
are driven to the use of detached vowel marks, whenever they
desire to write a word clearly. These marks consist of dots,
dashes, circles and angles (such as . . i i 0 v £- o c ), which have to
be placed carefully in position close to the consonants to which
they belong. The position is important because the dot or dash
slightly misplaced may mean something quite different.
The following passage*, engraved in Pitman's Phonography,
will serve to illustrate both the care with which the detached
vowel marks must be located, and the necessity of inserting
vowels to distinguish words. The reader should also notice
particularly the distinction between light and heavy dots and
ticks, and thick and thin strokes.
A A , A A, A -A . A. 4x A <1 ' A,
•XI -A , 1 ' */l A , ' -A A ^ ' -A
•A4,C'44,'A.4,^.AAA,
^ A ' A A c ' 4- A , /• A ' A. A,
•A ^ A , N A . A 4 A ^x
* The key and explanation of this passage will be found, together
with the Cursive Shorthand version, on p. 92. The reader must not sup-
pose that it is an exhaustive list of all the words that can be written with
this outline in Pitman's system. A few of them, those that begin with h
or end with -ing, can be written in other ways : but there are several other
words (such as erode, errata, rid, rideau, redo, arrete, radiated, etc. ),
which might have been included, having the same outline /\ rt, and
differing only in detached marks and thickening; and there are large
classes of words (such as riddle, etc., ordain, retain, etc., rotating, re-
treating, etc., writer, reader, etc., roared, etc.), having outlines, either
identical with some of the above, or so similar to them that it would be
difficult to distinguish them safely in rapid writing.
C. 2
14 Conditions of Facility and Clearness.
The congonant outline of each word is written first, and the
vowels are dotted in afterwards in their proper places. This is
called ' vocalizing ' the outline. The writer has to go over each
word twice, in a highly artificial and unnatural order, if he wants
to put in the vowels, that is to say, if he wishes his writing to
be legible (see § 27).
This very serious and oft-repeated objection is so generally
admitted, even by the partisans of Pitman's system, that it
would be waste of time to argue the point, were it not that
special attention was given to detached vowels in the chrono-
graphic experiments, the results of which seem to throw some
light on the question.
It is often maintained that a detached vowel mark counts
in loss of time only about as much as an extra lifting of the
pen. This is very- far from true. In addition to the lifting of
the pen there is the time occupied in making the stroke or dot
and locating it carefully in its proper position. This is not
unnaturally found to be longer than the time required for the
mere making of the same number of dots and ticks irrespective
of position. Besides this, detached vowels usually involve
hesitation: after finishing the consonant outline the writer
has to make up his mind what vowels to insert and where, or
whether he can leave the outline unvocalized : with unskilful
writers this is a fruitful source of loss of time : with skilful
writers it is often almost unnoticeable. But the most serious
hesitation generally occurs, and this even with very skilful
writers, after inserting the vowels and before proceeding to the
next word. This is most strongly marked after inserting two
or more vowels in one outline. It is probably due to the
illogical order in which the vowels are written. The mind
momentarily loses its place in the sentence, and has to go
back and pick up the lost thread, so as to find what comes
next. The result is that the insertion of detached vowel marks
always involves such a disproportionate expenditure of time,
that they must be omitted in writing at any reasonable speed.
The reader must understand that we are here dealing with
very small intervals of time, such as a few tenths of a second :
Conditions of Facility and Clearness. 15
that it is difficult to take account of such small periods or make
any accurate observations upon them, otherwise than by means
of an automatic record, which can be read at leisure and com-
pared with the actual writing.
A distinction is theoretically made between a light dot for
the short vowels a, e, i, and a heavy dot for the long vowels
ah, ay, ee. Practically this distinction cannot be clearly made
in writing, and is often badly given even in printed specimens.
In the attempt to preserve it the light dot is frequently made
so evanescent as to be mistaken for a flaw in the paper or
altogether missed ; such minute distinctions are very trying to
the eyes in reading.
The chief advantage of detached vowels is that they present
an appearance of brevity, and look neat, especially in print.
They are so inconspicuous that the inexperienced eye does not
realize the difficulty of inserting them accurately, and takes
no account of the aerial movements of the pen which their
insertion involves.
To illustrate what is meant by the 'aerial movements of
the pen', we subjoin a short sentence carefully engraved in
Pitman's shorthand, in which these movements are indicated
by faint dotted lines showing the order in which each vowel is
inserted.
The sentence represented is as follows : — "Detached vowel
marks always involve disproportionate expenditure of time".
The sounds are written in the following order : —
dtchtea vlowe mr-ksah awlwseh invlvo dsrppr-s/mtoawe
ekspndtr-eiyu of tmei.
(The italicized letters represent sounds which are expressed,
not by their alphabetic characters, but by abbreviations ; the
hyphens represent indicated vowels, and the spaces lifts of the
pen.)
2—2
16 Conditions of Facility and, Cieanwaf.
We have followed the Dictionary* outlines, except that we
have ventured to spell the word expenditure with a d, and to
write the word always in full. Initial vowels are supposed to
be written first for the sake of the logical order, and to save
distance traversed. The first vowel in the word disproportionate
cannot be clearly inserted, and the r hook cannot be properly
made. The way in which each word is accented can only be
marked by inserting small crosses near the accented vowels.
For the sake of contrast we give the same sentence in
Cursive Shorthand, written on the same scale.
It is evident that this is not only much briefer, but also
more facile and lineal than the Pitman version. Moreover it
represents much more accurately the correct pronunciation of
the words, and shows in addition exactly how each word is
accented. Every sound is fully expressed in its natural order.
The dotted lines are therefore not really required, and only
serve to confuse the outlines. They are inserted to make the
specimen match the Pitman version as exactly as possible.
There are twenty- six lifts of the pen in Pitman's (omitting one
vowel), as against fifteen in the Cursive version; and the
'aerial movements' involved in the latter are much shorter
and easier.
Enough has been said to show that detached vowels are far
interior to joined vowels in point of speed and clearness. This
is indeed generally admitted. But after all, so their advocates
argue, these detached vowel marks are rarely required. In
reporting, they say, only one vowel in every twenty words
on the average, is needed to make Pitman notes (if they are
well enough written and the subject is not too technical)
decipherable without serious errors, with the aid of the
memory and the context.
This line of argument altogether misses the point. One
vowel in twenty words may be sufficient for reporting, if the
• Pitman's Phonographic Dictionary, 5th Ed. 1884.
Conditions of Facility and Clearness. 17
reporter is sufficiently skilful and has succeeded in learning
all the conventional outlines. But vowels cannot be thus
omitted in Pitman's system without the most serious loss of
legibility, such as would make it quite unsuitable for general
purposes ; and, in point of fact, they are not so omitted in the
published specimens of the 'corresponding' style. Taking a
printed specimen of this style at random, it was found that,
excluding grammalogues and special abbreviations, more than
one hundred and sixty vowels on the average were inserted in
every hundred words. Some of these vowels, no doubt, might
have been omitted if Pitman's Phonography possessed a reliable
system of vowel indication : since, however, it does not, it is
the more dependent on the aid of detached marks for legibility.
If the young reporter starts with the resolution of omitting
all vowels, and is prepared to face the difficulty of reading,
detached vowel marks are all very well; there is no difficulty
about omitting them, and if he does not intend to use them, he
need not waste his time in learning them*. But in shorthand
for general purposes vowels cannot be thus neglected, and their
expression by detached marks is therefore a fatal objection to
the general utility of a system, though, as we shall see, it is
by no means the only, or even the chief objection to which
Pitman's system is liable.
On the other hand, the expression of vowels by joined
characters or ' by mode ', is much clearer and does not involve
the same disproportionate expenditure of time, so that it is
possible to write words in full at a reasonable speed. In
reporting at high rates of speed, words cannot be written in
full ; but it by no means follows that recourse must be had to
the wholesale omission of vowels. The expression of vowels
in the outline, enables us to employ better and more rational
methods of abbreviation.
17. 'LIFTS' OF THE PEN. ' MODES'. The time occupied
in lifting the pen and replacing it on the paper, supposing there
* Many systems make no provision for the distinction of vowel sounds.
Many Pitmanite reporters never insert them, but trust to memory and
context.
18 Conditions of Facility and Clearness.
to be no hesitation between the words, varies according to cir-
cumstances from one- to three-tenths of a second ; but is rarely
so small as one-tenth. It depends of course on the nature and
direction of the movements before and after : the lift involved
in travelling backwards to dot in a vowel is one of the worst.
An ordinary ' lift ' takes a little longer than the description of
the quickest connecting stroke (not necessarily the shortest),
but takes less time than a connecting stroke which involves an
awkward joining.
Thus Professor Everett's ' modes ' of expressing vowels by
lifting the pen and writing the consonants in position, are by
no means so slow as Pitman would have us believe. They are
in fact very far superior to detached marks in point of speed,
facility, and clearness, and possess the further advantage of
expressing the vowel in its logical order between the consonants.
In Cursive Shorthand detached dots are used, as in longhand,
for punctuation, and to mark abbreviated words. They are
also occasionally used as diacritics, like the t'-dots in longhand.
Expression by mode is employed for various subsidiary
purposes, those modes being chosen (Everett's nos. 2, 3, 4)
which are always applicable and clear.
CONDITIONS OF SIMPLICITY.
18. A system of shorthand for general use must be simple
and easy to learn : few people can afford to spend a lifetime
in acquiring it. It is far best in every way that shorthand
should be taught, like ordinary writing and reading, at a very
early stage ; it should therefore be made as simple as possible,
and should be independent of the ordinary spelling.
It is difficult to make a system of shorthand at once simple
and complete. It is very easy to secure an appearance of sim-
plicity by making the system incomplete, by suppressing points
of difficulty which are certain to meet the student sooner or
later, or by giving vague general directions and loosely worded
rules ; by telling the student for instance to write according to
sound, and leaving him to find out for himself how it is to be
done, or by giving him several alternative ways of writing a word
and leaving him to choose which is the clearest and easiest.
Conditions of Simplicity. 19
In Cursive Shorthand I have spared no pains to avoid this
fault. I have endeavoured to foresee and to illustrate every
difficulty which the learner is likely to experience, and to make
the rules so definite that any given sound cannot be correctly
written in more than one way. I can hardly hope to have
completely succeeded at the first attempt, but it is undoubt-
edly a step in the right direction and will commend itself to all
who seriously desire to utilise shorthand for practical purposes.
It is of no use to make a system simple without making it
complete and accurate. Systems which, like Taylor's, content
themselves with writing the consonants only, may have the
merit of simplicity, but will always be found unsatisfactory for
any sort of work where accuracy and legibility are essential.
19. WRITING BY SOUND. It is by this time agreed by all
good authorities that a system of shorthand to be simple, con-
sistent, and complete, must be Phonetic. It must discard the
inconsistencies and difficulties of the common orthography. It
is almost impossible to make a system represent consistently
and simply the endless variety of combinations in the common
spelling : but it is quite practicable to represent with sufficient
accuracy the comparatively small number of sounds which are
used to distinguish words in speech.
In constructing Cursive Shorthand I have made it as
strictly phonetic as is practically possible. This not only
renders it more complete and self-consistent, but considerably
enhances its educational value, especially as a training in
correct pronunciation.
The phonetic principle itself is not altogether free from
disadvantages. Phonetic spelling, though much simpler than
the received spelling, presents some difficulties to beginners,
who seldom realise at all accurately how they pronounce, till
their attention is specially directed to the subject. Moreover,
all people do not pronounce exactly alike ; hence slight varia-
tions of spelling may arise in a phonetic system corresponding
to variations of pronunciation.
In order to minimize these disadvantages, I have published
20 Conditions of Simplicity.
a separate pamphlet* explaining in considerable detail the
phonetic notation and the standard of pronunciation which are
adopted as the groundwork of the present system.
One of the commonest objections to phonetic spelling is
that it confuses words, such as write, right, rite, which are
pronounced alike but differ in meaning and orthography. This
objection is not serious, because such words are comparatively
rare, and are scarcely more likely to cause confusion in cor-
respondence than in speech. In writing from dictation it is
actually a disadvantage to have different outlines for words
which are pronounced alike, because it is often impossible
to tell, till the end of a sentence, which word is intended.
20. WRITING BY ALPHABET. Further, in order to be easy
to learn, a system must be Alphabetic. It must be capable of
representing all words with neatness and precision by means of
a few fundamental forms, the characters of the alphabet, com-
bined according to strict and simple rules. It must not be
encumbered with a multitude of arbitrary signs and abbrevia-
tions. It must not abound in special exceptions made in favour
of individual words. For although such devices impart brevity
to the writing, and may be of use to men whose life is spent in
reporting, they are an immense tax upon the memory and
make a system quite useless for ordinary purposes.
The majority of geometric systems which employ symbols
freely, cannot be called strictly ' alphabetic '. For instance in
Pitman's, \ represents p, and ^ or ~\ r, but \ represents
pr as in person or prison: the symbol representing the r is a
hook, which not only has no similarity to either character for
r, but also comes fee/ore t the p. Again, (. represents th and
) s, but J represents, not sr, but thr. Moreover all these
combinations may have other symbols attached at the end,
and may be halved to add t or d, or lengthened for tr, dr, or thr.
* Phonetic Spelling, by H. L. Callendar. Same publishers.
t The use of the initial nooks to add r and I after a consonant, though
strictly speaking illogical, is doubtless a matter of practical convenience
at the beginning of a word; but when medial they often join awkwardly
and thus entail special devices.
Conditions of Simplicity. 21
Any such combination must be regarded as a single whole,
or ' compendium ', and not as being made up of separate charac-
ters. The number of such possible compendiums in Pitman's
system is very great, and largely increases the mental effort
required for writing and reading.
The worst objection to the extensive use of compendiums,
unless governed by very strict rules, is the variety of outlines
with which the same sound may be written, and the consequent
endless hesitation in choosing between the different possible
ways of writing a word.
Pocknell (Legible Shorthand) does not employ the halving
and lengthening principle, and although he uses symbols
freely, his method is not liable to the above objections ; each
letter has a separate recognizable representation, written in
its logical order, and used according to strict rules of vowel
indication.
Cursive Shorthand is very strictly alphabetic, and avoids
the use of arbitrary signs. It employs but few compound
consonants, and these are generated by simply combining their
component characters in the clearest possible way ; the use of
these compounds is governed by one strict and simple rule, so
that no hesitation can arise from uncertainty as to when they
should be used.
CONDITIONS OF LEGIBILITY.
21. The word 'legible' is not used as synonymous with
' decipherable '. The ideal of legibility is that each word when
correctly written should be readily and instantaneously dis-
tinguishable from every other word without reference to the
memory or the context. The more nearly a system approaches
this ideal, the greater its claim to rank as ' legible '.
A system which does not express vowels and often includes
twenty or thirty words under the same outline, can only be
deciphered by guess-work, and cannot with any truth claim to
be as 'legible as print'. The context, to which so many steno-
graphers trust, is often a very unreliable means of distinction.
As Mr T. A. Eeed says: "I am disposed to think that it is
possible for any two words, however dissimilar in character or
22 Conditions of Legibility.
meaning, to be so placed as to render it difficult to tell by the
context which is intended".
SIMPLICITY is one of the conditions of legibility. If
a system is too complicated in the number of possible forms
and combinations of its characters, or too involved in the
application of the rules which determine its outlines, it will
be difficult to read in proportion to the intricacy of the mental
operations required to decipher it.
FACILITY is another of the conditions of legibility. If
a system cannot be written easily, it will probably be written
badly, and will therefore be difficult to read.
Under this heading I have already discussed most of the
conditions which depend upon sharpness of outline, and on the
clearness and ease with which the hand can make the required
distinctions between the characters. The conditions which I
now proceed to consider are important even if the writing be
engraved with the greatest skill and care, so that each character
is unmistakeable.
The general condition of legibility in a phonetic system
is that SIMILAR SOUNDS SHOULD BE REPRESENTED BY SIMILAR
SIGNS, and conversely different sounds by different signs. It
is one great advantage of a phonetic system that if this
condition is observed a slight error in reading or writing will
correspond to a slight error in sound, so that the word though
wrongly read or written may still be recognizable. On the
other hand a considerable difference in sound will correspond
to a considerable difference in outline, so that words of different
sound will not be likely to clash*. In longhand the forms of
the letters have no relation to their sounds, and the writing is
less legible than it would have been if any definite phonetic
plan had been adopted.
Alternative characters such as bear no resemblance to
each other, and especially 'symbols' (as defined in § 12),
are objectionable because they violate this principle, in that
the same sound is represented by different signs.
* It is a common mistake to suppose that Pitman's system satisfies
this condition ; very dissimilar words often have the same outline in his
'phonography' (see p. 27, near end).
Conditions of Legibility. 23
22. ONE WORD, ONE OUTLINE. If similar sounds should
be represented by similar signs, a fortiori the same word,
apart from variations of pronunciation, should always be
represented by the same sign*. Of equal importance is the
complementary principle that different words should be re-
presented by different signs.
These are two most essential conditions of legibility, apart
from all question of good or bad writing ; but it is un-
doubtedly very difficult to satisfy both at once. This was
in fact far the most serious difficulty encountered in construct-
ing the present system.
The variety of material supplied must be sufficient for
the distinction of all such words as differ in sound, and
at the same time the rules must be made so strict and
definite that the same word cannot be correctly written in
several different ways. The pages of illustrative matter in the
exposition of the present system are mainly devoted to explain-
ing how words should be correctly written, so fully and precisely
that all learners may naturally write them alike from the
outset. It is not enough to say to the student, 'Here are
your characters: select those joinings which you find the
best and clearest.' It is necessary to point out definitely in
each case which characters are to be used.
23. Most authors are agreed with regard to the importance
of distinguishing different words, and, in order to satisfy this
condition, they generally provide such a superabundance of
material — thick and thin strokes, symbols, detached vowels, and
many different lengths and directions of character — that they
find it impossible to satisfy the other condition. Sometimes
they admit the failure as a misfortune, sometimes they glory
in the ' endless variety of possible outlines ' without appearing
to notice its drawbacks ; sometimes they deny that it has any
disadvantages, and refuse to recognize the importance of
laying down strict rules, and of always writing the same word
in the same way.
* Except, of course, as regards simple omission ; part of a word may
be omitted for convenience in phrasing or abbreviation: this is not the
same thing as admitting several different outlines for a fully written word.
24 Conditions of Legibility.
On this point we entirely agree with Mr Pitman, who
says*: "It is essential to easy and fluent writing that every
word should always be written in the same way ".
Butt : " Seeing that in the Phonographic Alphabet [Pitman's]
s and r have duplicate forms, that sh and I may be written
either upward or downward, that w and y have both vowel and
consonant forms, that h may be written by its consonant form
(up or down), or by a joined tick, or a dot; also that many
groups of consonants may be expressed either by their alphabetic
forms or by abbreviations [symbols], it is evident that a large
number of words may be written in more than one way."
That is to say, in a very large number of cases the same word
may (apart from all variations of pronunciation) be correctly
represented (as far as the rules are concerned) by several
(sometimes two or three hundred) different signs. Not only
are these signs different, but they bear as a rule not
the vaguest resemblance to each other. The hooks, circles,
loops, bear no resemblance whatever to the alphabetic cha-
racters of the letters I, r, f, v, n, s, z, st, str, which they
represent : and to halve the length of a stroke is not in the
least like adding d or t to it.
24. The primary object of this variety is the avoidance
of the straggling outlines that arise from the inadequacy of
the alphabet (see p. 34). Unfortunately it " opens the door to
a diversity of stenographic representation for some words, and
casts on the writer the necessity of deciding which form is
most convenient " J. The resulting confusion has been in some
measure alleviated by the publication of a Phonographic Dic-
tionary, which is intended to relieve the student of the labour
of choosing for himself which of several possible outlines is
most convenient and correct.
It is one of the chief advantages of a phonetic system that
words can be written by ear without reference to the spelling ;
tin's advantage is lost when it becomes necessary to learn
correct outlines from a dictionary.
* Manual, p. 43, § 139 (note). Ed. 1886.
t Manual, p. 46, § 153. Ed. 1886.
j Dictionary, Preface. Ed. 1884.
Coitditioiis of Leyibility. 25
In this respect there is a close analogy between Pitman's
system of shorthand and the common orthography. Just as
in learning to spell, the correct spelling of individual words
must be learnt, so in Pitman's system the student must learn
the correct outlines.
In Phonography the choice of a correct outline of a word
is not made entirely at haphazard, similarly in common
spelling there are many elastic and general relations between
the sound and the orthography ; but the exceptions are so
numerous, that you cannot from the analogy of any number
of cases deduce with certainty the correct result in any other
case however similar.
The difficulty of learning Phonography, like that of learn-
ing to spell, is consequently very great. In fact, as Mr Pitman
himself writes, " Fonography is undoutedly not a thing to be
lerned without a littel truble". Most of our readers have
probably long since forgotten the weary toil of learning to
spell, and will hardly be able to realize the force of our com-
parison : but Pitmanites, at any rate, who are ardent spelling
reformers, will appreciate its full significance.
The number of alternative characters even in Pitman's
alphabet is small compared with the number of words in the
language. If the usage of the alternative characters were
denned by strict rules, a dictionary would not be required.
The absence of strict rules, although it makes a system appear
simpler at first sight, is in reality attended with serious dif-
ficulties, because it compels the writer, if he does not wish to
acquire a style peculiar to himself and illegible to others, to
learn the correct outlines of individual words.
25. But we have been assuming hitherto that the Dic-
tionary in question is a recognised and absolute standard* of
correct Phonography. If it were so, Pitman's system, like the
common orthography, "in spite of its complexity and its many
glaring defects "f, would still be a practical system. In reality
* As a matter of fact it is very imperfect. Many of the most puzzling
words are omitted, especially those whose outlines are awkward or un-
certain.
t Standard, Sept, 26, 1887.
26 Conditions of Legibility.
the comparison is altogether unfair to the common orthography,
for not only is the possible variety of phonographic outline
much greater than the possible variety of spelling on any
reasonable analogies, but whereas the common orthography is
exceedingly strict and definite, the usage of distinction by
outline, even among skilful phonographers and in printed
specimens, is far from regular and uniform.
In fact so great is the possible variety of outline in Plw-
nography and so elastic are the rules that Mr Pitman has
not after fifty years succeeded in establishing uniformity
even in the text-books published by himself. To take one
instance, out of many that might be given ; La the Reporter,
p. 28*, the outline for cart (or according to) is given as c- ,
which properly stands for a word of the form kr-t as crate ;
on p. 43, the outline given for cart (also carat, accurate, and
curate) is ' , which properly stands for a word of the form
k-r-t as carrot; but in the Piionographic Dictionary the form
given is x,, which could hardly be distinguished in rapid
writing from \ care (the latter word may also be written
c — , like acre, crow, occur).
Again, it is very desirable that in a series of related words
the same syllable should always be written in the same way.
Here Mr Pitman apparently gives up the attempt to maintain
consistency: every page of the Dictionary is crowded with
illustrations of the disregard of this obvious principle.
Take for instance the word critic, which is written
krtk ; in order to form critical, it ought only to be necessary
to add the syllable -al: instead of that, Mr Pitman writes the
first syllable in an altogether different way, and puts a hook
before the final k, adding nothing at all at the end ; the result
« — krtkl, does not in the least suggest the form of the
original word critic.
* See also Manual, p. 46. Ed. 1886. It is necessary to note the par-
ticular edition because changes are always being made. I expended in
1887 upwards of 10s. on a new set of Pitman's instruction books. I find
that several changes have already been made since then.
Condition of Legibility. 27
Or take again the word cart, and compare the derivatives ;
*J krtj, cartage; ~~\\ krtr, carter; ^ krtt, carted.
These are by no means exceptional cases. There would be no
difficulty in giving thousands of similar examples.
We do not say that starting with Mr Pitman's methods and
materials it would have been possible to achieve a better result :
the success attained is probably as great as the fundamental
imperfections of his system will admit. He at any rate recog-
nizes the desirability of always writing the same word in the
same way, though his manner of attaining that end is defective.
The Dictionary method, even if consistently followed, would
involve too much strain on the memory to be of general use.
2G. NECESSITY OF-INSERTING VOWELS. In the Phonographic
Reporter* we find this " variety of forms with which the same
cluster of consonants may be written", quoted, " among the
many points of superiority which Phonography possesses over
all other systems ". It is used "in providing different outlines
for such words" as contain the same consonants, " so tha't
they may be distinguished at once without the insertion of
then: vowels ".
Now Pitman's capricious variety of outline, in addition to
its other disadvantages, is quite inappropriate to this purpose.
For in the case of long words, where the variety is so great as
to be absolutely bewildering, the distinction is comparatively
seldom required ; and in the case of short words containing
one or two consonants, where the distinction is most needed,
it most hopelessly fails. To take as an instance some words
containing three consonants : the combination krt can be
written in six different ways, three of which are given for the
word cart (see § 25). To take one of them : the outline c-
(according to the Phonographic Dictionary) represents the
dissimilar words crate, accord, curt, occurred, acred, create etc.,
and if thickened, great, grade, agreed, augured, etc., and if
the dot for con be omitted, as it often is, concrete, concurred,
* p. 17, edition 1886.
28 Conditions of Legibility.
concord; except in 'Dictionary' writing it might stand for
several other words.
Of the remaining five ways of writing krt, one is too
awkward to be of any use ; the other four are used for other
words, such as carat, accurate, curate, cart, curt, carroty, etc.
This however is a particularly favourable case : the variety of
five available outlines is unusual in so short a combination ;
yet even here it is seen to be quite inadequate : it is much
more so in the case of shorter words. The cases where it just
happens to fit the requirements of the language are exceedingly
few in comparison, and are very poor " compensation" * for the
trouble and perplexity of choosing between the several different
outlines possible for every long word.
It must appear altogether absurd that it should be possible
to write the consonant outline of the word Switzerland in
nearly four hundred different ways ; the more so, when we
reflect that, after all, the correct outline, ck sts-tlnt, may
still be misread for as-it-is-your-land, or cities -of -Ireland, or
as -much-as-Ir eland, or such-as-were-lent, or something else,
according to context, and clearness of writing, and virulence
of phraseographic mania.
The natural way to distinguish words containing the same
consonants, is to write, or at least to indicate, the vowels.
In Cursive Shorthand we have provided for the facile in-
sertion of vowels by giving them joined characters which are
written in their proper order together with the consonants.
All words differing in sound are thus naturally distinguished
in writing. How a word should be written, or whether to
insert a vowel or not, is not left to the option of the student ;
the correct outline in every case is determined by general rules,
so that no confusion of the kind we have described can arise.
27. VOWEL INDICATION. Vowel insertion alone is not alto-
gether satisfactory unless supplemented by vowel indication ;
otherwise, if any vowels are omitted, there is nothing to show
* Phonographic Dictionary, Preface.
Conditions of Legibility. 29
where they ought to come, and even if all the vowels are
inserted there is nothing to show that they are all there.
It is in reading long words that a good system of vowel in-
dication, showing at a glance how the consonants are grouped,
is of the greatest utility. Indicated vowels may be very freely
omitted in long words without risk of actual clashing, because
they seldom have precisely the same consonant skeletons.
When the vowel sound itself is obscure*, and of no distinctive
value apart from its place among the consonants, it is even
preferable to omit it, provided that its place can be indicated.
Important vowels however should still be inserted as an aid to
legibility. For instance, although a knowledge of the language
will enable anyone to discover that d-m-n-sh-n^ can only
stand for domination, and not for admonition, damnation, or
dimension; nevertheless the insertion of the principal vowels
(thus: dom-nash-n) is a very great help to the instantaneous
recognition of the word.
We have seen that Pitman's method of inserting vowels is
bad ; in addition to this his appliances for vowel indication are
very rudimentary, and are moreover so capriciously employed
as to rob them of nearly all their value. His methods of
arbitrary distinction by outline must not be confounded with
systematic vowel indication.
To return to our previous example ; compare the words,
e— n kr-t?-- c~ 1 ^7. t r \creature \i k-rtr-
I creator \ " (courtier \ carter.
No one can pretend that this is systematic vowel indica-
tion. Courtier is confused with creature, a word of totally
different structure. The other words, indeed, are 'provided
with different outlines', but this is an instance particularly
favourable to Mr Pitman, because the combination krtr can be
written in fifteen different ways; it contains two r's, each of
which can be expressed in three ways, which are theoretically
* The fact that more than half the vowels in English are of this kind
is probably the origin of the common superstition that all vowels can be
readily dispensed with. See p. 63.
t It might at first sight be mistaken for diminution, which however
contains a y thus d-m-ny-sh-n.
c. 3
30 Conditions of Legibility.
used for the purpose of vowel indication ; (1) the hook (r), r
preceded by a consonant; (2) the character ~\ (-r), r preceded
by a vowel; (3) the character / (r-), r followed by a vowel.
Unfortunately (except that the downward r, being an awkward
character, is rarely used when a vowel follows) these rules are
so little observed in practice that no reliance can be placed on
them as a means of vowel indication. (See also p. 103.)
Mr E. Pocknell has undoubtedly rendered great service to
shorthand by the stress he has laid on the importance of vowel
indication : but I think he goes too far in neglecting vowel in-
sertion. It is true that a great many words are readily recog-
nized by their consonant skeletons, especially if they are not
spelt phonetically. No one would find much difficulty in re-
cognizing the words,
Gl-dst-n-, E-nd-lph, C-lq-h--n, Br-ght, sh-rth-nd,
phl-gm, t-bl-, d-bt, -n--gh, str-ngth.
In the power of distinguishing monosyllables and short
words without the aid of detached vowel marks, by indicating
the number and position of the vowels, his system is certainly
a great improvement on Pitman's.
But in many cases even the indication of the precise position
and number of all the vowels, is not sufficiently suggestive, or
fails to show the exact word. It may take some time to guess
words like --t-, -g--, b---, -d--, -b--, q---. In the case of
short words there is usually a choice of alternatives, unless the
exact vowels are written.
To reporters, who from constant practice become familiar
with the outline of every individual word, and who can transcribe
their notes while the memory of the subject is still fresh, a
certain amount of guess-work is not a very serious drawback.
But for general use, especially for correspondence and notes
of lectures on technical subjects, we require much greater
certainty* of reading, and continual guess-work is not to be
tolerated. The exact expression of vowel sounds is at once
the most direct, simple, and complete method of distinguishing
words, and. given joined vowel characters, this can be effected
without serious expenditure of time.
* Professor Everett, Shorthand, May, 1884
Conditions of Legibility. 31
Cursive Shorthand has not only provided very fully and
definitely for the facile insertion of vowels, where they are
needed ; but has supplemented vowel insertion with a complete
system of vowel indication, which shows in every case where
vowels do not occur. We are thus enabled to omit obscure
vowels not only without loss, but with actual gain of legibility.
By systematically inserting accented vowels and indicating
unaccented vowels, the outline is made to show in almost
all cases exactly how the word is accented or divided into
syllables*. The facility thus secured in reading long and un-
familiar words correctly at sight, is found to be of the greatest
practical value.
28. POSITIONAL WHITING. The device of writing a word in
'Position' above, on, or through the line, is commonly em-
ployed in shorthand for indicating the nature of a vowel with-
out writing it.
In Pitman's system, writing a word 'in position' implies
that its accented vowel is one of five or six: this informa-
tion is rather too indefinite to be of much usef. Besides it
assumes that the rarer vowels are always inserted. In reality
the w and y series of vowels, long and short, and the dis-
syllabic diphthongs, ought to be included. This would raise
the total number of vowels to nearly fiftyj, to be divided
among three positions.
The use of position for this purpose, besides being indefinite,
is particularly objectionable if the accented vowel does not
happen to be initial, because it is illogical to begin a word out
of position in order to convey information about the nature of
a vowel which may come somewhere near the end. Position,
if used, ought logically to be restricted to the expression of
initial sounds. It is thus used in Professor Everett's system ;
* Many 'syllabic' systems claim the advantage of showing, by the
way a word is written, how it is divided or accented.
t Of so little use that, except for logograms, it is generally neglected.
J Yet with all this multitude of signs, no distinction is made between
the sounds of the vowels italicized in the words, curt and cwrry, hair-oil
and hayrick, boa and \x>wie. Cursive Shorthand is able to distinguish
vowel sounds with much greater accuracy and completeness, although
it employs only about one-third of this number of vowel characters.
3—2
32 Conditions of Legibility.
he writes a word above the line to indicate the omission of an
initial circle ; below the line to indicate the omission of initial
a. This is not only perfectly logical, but also very simple
and useful.
The device itself however is open to some objections, which
make it in my opinion unsuited for general use. It appears
difficult and unnatural to the average student, who generally
fails to master it thoroughly. It is not at all a safe means of
distinction, unless ruled paper is used. Even then the positions
must be strongly marked by putting the words well above or
below the line. This seriously violates the conditions of com-
pactness and lineality, and may often make it necessary to
shift the hand up or down in the middle of a line, or to write
half an outline in a cramped position. In any case much
space is wasted, and the writing acquires a straggling appear-
ance, so that the lines are apt to become confused, unless
widely separated. It conflicts with phraseography ; a word
cannot be distinguished by position when joined in the middle
of a phrase. For these and other reasons we have made no
use of positional writing in Cursive Shorthand; we are thus
enabled to dispense with ruled paper, and to secure the
maximum of compactness, lineality, and phraseographic power.
On the other hand the device of expression by 'mode',
that is of writing characters in position with respect to each
other, requires no ruled paper and is perfectly reliable and
distinct. But it should be used in moderation, or it is apt to
give rise to straggling and scratchy outlines.
CONDITIONS OF BBEVITY.
29. The material at our disposal being thus limited by the
essential conditions of facility, simplicity, and legibility ; how
is it to be utilized to the best advantage in securing brevity?
By brevity we do not mean simply shortness of outline, but
rather speed, or shortness of time. The rate at which an
outline can be clearly written, so as to be unmistakeable for
anything else, depends more on its facility than on its length.
Conditions of Brevity. 33
30. ARBANGEMENT OP ALPHABET. Subject to the condition
that ' similar sounds should be represented by similar signs ', it
is evident that, in arranging the alphabet, brevity will he best
secured by giving the quickest and easiest signs to the com-
monest sounds, and the clearest and most facile joinings to the
commonest combinations.
The sign chosen for any sound should be suitable to its
usage, and to the mode of its occurrence in the language.
Characters which are facile at the beginning or end of an out-
line, but join badly elsewhere, should be given to sounds which
occur generally as prefixes or as terminations respectively.
It is one great advantage of a ' phonographic ' as opposed to
an ' orthographic' system, that any given sound, from its very
nature, occurs only in a limited number of combinations.
Two vowel sounds, for instance, rarely occur together, and
the number of common combinations of consonants without
intervening vowels, is very limited. It is therefore possible to
choose for each sound a character suited to its mode of
occurrence. In an ' orthographic ' system, on the other hand,
in so far as it is unphonetic, the combinations are not governed
by any natural law : each letter is liable to occur in every
variety of way, and it is more difficult to arrange the alphabet
so as to avoid awkward outlines.
31. WASTE OF MATERIAL. All the available stenographic
material should be used up as completely as possible. It
should not be possible to change any distinctive feature of an
outline without making it mean something different. The
ability to write the same sound in many different ways neces-
sarily implies proportionate waste of stenographic material,
and a want of definiteness in the meaning of the outlines and
in the rules by which they are formed.
If we grant that it is possible in writing to distinguish two
sizes of character, a large size and a small size, strokes and
ticks, as in longhand, we ought so to arrange our alphabet as to
take the greatest possible advantage of the distinction, to use
it up completely. In Taylor's alphabet, and in most of the
34 Conditions of Brevity.
systems founded upon Taylor, a double or a triple length
character stands for a character repeated two or three times,
as in — s (ass), ss (assess), sss (assizes); these
cases occur so rarely that the distinction of two sizes, though
it has none the less to be preserved, is practically wasted.
In Cursive Shorthand this wasteful use of the two sizes is
avoided by the arrangement of the alphabet ; and the distinc-
tion is utilized in other ways so as to make the alphabet
complete. At the same time the sound represented by the small
size character, is in each case so related to that represented by
the large size, that confusion of size, if it occurs, may be
attended with the least possible harm.
32. SOME 'METHODS OF ABBKEVIATION'. We have already
pointed out certain objections to the use of symbols. These
devices are commonly known as 'methods of abbreviation'.
To take a favourable example from one of Pitman's pamphlets :
the full alphabetic form of the word 'misrepresentation' in
Phonography, omitting all vou-els, is the first of the following
cuts:
^— \
msrprzntshn
If we introduce hooks for r and shn, and put circles for s
and z, it reduces to the second form, which is somewhat
shorter and clearer, thanks particularly to the circles which
replace the awkward s, z characters. This example will
suffice to show how necessary these 'methods of abbreviation',
with all their attendant disadvantages, are to a purely geo-
metric system. The necessity arises from the inadequacy of
the alphabet ; there is no remedy for it, but an entirely new
departure.
Pitman has two special ' methods of abbreviation '.
(1) The addition of t or d is implied by halving the length
of a character : (2) tr or dr or thr (in most cases) by doubling it.
Halving a stroke is a very real source of brevity, especially as
the characters which Pitman assigns to t and d are perpen-
Conditions of Brevity. 35
dicular strokes, thin and thick 1 1 , which if used to any great
extent, would cause many of the outlines to descend too far
below the line, like attitude
Given Pitman's arrange-
clioice but to have some
> compare \ byadtiut (beatitude).
ment of characters *, there is no
other means of expression for
these letters: the halving principle however has many dis-
advantages. If it is necessary to distinguish four different
lengths of character, it is waste of material to use two of these
lengths almost exclusively for the representation of a single
pair of letters, and that in such a way as to leave it generally
uncertain which of the two is intended.
^, — -^ may stand for mtr (matter) or mdr (madder) or
mthr (mother or may there).
V for ppn (pippin) or pnt r (painter) or pndr-t (ponder)
a or pnthr (panther).
/^ rpt for rapid or wrapt.
Moreover in rapid writing these distinctions cannot be
rigidly observed; half length strokes are written so as to be
mistaken for ticks or full length strokes, and full length strokes
for half length or double length. The confusion produced in
this way, by the accidental insertion or omission of countless t'a
and d'a, is one of the worst sources of illegibility in Pitman's
system. It is the natural consequence of such a reckless dis-
regard of the fundamental principle, that similar sounds should
be represented by similar signs.
And yet we have seen it stated that "the halving principle
is one of the happiest devices in the whole history of short-
hand"!. It is true that later in the course of the same
article the writer says of Phonography: "To be legible it
must be written with care. This necessity arises from its
brevity; and its use of light and heavy, halved and double
* Compare the arrangement of Everett's alphabet, in which hori-
zontal strokes are assigned to these common sounds.
t The Manual and the Dictionary are at variance on this point,
as on many others.
J Enc. Brit. Edition ix. Article ' Shorthand'.
36 Conditions of Brevity.
length strokes ". An admission of this kind, at the end of an
article devoted to an indiscriminate eulogy of Pitman's system,
is very significant.
33. Where several of these methods of abbreviation happen
to conspire, we obtain exceptionally short outlines. "Among
the many points of superiority" (mentioned above, p. 27) which
Pitman claims for his system over all others, we find first, "the
great concentration of consonant power in the simplest mathe-
q
matical forms". He instances outlines like (9 strfs (strives),
\9 sdrshns (abbreviation for considerations) ; ^ prnt (print),
^ frnt (front, friend).
It is a common device in comparing two systems to select
words of this sort, which happen to have exceptionally short
outlines in one but not in the other. Such outlines as the
above are very attractive to the inexperienced eye, and look
well in advertisements; but are often so exceedingly difficult
to write clearly that the gain in brevity is more apparent than
real. As Mr Pitman himself says with reference to the hooked
and looped forms of which beginners are so fond : "The briefest
outline to the eye is not always the most expeditious to the
hand"*; and again: "In selecting one out of two or more
possible forms for any word, the student must recollect that
great ease in writing, and, consequently, the saving of time
[and, he might have added, legibility], is not secured by using
hooked and grouped, and especially half-sized, letters, on all
possible occasions ; but he must learn to make a judicious
selection. He should choose a long, easy and legible form
rather than a short and cramped one "t.
That the elaboration of such highly concentrated abbrevia-
tions is an exceedingly fascinating and seductive mental re-
creation, we do not for a moment deny : but they are too com-
plicated to be extemporized; each combination must become
individually familiar before it can be profitably used. As
Professor Everett says: "There is a certain pleasure doubtless
* Manual, p. 46. § 153. Ed. 1886.
t Id., p. 86, § 129.
Conditions of Brevity. 37
in carrying out an elaborate system of rules for writing con-
cisely, when we are not hurried, but are able to make all the
contractions at our leisure. But in proportion as we lose
simplicity, and depart further from mere alphabetic writing,
the writer will be liable to find himself unready when instant
action is required". (See also § 20.)
34. PHBASEOGBAPHY. Another common method of saving
time is to join words together in phrases continuously without
lifting the pen. In a strictly phonetic system (like Professor
Everett's), where the outlines represent sounds rather than
words, this does not make the writing illegible in so far as
it does not alter the sound. But in a system which is not
phonetic, it often happens that joining two words together
makes the outline of some different word. Phraseography is
then a great source of illegibility and hesitation. In such
systems word division is just as essential to legibility as in
ordinary print. Even in a purely phonetic system phraseo-
graphy should not be too freely employed. The knowledge
that each separate outline stands for a separate word, is of
great assistance in deciphering a sentence if badly written.
Abbreviated words in any system should not be joined together,
except in very common phrases, such as 'of the', which, even if
they clash with words, are so soon learnt that they may
be used with safety. The more common a ' phrase ' is, and the
closer the connection of the words it contains, the better.
Pitman lays great stress on phraseography ; in fact, he says:
"In no other system has this plan of joining words together
been so fully carried out". But since in Phonography all the
words are abbreviated by the omission of their vowels and
otherwise, words cannot be freely joined together without
clashing. Only known phrases can be used safely. An un-
familiar phrase may be quite illegible. The student has to
learn admissible phrases from a phrase-book, just as he has to
learn correct outlines from a dictionary.
35. ABBREVIATION BY OMISSION. The 'method of abbre-
viation' par excellence which is common to all systems of
38 Conditions of Brevity.
shorthand, is that of omission ; the first step is generally to
omit all the vowels; the next only to write the first two or
three consonants of each word. The following is an exact
transcription of one of Taylor's specimens.
-t s b b b rtrs f mr t n rdr t- kkn -mn ndstr prf s s- kntrfd
-t t r d- fd s nt t- b prkrd wt m pns n Ibr.
This is sufficiently hard to make out as it stands ; in actual
writing several of the letters would be uncertain which would
add considerably to the difficulty.
A reporter who has to transcribe his notes while the
subject is still fresh in his memory, can put up with a great
deal of illegibility and abbreviation by omission : but for
ordinary purposes of correspondence, and for cases where the
original notes (untranscribed) are required to be read easily
at any distance of time, perfect legibility is the most essential
point, and the words should not be too much abbreviated.
The best methods of abbreviation are those which are
familiar in longhand. Indicating terminations of long words,
especially of words that are often repeated, omitting unim-
portant connecting words, and similar methods, are very
largely used in reporting, and are much preferable, for general
use, to the wholesale omission of vowels, or the use of hundreds
of arbitrary abbreviations, such as still disfigure systems of
shorthand. It is true that nothing can be easier to read or to
write than an arbitrary word-sign, when once it has become
perfectly familiar. But such word-signs, if they happen not to
be familiar, are absolutely illegible, and the difficulty of
learning them, except in special cases, is so serious that they
can only be of general use to professional writers.
36. EEPOBTING. For the purposes of Verbatim Eeporting,
abbreviation by omission must be freely employed in any
system, but facility and discretion in the use of it are only
to be acquired by diligent practice.
If the coveted art of Verbatim Eeporting could be so easily
acquired as many unscrupulous advertisers would have us
believe, it would not be so highly valued. Its very value
Conditions of Brevity. 39
proves its difficulty. The following statement of Mr Edward
Pocknell, a very well known reporter, will be read with interest
by those who wish to know the real experiences of a man of
undoubted ability in the modern school of reporting.
"The statements often published ever since the art flou-
rished about learning to write 100 words per minute, in any
system, in a few weeks, or in two or three months, with a
practice of an hour a day, are simply ludicrous to those who
have had any experience. The principles of a good system
may be acquired as fast as the student pleases to read them;
but reducing them to PRACTICE is an essentially different thing.
The author [Mr Edward Pocknell], after two years' daily prac-
tice of Lewis's system, in his early professional career, could
not write 100 words per minute; and on abandoning that
system for Phonography, which he also practised daily, some-
times at long spells, as a Reporter of Speeches for the Press,
three years passed before he could write 140 words per minute.
This statement is made in the assurance that the experience
of other practising writers has been the same."
Of a certain system we have seen it stated that the report-
ing style may be acquired in twelve hours; but beginners in
Cursive should not be discouraged if they find that, though a
month's practice will enable them to write it with greater
facility than longhand, a much longer apprenticeship is required
for verbatim work.
37. It is not unlikely however that, wherever verbatim
accuracy is required, human agency will in a few years be
superseded by mechanical.
The well-known 'Phonograph' does verbatim reporting
automatically, and therefore not only far more cheaply but
also more accurately than the most skilled artist. The ' Phono-
graphic' records have to be transcribed and put into shape for
the press, like any ordinary verbatim reports, but it is much
easier to transcribe by dictation from a ' Phonograph ', which
delivers five to ten words at a time, than from the best
shorthand notes.
40 Conditions of Brevity.
But for the great majority of private purposes — such as
correspondence, copying, and taking notes of lectures — where
transcribing is out of the question, and legibility is more
essential than speed, the phonograph will never supersede
shorthand. In fact there is every indication that the popu-
larity of the art in the future will increase. It seems to me
therefore that it is a mistake, in constructing a system, to
attach so much importance to brevity as to sacrifice to it any
considerations of legibility and simplicity.
•
CLAIMS.
38. To recapitulate briefly the argument of the Introduc-
tion, I claim that Cursive Shorthand is a good system, and
suitable for general use, for the following reasons : —
(1) Because it is easy to write : —
It uses only two sizes of character. It does not employ the
distinction of thick and thin strokes, or of positional writing,
so that it can be written equally well with pen, pencil, or
stylograph, and on ruled or unruled paper.
It is very cursive and lineal, and similar to longhand, and
avoids indistinct joinings and awkward geometrical outlines.
The vowels are written in their natural order, by joined
characters like the consonants. Detached dots are rarely
used, and only for subsidiary purposes, and need not be
carefully located.
(2) Because it is simple to learn : —
It is strictly 'alphabetic', and does not use 'symbols' or
arbitrary signs.
It is strictly phonetic, and avoids the inconsistencies of the
common orthography.
The rules are simple, definite, and free from exceptions.
(3) Because it is easy to read : —
Its legibility is due partly to its simplicity, to the facility
and clearness of its outlines, and to the scientific arrangement
of the alphabet ; partly to its completeness — all words differing
Claims. 4 1
in sound are naturally distinguished in outline, and the rules
are so definite that the same sound cannot be correctly written
in more than one way. Besides this, there is a complete
system of vowel indication, and the outline is made to show,
in nearly every case, how the word is accented.
(4) Because it is as brief as is compatible with the above
conditions: —
The given material is not wasted, but is used up as com-
pletely as possible, and disposed in the most suitable manner.
It can be scribbled as recklessly as longhand, and is about
three times as brief when fully written (see also p. 102).
Cursive Shorthand, in addition to the above qualifications,
possesses great advantages for educational purposes. Besides
being strictly phonetic, it is also very regular, systematic, and
complete; thus it not only improves the pronunciation, but
affords a valuable mental training.
I do not think that there is any system at present before
the public which combines all these qualities in so high a
degree and in such suitable proportions.
OEIGIN OF CUBSIVE SHORTHAND.
39. The present system was founded on my reminiscences
of an American pamphlet, the title and description of which
(taken from Dr Westby Gibson's admirable Bibliography of
Shorthand) are as follows: — A Brief History of the Art of
Stenography, with a proposed new system of Phonetic Short-
hand, by William P. Upham. Essex Institute, Salem, Mass. ,
U.S.A. 1877. [Large 8vo. Two plates, containing 48 alpha-
bets, from John Willis, 1602, to Thomas Towndrow, 1837.
viii. and 120 pp., including 10 plates.]
Lest I should appear in what follows unduly to depreciate
the value of Upham's work, I may say at the outset, that
I owe much more to him than to any other author, and that
I found his system so far superior to Pitman's for general
purposes that, although I had spent some two years in learning
the latter, I at once abandoned it in favour of Upham's system.
42 Origin of Cursive ShortJiand.
The latter, like Cursive Shorthand, was designed to supply
the need of a system for general use. It discarded the dis-
tinction between thin and thick strokes, and the use of detached
vowel marks. Its alphabet was based on a very complete
phonetic analysis, and provided signs for all the necessary
sounds. The distinction of two sizes of character only, was
employed throughout. In all these fundamental points we
have made no change. But in one sense Upham's system was
incomplete. Some of the characters of his alphabet were
inadequate, and gave rise to awkward combinations entailing
special devices. Among the worst were the following : —
< /(, AW?, v y, •* — I, ^ — r, *<L ng,
V sh, Q*i, -v- ch, v^ j ;
\^ a, i (down) i, i (up) M, I (down) ee, \ (up) do, — | i.
The remaining characters of his alphabet, with a few ex-
ceptions, were much the same as in Cursive Shorthand, but
differently arranged.
The loop characters (? A were devoted to /, v, Ih, and the
large and small circles to z and s. The device of expression
'by mode' was not used. The short vowels were distinguished
'by character', a method very fruitful in bad outlines, since
most of the short vowel characters would not join clearly in
several combinations. The method of vowel indication con-
sisted in the use of a large number of special compound conso-
nants; many of these were objectionable as not containing
their respective primaries ; thus,
i_ tr from v t and ^ — r, 3 — pi from r> p and ^ — 7,
U nt from t n and u t, n mp from / m and <^.p,
J— kr from c k and ^ — r, r ngg from -*=^. ng and ( g,
-^- kw from c k and A w, etc.
There were also many arbitrary non-alphabetic signs for
common words, prefixes, terminations, and phrases; the dis-
Origin of Cursive Shorthand. 43
tinctiou of three positions was arbitrarily applied to several of
these signs.
40. In laying the foundations of Cursive Shorthand the
'alphabetic' principle (§ 20) was adopted as opposed to the
1 ideographic '. Arbitrary compounds and arbitrary word- signs
were therefore rejected wholesale. A great saving of steno-
graphic material was effected by giving the downward tick
/ to s, z, and using the device of adding the small circle to the
mutes, r> p, -~> t, etc., to form the corresponding sibilants
n /, u> th, etc. The loop characters A', fr were then assigned
to I, r. Hooks were used at first for w and y.
The alphabet of Cursive Shorthand thus took shape on the
first of January, 1887. The hooks for w and y were soon found
to be particularly objectionable, especially when medial, and the
device of expression ' by mode ' was, after various trials, applied
to these characters. This device was found to be so satisfactory
that its use was extended to purposes of vowel indication.
Meanwhile many changes were made in the vowel alphabet,
especially in the expression of the short vowels. The characters
for ng, the reverse loops 0 /i for I, r, the alternatives 3 )
for t, d, were added to the consonant alphabet. The system of
vowel indication was completed and simplified in such a way
aa to render the meaning of every outline more precise and
definite, and the writing consequently far more legible.
Awkward and indistinct outlines were carefully hunted oqj,
and eliminated by the application of suitable rules to the
usage of the alternative characters : these rules were made
strict, instead of permissive, so that the same sound could
not be correctly written in several different ways.
The above changes are more extensive and fundamental
than might appear at first sight: of the characters of the
alphabet less than a quarter remain unchanged in meaning
and usage; and although Cursive Shorthand still bears a
strong superficial resemblance to its precursor, the change in
spirit and significance is so great as to entitle it to rank as
a new system.
44 Phonetic Spelling.
PHONETIC SPELLING.
41. Cursive Shorthand is very strictly phonetic: words are
written as they are spoken and not as they are spelt. The
common spelling is so complicated and so full of inconsistencies
that it is impossible to construct a simple and consistent system
of shorthand except on a phonetic basis.
In order to separate as far as possible the difficulties which
are purely phonetic from those of the shorthand itself, we
employ a simple Phonetic Notation (distinguished throughout
by the use of thick, or Clarendon, type) which enables us to
make our statements about sounds sufficiently brief and
definite, and to represent very accurately the sounds which
the shorthand characters are intended to express.
It is more fully explained and illustrated in a small
pamphlet* on Phonetic Spelling, which the student of Cursive
Shorthand will find very useful.
42. The phonetic alphabet, if we include the letter x for
ks, contains 30 letters, namely the 26 of the old alphabet and 4
inverted letters A, o, s[, q. The letters 3[, q are used for the
two varieties of th heard in thin j[in, and then qen. The letters
A, o, are used for the vowel sounds in the words butter, toAto ;
comer, kAmo.
The letters c, j, q, represent the sounds sh, zh, ng; as in the
words vicious, vicos; vision, vljon; singer, siqo. The soft
sound of ch, as in whic/t, is the compound tc (tsh). The soft
sound of g, as in gentle, is the compound dj (dzh). The letter
j, zhay, has the sound of the French j, as inj'ai. The sound
of qu, as in queen, is kw. Hard ch, as in c/taracter, is k.
The remaining 23 letters have their .usual meaning.
The vowels a, e, i, o, u, when not followed by o, w, or y,
represent the sounds of the accented short vowels, as in the
words pat, pet, pit, pot, put.
* Phonetic Spelling, by H. L. Callendar. Same publishers, price 6d.
Phonetic Spelling. 45
The letters o, w, y, are used for the unaccented short
sounds of the vowels eo er, uw oo, iy ee, respectively.
The long vowels and diphthongs are represented by ' di-
graphs ' (double letters). Each digraph is formed by affixing
o, w, or y, to one of the six letters a, e, i, o, A, u.
The following are required in English : —
ao as in there, fared, ey as in they, may. ow as in how, now.
eo ,, her, word. iy ,, we, see. AW „ low, note.
oo „ laud, lord. oy ,, boy, oil. uw ,, you, who.
AO ,, ah, tars. Ay ,, my, eye.
43. The Phonetic Alphabet should be learnt by saying the
names of the letters in the following order : —
Mutes; p pee, \) bee; t tee, d dee; ls.kay,ggay:
Hisses; f ef, v vee; j[ eth, n thee; s ess, z zee; c shay,
Trills; 1 el, rre: [jzhay:
Nasals ; m em, n en, q ing :
Sighs ; h he, w oo, y ee :
Vowels; o 8r; & at, e et, iit; o ot, A. Hit, M dot.
44. The Capital, Script and Italic forms of the new letters
are as follows : —
LETTEES. CAPITALS. ITALICS. SCBIPT FOBMS.
3i (thin) 0 H J 0 -Q- $
H (then) A a a 8 (79-
A (but) A A A v "D xi
o (butter) fi o o 9 ol &
THE COMMON OETHOGEAPHY.
45. The ordinary spelling of a word is frequently mis-
leading as to its sound: we therefore append a few practical
hints which will assist the beginner to deduce the correct
phonetic spelling from the common spelling in many cases.
c. 4
46 The. Common Orthography.
(1) Omit mute, or silent, letters.
For example, the italicized letters are not pronounced, and
are therefore omitted, in the following words :
Mute e. believed, blessed (blest), live, sieve, late, league.
Mute gli. though, right, caught, etc.
Miscellaneous, damn, lamb, phthisic, ps&lm, empty, fcnow,
knight, phlegm, yac/it, lick, written, honour.
(2) A letter is often doubled in the common spelling to in-
dicate a short vowel, and a mute e is often added to indicate
a long vowel. These devices are not required in phonetic
spelling or in shorthand, where long and short vowels are
distinguished by other means. For instance, one letter only
would be written in each of the following cases :
betier, sinwer, poppy, merry (compare very, bury) seH, kiss,
add, buzz, irreligious, immeasurable, innate, connect, BaccTms.
(3) In common spelling some consonants change their
sound according to their situation. For instance :
g is hard in give, get, but stands for dj and J in gentle, judge.
c stands for k as in cat, for s as in city.
In the phonetic alphabet the letter c is used only for the
sound sh as in ocean, vicious, chaise, suspicion, sufficient.
ch stands for k as in character, and for to as in church.
t stands for c (sh) as in nation, for tc as in nature.
s stands for z as in busy ; for c (sh), as in sugar, sure; for
J (zh) as in pleasure, vision.
ph stands for f as in phonetic, for v as in nephew.
n stands for q (ng) as in ink, finger (compare singer).
ng for q in hanger, for qg in anger, for ndj in danger.
th has three distinct sounds ; the sharp sound J[, in thin,
thigh, wreath; the dull sound q, in then, thy, wreathe, the
compound sound th, in pot-hooJc, short-hand.
This list is not intended to be exhaustive but contains most
of the common variations.
The Common Orthography. 47
(4) Words of different meaning, pronounced differently, are
often spelled alike; such words are distinguibhed in phonetic
spelling. On the other hand words spelled differently are often
pronounced alike ; such words are not distinguished in phonetic
spelling.
bow, bow (also bough) and bAW.
live, liv (verb), lAyv (adj.), as in live-stock.
use, yuws (subst.), yuwz (verb) (also ewes, yews).
lead, led and liyd. tear, tyeo and tao.
(5) A letter is sometimes sounded in pronunciation which
is not indicated in the common spelling. The commonest ex-
ample of this is the 'parasitic y' before the vowel u (you), as
in the words beauty, few, cure, suit, mute, union, human; y is
also commonly heard in words like here, fear, pier, peer.
(6) The common spelling is generally misleading as to the
vowel sounds. The best way to find the phonetic or shorthand
equivalent for any given vowel, is to think of the key words, and
try with which of them the given vowel rhymes. See § 48.
The letter r in the common spelling when immediately fol-
lowed by a consonant, indicates one of the o vowels. It is not
trilled and should not be written by the phonetic r (re), or its
equivalent, the shorthand loop character, because the first
principle of phonetic spelling is to omit mute letters. The
corresponding o vowel completely expresses the exact sound
without the addition of the r: to write the r (trill), when it is
not pronounced, is simply to write the word wrongly, and
might often cause it to be confused with some different word.
CUESIVE SHORTHAND.
46. In setting to work to learn the shorthand, the beginner
should start with §§ 47, 48, 49, on the Alphabetic Words and
Mnemonic Aids, and should then read the General Directions,
§ 52, and try to make out the example on p. 88, with the aid
of the Alphabetic Table, so as to gain a general idea of the
system before attempting to master its details
4—2
48
SHORTHAND ALPHABET.
§46.
Sound.
Character. Eauivalpnts
Sound.
Character.
Examples.
CONSONANTS.
SHORT VOWELS.
Pf *b
o ^
fc.»
a]
{pat
f u vjr 1
ely
s \
petty
t, d
-s j-
t, d
I 3 J )
iJ
pit
k,g
c C
( c chk, g
\ hard
1
{pot
A>0
_
butter
f , V
n> r~t-
/> r
(
3(j tf
{ SZ }
\ a) a/ )
(A
J
put
LONG VOWELS.
tc, dj
6 C
c«, J 9
soft
ao
^_ ^^ air
8, Z
/ <^j
s (c soft), z
eo
her
C, j
4 </
sh, zh
00
^
or
el.ly
/ ^
I
AO
r
are
ry, ery
/ 0
r
ow
_y
how
em, my
J /
m
AW
/
owe
en, ny
/ /
n
UW
j ^
you
iq, Iqo
f J V
ng
ey
^~
if ay
hoo, hey
O ®**^
Jioar, hay
ty
^ v
ire
woo,wey
^ K
wore, way
oy
S
bay
yoo, yey
v-^
yore, yea
Ay
^^
I
SPECIAL COMPOUND CHARACTERS.
O pt, $ kt, Ust, n sp, f. nt, fj nd, O kon-, -con (-tion).
Shorthand Alphabet.
49
47. NOTES ON ALPHABETIC TABLE. The student should
not attempt to learn this table as it stands ; it is only given
for reference, and as exhibiting a general view of the alphabet.
The consonants / s, f J z, f _} iq (ing), are written
downwards.
The vowels ' y, f AO, J uw, /^ oo, ^ ow are written
upwards.
The first characters <-» , w; ^ , ^s, are generally used for
t, d; 3[, t[ (th), respectively.
The sighs, w and y, are expressed, initially by hooks and
ticks ; medially, by ' mode ' as explained in §§ 56 — 58.
The short vowels a, e, and i ; o, A, and u, are distinguished
when necessary, by dots or 'mode' [§§ 77, (3); 79].
The upward tick ^ is used for a, e, i, and y, except when
disjoined, and in the cases denned on p. 68, in which the
downward tick gives a clearer outline.
48. ALPHABETIC WOEDS. Most of the characters, when
standing alone (when not associated with other characters to
form what are technically termed 'outlines'), are used to repre-
sent certain common words called the 'Alphabetic Words'.
Each word is chosen to suggest, when possible, the usage as
well as the sound of the corresponding character. They are
very useful as key words, and should be thoroughly learnt.
For exercises thereon, see pp. 88, 108.
VOWELS.
\ and
x of
- a, an
i the
V. air
^Ay!
j how
\ way
^ owe
— year r are
/ one j you
The straight ticks \ / I when standing alone are arbitrarily
used for the words and, of, the, respectively.
The unaccented short sound of the word a, in phrases like
'such a man', is identical with the neutral vowel o (er).
The character _ o is also used for an.
50
Shorthand Alphabet.
<^ pea
ra for
Ov be
f~*> have
^ to
^ think
w do
\s them
•> at
3 hath
) had
^) with
c key
£ which
C 8ive
C Joy
The curved characters v_ I, "> we, r are, J you should be
made slightly longer than the straight ticks. They are written
sloping, and are not so deeply curved as p, t, k.
The downstroke / standing alone is the figure 1, and is
used for the word one. The tick / s is not used standing
alone; it would clash with the vertical tick i the.
CONSONANTS.
P will ) as, has
0 loo f is, his
$ from o who, self
0 very & selves
'/ him U 1st
/ me (j into
/in U hand
/ no o circumstance.
These will be found very useful in learning the alphabet ;
they are not merely convenient abbreviations.
Some of them contain or imply preceding or following
vowels. The forms / me and / in are obtained by simply
joining the vowel ' y (ee) after m and before n. The character
// em is only used when a short vowel precedes m. The character
it ny, used for the word no, always implies a following vowel,
but not generally 5 : at the end of an outline the vowel implied
is y, as in many.
Both the characters for r require following vowels. The
character A (re) is used when a vowel does not precede, in
forming combinations like fr, as in from: the character
0 (ery) implies a preceding vowel, as in the word very. The
character Q (loo), requires a following vowel: if no vowel is
written the sound oo uw is implied in certain cases, see § 77 (1).
The z characters for is, as, being written downwards, cannot
be confused with are, you, when joined to other characters.
When standing alone, they should be made longer and steeper,
Shorthand Alphabet. 51
more like the q (ing) characters J f , which are not used for
alphabetic words. The words his, has, are distinguished, if
necessary, from is, as, by prefixing a circle; thus, phis, 3 has.
The characters i, c, sh, and d j, zh, consist of small
circles, turned in opposite directions at the end of an s tick.
The s tick is generally omitted and the circles are directly
attached to vowel stems (§ 84). The character J, when standing
alone, is used as an abbreviation for the word such.
The small h circle, standing alone, is used for the word
who, huw; as a suffix, for the word self; as in A^O itself.
The double circle is used to add s to circle characters (see
§ 83) ; and for the word selves, as in \f yourselves.
The compound characters pt, kt, st, sp, nt, nd, are only
used when no vowel intervenes between the components in
each case. It would be a bad mistake to write u Bt for city,
or S kt for cat. There are a few other compound consonants
of less importance, formed in a similar way by combining their
components. (§§ 80—89.)
By enlarging the circle of c, J to add the syllable on, we
obtain useful forms for the common terminations -t ion, -sion : as
/CQ ind-keycon, indication; "^- okeyjon, occasion. (§ 85.)
Initially the large circle is used for the prefix kon, con, as
in CM- kontro, contra; ay konsistent, consistent. (§ 82.)
When disjoined it is used for the prefix circum; and when
standing alone, for the word circumstance.
49. MNEMONIC AIDS. The characters of the alphabet are
best learnt by actual practice in reading and writing, by the
constant use of the alphabetic words, and especially by noting
the relations between the characters and the sounds they re-
present (§§ 50, 51). But the beginner unacquainted with
phonetics will probably find the following mnemonic associ-
ations most useful at the outset.
The character c for k (hard c, as in cat) is simply the
letter c without the dot.
52 Shorthand Alphabet.
The character r\ for p, and the related characters for
b, £, T, curve vp : — p, up.
The character v_y for d, and the related characters for
t, n, it, curve down : — d, down. -
The characters / „ for m, n, are portions of the letters
M, N. f
The character JL Iqa (inger) for the 'back -nasal', is the
character y n, written backwards, with the o-tick (_) added.
The loop characters •* r for 1 and r, may be associated
" D
with the longhand script forms xC f.
The character <j th, is formed from the character u t by
adding a small circle at the end, just as in the ordinary
spelling the letter h is added to t giving the digraph th.
Similarly the other circle characters may be associated with
the ordinary spelling, in which their sounds are often re-
presented by the digraphs ph, ch, sh, etc., if we regard the
modifying circle as corresponding to the letter h. Thus : —
ph, a, f; eh, C , tc; $h, 4 , c; nth, ^, ruj; sth, (3 , s*.
RELATIONS BETWEEN SOUND AND SIGN.
50. The forms of the characters are chosen so that similar
sounds may be represented by similar signs.
DISTINCTIOSS OF SIZE. The first sixteen consonants are
arranged in natural pairs; pi), td. kg, fv. 30;, tcdj. s z,
c J. The members of each pair are very closely related in
sound. In technical language the first member is said to be
'breathed', and the second 'voiced'. The corresponding dif-
ference in the characters (except s z, c j) is one of size.
The small size characters ^ p, •-' ' t, c k, "> £, w a j,
6 tc, belonging to the ' breathed ' or ' whispered ' articulations,
are made a little less than half the size of the corresponding
•full', or 'voiced', sounds /~\b,w) d, (_ g, (~t v, v-^O n,
C dj. In the case of s z, c j, it is more convenient to make
the distinction in other ways. The tick for a is straight, for z
Relations between Sound and Sign.
53
curved; and the circles for c and j are turned respectively,
6 O c backwards, and d O j forwards (clock-wise). (§ 55.)
The breathed varieties of 1, r, m, n, w, y, are practically
non-occurrent in English, and of little importance.
The short vowels are expressed by ticks ; the long vowels,
by curves and strokes.
51. DISTINCTIONS op DIRECTION. Each consonant character
involves a down-stroke or a back-stroke which can be thickened :
each vowel character an up-stroke ,--'' or a cross-stroke \
with a motion of traverse along the line.
The sloping vowels should not be written steeply, but at an
angle of 30° to the line: thus, .^T 30°. The vowel curves
should be slightly curved and sloping ; for instance, oo should
be written /- — NOT s~^~ which would be confused with To.
The directions assigned to the characters depend on the
organs by which they are produced.
The general relations are exhibited in the annexed table*:
Organ*
Names
Directions
Characters
Lips
Labial
Upwards
n p, n> f, / m
Teeth and
Gums
Front or
Dental
Downwards
o D t, I/ n, / s
Back i Back or
palate '. Guttural
Backwards
c k, ( g, C q
Similar relations hold of the vowel characters.
Labial, or w-vowels, upwards; ^ AW, s ow, _^. uw.
Front, or y- vowels, downwards ; \ ey, ~"N Ay, ~v" iy.
Neutral, or o-vowels, end horizontally; eo, /^~oo, V_ ao.
This classification is necessarily rough.
54 General Directions for Writing.
GENEEAL DIEECTIONS FOE WEITING.
52. WRITING MATEKIALS. The prettiest and most accurate
results are obtained with pen and ink on ruled paper ; but for
all practical purposes Cursive Shorthand may be equally well
written on plain paper with a pencil or stylograph.
IN LEABNING TO WKITE, it is important as far as pos-
sible to avoid writing words incorrectly; at first therefore
the student should never hurry, but should draw every
character carefully and deliberately, so as to avoid forming
bad habits. Speed will come by practice. In taking notes the
student should on all possible occasions use those words,
especially 'alphabetic words,' with the correct outlines of which
he is already familiar : important and unfamiliar words should
at first be always written in longhand; if written hurriedly,
before a good style has been acquired, they will probably be
written incorrectly, and may be difficult to read afterwards.
IN LEAKNING TO EEAD, the student should particularly avoid
spelling words out by the ordinary names of the longhand
letters, which are often no guide to the sound. Ultimately
a habit is acquired of recognizing words by their outlines
without spelling them out, or even pronouncing them ; in the
meantime, if a word must be spelt out, it is best to write down
the equivalent of the shorthand outline in phonetic notation,
and then try to pronounce it, putting in the vowel e in place of
'indicated' vowels. (§ 67.)
53. In writing, the characters representing the sounds of a
word are all joined together in their proper order, forming
a continuous whole, technically called an ' outline '. The pen
is not lifted from the paper except as required by the ' Mode of
Hiatus' (see§ 74).
The relative sizes of large and small characters must be
carefully maintained, just as in longhand. The actual size of
the characters may be varied according to circumstances, such
General Directions for Writing. 55
as the goodness of the light and the writing materials. The
minuteness of any kind of writing is limited by the size of the
smallest characters. Since in Cursive Shorthand the small
size may be made as small as you like, and the small circle
may be reduced to a dot, the writing may be made very compact
indeed. This is often convenient in marginal notes and like
cases (§ 107) . The beginner should not attempt this at first. The
best general rule is to make the small characters <•» ^ c J -
as small as they can conveniently be made — say from ^th to
^Vh of an inch long, as in ordinary longhand writing — and
the large size /^ w £ J — at least twice as big. The tick
/ s should be kept as short as possible, not more than one-third
of the length of / n.
The way in which the characters are joined, in almost every
conceivable combination, is very fully illustrated in the suc-
ceeding pages. The student is advised to write down every
illustration as he comes to it, and to compare the phonetic
key with the outline, and with his own pronunciation, in each
case, so as to learn to distinguish accurately the sound belong-
ing to each character.
Wherever alternative characters are given for any sound, it
is not optional to use either in any given combination. Which
of two alternative characters is to be used, is determined either
by rules of vowel indication or by considerations of clearness
and facility.
The simplicity and phonetic strictness of Cursive Shorthand
alone render it possible to provide a complete set of rules to
meet all cases. This not only saves the student the trouble
and perplexity of choosing for himself which of two characters
is preferable, but also secures uniformity of style among writers
of the system.
Great pains have been taken in illustrating the rules to
choose the most suggestive examples. In addition to this
a series of progressive exercises has been appended, which are
arranged in such a way as to show what characters are to
be used in each case.
56 General Directions for Writiny.
54. ANGLES OF JOINING. In joining two characters, if the
second begins in the same direction as the first ends, the
joining is not marked by an angle or break but is said to be
'continuous'; as in c — keo, cur, from c k and — eo.
Similarly (^^ kAWt, coat; <^ Tiow, cow; r*j p-t; <; -kt.
In many cases, where a very blunt angle (greater than 135°)
would naturally occur, if the exact geometrical forms of the
characters were followed, no angle need be made in actual
writing, provided that the component characters are clearly
distinguishable, as in .W, gr-t, great, from C,
This does not apply to blunt angles between straight strokes
as in the case of coercion and oasis (§ 63).
The angle need not be marked in the combinations
\^,eyd, aid; ^~\bey, bay; ^^> eyt, eight; r\ pey, pay ;
but should be marked after ^ and w and before n and ^
as in \j^ tAW, toe; ^^ Awf, oaf; ^\j^ potato.
Blunt angles of 120° or less should generally be marked,
but may be slurred or rounded off, as in the annexed cuts.
^^^ dowt, doubt; v,kao, care; ^^"^ oodo, order.
Angles less than a right angle are generally sharpened :
x— -V, diyp, deep; NOT ^-^v; tf suwn, soon; NOT u .
Sharp angle joinings are the clearest. The alternative cha-
racters are used so as to secure sharp angle joinings wherever
possible. Continuous joinings are speedy but not always clear.
Outlines such as ^_^N^ d-beyt, debate, involving continuous
joinings, are wanting in sharpness, and if written fast are
difficult to write neatly. They occur very rarely in Cursive
Shorthand.
When a character ending in a circle is joined to a following
character, the circle is described by a continuous movement of
the pen, ending in the direction in which the second character
begins so that there is no break or angle ; compare the words :
vji qey, they; v~\ dey, day: <^~ foo, fore,; <V poo, pore;
f> tcao, chair; c kao, care: \ju q-t, that; \~s~> d-t, dot.
General Directions for Writing.
In a few cases, those in which the circle ends in the oppo-
site direction to the beginning of the next character, a sharp
angle is made after the circle, as in
j^ gr-f-k, graphic; V senco, censure.
INITIAL H, C (SH), W, Y.
55. H, c. The small circle used for initial h, is turned
forwards \jf ) m tne same direction as that in which the
hands of a clock move. The small circle used for initial c (sh),
is always turned backwards \J<, counter-clockwise, in the
same direction as the longhand letter c or o. The sound j (zh)
does not occur initially in English (see § 84).
£~^ head, <\f hell, crv hut, <*\ he, ctf hen,
o*-^ shed, vr shell, Q-u shut, s she, <y] shin,
o\ hare, a — u hurt, <$" hoar, 6t hark,
^ share, Q — u shirt, & — shore, cxT shark,
0-^" hoe, o-^ hoot, °\ hay, °^\ high,
o--' shoio, o^ sJwot, ^ shay, ^. shy.
The vowels are omitted in the words of shall, Q_/ should.
In practice, the word she may be written straight ; thus, 3. .
It need not be curved unless joined to following characters.
Initial h is omitted in the words how, house ; and the circle
is turned backwards in the word his (p. 51).
Medial h is rare ; the forward circle generally joins badly
between two characters. The h circle may never be joined
after consonants; and may never be turned backwards. It
may be joined after vowels if it falls naturally outside an
angle ; as in
-p~s ahead, -^ ahoy; compare -Cr ashore, \/ as hame.
56. w. A forward hook is used for initial w, before
forward curves; as in w~b weave, <r"C wook, walk: and in the
following common words, from which the vowels are omitted;
9 what, ) would, 0 when, 9 went, n whence.
58 Initial ff, C (SH), IF, Y.
An upward or up-backward tick is used for initial w in
other cases ; as in
<u wet, -*\_s wood, ri won, 4 win, v° woe, wash;
fjf well, ^r wool, \. why, \^ were, 'X, way,
v^ word, e>>^^ wiyod, weird, <-"" woe, </^-' u-oo'd.
The wmaygenerally beomitted, or expressed by ' mode ' (§ 58),
in the words, T was, /^_9- whether; also in were , way, icon't.
57. Y. The downward tick \ is used for initial y ; as in
\^ yet, V yes, Jr yell, y yap, ^ yot, yacht;
\ year, \f^^ yard, V young, **l yawn, 'St/ yeast.
It is joined by an upward tick before a downward vowel;
as in the words v\ yea, ^\^ yare.
Initial y is omitted before the vowel j uw, oo, as in
^/ yuws, use (subst.) ; j yuwz, use (verb) ; initial ob, without
the y, occurs only in the word ooze, which is written as in § 62.
If great precision is required, the y tick is used, followed by
the y-mode; thus, V9 yuw%, youth; \ff? yuwl, yule.
The y in year may be omitted, or expressed by 'mode ' (§ 58).
Vowels following h, w, and y, are always written like initial
vowels (§ 69, Exercise V.), except that the short vowels a, e, i,
are written / upwards after \ y. After w and h, they are
written \ downwards before upstrokes and backstrokes, or if
not joined to a following character.
The ticks are used for initial w and y, only before vowel
characters.
58. MEDIALLY w and y are expressed by ' MODE OF HIATUS',
that is to say, by lifting the pen, leaving a small interval or
'hiatus', and starting afresh, above for w, below for y.
Thus in the outline C\ kwey, qua; the w is expressed
by beginning the \ ey a little above the end of the c k.
Similarly in °J hyuw, hue; /^^° adhyeo, adhere; the y
is expressed by beginning the vowel below the h circle.
Initial H, C (SH), W, Y. 59
The sound hw, wh, the ' breathed ' w, is similarly expressed
by using the w-mode after the b circle ; thus,
=>V_ fcwao, where ; oNs hwey, whey.
But the distinction between w and w/t is not generally main-
tained in English speech ; it is therefore sufficient, except when
it is desired to imitate a peculiarity of pronunciation, to write
w in all cases for wh.
The y-mode is most commonly required before the vowel
ft yuw (you), as in the words
s~^i^ byuwty, beauty; r\J pya.w,pew; i/syvLW,sue.
The w-mode is chiefly required after k, t to express the
combinations kw (qu), tw, thus:
Cv kwio, queer; ~vtS iykw-1, equal; ^M akwyes, acquiesce.
wS tWAyn, twine; \^r dwel, dwell; /^~~ swao, swear.
It may be observed that, in the w and y modes, the charac-
ters are written in position as though the ticks were inserted:
thus, -\ owcy, away ; - oyeo, a year.
They should be made to overlap each other slightly, when
possible, to show their connection more clearly.
The ticks are good initial characters, but if used medially
would often present awkward joinings: in rapid writing the
modes generally give clearer outlines.
Initial hooks can only be used safely in the special case
selected, namely the forward hook before forward curves.
Other hooks, such as <^, <\, c^/, though they can be easily
distinguished in a cut from (^ co, f\ pay, <^/ cow, would
cause serious clashing in actual practice.
LONG VOWELS.
59. By the terms 'Long vowels' and ' Short vowels' are to
be understood the sounds given hi the Alphabetic Table under
those headings.
Long vowels are expressed in almost all cases by writing
then- characters in their proper sequence.
60 Long Vowels.
The vowels r AO, — eo, ^ AW, ^x ey, /^ oo, ^' ow, ^ oy
generally present good joinings, and require no alternative
characters. (See Exercises II., III., p. 108.)
The characters V. ao, *- ~\ Ay, ~N ~v iy, ./-*». uw are
likely to give the student most trouble at first. They involve
curves on the awkward slope \ , which sometimes present bad
joinings, and therefore require alternatives. (Exercise IV.)
60. The character \- ao joins well after upstrokes, -/^
and back-circle characters :
/'^_ nao, ne'er; ^\ pao, pair; J(^_ lao, lair.
After the downstrokes, s, m, sp, and after forward circles,
such as f, h, the character ~V is used, as in
fl. spao, spare; I mao,mare; «\ fas, fair.
61. AY. The character v_ I is generally used for the
sound Ay, as in the following words :
>^ r-lAy, rely; ^v. &-UA.J, deny ; Q like; ^-^ dine.
/-\ bAy, by; ^ Ays, ice; V. Ayz, eyes; ^- Ayiq, eyeing.
It is straightened to \ after a downstroke, or forward-circle.
/ SA.yn,sign; /. mAy, my; ^ f*.J,fie. (§ 73, end.)
The character v is lengthened to V, , and s to "^ before
an upstroke.
^~,ty.Pe; uy^ripe; Vs-Z're; ^/) mile.
After *- \ Ay, and V. ao, the consonants t, d, 21, TI. are
written 3 ) s ^) respectively (Exercise IX.) ; after all other
vowels the characters v \^ <& ^_y are used. (§ 81.)
jLAynp, either; ^ WAyt, white; }I'd; aod, air'd.
The character ~~N is used after circle h, but is shortened to
\ before a consonant downstroke ; thus,
^ high, / Hine, °^ height, ) hide.
Long Vowels. 61
62. uw, IY. The full forms -v- , _>^_ are written before
backstrokes c k, C S> r %, f QL-
°vc wiyk, week; -\r iyz, ease; '-v? siyiq, seeing.
-A yuwko, Euchre; -^ uwz, ooze; ^ hyuwdj, huge.
The second stroke of ->- uw is always omitted in other cases.
^/^ suwp, soup; v^_/-> dyuwp, dupe; (_^ kuwl, coot.
w j[ruw, through ; _^Jl\ yuwt-1-ty, utility ; <^/ fyuw, few.
The second stroke of ~v~ iy is reduced to the tick / before
downstrokes, and is omitted before upstrokes.
i^, siyt, seat; ^y siyn, seen; L, siyst, ceased.
C^ Myp, keep; G^ tciyf, chief.
The vowels, uw after -r 0 , and iy after A Q t , are not
written, but expressed by 'Mode of Hiatus'. (§ 77.)
The sounds -J~ uo, ^v_ io, as in ^>oor, peer, are better re-
placed, except in words like wooer, seer [§ 77 (2)], by the ap-
proximate sounds ^~~ oo, — yeo, which are more easily
written and give clearer outlines : as <T> fyeo, fear.
The word your, in particular, should be written \^~ yoo, not
-s- yuwo (ewer), to distinguish it safely from _^~ owo, our.
63. Two LONG VOWELS IN SUCCESSION. Two long vowels
rarely follow one another without an intervening consonant.
The following are a few examples (see also Exercise XXV.):
0~x
V hAyeytos, hiatus; -^"^ Aweysys, Oasis.
ju O
v^/-^ 3[ruwowt, throughout; r/ kAweocon, coercion.
0
\^T-. lyAwlyon, Aeolian; ^/*s~ AyAWto, Iota.
For cases where one or both of two vowels in succession
are short, see §§ 75, 77, Mode of Hiatus.
64. The characters 0 + are not used for 1 and r respect-
ively, after vowel characters. (§ 86.)
c. 5
62 Long Vowels.
The upstroke of the character t em represents a short
vowel (§ 87). It is omitted after long vowel characters. The
downstroke / is not joined, but is written in position as
though the upstroke had been described. Compare the words :
home, r^^ poem; ^-w time, \/ lam;
/y meum, y seem; if suum, x// assume.
65. LONG VOWELS ABE BARELY OMITTED. Long vowels,
especially when accented, are the most audible of sounds,
and are the most important in distinguishing words .in
speech. In shorthand, long vowels may only be omitted in
very common words and terminations, such as are sufficiently
distinguished by their consonants, and cannot clash with the
full outlines of other words and phrases, so that the gain of
brevity is attended with little loss of legibility.
In abbreviating words, it is generally better to omit one or
two final consonants, and to keep the accented long vowels.
The latter remain audible in speech long after the consonants,
so that, if we retain them, the habits of interpretation which
have been already acquired in listening to spoken discourse, will
then avail us in reading abbreviated shorthand.
The vowel ey may be much more frequently omitted than
any of the other long vowels. The gain thus secured in
sharpness and compactness of outline, by the omission of the
awkward slope, is often great; and the loss of legibility is
relatively small, because ey is a very common vowel and
closely related in sound to e (§ 73).
The common termination -ate is generally long in verbs;
but is so common that the vowel may always be omitted in
words of more than two syllables, provided that its place is
indicated and that a clearer outline is secured by its omission ;
as in the words,
b( __ *j accommodate, Q^ agitate, mt^-1 fascinate, _o<_/ operate.
The outlines of all the common words from which vowels
may be omitted are given in the list on pp. 106, 107 ; and are
collected for reference in Exercise XX.
Short Vowels. 63
SHORT VOWELS.
66. It is a marked peculiarity of the English accent that
some syllables are strongly emphasized or accented, and others
slurred or pronounced with very little force. The sounds of
the accented syllables are most clearly given in pronunciation,
and are most important in distinguishing words. A short
vowel in an unaccented syllable tends to lose its distinctive
features, and to pass into a neutral voice murmur.
More than half the vowels in English are short and un-
accented. The function of such a vowel is chiefly to mark
the arrangement of the consonants. In speech words are dis-
tinguished not by the sounds, but rather by the places of their
unaccented short vowels. If therefore the place of such a vowel
among the consonants be indicated, it is fully and adequately
expressed, and need not be written by character.
This method of treating the unaccented vowels, enables us
to mark the way in which a word is accented, and is one of
the chief features of the present system. The beginner will
perhaps fail at first to appreciate its full importance. He may
find some difficulty in the distinction between accented and
unaccented vowels, because, although it is one of the most
essential distinctions in speech, it is not recognized in the
common spelling. For a fuller explanation of the difference,
he is referred to the pamphlet on Phonetic Spelling before-
mentioned (p. 20), in which the subject of the expression of
accent is discussed and illustrated in considerable detail.
67. VOWEL INDICATION. A short vowel is indicated at the
junction of each pair of consonants, unless its absence is
specially implied by one of the methods given below. (§ 71.)
At the beginning or end of an outline no vowel is implied
(unless written), except in the special cases mentioned below
(§§ 69, 70). Initial and final vowels are generally written.
A vowel indicated in a shorthand outline is denoted by
a hyphen in the corresponding Phonetic Key.
5—2
64 Short Vowels.
68. ACCENTED SHORT VOWELS. Short vowels when ac-
cented are often of importance in distinguishing words by
their sounds. The words pat, pet, pit, pot, put, for instance,
are distinguished solely by the sounds of their short vowels.
The accented short vowels are divided into two groups:
(1) the y (£) group, a, e, i ; (2) the o (er) group, o, A, u.
The vowels a, e, i, are all three represented by either of the
2-ticks, s or " ; the vowels o, A, u, by the er-tick, - o.
The upward £-tick is to be used except in cases where the
contrary is expressly stated. (See p. 68, end.)
The distinction between a, e, and i, and likewise that
between o, A, and u, is made by 'mode' of writing in a way
which will be explained later. For the present a and i will be
written (and should be pronounced in reading) as e, which is
intermediate in sound between them: and similarly o and u
will be written, and should be read, as A. The legibility thus
secured is found to be amply sufficient for all ordinary pur-
poses, and the further distinction is readily added if precision
is required. (§ 79.)
69. INITIAL SHOKT VOWELS. The tick — is used for o, A,
or u ; \ or s for a, e, or i: the £-tick is written x downwards
before upstrokes and backstrokes, ^ upwards before down-
strokes and c s/i. (See Exercise V.)
<W happy; "7 us; f AZ, was; f->it; vs if.
-^j- Ato, utter; J on; Q egg; ~h- Ezra; vr ell.
The sound o is implied by a hook before the characters
r> P, r\ t>, ra f> r~t> v. The character - should be written if
the vowel is accented, o, A, or u. (See § 80.) Initial a, when
unaccented, as in the words appear, above, about, is generally
pronounced o, but is best written as a, with the e-tick and not
with the hook ; and similarly in the prefix ad- .
oj upon, <* off, cd offence, -O oven, v^ apyeo, appear.
The character Q ery implies a preceding vowel ; if no vowel
is written the sound o is implied. Compare the words,
j*9 r-ndj, range; /l°i or-ndj, arrange; 779 AT-ndj, orange.
Short Vowels. 65
The nasal compounds cannot be pronounced without a pre-
ceding vowel: if no vowel is written the sound y is implied.
^ ynt, (J ynd, <£ yqko, (£ yqgo. (§ 89.)
The upward 8 is not joined before / m, we use the form
J em. The word among is written /y emAq, not 4. enAq.
70. FINAL SHORT VOWELS in English are always un-
accented. We distinguish only two varieties, which are
denoted by the ticks - o (Zr) and x s y (ee): final « in
common spelling always stands for the sound o.
Examples of final o (see also Exercise VI.) :
-o- ofo, offer; compare ^_/a — A-tes, defer (long accented).
CL k-mo, comer; <J£ iqko, inker (compare incur). (§ 89.)
Final y is written \ down after upstrokes and backstrokes,
/ up after downstrokes. c6 footy, forty; V A7sy. icy-
Downwards after backward circles, upwards after forward
circles; as in X acy, ashy; ^ tAtcy, touchy; vs' efy, Effie.
Upward y is written as a hook after c k, (_ g; as in,
v_yx dAky, duckie; (y get; (, buggy.
Final y is implied, and need not be written, after the
characters S? ly, >. ry, ^ ery, ,, ny ; o is written.
*' eny, any; /nr 1-vly, lovely; fa BAry, Surrey.
71. MEDIAL SHORT VOWELS. A short vowel in the middle
of an outline is indicated at the junction of each pair of con-
sonants, unless its absence is specially implied by one of
the following methods.
(1) By the use of the compound characters.
Compare 6V stAy, sty; t*-\ sety, city. / into; u-j not.
(2) By certain of the alternative consonant characters.
Compare r^—j inveos, inverse; [f*~ n-vo, never.
flAW, flow ; rj^ felAW, fellow ; ^ felt.
trAy, try; <sW hest-ry, history; j^ toory, Tory.
66 Short Vowels.
The usage of the alternative consonant characters is very
fully illustrated in §§ 80—89.
(3) By the ' MODE OF HIATUS '.
The joining of two consonant characters generally implies
an intervening short vowel ; if they are not joined but written
side by side, leaving a small interval or hiatus, the absence of
a vowel is implied. (See § 77.)
Since all the common compounds are specially provided for,
this mode is only required in exceptional cases; particularly in the
case of compound words where the consonants belong to separate
syllables: e.g. r^w fitf-1, fitful; ^ ^^ text bAk, textbook.
hand-maid, uStf first-class, ___ /^^~-^ out-do.
f/y short-hand; compare Cy; shortened (p. 107).
Compare ^-jly d-zm-1, dismal; ^^/^ d-s-m-1, decimal.
This use of the mode of hiatus is exactly analogous to
word-division. A compound word is divided where vowel in-
dication requires it, but the parts are written close together to
show their connection. (Exercise XXIII.)
72. BOLE. UNACCENTED SHORT VOWELS ABE OMITTED
WHENEVER THEY CAN BE INDICATED.
This is the fundamental rule of vowel insertion and
omission, and includes all the others. (Exercise XVII.)
In some cases the consonant characters cannot be clearly
joined without a vowel tick : an intervening vowel cannot then
be indicated, but must be written. (Exercise XVIII.)
The tick / s on account of its shortness cannot be joined
continuously to downward characters : when s is followed by a
downward character the intervening vowel, if any, is always
written.
Mf~ sister, (NOT / into) ; 4H assesses; L^, sot.
When a vowel does not intervene the mode of hiatus is
used, unless a special form is provided for the compound.
v£ Elsie, VV_ snare, ir~^ small, compare M stare.
The insertion of a vowel tick after characters like y ndj,
Short Vowels. 67
0 ery, is required to give a good joining before C k, / s ; and
generally before and after backward strokes.
^V wishers; dsff- historic; syf1 Paris; IjTJ injury.
In many other cases, especially between downstrokes, as
L^_; mud, and after circle characters, as rf fat, the insertion
of a vowel tick, though not essential to clearness, makes the
outline easier to write fast.
Medially the distinction between the unaccented vowels o
and y is generally unimportant: it is therefore sufficient to
indicate such a vowel, or if it cannot be indicated either
character may be used; for instance, in the word r^-~M person,
the sound o in the termination son may be written / y, be-
cause the £-tick joins more clearly and easily.
73. ACCENTED SHORT VOWELS ARE WRITTEN.
The insertion of accented short vowels serves two purposes ;
(1) to distinguish words, (2) to mark the accent.
(1) When the characters o and y represent accented vowels,
the difference of character is often useful in distinguishing
words. The distinction is most important in the case of
monosyllables and rare words. (Exercise VII.)
In the case of common words such as readily suggest them-
selves, especially connecting particles, and words which are
commonly slurred or unaccented in speech, indicated vowels
are generally omitted. This not only possesses the advantage
of brevity, but also serves to distinguish them from rarer
words, which are fully written. (See Exercise XXI.)
Thus we write s~^> but (NOT s~^_,), u~> not, ^-/ this.
ft*
Compare r^-* bet, y net, ^-£7 t hus.
In short words and in cases where the accent does not
require marking, the £-tick, for a, e, or i, may sometimes be
omitted. To distinguish such words from words containing
o, A, or u, it is sufficient always to insert the latter ; and if an
accented vowel has been omitted, it should be pronounced as e
in reading.
The upward e-tick should never be omitted between down-
strokes, in words like pet, set, let, met, when it gives a clearer
68 Short Vowels.
outline. It may nearly always be omitted after t, d, 3[, q, tc, dj,
when followed by downstrokes, especially n, az, or aq. (See
Exercise XIX.) In some other syllables such as pell, fell, rell,
nell, ness, where it joins continuously, its insertion or omission
is generally immaterial and makes little difference to the
outline.
(2) In words of more than one or two syllables, the sounds
of the short vowels are seldom the only means of distinction.
But in this case the insertion of accented vowels is useful in a
different way, namely in marking the accent. This often
makes a word much easier to read, especially if it is a rare
word, or if it is accented in an unusual way.
-V finesse, w'-^- Thibet, ^ll open'd, ^-^fj depend.
VCN-^V yesterday, ~\ui understand, ^/~bA. advertise.
vjxj effort, rj^ permit, '/f^' property, -4^~^>, liberty.
'M. attic, A-^ attack, ^-G^ etiquette, V^NJ abbot, v~^, abut.
The insertion of a vowel tick gives no information about
the accent in cases, such as those of § 72, where its insertion is
required on other grounds. The insertion of an unaccented
vowel, when not required, is misleading; it is in all cases better
simply to indicate a short vowel than to insert it wrongly.
DOWNWARD E-TICK. The cases in which the downward
2-tick is used medially for a, e, or i, are as follows : —
It is always used before p, to, f, v, except after p, to, y.
Before other characters which require it initially (namely,
backstrokes and el, § 70), it is only used after characters which
require it finally (namely, back-circles and t, d, § 68), and after
k, g. (Exercise VII.) Thus,
i~ sap, ^ kick, ^P kill, ^ thick, ^ chill, ^Jp tell.
It may be noticed that the downward tick is never used after
the characters ^ /~\ \ , or before the characters w w <j> v^
under any circumstances; and that the cases in which it
represents one of the short vowels a, e, and i, can never clash
with those in which it is used for the long vowel Ay (§ 62).
Mode of Hiatus. 69
MODE OF HIATUS.
74. The Mode of Hiatus consists in lifting the pen and
leaving a small interval between two characters instead of
joining them together. It is chiefly used in the expression of
the rarer and more difficult combinations of sounds.
There are two sizes of interval : the small interval, or hiatus,
which is made as small as possible; and the large interval, or
word-space, which must be kept sufficiently large to be easily
distinguished from the former.
There are three modes. In the first or w-mode (1), the
second character is commenced above the end of the first ; in
the second or o-mode (2), on the same level; in the third or
y-mode (3), below.
75. BEFORE A VOWEL CHAEACTEE, or an implied vowel,
modes (1) and (3) indicate w and y respectively. (Ex. XXH.)
In phrases and compound words, w and y are generally
expressed by mode. Mode (2) is used before the h circle.
f^/^> not yet; \s\Iwould; v_y/ d'yoti; ^towards.
/"^9/ b-h-nd, behind; '"yj b-yond; ^N^ b-weyl, bewail.
The unaccented short vowels y and w (oo), when immediately
followed by another vowel, become truly consonantal, and are
expressed by mode, especially in terminations: for convenience
the w-mode is extended to the representation of all such
terminations as -ual, -uum, -uous, etc., where the u is un-
accented, and represents the compound sound yw.
1/7 Indian; i^^-Jfi sodium; $^O kryeycon, creation,
jf* -usual; o-i ^3 continuation ; /^-gr^> valuable ; ^~w vacuum.
76. MODE OF HIATUS BEFORE OR AFTER A TICK. In the
o-mode after a tick, the next character is begun nearer the
middle than the end of the tick; in the w-mode, above the
upper end ; in the y-mode, below the lower end ; and similarly
before a tick.
#<v> mishap; /y-' synw-t, suet; 7W swiyt, sweet.
70 Mode of Hiatus.
The end of the character // n is for these modes considered
to be its tipper end, whether the second stroke is inserted or
not. The same rule applies to q, and the n compounds, us, nt.
Similarly the beginning of an m is considered to he its lower
end, whether the upstroke is written or not. [§ 77 (3).]
" rly, re; 4^^ riyd, read; J riym, ream.
c,\ Conway, H sincere, /-v-/-, poignant, I? minutiae.
/ h 'I 1^
11. MODE OF HIATUS BEFORE A CONSONANT CHARACTER.
(1) BETWEEN TWO CONSONANTS, mode (2) implies the
absence of a vowel. (§ 71.) Mode (1) is used for terminations,
see pp. 85, 92 ; mode (3) for unaccented ii, yw, as in the words,
r*X, jwpulate, "£_ occupy, "\^ amputate, r~fr^j( voluble.
After the characters ft ry, ft ery, t ny, which necessitate
a following vowel, mode (2) is used to express the vowel iy.
If no character follows, a dot is used.
/'• niy, knee; ** nlyl, kneel; *^ niyd, need.
j" rly, re; J^' rlyd, read; *
Similarly uw is expressed by mode (2) after -r el, V ly
(as suggested by the alphabetic word loo) (see § 86) :
(vl gluwm, gloom; ./S luwod, leeicard; °JtK_ hal-luwyo.
In monosyllables (except knee, re) the dot may be omitted,
because the vowel is necessarily long.
flK fluw, flew; Jj 3[riy, three.
In other cases a dot at the end of a word is used as
a general mark of abbreviation (see § 94) ; and the use of the
second mode between two consonants in cases where, owing
to the exigencies of pronunciation, a vowel must intervene,
implies the vowel of the alphabetic word, generally the alpha-
betic word itself in a compound (see § 91) ; thus,
n>l form, C join, ^, peace, <-r keys, /'-y bees.
Mode of Hiatus. 71
But except in initial syllables, and in the case of iy after
the characters ry and ny, and of uw after ly, it is generally
better to write the vowel character. (Exercise XXV.)
(2) AFTEB A LONG VOWEL CHAEACTEB. The mode of hiatus
after a long vowel and before a consonant, except m, implies a
short vowel. Modes (1), (2), and (3), are used to distinguish
the unaccented vowels w, o, y ; but the distinction is generally
of little importance, and need not be very carefully observed :
the sound w does not occur in this way in English. (Ex. XXIV.)
</ sAyon, scion ; £v_ ^^ akWAyod, acquired; iJ ruwyn, ruin.
I 01
/Or^vowyl, vowel; <~*^ pAwysy, poesy ; i^\^ society.
When no consonant follows, the o or y tick is simply
joined : as in o/^ showy, Q f~ shower, -J~ wooer, \_ seer.
If the vowels do not join clearly the mode of hiatus is used ;
the w-mode after an w (oo) vowel ; the y-mode after an y (ee)
vowel ; as in i^ sower ; <. sayer ; ^-_ Ayo, ire ; ^ Chaos.
When an o-vowel is immediately followed by another vowel,
r is usually sounded, but the character ^ ery need not usually
be written, unless great precision is required, because the r trill
is sufficiently implied by the use of the o vowel; exceptions,
such as lawyer, are so extremely rare as never to give trouble.
J^v^7 1-booryos, laborious ; *!___ s-pyeoryo, superior.
I — /
/ U nearest, — -, serious, L — f series, — =X-X period.
The distinction between the sounds awer and aw, as in
drawers and draws, cores and cause, is not commonly made in
conversation ; but may be marked in shorthand by adding o ;
•^-4 — ~ drawer; cp. r~ lawyer, Jr^ Laureate, <rv Laura.
An accented short vowel, following a long vowel, is written,
if required to mark the accent ;
Y' Ae6llc, Nsyt/7 aerial, .^ zootomy, '~\fl biology.
72 Mode of Hiatus.
(3) AFTER A SHORT VOWEL CHARACTER and before a con-
sonant, the three modes are used to distinguish between the
accented short vowels. (Except before m (Exercise XV.), and in
very special cases, this method is never used in practice, see § 79.)
a, e, and i, are distinguished by modes (1), (2), and (3), after
the £-tick: o, A, and u, similarly, after the er-tick; thus, •
r? pat (1), r/^pet (2), ^ pit (3); r^ pot (I), ^ put (3).
/V swim; N' swam; _/ swAm, swum; / / swon, swan;
q/ sham, ^/ Shem, <\' Ham, \ L Hymer, ^/ Shyman.
Of princess, ^4 princes; o^ present, O*y present.
The character to be used for a, e, and i, whether s or / ,
is determined by the same rule as for final vowels (§ 70).
An accented short vowel is always immediately followed by
a consonant so that this method cannot clash with the ex-
pression of w and y.
Mode (1), above, is used for « and o, the vowels in above.
78. In actual practice the Mode of Hiatus may often be
dispensed with. This is generally the ease with the distinction
between a, e, and i; 0, A, and u. The hiatus need never be
made after e and A, mode (2), unless it is desired to mark the
accent very particularly ; and it is usually sufficient to write e
for a and i, and A for o and u.
In long and common words the refinements of vowel indica-
tion, involving the mode of hiatus, may be often neglected
without much danger to legibility.
For instance the outline ^3-? represents apriyceyt, which is
an intelligible, though not a perfect pronunciation of appreciate.
The full form ^6 apriycyeyt involves hiatus twice. (§ 84.)
~-
Similarly r^7 p-t-k-lo, c^\ op-t-n-ty, iff n-tr-1,
/^~x ed-keycon, ^">t^ br-k-f-st, e£, k-lk-l-t,
are sufficiently suggestive of particular, opportunity, natural,
education, breakfast, calculate, though not strictly correct.
Mode of Hiatus. 73
It is not intended to recommend the writing of words
incorrectly, but simply to illustrate the fact that the system is
so constructed that the neglect of such refinements of accuracy,
does not make the writing illegible.
After common prefixes, like ad, ob, ab, which are rarely
followed by a vowel the mode of hiatus need not be used,
A~^~b — 7 adverse, \^/~b — ^ diverse, sr~\_X^ abdicate.
Similarly before common terminations and inflections,
especially -s, -'d, the mode of hiatus may often be dispensed
with, if great precision is not required. Cases like the follow-
ing are exceedingly rare, and would be almost invariably dis-
tinguished by the context : %, hatch'd and hatchet;
M ridg'd and rigid; ^ prints and prentice.
The first word in each case should, strictly speaking, be
written with hiatus.
79. When two characters have been joined together by
mistake, in a case where the mode of hiatus should have been
used, the following correction marks are employed. Mode (1) is
indicated by a dot placed above the character which should
have been separated ; mode (3) by a dot below. The omission
of medial h is marked by a small circle; the simple hiatus,
mode (2), by a vertical tick. These marks are sometimes
useful for purposes of revision, when accuracy is required.
r^> pit, rf-1 pat, "^i apprehend, /^~^--Lj it'did'not.
The consonants w and y are generally important for the
recognition of a word, and should always be expressed by mode
where they occur; they should not be habitually omitted in
writing and dotted in afterwards. On the other hand, the
distinction between the short vowels is seldom essential; it
may therefore be generally neglected in writing, and may be
made afterwards by dot if necessary.
These dots are very seldom required except in rare words,
or in unfamiliar proper names, or in passages, like that on
p. 92, where the context happens to be of no use in indicating
the right word. They need not be placed with any greater
accuracy than the i dots in longhand. (Exercise XXVI.)
74 Consotiants.
CONSONANTS.
80. ' p, r\ B, "> f, /"& v. In joining these characters
after vowels, except J uw, ^ ow, ' y, the angle should be
marked. A hook may be introduced to sharpen the angle, as in
<5 hAWpt, hop'd; ^^°~ over.
This hook is used to imply the vowel o, not only initially,
but also in syllables. After the downstrokes s, m, 1, the hook
becomes a loop; and the character A need not be inserted
unless the accent requires marking. (Exercise VIII.)
V^~N tub, cr\ cup, <i^~~b shove, <A sup, fa muff, ^-j> love.
Except after p, to, y, the downward \ £-tick is always used
for a, e, i, before the characters p, b, f, v.
On cap, (-, map, **\ lap, >vs Tap, >-N~, tap, rV pap.
Compare the outlines of ripe, type (§ 61).
The compound /"? sp, as in ^ lispt, 'no suspicion, is dis-
tinguished from A s-p by deepening the curve of the p.
Similarly in the compounds mp, mf, mb; p, f, and b, might
be written n , Q , /? , respectively ; but the distinction is of
little importance, because cases like map and imp are sufficiently
distinguished by the vowel preceding the m : the characters
may therefore be simply joined, as in the following examples ;
(TTXi ember, y//^0 import, AH emphatic, OS camp, d~) camped.
81. w T, **~s D, <j> H, \-9 a. These characters are used
for t, d, 3[, n, except in the special cases mentioned below.
They generally present the best joinings, and they do not leave
the line of writing.
The characters 3 at, ) had, s> hath, o) with, are chiefly
used for the corresponding alphabetic words, and in phrases
and compounds containing them ; such as,
within, 5 without, d<f^ withhold, °__^) herewith.
They are also used after the long vowels Ay, ao. (§ 61.)
Consonants. 75
The character ^ or v Ay may be omitted, except initially
and in the syllables S kite, ^ fight, being implied by using
the special characters ; thus, f> sight, c> quite,
s~\. bite, \ guide, 7T~^ provide, ^. tied, h night,
4
mighty, J, lighten, ft\ pride, \. ^ defied, y\ neither.
After other vowels these characters are not used.
— <s earth, NOT 3 ; ff^J ought, NOT f~> ; — ^ out, NOT ^>,
The characters 5 s are used in forming the compounds
pt, kt, ft. pj[, ta[, fii.
Vz> active, **> rack'd, ^ apt, *$ oft, -^^ depth, ^f-f^, fifth.
After these characters and aq (§ 89), final y is written
downwards, the inflections -eth, -ed are added thus, s> ~) ,
and -ing by the cross stroke (§ 91).
/h writeth, tj writing, \ acted, (~^ invited.
The character y d is also used in forming the auxiliaries
{ could, } would; and for the terminations -hood, -ward;
the w being expressed by 'mode'.
\) wayward, r6\foncard, ^~^ hardihood.
The compound U st is formed by joining / s and w t ; the
upstroke of the t is brought up to the level of the top of the s
for the sake of lineality, and the combination is made straighter
and narrower to avoid confusion with k; if st were written
6 st, simply joining the characters, confusion would probably
occur. The compound / / nd is similarly formed from / n and
\-s d, and / nt from / n and w t.
82. c K, £ o, 6 TC, (o DJ. The tops of these characters
should be well curled over in writing, like the top of a long-
hand c, to distinguish them from straight characters like
tfst, / nt. Compare d k-m, J st-m.
76 Consonants.
All vowels join very easily both before and after these cha-
racters : the insertion of a vowel tick is sometimes required to
make the joining easier (§ 72) ;
'-T took, ^~\^ book, •*£ look, L^ suck, t^ sack.
In joining c k after / s in the compound sk, a hook may
be introduced to sharpen the angle ; C Esk, cL skit, (*, sky.
The common compound x is simply written ^ ks= if a,
vowel intervenes, it is inserted, as in </ kiss, <—n cusp.
In the prefix ex, the initial vowel is omitted if unaccented ;
as in, 9x expect; compare \, 'extant, ^ extent, ~t exercise.
The prefix kon is for convenience written 0 before down-
strokes, such as / s, c k; instead of writing C k-n, and
using the mode of hiatus.
ou constant, OC. concur, (>— 0 condition, ct\^r consider.
The n character is added to the circle before upstrokes and
vowels; as in, 7a — confer, at connect. (Exercise X.)
The special forms g (^ are given to the compounds tc, dj,
which are very common in English. The true guttural
sibilants only occur in foreign words, such as Loch, Ich.
The backward characters are otherwise appropriate to tc,
dj, because these sounds are often etymologically descended from
corrupted gutturals; compare the English 'church' with the
Scotch 'kirk', or the Italian c, pronounced as ch, tc, with the
Latin c, pronounced as k.
83. / s, c* J z. The alternative characters for z are
required to facilitate joinings. The general rule is to use f
when disjoined, and after vowel characters except uw, ow, oy,
and upward y. (Cp. q, § 89, and see Exercise XI.)
The distinction between s and z is most important at the
beginning or end of a word : compare, V^ seal, ^T zeal ;
pressures, T precos, precious; ^~f this, ^—$ q-z, these.
Consonants. 77
Medially the distinction is neither so important nor so easy
to preserve : the straight tick, as in ~\P easy, may generally be
used for the z sound, just as the letter s is used in the common
spelling ; but if great precision is required, the tick can always
be curved for z, especially in words which are spelt with a z,
such as, 1^^, wizard, u> stanzas, ^> frenzy.
s, z INFLECTIONS. The sounds s and z occur so frequently
as terminal inflections that special provision is made for this
case. The inflective s is expressed by a hook after p, to, t, d, q.
\o apes, r*~? adds, $ acts, </ wings.
After circles and Q ery, the hook forms a double loop ; thus,
Jr~& lives, p> ashes, (Q ages, ff actions, <vj hurries,
\~B> themselves, ^a> thinks, ]£ thanks, O circumstances.
After c k, ( g, u st, f z, ^ nt, fj nd, f 1, the s or z
character is simply joined.
/^>_ books, Ju lists, C eggs, /J hands, j ells, < assizes.
After m, sp, the mode of hiatus is used, as / stems, <?>! wisps.
Special forms are given to the common terminations
M ns, nee ; / nz, ns. Compare the words,
^ fens, nil fence, ml fenced,, nd fancy, <T# fancies,
if fancied, <Try funny, ^J finesse, ^tt happinesses.
fr ^ III
The character w 'd is joined continuously after /^ ez,
for the -ed inflection, as in M^Cy supposed, v\j analyzed.
These special forms should be restricted to terminations;
in other cases the combinations are rare, and the mode of
hiatus should be used.
•il^^ instead, 7v~>Ns Wenzdey, Wednesday; '
h~ \/^/\ subsidy, 4<* eqzAyyty, anxiety; NOT ^^ eqz ety.
c. 6
78 Consonants.
84. c, J. The circle of c (sh) is always turned backwards,
in the same direction as the longhand letter c ; that of j (zh)
(and of h) forwards, in the same direction as ±he loop of the
longhand letter j. (See § 55.) (Exercise XII.)
The character & is used for c, after k, g, and when disjoined;
6 _ cyer, sheer; M riyc, riche (Fr.) ; \ _ kecyeo, cashier.
Otherwise the s tick is omitted, and the small circle, turned
backwards, is directly attached to vowel stems ; thus,
6 harsher, [ft- masher, *V machine, >-Q- Russia, & lash.
spacious, \ — *odish, r^o push, n? pish.
Short vowels before and after c are written like initial and
final vowels. Initially, the £-tick is written upwards before c.
The circle c is for convenience turned the other way in the
common phrases, <s^ shall be, 5~b shall have; in the word
c/ such; and in the termination <r> -ship, as in v-ff\ worship,
j( kinship. The circle c is also used in forming the convenient
abbreviations, 6 m-c, much, x> ec, each.
The consonants s, t, etc., when followed by y, are often
corrupted to c, tc, etc., in conversation; in cases where both
pronunciations are equally common, that should be chosen
which gives the clearest and most suggestive outline.
4j issue; /-~b — ^ virtue; <5""C. hosier; (^^ exposure.
^-L future; ^picture; fa scripture ; (Jb-. indenture.
j temperature; /&_ n-tco, nature; O--""*/^-^ procedure.
Compare rf> fortune ; refactions; ?- pressure.
When c is combined with a consonant, no vowel inter-
vening, the mode of hiatus is used, except after 1 and n, and
before t, to which the circle may be directly joined;
^°7 eqcos, anxious; ^0^ up-shot; 0,0^ off -shoot.
f-n-nc-1, financial ; A£ Welsh; <f wisht ; jnf astonish'd.
Consonants. 79
The form / is used for the compound ntc, as in inch,
r^j pinch, ^M bencher; compare L eyncont, ancient.
The form /9 is used for the compound ndj ; as in the words,
ctfo.^ hinged, [Jr angel, 4<M engine, fa changes.
The sound j is very rare in English, except in the com-
pounds dj, ndj. It occurs chiefly in the terminations -sion -jon
(see § 85), and -sure -jo, as in pleasure, treasure, leisure ; the
latter is written thus ; V- ejo, azure; / mejo, measure.
85. CON, JON (-TION, -SION). (Exercise XIII.) The large
circle is turned 'backwards' for con (except after k, aq, oo),
'forwards' (clockwise) for jon. After long vowels (except iy)
the circle is turned on the stem of the character ; thus,
(/SO station, n^ emotion, £ O exertion, u_Q solution,
asion, (/^caution, C\O collation, Q^Q collusion.
After short vowels and iy, the con circle is written as an
independent loop, like the longhand letter o, and is not turned
on the stem of the vowel ; thus, K) (NOT P ) session.
The downward £-tick is omitted before the circle, as in
petition, below. Compare the con and jon circles ;
CC-. concussion, r^Q petition, C^%Q coalition, v-'"*vo depletion,
QO concision, ^~i£> vision, CfQ) collision, /y5) lesion.
After a consonant, if no vowel intervenes, the circle is
turned directly on the stem of the character; it is turned
' forwards' after k and aq ; thus,
£o exception, c<7 question, 4^ emulsion, K) exemption,
V tension, > action, ^U distinction, ^- function.
The large circle is most convenient as a prefix or termina-
tion ; it does not always join well in the middle of an outline.
In adding inflections and terminations vowels should be
inserted where they facilitate joinings ; cp. rvtf^ passionate,
*v<N-^ impassioned, LP intentional, C.*^ questionist ; but the
6—2
80 Consonants.
mode of hiatus should be used if the joining does not happen
to be clear and easy. The -ing termination is added with the
cross-stroke (§ 91), and the -s inflection by a small circle or
hook (§ 83) ; the character ) is used for the -ed inflection after
the forward circle, as in cautioned or occasioned.
This circle should only be used for the sounds con, jon, when
they represent the substantival termination.
Adjectives, such as ri—P Persian, hh sufficient, are written
alphabetically.
86. L, E. The loops 1, r, can be written either forwards,
> ry, 0 ly, in the direction of the hands of a clock ; or back-
wards, fl el, /} ery, 'counter-clockwise'. The difference of
appearance produced is sufficient for the purpose of vowel
indication. Forward 1 and forward r indicate the absence of
preceding vowels, and are used in forming the compounds pi,
fl, si, etc., pr, tr, kr, etc. (See Exercise XIV.)
rQ plate, 5 slight, £ cry, a pry, \ actress, ^L Henry,
R shrine. Compare ,-vo pellet, $ silt, rtf perry, ^2, aspirate.
Special forms are given to the compounds kl, gl ; thus,
(D clay, (H^_j glad; compare <Jr cull, (_/ gull.
Backward JP el, is written like the longhand I, but with
a more open loop. It is written half-size to indicate the absence
of a vowel after it, as in the combinations Ip, If, Ik, Is, etc.
A$ wealth, fi> self, »& help, <-$ pelt, ^*~^ old, K milk.
Compare the words, / realm, /' relume. [§ 77, (1).]
The mute r, which occurs before a consonant in common
spelling, as in art, short, indicates one of the o vowels, and is
not written with the loop character. The loop characters re-
present the trilled r, followed by a vowel, as in red, herring.
Backward r, /; ery, is used after vowels ; as in the words,
^ curry, <-Jff tomorrow, ^~, airy, "\ weary.
Consonants. 81
Forward r, fi ry, may be used if the preceding vowel is
' clipped ' in conversation, as in the words,
Jr* p'raps, <^v, separate, ^~^f different, ^hr emp'ror.
Some dialects trill the r in words like art, short, before a
consonant. This peculiarity of pronunciation may be indicated,
if desired, by inserting the character Q , written half size
to indicate the absence of a following vowel, as in /tv art.
87. M. The character / em is used to indicate a pre-
ceding short vowel ; in all other cases the downstroke / m is
not joined, but is written so as to end near the end of the
preceding character. (Exercise XV.)
n s-m, some; of k-m, come; J, m-m-ry, memory; flr^amid.
^-1 SAom, psalm; ^\/ time; (Q_/ germ; c / came; //^ smoke.
In rare words the particular short vowel should be specified,
as in, LI mummery, \jj Tarn, rvl Pym. [See § 77 (3).]
The word man, and the unaccented termination m-n, are
written / , without a vowel tick between the m and n ; thus,
a// human, W woman, A/ wim-n, H men, Cj / German.
When a vowel does not intervene between m and t or d, the
characters are joined, giving the forms L emt, /t/emd, which are
analogous to / nt, / / nd, but are written above the line,
like // em: the upstroke is omitted, unless a short vowel
precedes. The form fj emt is most commonly used as an
abbreviation for the termination -ment, which is usually written
wit in longhand. ^ empty, HAJ sentiment, //, intimate,
dimm'd, At/ seem'd, lln momentous, Jvu impkments.
argumentative, ^if> parliamentary, ^ amusement.
82 Consonants.
88. N. The downstroke of n differs from that of m in
beginning on the line instead of ending on it, and in being
directly joined to preceding characters. Compare
p new, If mew ; i _ near, / _ mere ; U none, fl mem.
The character /' ny is used when n is followed by a vowel ;
as in, i/ know, y nor, y-^ now, A\ nay, A^J>- another.
The angle in the combination v~ no is rounded off ; but
before final o the upstroke is omitted ; compare,
IT numb; L^J nut; I m-no, manner ; 4 inner; ~i ono, honour.
The compound -mn- is written // , as in ff-1 omniscient,
w chimney : m is joined after n thus, J" animal, Jf enemy.
The upstroke of n is omitted if no vowel follows. • The
prefixes in, un, are joined before upstrokes.
rV^I unborn, r~b — 7inverse, cp.^Ts — 7 universe, W initial.
89. Q (ing). The character ^" , called Aq (ung), is used
after vowels, except upward ' y, -^ uw, ^ ow, ^ oy, in
which cases the other curve J aq is used. (Exercise XVI.)
^\ sowing, ^^ saying, ^~^~ dying, r( sawing,
vowing, J~J toying.
y tAq, tongue; ^ sung, ^V bung, / lung, /ft rung, Jr thong.
The opposite curve J , called aq (ang), is used after upward
y, and after most consonants, especially r z, r, p, fl i} ^ nt.
y sang, ^~y bang, X\ rang, C/l gingham.
£• sizing, o/7 shilling, "J. hunting, A supping, ^ watching.
/-> living, g^j halting, "j1 thing, "M ding, •& washing.
Conso'tiants. 83
By omitting the first and third strokes of / iqo, we obtain
the back upward flourish ~N iq (ing). This character is only
used for the participial termination -ing after certain con-
sonants, especially u t, // nd, A Q r, and back circles.
P* herring, V) ending, a — 0 hurting, M) resting, ay singeing.
The character iq is used after p, b (instead of aq, which
joins continuously), when a continuous joining precedes: and
similarly aq instead of iq after t, d.
^ (NOT </") ) hooping, \. (NOT KJ ) waiting.
When the uninflected word ends in one of the characters
B, r, m, n, q, y, o, :> t, ) d, the termination -ing is expressed
by the cross-stroke (see § 91). After an o vowel the use of
the cross-stroke implies r ; when no r is heard, as in sawing,
the character Aq should be used.
_33_ hurrying, <-v4\pitying, — ^ innings, P longingly, A\riding.
C/ cursing, Nj\ aiming, ^J. offering, ^-^ dyooriq, during.
The characters iq, aq, Aq, are very suitable as terminal
flourishes, but do not join well to following signs.
Short terminal inflections may be joined as follows ;
h singer, u\ stringy, V stingeth, J winged, $ longish.
In the middle of a word, the mode of hiatus is used;
as in G\*_J kingdom, Hf- singsong, P longhand.
But the common compounds qk, qg, qt, qd, qjj, are written
with the D* iqo character ; the o-tick is omitted, and the following
character is directly joined after the upstroke of the q; thus,
9^ yqko, inker; Q_ yqgo, anger; f yqt, ink'd;
y* yq^, as in length; tf-^ yqd, as in d, wing'd.
(W England, J? language, \f angry, D longer.
U \i ^o \*L.
quinquangular, 0y wrinkle, cp. "pf? functional.
&4 Foreign Sounds.
The compound /? ndj (soft ny), as in ^f d-ndjo, daityer,
must not be confused with q or qg, as in hanger, anger.
The prefixes in, un, before k, g, are often assimilated in
sound to iq, Aq, but are preferably written by mode of hiatus :
•fCU inconstant, ~l(j, unkind, jcf increase.
90. FOREIGN SOUNDS often occur in short quotations and
isolated words. Such words should be underlined, or italicized
(§ 92), to distinguish them from English words; and should be
expressed by as close an imitation as possible in English
sounds: thus, r\ peur, J-je, s~~*>\i Wien, ^~*y Vienne.
A few special foreign sounds have no satisfactory equiva-
lents in English. The French u, or German ii, is written ~\ iy,
followed by the w-mode, or the w dot. Compare the \vords,
s~~tfvous, s~b)Vie, s~t&vue, ~^/une, ^^ — deux, ^ trwAO, trois.
1 ff
The French nasalized vowels are expressed by making the
next character (q if final) intersect the vowel ; thus,
rj-pain, /^Y bon (cp. s~^-j bonne), cL comment, £ long, tt lonyue.
The character j is used for j in French words, such as,
*j ruwj, rouge; d*" jw&o,joie; <*—jte9n,jeiine.
German ch is written with the li circle, followed, before
a vowel, by the y-mode, as in r^f Bach, / madchen.
^ — >°A
The ' breathed ' 1, heard in Welsh words, like llan, may be
distinguished by prefixing the h circle ; thus, Jf Man, llan.
91. INFLECTIONS. In adding inflections the outline of the
original word should be altered as little as possible.
With abbreviated words the mode of hiatus should be used.
// once, if one's, ia oneself, °C whose, o/ whom, o~~ who*1".
Vy gives, { given, r\f -^ <.C P's and Q's, ty joys, l(o enjoy.
Inflections. 85
In adding inflections to words ending in -pie, -ble, -fle, etc.,
the character el should not be changed for ly, although the
syllabic 1 becomes consonantal ; compare the words,
Ccy couples, CcJ? coupling, w ample, A-JL ampler, Ad/ amply.
Similarly after an o vowel, the character ery need not be
added before a termination, such as -er, beginning with a
vowel [see § 77, (2)]. The mode of hiatus is used, or the
termination is written above ; thus, / — —nearer,
labourer, -u-/ utterance, -^ utter er, c\^/ parent.
A. word may always be divided in the middle and the termi-
nation written above, mode (1), provided that it does not inter-
fere with the expression of w before vowels (§ 75). This is
especially convenient in the case of terminations which tend to
go too far below the line ;
thus, •£ A luxury, IL vf logogram, /K- M_ recognize.
The common participial termination -ing is added by a cross-
stroke through the last character of the word ; the adverbial
termination -ly, similarly, by a cross- tick. These marks should
always be used in the case of alphabetic or abbreviated words :
a tick is added for the plural.
/^N being, ^L> doings, <k thinking, A^ having, ji_ airing,
£ idly, C gent(leman)ly, Jf^*- prettily, "^ only, & verily.
This method should not be used for the sounds -ing, -ly,
except when they represent inflections.
Thus: s~~v# (NOT ^ ) Bingley, <j (NOT -^_) kingly.
In adding the s and d inflections to words ending in the
downward y, the character \ y is omitted; in similar cases
upward y, and o, are retained. Compare the words
r*J^s pitied, G-A^/ copied, -v^> tittered, ~^f- littering.
rM pities, (cvt copies, -^7- utters, -vr* utterly.
86 Punctuation, etc.
PUNCTUATION, ETC.
92. STOPS may all be written in the usual way; but in
rapid writing, punctuation is best effected by leaving spaces.
A HYPHEN between two words is indicated by drawing a
line over them ; thus, C — ' — ji hard-earned.
EMPHASIS. The clearest way to emphasize a word is to
write it in longhand ; if the word is written in shorthand, draw
a line round it, or underline it.
Italics are indicated by singly underlining ; SMALL CAPITALS
by two lines; LAEGE CAPITALS by three. Foreign words
and quotations, and names of books and periodicals, are
generally italicized.
To ERASE A WORD, draw two parallel lines through it.
93. FIGURES. The Arabic figures should be made large and
distinct; they generally give no trouble unless badly written.
In writing round numbers, the abbreviations, ^_J j[ow for
thousand, If mil for million, will be found convenient : but it
is clearer and quicker to add two noughts to a number than to
abbreviate the word hundred.
94. INITIALS are marked as in longhand by placing a dot
after them. The following signs are used : —
A. \. F. nt. K. \. 0. ^' S. I. W. /•
B. ^. G. C. L. J? P. o. T. vj. X. f;
C. c. H. o. M. /. Q. c- U. J- Y. V
E. -v J. C
Some, as r r, represent the sound of the name of the
longhand letter; others, as c c, the sound with which the
word usually begins.
AN INITIAL CAPITAL is marked by a short tick \ struck
through the first character or written close below it ; thus,
Jones, y Sykes, \<l/ West.
The exact spelling of a proper name, whether Smythe or
Smith, Browne or Brown, is often important. Unfamiliar
proper names should in this case be written in longhand.
Practice. 87
PEACTICE.
95. The art of shorthand writing is in the main a
mechanical art; to attain thorough excellence in it practice
alone is necessary, but practice is essential. Shorthand is of
little practical use until it can be written and read without
conscious effort and hesitation. The time required to attain
this degree of proficiency will depend partly on the simplicity
of the system and on the intelligence of the learner ; but no
amount of intelligence is of any avail without diligent practice.
At least an hour a day should be devoted to the mechanical act
of writing, till it becomes no longer an effort but a pleasure.
A good method of practice is the following : Take a printed
specimen, read it through carefully, referring to the key if
necessary ; then try to write it from the key without referring
to the copy. Compare the result with the copy, and rewrite
several times words incorrectly written.
When sufficient accuracy and facility have been attained by
copying practice, in order to acquire speed the student should
take every opportunity of practising from dictation. Copying
practice is of little use in acquiring speed.
Practice in reading shorthand is just as essential as practice
in writing. The student should make a point of reading every-
thing he writes, not immediately, but after an interval of a
week or two ; and should not be satisfied till he can read his
writing quite as easily as longhand at any distance of time.
The best kind of reading practice is afforded by correctly
printed specimens of unfamiliar matter. This tends to improve
the style of writing, and prevents the possibility of guessing
words from a reminiscence of the subject.
With the object of providing copious reading and writing
practice of this kind, it is intended to publish shortly books of
exercises and illustrations, as well as standard works printed
in the ' Cursive ' character. Meanwhile the preceding examples
and instructions, with the progressive exercises p. 108, will
enable the student to attain such certainty and ease in reading
and writing as to make shorthand, not merely a pleasant re-
creation or an idle accomplishment, but a time-saving expedient
of real practical value.
88 Specimens of Writing.
96. SPECIMENS OF WRITING.
At the outset of his practice, say after reading §§ 38 — 52,
and before proceeding to learn the rules for writing, the
student is recommended to analyse the following easy example
with the aid of the alphabetic table. He must expect to meet
with a few points which he cannot as yet fully appreciate, but
he will find that the majority of the outlines present no
difficulties. By way of writing practice he should take a para-
graph from a book or newspaper, picking out all the alphabetic
words and writing down the characters that represent them.
He should not attempt to write unfamiliar words, till he has
worked carefully through the whole of the exercises on §§ 53 — 91,
and has acquired a fair knowledge of writing by sound and of
the usage of the various characters.
THE LORD'S PRAYER.
The Lord's Prayer is very commonly given as an illustration
in systems of Shorthand. The following version, written in
the fullest style of 'Cursive', may be compared with similar
versions in other systems.
7. OL Af^-s s_y y — w , J t*> f
. C -7 ^f
r t
KEY. (Line for line.) THE LORD'S PRAYER.
Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name.
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in
heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us
our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into
temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.
(Capitals are not marked. The second vowel in the word Amen
should have been inserted, since both syllables are accented.)
Specimens of Writing. 89
A BOY'S COMPOSITION.
.A key of the above in phonetic writing* will be found in
the pamphlet on Phonetic Spelling (p. 27). The original is
taken from English as she is Taught.
KEY. ON GIRLS.
Girls are very stuckup and dignified in their manner and
be have your. They think more of dress than anything and
like to play with dowls and rags. They cry if they see a cow
in a far distance and are afraid of guns. They stay at home
all the time and go to church on Sunday. They are al-ways
sick. They are al-ways funy and making fun of boy's hands
and they say how dirty. They cant play marbles. I pity them
poor things. They make fun of boys and then turn round and
love them. I don't beleave they ever killed a cat or anything.
They look out every nite and say oh ant the moon lovely.
Thir is one thing I have not told and that is they al-ways now
their lessons bettern boys.
* The spelling of the original has been imitated, here and there, both
in the phonetic and shorthand versions.
90 Specimens of Writing.
98. AN ELEGY ON THE DEATH OF A MAD DOG.
1. Good people all of every sort,
Give ear unto ray song;
And if you find it wond'rous short,
It cannot hold you long.
2. In Islington there was a man,
Of whom the world might say,
That still a godly race he ran,
Whene'er he went to pray.
3. A kind and gentle heart he had,
To comfort friends and foes;
The naked every day he clad,
When he put on his clothes.
4. And in that town a dog was found,
As many dogs there be,
Both mongrel, puppy, whelp, and hound,
And curs of low degree.
5. This dog and man at first were friends;
But when a pique began,
The dog, to gain some private ends,
Went mad and bit the man.
6. Around, from all the neighb'ring streets
The wond'ring neighbours ran,
And swore the dog had lost his wits,
To bite so good a man.
7. The wound it seem'd both sore and sad
To every Christian eye;
And while they swore the dog was mad,
They swore the man would die.
8. But soon a wonder came to light,
That show'd the rogues they lied,
The man recover'd of the bite,
The dog it was that died.
Oliver Goldsmith.
Specimens of Writing.
91
(_,
/
fj 0\ r^, -1 f>
v^r
<
i V-/T- r
Ir
v_^V
92 Specimens of Writing.
99. A GRABBED COLLECTION OF MONOSYLLABLES. The fol-
lowing passage *, or something like it, was read by Mr Rundell
at a meeting in the presence of several shorthand writers of
various systems :
"Eyde wrote the rude reed, reading aright the ready
writing. Wright wrought a rod, and hurried ahead, at a horrid
rate, a harried rat, in a harrowed arid rut, with a rotten root,
a reedy rood, on the ruddy Eeading road, to rot a ratting rad
with a written writ, re riding a rowdy raid, arrayed in red, to
rout the irritating riot of rutting roes."
It is almost needless to say that everyone was beaten by it,
except Professor Everett, "who took it down at a very decent
speed, and read it accurately, not knowing the meaning of it."
Such passages present no difficulties in Cursive Shorthand.
The following is the complete version of the above :
1
This can be written by a skilled hand in about half a minute
(that is to say almost as fast as the words themselves can be
distinctly articulated); and at the same time so clearly that
anyone who knew the system, could read it correctly at sight
without having ever heard the original.
A version of the same in Pitman's Phonography, is given as
an illustration of the use of detached vowels, on p. 13.
It will be noticed that the outlines in the Pitman version are
nearly all alike, but for the presence of certain little dots and
ticks, which look very neat and harmless, but which are most
annoying in practice ; in reading, because they are so incon-
spicuous and indistinct ; in writing, because it takes so long to
insert them with the care and accuracy necessary to distinguish
the words correctly.
* I have since discovered that the original passage, as read by
Mr Bnndell, was less elaborate.
Met/tods of Abbreviation. 93
METHODS OF ABBEEVIATION.
100. Cursive Shorthand is about three times as brief as
longhand, and can be written in full, by persons of average
skill, at the rate of between 80 and 100 words a minute, without
any of the outlines being spoilt. Higher rates of speed are best
attained, not by more hurried scribbling, but by methods of
abbreviation.
In reporting, abbreviation by omission must be employed to
a large extent in any system. The manner and degree of ab-
breviation must always depend largely on individual discretion
and on special circumstances. It is impossible to give hard
and fast rules to meet all cases. The subject will be more
fully developed in a subsequent work : meanwhile a few general
principles and illustrations are appended, which will enable
the intelligent student to attain considerable brevity and speed
with very little loss of legibility.
Words are, in general, best abbreviated, as in longhand, by
omitting the terminal portions. The full expression of vowels
in the outlines, enables us to employ this simple method of
abbreviation to a far greater extent in Cursive than is possible
in most other systems.
A single comprehensive method, like this, is much more
useful in practice than a long list of special contractions.
A word thus abbreviated is marked, as in longhand, by
a dot at the end. The last character or two may be written
over the dot, thus, f^^~^ advcmfa<7eous, if required to show
the part of speech or the inflection : in this case the dot may
generally be omitted, especially if the word is obviously an
abbreviation.
The best words to abbreviate in this way are long words in
which the first syllable or two suffices to show the meaning;
as in the following examples, in which the portions to be
omitted are italicized ;
antagonist, baptism, benevolent, ecclesiastical, extravagant,
manufacturing, plenipotentiary, philanthropic, unaniwioits.
c. 7
94 Methods of Abbreviation.
If a long word occurs several times in the same passage, it
should be written in full the first time (unless it is a common
word), but may generally be abbreviated with safety on each
subsequent repetition. Initials may be used, as in longhand,
for words or names that are constantly recurring.
The method may be applied even to monosyllables, especially
if the shortened outline could not stand for any other English
word. This restriction need not be observed in the case of
very common words when the sense is obvious:
r**' point, K» time, J^ life, \ came, V^ g&ve, nil friend.
It is especially advantageous to omit long, common, or
meaningless terminations, such as -ful, -able; more particularly
such as if written would be separated from the rest of the
outline by the mode of hiatus. The dot may be placed above
or below to indicate w or y; thus,
rv' valua&Ze (§75), <3O consequent, OC. consecutive [§ 77, (1)].
A substantival termination may be indicated by a small
circle disjoined, when it does not clash with the suffix 'self.
An adverbial termination is indicated by a double dot ; thus,
n£ thankfulness*, H: satisfactorily, /f): especially.
The following adverbs, and the corresponding adjectives,
etc., may be conveniently abbreviated as shown by the italics :
absolutely, characteristically, essentially, extraordinarily,
generally, immediately, originally, particularly, practically,
probably, publicly, respectively, severally, sufficient?!/.
Unless the termination is very long it should be written
in full. The termination of the word a consciously, for
o%
instance, can be written nearly as fast as the double dot, but
it is worth while to abbreviate Q / koncyencosly, conscientiously,
oo^t
provided that the meaning is otherwise clear.
Abbreviations familiar in longhand may be safely used as
a rule in shorthand : for instance,
Magazine, advt (advertisement), Govt (government) , examination,
ppose (purpose), amt(amount),abt (about), Mona"ar/,Februan/,etc.
* It should not, of course, be used for the negative termination -lessness.
Methods of Abbreviation.
95
The following are particularly common and convenient:
/- Mr, l-f Messrs, // M", It Miss, In Misses, ^^~ DT,
>-& Reverend, A_^ Ld. (Lord), ~l" honourable, n member.
The common termination -nee may be indicated, as in
longhand, by s -ce, written above ; thus,
\_s' difference, A~x~b advance, cp. /N. — "~s> advantages.
101. SPECIAL ABBREVIATIONS. A prefix or initial syllable
which is common to several words, does not make a clear
abbreviation unless its use is restricted by special convention
to some particular word, preferably the commonest word con-
taining it. The most suitable word in each case will depend
on the kind of work in which the writer is employed: the
following will be found of general utility, and may be taken as
typical examples :
advantage,
P Christian, <
r^ objects,
\ signify,
0
advt,
£. character,
rr^) 6b;ects,
ey opinion,
d ifferent,
U- strength, a
L-\ subject,
/^~' aw/ttl,
difficult,
Q- principal, *
-b several,
n speafc,
defendant,
rl/ plaintiff, r,
-x public,
(7 Engiisn.
general, Jf religion,
language,
/N,
It is a common device to omit the middle of a word and
join the termination directly to the prefix. This method must
be used with great caution, and can only be applied safely to
known cases which do not clash with unabbreviated words:
such as,
?y acknowledge, if influence, O notwit/tstanding,
C>WN opportunity, (JJ interest, //->^ nevertheless,
a\j? consideration, c° question, <V~O publication,
a/ constitution, £) in/orntation, C generation.
7—2
96 Methods of Abbreviation.
There is no limit to the number of logograms that may
be formed on this plan. They are useful for reporting, but
should be avoided in ordinary writing.
102. THE CONVERSATIONAL PRONUNCIATION, provided that
it is sufficiently full to be intelligible, may always be followed
in abbreviating words, whenever it gives a clearer and easier
outline. This method is particularly useful in the formation
of phrases. In conversation, if a consonant ends one word
and begins the next and no pause is made between the two, the
articulation is not repeated in speech, but one is made to do
double duty. In such cases the consonant need not be repeated
in shorthand. Examples of conversational pronunciation :
fr some more, /'~vx~x ought to be, l^^^ must be,
^cannot, /^7more'n(moret^fln), '"~v-'7 better'n (better tJian),
Lt as soon as, j/7 as long as, AT as far as, i^f so as.
With respect to the omission of vowels the student is re-
ferred to the remarks in § 65. The strict rules for vowel inser-
tion should always be followed in the case of rare words, and,
if such words are to be abbreviated, they should be abbreviated
in the regular way.
Consonants may be omitted, as in metrical writing, in the
words e'er, e'en, o'er, and in similar cases.
When several consonants come together in a single syllable
one of them may sometimes be omitted without much loss.
The prefixes trans- and self- may be written tras- and sef-
respectively. L and r, when combined with other consonants,
may occasionally be omitted in unaccented syllables and in
very common words, as in children, public, application, interest,
instruction, contradict, fulfil. A common prefix may sometimes
be omitted if the word is clear without it; thus con and com
may be omitted in the words, completion, cojwbustion, communi-
cate, comparative, conclude, confident, conscious, and some
others. These methods must however be used with great
caution, and are not recommended to beginners. Examples are,
*V? self-respect ; &• instruction ; M« transact ; />eu completion.
u 0 v J
Methods of Abbreviation. 97
103. OMISSION OF CONNECTING WOBDS. In note-taking, as in
telegraphic despatches, when the sense is more important than
the actual words in which it is expressed, connecting words
and phrases may be very freely omitted. If the leading words
and ideas are skilfully selected and noted down in their proper
order, the connecting links may be readily supplied afterwards.
It is better to omit a few unimportant words, and to write
the leading words clearly, than to abbreviate them in such
a way as to render all alike indistinct. As Mr T. A. Beed
remarks: " Misreadings are quite as likely to arise from out-
lines closely resembling one another not being kept sufficiently
distinct, as from the noninsertion of words".
Skill in the application of this method can only be acquired
by practice in note-taking. Those who have been accustomed
to taking notes in longhand, will find no difficulty in applying
it to shorthand.
An omission of several words is marked, as in longhand, by
a series of dots. The number of dots in a short omission, may
be the same as the number of words omitted.
If a phrase is repeated several times in the same passage,
the first word or letter only should be written at each repetition,
followed by a long dash, to which, for greater clearness, the
termination of the phrase may be attached, if desired. Common
and familiar phrases may be treated in a similar way.
ILLUSTRATING TREATMENT OF REPEATED PHBASES.
^-> '
St Matth. v. 2—10.
98 Phraseography.
PHRASEOGRAPHY.
104. Time is often saved by writing whole phrases, like
single words, without lifting the pen except as required for the
'mode of hiatus'.
Initial and final short vowels may be frequently indicated
in this way, by joining the consonants; and initial w and y
may be expressed by mode instead of being written.
A reckless use of phraseography, however, is strongly to be
condemned. Only such words as are closely connected in
sense may be joined together; and the conditions of correct
vowel indication, of facility and lineality, should be satisfied.
The conversational pronunciation may generally be followed;
but it is desirable that the outline of each component word
should remain unaltered, so as to be separately distinguishable.
The following are a few typical examples :
I cannot
X '
shan't
>e
you do not
we'll not
you are not
it is not
I am not
I've a
in part
in all that is
so that it is
by that
there is
v — J^^. they are
should have
my dear sir
The alphabetic words are so familiar, that exceptions
to the strict rules of vowel indication may be made in the case
of very common and useful phrases containing them, provided
that the joinings are easy, and that the resulting outline can-
not clash with any English word. Such as are fully expressed
may be freely joined; but the words, and, of, the, from, very,
think, them, give, can only be joined in special cases.
Ph raseography.
99
(1) PHRASES CONTAINING a, and, of, the, for, to, ETC. The
o-tick may be used for a, and either of the e-ticks for the, after
alphabetic words, and at the ends of several common phrases;
v and the
/~"v by a
/-v by the
<*/~\ to be
A of the
<-/- to a
WN to the
v> / to do
v\ and of the
^ in a
-7 on the
^s~d to have
v and are
L as a
vs from the
C to give
± and is
eX with a
o^ with the
C forgive
/ is as
o_ up a
Of have the
(j unto
f as is
nr- for a
nf for the
(j undo
^A with a view to the, 9| with regard to the,
/T~>- for ever, rt~*v*-J forbid, (v forget, cp. n\^ forego.
"""Sk we have had
we shall have
(2) ACXILIABY PHRASEP.
/-^s would be
^ will be
it has been
let us be
should be
may have
may be
ought to be
(3) NEGATIVE PHBASES. The negative in auxiliary phrases
may often be implied by INTERSECTION.
>•£, cannot have
should not do
may not be
had not been
100
Phraseography.
(4) MISCELLANEOUS EXAMPLES
as if it were
as it is
d'you think
"^ I think I was
to think that
I wish to be
I shall be
able to do that
in order to do so
everybody
Many other phrases may be formed on similar analogies.
Short phrases may be directly derived from longer ones : from
the phrase in all that is may be derived the useful phrases
in all, all that, that is, all that is, in all that. On the analogy
of by that, we may write by this, by tliese, by tliose, by their, etc.;
on the analogy of would be, we may form can be, could be,
might be, had been, would have, could have, etc.
In phrase-forming, the conversational pronunciation may
always be followed (§ 102). Connecting words, such as and, or,
of, the, etc., may be freely omitted in common phrases; but if
the remaining words are abbreviated, it is generally better,
instead of joining them, merely to write them closer together
so as to show their connection.
Phrases beginning with words, such as that, with, whose
outlines are characteristic, are particularly to be recommended,
because they are at once recognized as phrases, and cannot
possibly be mistaken for words.
An important use of phraseography is to indicate the
connection of words. By joining together in phrases only
words that are closely connected in sense, we may not only
save time, but also secure greater legibility.
The student should exercise the greatest caution at the
outset in his use of phraseography: he must remember that
abbreviated words cannot be freely joined without danger of
clashing ; that time is not saved by joining words which join
awkwardly or indistinctly ; that phrases which are so long that
they cannot be written easily without shifting the hand, can be
written more clearly and quickly if divided; and that only very
common phrases are likely to become sufficiently familiar for
fluent writing and reading.
Characteristics of the Age. 101
IN ABBBEVIATED STYLE WITH PHBASEOGBAPHY.
KEY.
CHAEACTEBISTICS OF THE AGE. — The peculiar and distinguishing
characteristics of the present age are in every respect remarkable. Un-
questionably an extraordinary and universal change has commenced
in the internal as well as the external world, — in the mind of man
as well as in the habits of society, the one indeed being the necessary
consequence of the other. A rational consideration of the circumstances
in which mankind are at present placed, must show us that influences
of the most important and wonderful character have been and are
operating in such a manner as to bring about if not a reformation, a
thorough revolution in the organization of society. Never in the history
of the world have benevolent and philanthropic institutions for the
relief of domestic and. public affliction; societies for the promotion of
manufacturing, commercial and agricultural interests; associations
for the instruction of the masses, the advancement of literature and
science, the development of true political principles; for the extension
in short of every description of knowledge, and the bringing about of
every kind of reform, been so numerous so efficient and so indefatigable
in their operation as at the present day. We do not say that many
of the objects sought by these associations, are not extravagant and
impracticable, but we do say that it is impossible that such influences
can exist without advancing in some degree the interests of humanity.
It would be idle to deny that notwithstanding all these beneficial in-
fluences, a great amount of misery exists; but it is only the natural
consequence of great and sudden changes. Let us hope that in this
instance at least it may be but the indispensable preliminary stage
in the cure of a deep seated disease.
102 Comparison with Pitman.
105. COMPARISON WITH PITMAN. The subject of the fore-
going specimen is taken from a tract entitled, A Persuasive to
the Study of Phonography (Pitman's), where it is given in the
briefest reporting style. It is also the first example given in
Pitman's Reporter. We may reasonably assume that it re-
presents his system at its best, and that it is a fair subject for
our comparison.
The Cursive version given on the preceding page is NOT
written in the briefest possible style*. None of the words are
omitted, and many of them might be much further abbreviated
in practice, owing to the accurate expression of vowels in the
outlines. It is quite brief enough however for ordinary re-
porting, and we therefore propose to take it as it stands.
It is much more fully and clearly written than the Pitman
version. The number of sound-elements, vowels and con-
sonants, actually expressed (leaving out of account, for the
present, the indication of vowel places and of accentuation), is
only about 15 °/0 greater in the Cursive than in the Pitman ;
but whereas in the former they are nearly all simply and
definitely rendered by their alphabetic characters, in the latter
nearly half (upwards of 40 %) are more or less uncertainly
implied by methods of abbreviation.
Not only is the actual number of sounds expressed In the
Cursive larger, and the mode of expressing them simpler and
clearer ; but the selection of the sounds is also more rational ;
those sounds being chosen, whether vowels or consonants,
which are most useful for the recognition and distinction of
the wordsi
More than one hundred and twenty of the most important
vowels are written by joined characters according to rule.
Besides this, the exact places of about one hundred and fifty
others are indicated, the quality as well as the place of the
vowel is generally shown, and the absence of vowels in all
other cases is correctly f implied. The meaning of every out-
* The plate was executed a whole month hefore the idea of making
the comparison was entertained.
t Except in one or two very obvions phrases, snch as hare been.
Comparison toith Pitman. 103
line is thus rendered so definite that guess-work is practically
eliminated.
The illegibility of the Pitman version is largely due to
its disproportionate deficiency in the expression of vowels.
Only ten vowels are inserted in the whole passage. There
is scarcely any attempt at vowel indication. The downward r,
indicating the absence cf a vowel after it, is only used four
times, out of twenty-two cases in which it is theoretically
required. The loop for the compound st is only used five
times out of twenty. The hooks for the I and r compounds are*
used as often as not (22 times out of 45) when vowels inter-
vene. Even when carefully engraved, the Pitman is, therefore,
far from legible. When written at a moderate speed, many of
its essential refinements* of length, thickness, and position,
are lost or obscured, and in hurried writing it often becomes
quite undecipherable.
Cursive on the other hand is not one quarter t aa delicate.
The outlines, being almost entirely on the longhand slope,
have an easy flow, and can be recklessly scribbled with little or
no loss of legibility. Thus, although the Pitman, being much
less fully written, is about 25 °/0£ briefer to the eye, the Cursive
is so much easier to the hand, and involves so much less
mental effort, that, given equal skill, it can be written in
the same time, not only with far fewer mistakes, but with
incomparably superior legibility.
" In this connection, the remarks of the ablest practical exponent of
Phonography, Mr T. A. Reed, are interesting and instructive. In criticis-
ing a briefer system than Pitman's, he says: "This [the counting of
inflections] is by no means a conclusive test. There are inflections and
inflections. Twenty easy inflections may be written more rapidly than a
dozen difficult ones with awkward joinings. ...The easy flaw of a system
is one of its most important practical elements.. ..Greater precision is
needed in regard to the size and slope of the letters.... These peculiarities
are necessarily unfavourable to speed and ease in writing, and greatly
detract from the value of the system to the professional shorthand
writer, to whom all undue niceties and refinements are a thorn in the
flesh ". See also Introduction, pp. 3, 4, C, etc.
t See Introduction, p. 4, near end.
t Estimated by Prof. Everett's rule, Introduction, p. 6.
104 Facsimile of Writing.
106. FACSIMILE OF ORDINARY WRITING (NATURAL SIZE).
vo 3 \ V <o O^6 ^ G*> A ^- /""* /-^ v **<, -7
KEY.
There are three ways in which the conditions or character-
istics of the time may be said to affect us. They modify
belief, they modify society, and they modify the private personal
life of every one of us. The preacher who stands forth at the
present time as the ambassador of Christ, cannot, I think, use
the same confident language he would have used some fifty
years ago. I do not mean that he ought to do less, or would
do less, for the cause of Christ's religion, but, if I may put the
case as it appears to my own mind, it is that if he be honest
with himself and the congregation to which he speaks, he will
not venture to say, "This is true: there is no sort of doubt
about it ; it is what I believe, and what you are- all bound to
believe". But let him rather say — at least it is what I would
rather say to you — my belief is inexpressibly dear to my own
soul : it is the one thing which arms me against temptation,
and illumines my path, and makes life for me worth living.
And as that is my intimate experience, is it not right and
naturally inevitable that I should deeply and dearly desire it to
be yours ?
Marginal Notes. 105
107. MARGINAL NOTES. Cursive can be written in a small
space much more clearly than longhand. The following is
a facsimile (natural size) of a marginal note written with fine
glass stylograph. The text is that of the discussion on
shorthand systems in The Bazaar*, 1882 — 83.
FAIR FIDDLERS. ^^^-^
"Starting from the premises that centuries of irfsr^j, '
subordination have left the gentler sex too gentle >-/V« n fyfy.i •/• fy
to compete on equal terms with man, a musical nCf***-^/ ~!*f
casuist might possibly argue that woman, having i"^:"^/ ^- */
played second fiddle from the Creation, can never
make a first-class violinist. Such reasoning, at
all events, would be quite as logical as much of
that which has been put forward in opposition to •*->< ~ ^-) jnto*,
violin teaching to girls; and although, of late, ^jw-cp •* f^
there has been something of a turn in the tide of , g v, 4,r^.*~,
The above specimen is written in the ordinary unabbreviated
style; there would be no difficulty in writing it much more
briefly and minutely if desired. The process by which the
block was produced has perhaps hardly done justice to the
original. Some of the outlines are a little spoilt; though not
enough to render any of the words uncertain.
The student should not endeavour to write too briefly or
minutely at the outset. To abbreviate clearly requires consider-
able experience. He should be content, for some time, to
practise a full and unabbreviated style, dividing nearly all the
words. From the first he should use all the special outlines for
common words contained in the list on the next page, but should
at first confine himself strictly to that list, writing all other
words in full. In his early practice of phraseography he should
observe the rules of vowel indication very carefully. As he
progresses and acquires greater facility and precision in the
application of the rules, he may gradually adopt all the abbre-
viations and phrases contained in the illustrations and exercises,
and may proceed to form others on analogous principles ; but
it is essential that he should be able to write any word correctly
in full without hesitation, before he attempts to make abbrevi-
ations for himself.
* A book of selections from this controversy, with illustrative cuts,
edited by T. Anderson, under the title of Shorthand Systems, is pub-
lished by L. Upcott Gill, 170, Strand, W.C.
106 Alphabetic List of Common Words.
108. ALPHABETIC LIST OF COMMON WOKDS. The following
outlines illustrate chiefly the indication of vowels in common
words, §§ 65, 73. The sounds omitted in each word are itali-
cized. The beginner should pay special attention to the ten
words marked with an asterisk (*), because their forms, though
easily remembered, are more or less arbitrary, and may other-
wise give him trouble in reading, the first time he meets them.
The Alphabetic Words are not included in this list.
The numbers after each word refer to the sections explain-
ing the points which it illustrates.
V-N^ about 65. 70
5 can't 65
(t
L gentleman 100
V^~b above 70. 73
c cause 65
r
Of glory 86. 100
according 65
fa change 65. 84
U
( gone 73
^ after 65. 81
e charge 65
/
G again 65. 70
dis child 65. 86
C great 54. 65
G against 65. 70
gA combine 65
62, ha£f 55. 65
I
<° his * 48. 55
/ among 70. 87
a come 73. 87
T
AJ amount 65. 87
C. could* 73. 81
c-^ high 55. 61
~^— however 102
(l anger 79. 89
x_^/did 48. 73
W does 48. 73
if*-/ indeed 65. 70
sly arrange 65. 70
Q ink 70. 8'J
UJ
•^i done 48. 73
7
s-~\ because 65
/
y- ink'd 70. 80
r
x> each* 84
/
^~) been 48. 65
/
r enough 73
C Join 77(!)
^~va before
•
/
s~\<1 /behind 65. 75
v~t> every 70. 100
C judge 73
V
C
s-^L between* 65
r except 73. 81
/
*?
C jury 65.86
X-N^ body 73
^>i find 65
0
^-N, but 73
d form 64. 77(1)
^ just 73
(ft call 65
C general 73
<j, kind 65
Alphabetic List of Common Words. 107
/Ox lady 65
tr not 73
If state 65
P land 73
w nothing 73
if still 73
/C late 65
\_9- other 73
d such* 73. 84
Jr^_ laughter 65
rrJr people 65
xJ, than 73. 79
7
P length 73. 89
~$ perfect 54. 65
•^~f> then 73
/
/ long 73. 89
f^-j pu;-pose 65
a- ^feasure * 84
(jfM thanking 89
J(_^ lord 65
/
o<6 proof 65
VJL/ that 73
A maintain
~ put 73
^jz> themseZye*- 48
/
/ man 73. 87
Q quite 81
S^ these 65. 83
/
' / manner 73. 88
/ many 48. 73
S~ Tc&ther 100
>v_/ read 77 (1)
.b right 81
^_/> this 73. 83
V thing 73. 89
va^ thought 48. 65
/ mmd 65
U
Jf shaU 55. 73
Jf till 73
/ month 49. 73
P shan't 55. 65
7" w;as 56
f moreover 100
<*. she * 55
n went 56
/"•>> move 65
a/ short 65
/7 whence 56
I much* 73.84
1.^ should 55. 73
/^_?- zc/jether 56
/name 65
// same 65
o//V_ whosoever
//^"~*> native 65
4) somewhat 73
,e wUt 48. 86
& nature 65. 84
n^~ sometij/tt's 100
^ withowt* 81
fs
K\ neither 81
//, something 87
) would* 56. 81
ts~*- never 73
J
n^ spirit 73. 86
> young 57. 73
w none 73. 88
</ stage 65
*f your 57. 62
108 Progressive Writing Exercises.
PKOGEESSIVE WEITING EXEECISES.
The Outlines of words printed in italics are to be found in
the previous pages. The numbers refer to the sections.
I. ALPHABETIC WORDS IN ALPHABETIC ORDER (see § 48).
' A, air, an, and, are, as, at, Ay, be, circumstance, do, first,
for, from, give, had, hand, has, hath, have, him, his, how, I, in,
into, is, joy, key, loo, me, no, of, one, or, owe, pea, self, selves,
such, the, them, think, to, very, way, we, which, who, will,
with, year, you.
n. JOINED CHARACTERS; LONG VOWELS AND CONSONANTS (§54).
Sharp Angle Joinings: — eo, irk, sir, spur, search, urge, oo,
pore, bore, lore, more, sore, pork. AO, ark, arch, pa, mar, bar,
lark, Sark. ow, out 81, (h)ouse. AW, oak, own, owing, low,
so, soak, mow. ey, ache (k), age, aitch. oy, boy, loin, point.
Angles sharpened: — ow, bough, sow, mouth. AW, oath, ode,
oat, Po, beau, ey, ape, ace, day 54, say. oo, core, gore, corn,
gaunt, gorse, course. AO, car, gar, aunt. (See also Exercise
VIII.)
Angles slurred: — eo, learn, earth 81, earn, stir, oo, order 54,
ought 81. AO, art. ow, owl, down, loud, now 88. AW, toe 54,
dough, know 88. ey, nay 88, ail, lay, ray, may, main, oy, oil.
Continuous Joinings:— eo, cur 54, girl 97, earl, oo, all,
nor 88, tore, door, roar. AO, tar. ow, cow 54, gown, row.
AW, coat 54, go, old, goal, ey, pay, bay, eight, aid 54, paid,
bade, kay, gay, gate, oy, toy.
Circle Joinings: — eo, fur. oo, fore 54, four, jaw. AO, far,
jar. ow, found, thou, vow. AW, foe, Jo, though, ey, fay,
jay, they 54.
III. INITIAL H, SH, W, Y, BEFORE LONG VOWELS (§§ 55 — 57).
eo, hurt, heard, herself; shirt, shirk, sherd; word, work,
worst ; year, yearn.
oo, hoar, hall, horn, horse ; shore, shawl, shorn ; walk,
wall, worn; yawn, yawl.
AO, Jiark, heart, hard; shark; yard, yarn.
ow, hound 98 ; shout.
AW, hoe, hone, host; show, shown, shoal; woe, woke; yoke.
ey, hay, halo, haste ; sJiay, shake, shape ; wake, waste.
IV. LONG VOWELS HAVING ALTERNATIVE CHARACTERS (§§ GO — 63).
ao, V_ , share 55, yare 57, ne'er, pair, lair 60, stare 72, bear,
tear, dare, care 54, their, there, chair 54, rare.
Short Vowds. 109
\ , spare, mare, fair 60, sair, hair, luire 55.
Ay, *- , shy 55, sty 71, rely, den$, like, dine, by, ice, eyes,
eyeing 61, shine, wise, wind, pie, tie, die, guy, thy, thigh, lie,
nigh, rye.
\ , sign, my, fie, Hine 61, exercise 82, assizes 83, vie, mine,
sigh, size, vice, mice, spies, spice.
^j type, ripe, I've 61, while, wife, wipe, rile, life, isle.
~N, high 55, mile 61, hive, hypo-, cypher, file, viper.
uw, -* , soon 54, soup, cool, through 62, woo 56, shoot 55,
shoe, pooh, too, coo, coot, jute, rue, root, moot, coop.
yaw 58, beauty, peic, hue, sue 58, dupe, few, utility 62, suit,
hew, youth, yule, use 57, new, mew 88, cue, lieu, due, stew.
-*-, Euchre, ooze, huge 62, duke, -fuge, -buke, puke, fugue.
iy, ^\ , deep 54, weave 56, keep, chief 62, eve, sheep, heap,
weep, tea, sea, fee, lea, leap, cheap.
"v , seat, seen, ceased 62, yeast 57, weed, eat, east, heath,
feed, seen, lean, meat.
~v~, ease, seeing, week 62, seize, eke, siege, seek, leech, meek,
league, liege, leak.
uo = oo, /^, your 62, poor, sure, door, floor;
(y mode) pure, cure, lure, mure.
io=yeo, fear 62, mere, near 88, peer, pier, beer, tear, dear,
gear, fear, veer, cheer, jeer, leer, rear, real, idea, cohere.
iyo, queer 58, weird 56, seer, panacea, Dea, Lear, career.
irwo, ewer 62, hewer, sewer, shoer, wooer, fewer, newer.
owo, our 62, (h)our, power, bower, tower, dower, cower,
shower, sour, lour, vower.
Ayo, higher, hire.
SHORT VOWELS.
V. INITIAL SHORT VOWELS (§ 69).
EE-TICK : — ahead, alunj, asJiare, ashame 55; odd, occasion
48, occur, on, MS 69, unto, undo 104 ; was 69, wash, wood, wool,
won 56, want; hollow, hut 56, hutch, hunt, hung, hug, hull,
hush ; shut 56, shun, shock ; yacht 57, yon.
UPWARD E-TiCK :— add, adhere 58, ado, ash 83, ass, atone,
atune; essay, issue 84, in 48, it 69; hat, head, hen 55, hang
89 ; shadow, shed, shin 55 ; wet, win 56, wind, wing 83, wish
84, wisp 83, west; yap, yell 57, yellow, yes, yet 57, y ester 73.
C. 8
110 Progressive Writing Exercises.
DOWNWARD E-TicK : — about, above 108, abode, account,
affair, afore, ago, appear 69, appoint, averse, avow, avoid, ally,
alike, along, alloy, aver; ebb, echo, edge, egg, ell 69, etch,
Ezra 69; hack, hallow 96, hatch, hedge, heifer, hell 55; i/69;
shallow, shell 55, ship; web, wedge, well 56, whip, whiz, wick,'
wig, witch.
VI. FINAL SHORT VOWELS (§ 70).
ER-TICK: — utter 69, under, shutter, metre, water, waiter,
voter, theatre (iiyeoto), odour, Sparta, parlour, purser, whisper,
labour, mica, contra 48, wisher 72, weaver, ever, author, savour,
sofa, measure, Russia 84.
UPWARD Y : — happy 69, Effie, duckie, buggy, icy 70, racy,
juicy, fancy 83, mercy, saucy, hussy; army, enemy 88; abbey,
shabby, heavy, ivy; shaky, hockey, turkey; alley, holy, woolly.
DOWNWARD Y:— ; forty 70, city 71, pity, heady, gouty,
hasty, hearty, party, shady, witty, woody, weighty, ready,
eddy, (ha)ndy, empty 87; ashy, touchy 70, washy, marshy,
fishy; worthy, earthy, clergy, orgie.
VII. MEDIAL ACCENTED SHORT VOWELS (§ 73).
0, A, U : — pot, pod, bud, pug, book 82, buggy 70, butcher,
budge; totter, took 82, touch, toss, tush, ton, tun, tongue 89,
duck, dog, dutch, dodge, dull, dun, dong ; cut, cud, cog, cock,
cusp 82, cull 86, gut, gush, gull 86, gun; fuss, foot, fudge,
fun, full ; thus 73, thong 89, thorough, Thug; just (adj.), sot 72,
sud, suck 82, sully, sun, sung 89; lot, luck 82, lug, loss, lodge,
lung 89; ruck, rut, rug, rust, run, rung 89; mutter, mother,
mothy, muck, mug, must, mull, among C9 ; knot, knock, notch,
knoll, nun; stuck, stung.
UPWARD E : — After p, b, y ; pap 80, bab, yap 57, bevy,
pet, bet 73, bed, peck, beg, peg, pithy, pitchy, pill, bell, yell 57,
perry, berry, yarrow, pen, ben, bang 89, pest, best, bent, bend.
Before t, d, si, 11, s, n ; debt, dead, death, cat, cad, kiss 82,
kist, ken, cash 84, get 70, giddy, gan, gas, gash, fat 72, ted, fen
83, vesta, vent, let, led, less, lend, rat, red, rest, rent, net 73,
Ned, nest, set, said, saith, says, centre, send.
Other cases; fact, fag, fetch, fell, villa, fish, ferry, fang;
lack, lag, latch, lily, lash, ling ; sack 82, sedgy, sell, sing 89 ;
rack 81, rag, ridge, rally, rash, ring 89; knack, nag, niche,
knell, gnash.
DOWNWARD E : — Before p, b, f, v ; tap 80, tabby, deaf, cap
80, cabby, gap, fib, chap, jabber, sap 73, sieve, ship, lap, rap,
map 80, nap.
Consonants, P — Z. Ill
Other cases; kick 73, keg, kill 73, gill, carry, catch; tick,
tag, tell 73, dell, ditch, dig, attack 73, Dick, tarry, stitch,
stick, text 71 ; thick 73, thatch, thill, Jack, Jill, check, chill 73,
cherry, attach, attack, stick.
CONSONANTS.
VIII. HOOK BEFORE p, B, F, v (§ 80) : — hop'd, over 80,
opened 73, arbour, harpy, harpist, sharp, sharper; upon, off',
offence, oven 69, offer 70, obey, obtain, obtuse, 6ffice, opportu-
nity 78, oppose, oppress, hobby, hop, shop, sliove 80 ; tub, cup
80, cuff, pup, top, fop, chop, rub, dove, cover, duffer, rough,
knob; sup, muff, love 80, suffer, sub, mop, mob, luff, lob, lop.
SP : — lispt, suspicion 80, wisp 83, cusp 82, asp, wasp, hasp,
spat, speck, spell, spend, spark, spirt, spear, sphere, spoke.
IX. SECOND CHARACTER FOR T, D, H, a (§ 81).
COMPOUNDS PT, KT : — apt, oft, depth, fifth, after, optic,
hop'd, adapt, adopt ; act, fact, active, rack'd, doctor, attack'd,
lock'd, aspect ; left, safety, naphtha.
AFTER AY, AD : — either, white, I'd, height, hide 61, kite,
fight, mighty, sight, quite, bite, guide, provide, tied, night,
light, pride, defied, neither 81, slight 86, writer, spider, decide,
divide, wide, tight, chide, writing, title, tidy, Fido, abide, tithe,
writhe.
air'd 61, dared, cared, laird, shared, spared, fared.
TERMINATIONS : — writeth, acted, invited Rl, singeth 89,
cautioned, occasioned 85, hardihood 81, priesthood, sisterhood,
widowhood; forward, wayward 81, homeward, towards 75.
X. SK, EX, KON (§ 82) : — skit, skin, husky, whiskey;
sceptic, skill, skip, sketch; Esk, escape, sky, scout, scope,
skew, rescue, scholar, Scot : ask, askt, cask, mask, mask'd,
desk, dusk, husk, tusk, musk, mosque, eschew, squaw, skied.
Expect, extant, extent, exercise 82, exemption, exertion 85,
excite, exalt, excess, excise, excuse, exert, expend, expert,
exposure 84, expression, extension; wax, axe, access, accept,
accent, books 83, tusks, masks, next, fixt, sixth, vexed, mixed.
Constant, concur, condition, consider, confer, connect 82,
concussion, concision 85, contra, consistent 48, inconstant 89,
reconcile, concern, converse, conspire, continue, convey.
XI. DISTINCTION BETWEEN s AND z (§ 83): — seal, zeal; this,
these; precious, pressures 83; (7ms 73, others 108; ice, eyes 61;
price, prize ; dice, dies ; mace, maze ; villous, villas.
Wizard, stanzas, frenzy 83, buzz, nozzle, puzzle, hazard,
hazy, mazy, Lizzie. Cp. Easy, busy, daisy, noisy.
8—2
112 Progressive Writing Exercises.
INFLECTIONS: — HOOK; apes, adds, acts, wings 83, sings, its,
things, orbs, sides, sights, loads, aids, shades, hopes, gifts, sobs,
adopts, lungs, songs, meetings, weights, facts.
CIBCLE; lives, ashes, ages, actions, hurries, circumstances,
themselves, thinks, tJianks 83, ourselves, yourselves, sphinx,
lynx, occasions, stations, wishes, riches, injuries.
CHARACTER; books, lists, eggs,- hands, ells, assizes, stem*,
wisps 83, prints, friends, looks, mists, bugs, dogs, tells, wells,
sizes, exercises, prizes, ends, comes, lists, mems.
COMPOUNDS NS, NZ; fens, fence, fenced, fancy, funny, fan-
cies, fancied, finesse, happinesses 83, finessed, finest, fewness,
fatness, fineness, finis, fines, fauna, fenny, funny, fences.
ZD; supposed, analyzed 83, pleased, used, sized, dazed.
XII. c, j (§ 84). CHARACTER 4 ; cash, casher, cashier,
gash, bookish, sheer, Neish, riche.
CHARACTER J ; (French words) rouge, joie, jeune 90, Je,
J'ai, J'irai, bijou.
BACK-CIRCLE. Ash, hash, wish, wisher, fisher, masher,
rasher, pressure, fresher, pish, uppish, sheepish, fishy, lash,
relish, apish, abash, militia.
Precious 83, vicious, pernicious, ambitious; leash, specie,
species, specious, sufficient 85, efficient, physician.
Dish, wettish, judicious, seditious, politician, commercial,
Persian 85, tertian, luscious, spacious, gracious, capacious, cre-
taceous, Croatian, ocean ; Asia, minutiae 76, Scotia, harsher,
cautious, martial, social, judicial, official, special, nasturtium.
Hush, wash 56, washy, blush, bushy, push, Russia, usher,
washer.
Wished, astonished, finished, varnished, relished, dished;
Welsh; financial, essential, potential, sententious, penitentiary;
ancient 84, censure 54.
Ship, worship, heir ship, fellowship, scholarship, ladyship,
kinship, sonship, membership, partnership.
ntc. Inch, hunch, haunch, pinch, punch, lunch, wrench,
quench, tench, branch, bunchy, bencJier, venture, century.
ndj. Hinged, angel, lounge, spongy, stingy, dingy, engine,
dungeon, avenger, orange, arrange, range 69, stranger, danger
89, changes 84, injure.
ejo. Azure,, measure, leisure, pleasure, treasure, embrasure
(y-mode in derivatives, such as glazier, brazier, hosier, seizure,
exposure etc.).
Consonants, *S', C, J, L, A'. 113
XIII. TERMINATIONS CON, JON (§ 85). Station, collation 85,
indication 48, creation 75, relation, nation, oration, citation,
vacation; emotion, devotion, potion; exertion, version, asser-
tion, emersion; caution, portion, torsion; depletion, (com)ple-
tion, lesion; solution, revolution, constitution; collusion, illu-
sion, fusion; occasion, invasion, persuasion, abrasion; corro-
sion, explosion.
Concussion, concession, mission, passion, fashion, position,
coalition, volition; pet(i)tion, cond(i)tion 82, add(i)tion, sed(i)-
tion: concision, collision, vision, derision, division, decision.
Exc(e)ption, conception, description ; question, sugges-
tion, (com)bustion; emulsion, revulsion, expulsion; exemption,
ass(u)mption, redemption; t(e)nsion, att(e)ntion, dist(e)nsion,
ext(e)nsion, pension, mention; action, auction, faction, -j(c)c-
tion, d(i)ction, concoction, suction; distinction, ext(i)nction,
sanction, function, junction. (See Ex. XIX.)
XIV. L AND E. FORWARD fl R : — try 71, cry, pry, actress,
Henry, shrine 86, bray, dray, fray, gray, stray, spray, scrape,
screw, shrew, entry, already, cavalry, enrich, enrage.
P'raps, sep'rate 86, operate 65, different, emp'ror 86, corp'ral,
fav'rite, neighboring p. 91, temperature 84, av'rage, ev'ry, correct,
gen'rous, dext'rous, wondrous, wondring, fact'ry.
BACKWARD Q R: — airy, weary 86, Tory 71, gory, starry,
hero, era; vary, Mary; dreary, furore; Sarah, Laura, Dora,
Aurora; zero (yeo), Nero; Cairo, Irish, spiral, desirous, desireth,
admirer.
curry, morrow 86, Surrey 70, hurry, worry, perry 86, merry,
yarrow, arrows, error, horror, orator, origin, orange 69 ;
thorough, Harry, hurrah; historic, Paris 72, parish; injury
72, fishery, missionary.
history 71, votary, parliamentary 87, aspirate 86, spirit 108,
emery, misery p. 101, necessary, surround, resurrect, nursery,
celery, butchery, plethora, marine ; contrary, temp(o)rary.
arrange 69, array, arrear, around p. 91, arrive, aright, arose,
arrest, arouse, awry, oration.
FORWARD Q L: — plate, slight 86, slay, slow, splay, splice,
blow, blur, flay, flow 71, lovely, wifely, comely, assembly.
BACKWARD fi L: — COMPOUNDS KL, GL; clay, glad 86, clear,
cloud, glow, glory, close, glare.
Amply, ampler, coupling 91, simply, singly, ugly, affably,
fully, early, surly, really, mentally, verbally, graphically,
finally, formally, holy, belly, coolie, woolly.
114 Progressive Writing Exercises.
CBOSS-TICK -LY: — idly, gent(leman)ly , prettily, only, verily,
utterly, kingly 91, longingly 89, happily, bitterly, beggarly,
fairly, fairily, freely, merely, surely, lawlessly, piteously 75,
neatly 77(1), outwardly 81, oddly, deadly, kindly, lately 108,
gaily, duly, solely, firstly, coolly, wholly, formerly.
HALF-SIZE L; wealth, self, help, pelt, old, milk, silt, realm 86,
healthy, shelf, bulb, felt, held, told, silk, elm, illume, sailed,
furled, world, field, yield, seal'd, mild, cult, fault, salt, elbow.
XV. M, N (§§ 87, 88). CHAEACTER / M :— me 48, may,
my 61, make, mew 88, more 108, mere 88, murmur, mare 60,
mile 61, moke, maul : smoke 87, small 72, Psalm, time, came,
germ 87, Iwme, seem, assume 64, tomb, doom, ream 77 (1),
dream, foam, palm, calm, storm.
AFTEE SHORT VOWELS DISTINGUISHED BY MODE, § 77(3); —
swim, swam, swum, sham, Shem, Ham 77, hem, hymn, mum-
mery, Tarn, Pym 87, Pam, hum, humble, hemper, hamper,
thumb, numb 88, cam (cp. come), Sam, sum (cp. some), comma
(cp. comer), lamb, dam, jam, gem, gum, crumb, cram, cream
77(1), slam, slim, ram, rim, rurn, glum, glim, gloom, bomb.
CHARACTER / KM: — am, among 69, amid 87, amiss, amuse,
ammonia 75, amount 108, amend, ample 91, amble, am-
bition; emery, emerge, emetic, eminent, emotion 85, empty 87,
embrace, embody, employ, emperor; ember, emphatic 80,
imagine, immerse, immortal, immure, imbue, impend, impa-
tient, implant, important 80, imply, imprint, nymph, lymph.
Poem, I am, suum, meum 64, deum, Hyam, geometric, dia-
mond, triumph, Siam, diem, museum, vehement.
Memory, some 87, -gram, camp, camp'd 80, drachm, come
87, combat, committee, compact, compound, nominal.
COMPOUNDS MT, MD: — empty 87, exempt, tempt, warmth,
something, sometimes 108; seem'd, dimm'd 87, limb'd, deem'd,
assumed, timed, form'd 77.
Sentiment, momentous, implements, argumentative, parlia-
mentary, amusement 87, elementary, augment, experimental,
instrumentality. (In words, such as augment, lament, cement,
in which the termination -ment is accented, it should be written
in full.)
MN: — m(a)n 87 (cp. men), m(a)nner, m(a)ny 108, human,
woman, icomen, German 87, sermon, Shyman 77(3), yeoman,
footman, chairman, madman, seaman, common, comment,
lemon, salmon, demon, ermine.
omniscient 88, omnivorous, omnibus, chimney 88, gymnasium,
calumny, indemnity, amnesty, condemnation.
Consonants, M, N, Q. 115
TERMINATIONS NY, NEE: — journey, attorney, cony, pony, tiny,
horny, downy, puny, stony, shiny; any 70, penny, fenny,
whinny; honey, funny 83, money; Germany, harmony, colony,
agony ; guinea.
Minor, China, honour 88, donna, inner 88, dinner, sinner,
Hannah, Lena, lamina.
The combinations xj xma-, \^ mAW, must be distin-
guished from the characters ,/ em, /, ny, respectively. The
angle in the combination ./^ nAW, may be straightened out
in practice ; thus, /^> in the words know, knows, known,
knowing, noble, note, notice, etc.
XVI. ING (§ 89). CHAKACTER f AQ : — sowing, saying,
dying, sawing, going, knowing, drawing, pawing, seeing 62,
sighing, maying ;
tongue, sung, bung, lung, rung, thong, among, gong, dong,
stung, Hong-Kong, clung, flung.
CHAEACTEB J AQ : — sang, bang, rang, gingham, wing, th(i)ng,
d(i)ng, king, fang, t(i)ng, fling, cling, sting, harangue, me-
ringue; sizing, losing, parsing, shilling, hunting, supping, watch-
ing, washing, living, edging, halting, waiting ; hoping, keeping,
sobbing, loving, offing, holding, pushing ; vowing, suing, hewing,
toying ; coupling 91, ailing, darling; aiming, coming, seeming,
foaming (or cross-stroke after m if clearer).
CHARACTER ~^ IQ : — ending, hurting, herring, resting, singe-
ing, hooping 89, thanking 108, reading, sitting, meeting, st(a)nd-
iug, stooping, cooping; fishing, wishing, changing; cursing,
nursing, racing, loosing (or cross-stroke after s if clearer).
CROSS-STROKE : — being, doings, thinking, having, giving, en-
joying, innings, handing ; hurrying, pitying, longingly, riding,
writing, cursing, blessing, using, opening, aiming, carrying,
whinnying, inviting, lightening, adapting, acting, mentioning ;
suffering, airing, hearing, soaring, during, wearing, daring,
glaring, measuring, wondering, neighbouring, uttering, hiring,
showering, scouring; fancying, fencing.
CHARACTER ^ IQD ; COMPOUNDS QK, QO, QT, QD, QH : — ink,
shrink, wink, sink, zinc, inker, anchor, hanker, conquer,
England, language, anguish, unguent, angry, hungry, longer,
ingot, wrinkle, ankle, uncle, inkling, tinkle, angle, dangled;
ink'd 108, distinct, instinct, link'd, defunct, adjunct, unctuous,
thank'd, rank'd ; banged, wrong'd, wing'd, long'd, length 108,
strengthen.
Progressive Writing Exercises.
XVII. UNACCENTED SHORT VOWELS INDICATED, BUT NOT
WRITTEN : —
Shortened 71, 6pened 73, f6rtune 84, spacious 84, fallacious,
luscious, Persian 85, Asian, g6rgeous (cp. gorges 83), human
87, climate, ardent, merchant, earnest, circuit, aiidit, urgent,
certain, perfect, cautious (c), purchase.
Debate 54, defer 70, relate, dictate, rem6te, return, devote,
belief, ex€rt, extent 82, exp6se, expdrt, exc(e)pt 108, expand,
cxh6rt, divide, polite, delight, decide, denied, marine, reverse,
relume 86, renew, salute, surr6und, career, best6w, devdur,
.despair, delay, declare, supply, minute (cp. minute), papa,
regard, repdrt; array, around, opp6se, entice, induce.
Attic 73, etiquette 73, abbot 73, adept (cp. adapt), senate (cp.
sent), sabbath, women (wim) 87, shilling 89, challenge, orange
69, Errand, hatchet 78, prentice 78, justice, h6stess, rigid 78,
locket (cp. lock'd), 6ven 69, pellet 86, c6met (cp. commit),
merit, magic, gr(a)phic 54, tippet (cp. tipp'd), rapid (cp. wrapt),
rabbit, rabid, 6ffice, preface, limit, thicket, current, deafen,
weapon, happen.
Depend 73, defend, detach, finesse 73, Thibet 73, become,
begin, canal (cp. cannel), relax (cp. relics), request, defect,
corrupt, entrap, intend, intrust (cp. interest), indent, suggest.
D(e)cimal 71, animal 88, h6nesty, apathy, attitude, appetite,
edify, certify, Excellent, militant, company, c6mbatant, affable,
m6veable (move 108), vegetable, typical, article, 16gical, metri-
cal, statistical, political, m£trop61itan, penetrability, stability,
solidity, acc6mmodate 65, agitate 65, intimate 87, ultimate,
conjugate, relative, adjective, argumentative 87, orthography,
sten6grapher, patrimony, customary, military, history 71,
me'mory 87, aspirate 86, naturalist (natcr-l-st), ignorant, guaran-
t6e, capital, ethical, accuracy, benefit, f6athery, Expeditious.
Yesterday 73, understand, advertise, permit 73, exercise 82,
interdict, appertain, pr6perty 73, liberty, p6verty, shepherdess,
Saturday, m6dern, Eastern, pattern, govern ; effort 73, com-
fort (come 87), forget 104, forbid, forb6re, particular 78, 6ppor-
tunity 78, reformation, purport, prdverb, surprise, niggard.
XVIII. UNACCENTED SHORT VOWELS INSERTED TO FACILI-
TATE JOININGS: —
BEFORE AND AFTER THE S-TICK : — acid, assets, asses 72, fancies
83, happinesses 83, Alice, person 72, present 77 (3), subsidy 83,
consequent, p(ur)pose 108, possess, beside, gazette, pursuit.
AFTER ERY, NDJ : — engine, dungeon, injury ; hemorrhage,
Vowel Indication. 117
horizontal, character, historic, Part's, correspondent, origin,
lyric, satiric, satirist, ferrous, 6racle, courage, America.
BEFORE AND AFTER C AND CON : — parish, cherish, flourish,
nourish, perish, apish, machine 84, vicious 84, precious 83,
sufficient 85, passionate 85, missionary, questionist 85, fac-
tious 84, anxiows 84, ancient 84, physician, species, treasury,
proportionate, abolitionist.
AFTER 3 ) : — sceptic, peptic, practise, practical, lighten 81,
whiten, afternoon 108.
XIX. E-TICK OMITTED IN CASES WHERE THE ACCENT NEED
NOT BE MARKED (§ 73) (The words in brackets are written
with the A-tick) : — Ten (ton), tent, 'tis, test, ting, tend, den
(dun), dent, d(e)cimal, d(i)smal 71, d(i)ng 89, dazzle, dizzy,
sting, steady (study), st(ca)d 83, st(a)nzas 83, stand, stet,
intend, indent, t(e)nsion, int(e)ntion, distinction 85, petition,
than, thank, that, then, this (thus), thing 108 (thong 89), thin,
thither, pathetic, gent, general 108, (John), Jenny (Johnnie),
jet, chat, January, chance, gender, jest, suggest, Jack.
Miscellaneous; Scripture 84, except 108, exception 85,
living 89 (loving 80), never 108, spirit 108, ninny (nonny),
river, financial 84, p'raps, particular 78, description, February,
Nancy, preface, graphic 54, prediction (cp. production), next.
XX. OMISSION OF LONG VOWELS (§ 65) : Long vowels are
omitted in the following common words, the outlines of which
will be found in the list on p. 106: ow, about, amou?tt,
without; oo, because, cause, according, call, lord, short,
thought', AO, after, half, laughter, can't, shan't, charge; eo,
purpose, perfect; ly, been, between, indeed, people; Ay, behind,
bind, find, kind, mind, child, combine, scribe; irw, Jury,
proof, prove, approve, move, remove, super-.
The vowels ao, AW, oy, are always expressed.
Omission of ey : — again, against, arrange, range, strange,
change, danger, great, lady, late, nature, same, stage, state.
Termination -ate : — dedicate, indicate, accommodate 65,
liquidate, mitigate, assimilate, decimate, fascinate 65, termi-
nate, operate 65, execrate, tolerate, agitate 65, meditate,
cogitate, reinstate, sulphate (cp. sulphite 81), irate, com-
memorate, indicator, navigator, testatrix. (Note ; This termi-
nation is generally short in adjectives and substantives.)
Ey should also be omitted in the termination -ization, as in
nationalization, crystallization, etc., the outlines being formed
by simply turning the -tion circle on the final z of nationalize,
crystallize. The vowel should be inserted after c, kt, pt, and
118 Progressive Writing Exercises.
in dissyllables when accented : as in, appreciate 78, vitiate,
negociate, associate (omit y after c in these words), narrate,
dictate, co-optate.
XXI. SHORT VOWELS are omitted (§ 73) in the following
common words; the outlines will be found on pp. 106, 107 ; the
words in brackets are distinguished by the insertion of their
vowels.
Above, another, body, but (bet), come (cam), become, did
(dead), does, done (dun), enough, except accept, gone (gun),
judge, jwst, land (lend), length, long (ling), man (men), manner
(manna), many (Minnie), month, none (nun), not (net),
nothing, other, pwt (pot), shall (shell), should (shod), some
(sam), stt'll, till tell, until, young, when (pen pun).
MODE OF HIATUS.
XXII. BEFOKE A VOWEL : —
MODE (1) W (§§ 58, 75) ; qua, queer, equal, where, whey 58,
quite 81, quinquangular 89, quote, equation, equip, quick,
quality, quart, square, squirt, vanquish, relinquish, distinguish,
anguish, language 89, unguent; Gwen, Guadafui, guano,
Guatemala, Puebla, Buenos, bivouac; acquiesce 58, requiem,
aqueous, obsequious ; twirl, twist, twin, twain, twice, dwell,
dwarf, thwack ; sweet 76, swallow, sway, swear, swore, swung,
swan, persuade; away, aware, await, bewail, beware, noway,
nowhere, nowise, midway, highway, fta/fway 108, Conway 76,
lengthways 108, always, otherwise 108, ivayword, forward 81,
towards 75, inward, outward; Darwin, Spurway, herewith 81.
Terminations -ual, etc. (U unaccented, character J omit-
ted) ; — usual, continuation, vacuum, valuable 75, Mantua,
Mantuan, annual, manual, virtual, actuate, actuary, J(a)nuary,
unctuous, virtuous, conspicuous, spirituous, influence, valua-
tion, situation, residuum, menstruum.
MODE (2), BEFOBE H; mishap 76, priesthood, behind 75,
rehearse, adhere 58, shorthand 71, longhand 89, withhold 81,
madchen 90, inhale, unhealthy.
MODE (3), Y; abuse, acute, argue, due, adieu, duty, issue,
virtue 84, minutiae 76: creation 75, foliation, mediation,
permeation, conciliation, appreciate; sheer, cashier 84,
sincere 76, idea, cohere, Jehu, Mayhew; Appii, embryo, Komeo,
Antonio, signer, poignant 76, Naenia, Mercutio, folio, studio,
nuncio, ratio, meow, piano (pyeonow).
Terminations; future 84, departure, overture, stature,
furniture, temperature 84, culture, posture, texture, mixture,
Mode of Hiatus. 119
gesture, picture 84, lecture, structure, procedure, hosier,
exposure 84, composure, seizure : India 75, mania, hernia,
saviour, warrior, easier, copier, pannier; obvious, piteous,
odious, impious; sodium 75, premium, idiom, opium; Christian
p. 91, lenient; idiot, immediate, Juliet; lineal, cordial,
spaniel, nausea, carrier, collier, happiest, easiest, atheist,
medieval, polyanthus.
XXIII. HIATUS BETWEEN Two CONSONANTS, § 77 (1) : —
MODE (1) is used for terminations and abbreviated words
(§ 100).
MODE (2), ABSENCE OF VOWELS; Ezra 69, Elsie 71, tipsy,
Betsy, wisps, stems, comes 83; snare 71, snore, small 71,
smoke 87, realm 86, dismal 71 ; anxious 84, noxious, nuptial
(-col), factious 84, anxiety 83, igneous, recognize 91, dogmatic,
alma, pigmy.
COMPOUND WORDS ; fit-ful 71, sight-less, sad-ness, king-dom
89, wis-dom 83; hand-maid 71, short-hand 71, long-hand 89,
first-class 71, up-shot 84, off-shoot 84, text-book 71, out-do 71,
sing-song 89, night-shirt, bank-rupt; ab-scissa, dis-content,
in-stead 83, in-constant 89, in-crease 89, un-kind 89, sub-sidy
83, Wednes-day 83, ab-sent, vice-roy, fine-ness.
MODE (3), UNACCENTED U (yw); populate 77, specitlate,
accumulate, calculate, rivulet, popular, particular, angular,
emulous, amputate 77, occupy 77, sextuple, voluble 77, luxury
91, augury, penury, argument 87, education, consecutive, edu-
cate, tabulate, accurate, suppurate, supreme, superior, soluble,
picturesque, usury, bureau, impudent, statute, diminutive,
manufactory, volume (cp. vellum), furore.
XXIV. SHORT VOWELS FOLLOWING LONG VOWET 3, § 77 (2).
UNACCENTED SHORT VOWELS: — fi-MooE; scion, science,
ion, iron, acquired, quiet, fired, riot, proprietor, pious, pioneer,
diary; violate, violin, violent, hyaline, denial, pliant, renewal,
brewery, theory, aerate, dial, dual, royal, coward, nowadays,
Lewis, Joachim, aeon, paean, European, Zion.
Y-MODE; society, piety, anxiety, variety, proprietor, gaiety;
deity, vehicle, vehement ; coexist, heroic, heroine, poesy,
poetry; annuity, continuity, gratuitous, suet, ruin, vowel,
towel, fuel, jewel, Jewess, voyage, deify, neozoic, Owen, soloist,
theist, highest, nihilist, knoweth, doeth, sayeth.
FINAL SHORT VOWELS: — DOWNWARD Y; showy, shadowy,
doughy, bowie, boughy, dewy, boyish, cowish, shrewish, yellow-
ish.
UPWARD Y ; clayey, wheyish, skyish, Jewish, rawish.
120 Progressive Writing Exercises.
Q ; sower, boa, lower, Iowa ; gayer, sayer, layer ; ire, fire,
desire, quire, Shire, Messiah, liar, lyre, esquire, Isaiah, Noah;
drawer, sawer ; lawyer, sawyer, bowyer.
ACCENTED SHORT VOWELS: — Aeolic, aerial, zootomy, biology,
chads, poetic, tuition, duenna, diagonal, minuet, triennial,
priority, theodolite, de-6xidize, fiasco, neography.
HIATUS AFTER ft VOWELS IMPLYING E. (N.B. Strictly speak-
ing, in all these cases, the character fl ery should be written
because the r is pronounced: its omission must be regarded
merely as a convenient abbreviation, but is always to be
recommended in the case of derivative words when the r is
not sounded in the primitive.)
MODE (1), TERMINATIONS; labourer, nearer, utterer 91,
hearer, sharer, scorer, poorer, sorer, murderer. (Also abbrevi-
ation for termination -nee, see below.)
MODE (2) (implying ro); parent 91, coherent, occurrent,
different; electoral, scriptural, floral, choral, Europe (yoo);
(character / s disjoined) dangerous 89, murderous, coniferous,
one?-ows, odorows, venturous, rapturous, cho?-us, porous, sono-
rous, serous; (character / joined) serum, Sarum, forum,
quorum, decorum; utterance 91 (full form), difference, inter-
ference, coherence, endurance, occurrence (abbreviation for
termn. -nee, character / s, mode (1), see § 100) ; honorary,
horary; considerable, sufferable, transfe?-able, answerable,
colourable, honourable 100, measu?'able, adorable, cu?'able (the
termn. -able is generally added by a dot; § 100). Similarly in
derivatives of words ending in -ire, such as desirous, desirable,
desireth, desiring, if the o is retained the r should not be
written.
MODE (3) (implying ry); series, heiress, peeress, tutoress,
murderess; nearest, fearest, queerest, fiorisi, purist, purest,
aorist; poureth, careth, heareth; purity, maturity, security;
(character i ) bearish, boorish, currish, moorish, feverish,
gibberish.
COMPOUNDS ; herein, thereon, whereas, thereabouts, thereat,
thereof (v), whereupon, whereunto, where'er.
BEFORE A VOWEL, Y-Moos : — laborious, glorious, gloria,
curious, Laureate, historian; superior, inferior, exterior, serious,
period, experience, criterion, imperial, material ; various,
variable, agrarian, area, Aryan, barium; seignorial, centurion.
XXV. HIATUS BETWEEN Two CONSONANTS IN CASES WHERE
A VOWEL is NECESSARILY IMPLIED, § 77 (1) : —
Mode of Hiatus. 121
NIY; knee, neat, knead, kneel, needle, neophyte, niece,
beneath, unique, nominee, magnesium.
RIY; re, read, ream, real, reason, re-assert, re-export, region,
reaper; three, scree, free, freedom, freeze, degrees, agreed,
breeze ; increase 89, appreciate 78, creature, screecher, wreath,
trio, Grecian, pre-arrange.
Luw; loom, leeward, halleluia 77, relume 86, illume,
luminous, lose, loose; flew, flue, flume, fluor, fluid, fluent,
-fluous, -fluity, -fluence ; blew, blue, bluer, bluey, bluish, bluely,
blueness, bloom, ablution; clue 86, -elude, -elusion; glue 86,
glued, gloom 77.
ALPHABETIC WORDS; pea, P's, peas (2), peace (3), piece,
peat, peep, pique, peak; B's, bees, beat, bead, beak, beef,
beach, beast, bean, how-be-it; keys, keyhole, keystone, key-
board, keyed, gives, given, giver; joys, joyful, joyous, rejoiced,
enjoyed, join, joint, joined; form, perform, reform, forward,
forfeit, formality (the mode should not be used in fore, forth,
forge, ford, fort, fawn); whose, whoever, whom, whosoe'er.
Two LONG VOWELS IN SUCCESSION (§ 63) -.—hiatus, oasis,
throughout, coercion, Aeolian, Iota, aorta, Phaeacia, liowe'er
soe'er 108, we are, you are, they are 104, they all, he ought 106,
hyena, inchoate, Croatian, theorbo, lona, Iowa, coordinate,
coheir, coeval, co-aid, Leo, de-odorize, lago, noyau, payee,
Noachian, tea-urn, Lehigh, Ohio, heigho, ha-ha, Yahoo.
XXVI. VOWEL DOTS. The following words should be
dotted to distinguish them from those in brackets : —
Wander o (wonder A), anterior (interior), apologue (epilogue),
aliment (element), immigration (emigration), irruption (erup-
tion), position (possession), latter (letter), accept (except).
The following cases would, as a rule, be sufficiently distin-
guished by the context, but should be dotted in careful writing.
Shot (shut), hock (hook), itch (etch), will (testament, cp.
well), whack (wick), wag (wig), bog (bug), tongs (tongues),
dock (duck), don (dun), cock, cook, folly (fully), sot soot, lock
(luck), rot (rut), knot (nut), pack pick, pig (peg), .bill (bell), pin
pan (pen), band (bend), kit (cat), fan (fen), vista (vesta), lad
(led), lass (less), writ (rat), rad (red), wrist (rest), knit (net),
sat sit (set), sinned (send), sang (sing), rig rag, rang (ring), tap
tip, lap lip, rap rip, nap nip, tack tick, stack stick, taxed (text),
chick (check), till (tell), than (then), wad (wood), laughed (if
pronounced laft, cp. left).
The dots should never be omitted in rare words, and
unfamiliar proper names.
122 Progressive Writing Exercises.
XXVII. INITIALS (§ 94). Write out the alphabet of initials
several times, distinguishing particularly U. and Z., C. and Q.,
M. and N.
A.B.A., B.A., M.A., D.D., D.C.L., F.E.S., F.G.S., F.E.A.S.,
F.Sh.S., H.R.H., T.B.H., U.S.A., H.I.M., Q.C., J.P., M.P.,
E.G., K.C.B., K.C.S.I., V.C., H.M.S., B.A., E.N., E.E.,
R.H.A., S.P.G., C.E.T.S., S.P.Q.E., S.P.C.K., N.W., S.E.,
E.G., W.C., Y.M.C.A., M.C.C.
J.W.L., G.V.H., S. A. H., F.B.R., D.A. H. A., W.V.W.,
W.E. B.E., T. G. E., SiJ.P. A., E.F.F.J., H.J.J., P.P.H.,
CH. G. J., N. L. B., E. H. W., A. W. G., F. C. J., W. C. H.,
M. T. J., M. I. E., B. B. A., F. K. J., G. F. A., S. J. J., T. G. H.,
D. C. LL., D. F. S., C. J. A., P. A. N., W. H. H. T.
XXVIII. ABBREVIATIONS. Abbreviate the following words
as indicated by the italics.
Abbreviate, absolute, acknowledge, administrator, adminis-
tratrix, advantage, advance, advertisement, altogether, antago-
nistic, archiep/scopaZ, appropriate, Bankruptcy, baptis?«, benig-
nant, benevolent, benefice?it, beneficiaZ, Captain, catholic, cha-
racter (-istic), Christianity, consideration, constitution, con-
struction, correspondence, council, counsel, Difference, difficulty,
defendant, defence, destitution, destruction, distinguis/i, dis-
charge, dynamo, Ecclesiastical, enoratous, episcopaZian, esquire,
establish, evidence, examination, executor, executrix, expensive,
extraordinary, extravagant, extingiw's/i, FamiZiar, feminine,
February, financial, General (-ization), generation, government,
Ignorance, immediate, imperturbabZe, impracticaoZe, impreg-
nable, incognito, indefatigable, indignant, individual, inemcie?^,
influence, in/Zuential, in/ormation, institution, instruction, in-
telli</ioZe, Jurisprudence, Knowledge, Language, learned, Ma-
gazine, magni/icence, manufacture, mathe?»aticaZ, microscope,
member, mortgage, Natural (tc), notwithstanding, Object, objec-
tion, observation, obstruction, opinion, opportunity, original,
Parliamentary, particular, pecuZiar, perhaps, perpendicular,
philanthropic, phonetic, plenipotentiary, plaintiff, positive
(poz), possibZe (pos), practical, preservation, principal (-le),
probabZe, pubZication, Question, Eecognize, religion, relinauis/t,
resignation, represent, respective, responsiZnZity, Satisfactory,
seZfevident, several, signify, significance, speak, speech, strength,
subject, subjection, subordinate, substitution, substructure,
suspect, Transcribe, Yesterday.
XXIX. OMISSION OP FINAL CONSONANTS AFTER LONG VOWELS
(see §§ 65, 100) : — faiZ, avaiZ, raUway, royal, loyal, soil, oil,
smaZZ, at-aW, aZmost, aZways, aZso, darZing, deaZ (in phrases),
A bbreviations. 123
feel, tool, rule, smiZe, beguile, juvenile, volatile, tertile, puerile,
fragile, mercantile (omit I generally in termination -He) ; time,
came, fame, James, terms, PsaZm, home, at-home ; north, south,
forth, Vforth, both, further, father, rather, brother ; vary, glory
107; scope, life, chief, belie/, believe, relief, relieve, deceive,
deceit, strive, contrive, derive, arrive, deprive, observe, preserve,
reserve, deserve, gave ; most, post, least ; please, Jesws, mean,
deed, succeed, recede, precede, proceed (AW), concede, exceed;
lar^re, church ; guard, regard ; poi?it, appoi?it.
XXX. TERMINATIONS FUL, ABLE. Final 1 may be omitted
in these terminations ; as in, able, enable, unable, disable, table,
stable, noble ; affable, capable, conceivable, corruptible, forcible,
moveable, peaceable, possible, practicable, probable, syllable,
tolerable, visible; Beautiful, gleeful, joyful, merciful, sinful.
Unless the character b or f joins easily and clearly, the dot
should be used, especially if the mode of hiatus would be re-
quired in any case; as in, accounta&Ze, actionabZe, admirafcZe,
agreea&Ze, censurable, claimaMe, combusti&Ze, comforta&Ze,
habitable, honoura&Ze, lauda&Ze, legible, memorable, miserable,
modifiabZe, observaWe, obtainable, paya&Ze, pitia&Ze, profita&Ze,
punishafiZe, questionable, sociable, tamea&Ze, teachable, un-
speakable, -variable (mode 3), valua&Ze (mode 1); aw/uZ, change-
ful, delightful, handful, hopeful, mindful, peaceful, powerful,
spiteful, successful, thankful, thoughtful, trustful.
XXXI. SMALL CIRCLE, SUBSTANTIVAL TERMINATIONS. This
should be restricted to compound terminations ending in -ness,
which are common in Old English; such as, variableness,
(mode 3), reasonabZeness, unanswerabZeness, nobleness, forgive-
ness, expressiveness, thank/wZness, skil/wZness, vfilfulness, fanci-
fulness, bashfulness, hopefulness, sinfulness, fretfulness, artfiil-
ness, joyfulness, thought/uiness, manfulness, carefulness, righte-
ousness (3), consciows/iess, bounteoiisness (3), riotowsriess, virtu-
ousness (1), foolishness, boyishness, boorishness.
In abbreviating substantives ending in -ty such as peculi-
arity, probability, legibility, the -ty is written over.
The compound U st may be used in writing the unaccented
termination -si ty ; as in, adverstty, atrocity, audacity, capacity,
curiosity, electricity, monstrosity, necessity, velocity.
XXXII. TERMINATION -NCE (§ 100).
Dijference, advance, vengeance, affiance, clearance, appear-
ance, utterance, perseverance, endurance, defence, acceptance,
acquaintance, contrivance, observance, allowance, licence,
science, conscience, evidence, pronounce, expense. Similarly,
di/ferent (t), evident, ancient, sufficient, advanced (st), acquain-
tances (ses), infancy (sy), sufficiency, buoyancy, decency, fluency.
124 Phrases.
XXXIII. A AND The PHRASES. The articles a and the
should generally be joined after prepositions, conjunctions and
auxiliaries ;
The is joined as an upward tick after: — above, across,
all, among, and, are, as, be, been, before, between, by, can,
does, during, even, for, has, have, if, in, is (sy), on, o'er (ooy),
shall, since, than, till, up, upon, was (ASY), when, within.
The is joined as a downward tick after the words : — about,
after, against, at, behind, beneath, beyond, but, called, could,
except, from, had, hath, how, into, not, of, out (of), round,
should, so, that, think, though, thought, through, throughout,
to, toward, under, unto, what, with, without, would.
A may be joined after any of the above words, except o'er,
after, under, which end in o.
XXXIV. AUXILIARY PHRASES. The words have and be
should be joined after can, could, may, might, must, ought-to,
sJia(H), sltould, will, would. The words had, been and become,
should be joined after has, have, hath, had. The words do and
think should be joined after shall, should, will, ought-to.
In all cases words involving similar joinings may be attached
in phrases of this kind ; thus, believe, become, be able to,
present the same joining as be ; take joins like think and do.
The following words join well after be; — this (that etc.),
thought, done, proud, pleased, proposed, probafc/e, felt, feared,
foreseen, found, afraid, vain, called, considered ; words begin-
ning with p, b, f or v, also join well after have.
XXXV. NEGATIVE PHRASES. The word not may be joined
after be, can, do, have, m(ay), should, shall, will. The phrases,
does not, has not, mus(t) not, was not, are written on the analogy
of it is not. The negative may be expressed by a cross-stroke
after will, shall, had, should, would, could, might, ought to.
INTERSECTION. Before be, been, have, do, mean, say, think,
and similar words, the negative is generally expressed by inter-
section, especially after the auxiliaries, can, could, may, might,
will, would, sliall, should, ought, must, had, have, do. In phrases,
such as should not be, ought not to be, where intersection is
awkward, the second word is written close below the first ; the
negative itself should be written if great precision is required.
CAMBRIDGE : PRINTED BY C. J. CLAY, M.A. & SONS, AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS.
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