CHAPTER I

Unit 1

     1. Shorthand is written by sound; thus aim is written am (long sound of a), cat is written kat, knee is written ne.  Since we are learning shorthand to save time in writing, it is necessary to ignore those letters that aren't pronounced.

Consonants

     2. The consonants are arranged in pairs, according to their similarity of sound, and are distinguished by a difference in length.  For instance, k and g are both produced in the same place in the mouth (the soft palate or velum).
     The characters for the consonants in this lesson are derived from this elliptical figure:

     3. All these consonants are written forward from left to right; th and t and d are struck upwards from the line of writing.  The g given in this lesson is called gay, being the hard sound as in game, get, and not the soft sound heard in gem, magic.  The aspirate h is indicated by a dot placed over the vowel.  Many frequently recurring words are represented by simple alphabetic characters.  Some of these signs represent two and even three words; for example, the sign for r represents are, our, hour.  A dot on the line of writing represents the articles a, an.  A dot at the end of a word expresses -ing.  The pronoun I is expressed by a large circle; he, by a small circle.
     The student should practice all these characters until he can write them without the slightest hesitation.  The size of the characters given in this manual will be a safe standard to adopt.

     4. Phrasing.  The joining of simple words is a great help to accuracy and speed in writing shorthand, and its acquirement should not be deferred until the habit of writing common words separately has been formed.

     5. Punctuation, etc.  In shorthand the following marks are used:

6. Sentence Drill

     7. In shorthand there are twelve distinct vowel sounds, which are arranged in four groups, and three closely related sounds are placed in each group.  In this lesson we have the first two group, which for convenience are named the A group and the E group.

Memory aid:

The A Group

The E Group
 

     Note: The first sound in the E group of vowels is the short i, heard in din, and should not be confused with long i, heard in dine, which will be given later.

     8. Marking Vowels.  The vowels are grouped according to similarity in sound.  The large circle expresses three sounds of a.  The short sound is unmarked, the medium sound is marked with a dot, and the long sound with a short dash, as shown in paragraph 7.  This system of marking is used in all vowel groups uniformly.
     The dot and dash are occasionally needed to indicate the exact sounds in unfamiliar or isolated words, but otherwise they are seldom used.

Picturing Writing Motion

     9. Frequently we shall have to refer to writing motion.  The curved characters in this lesson are taken from horizontal ovals, one written with right motion, the other with left.  The right motion is clockwise; the left, counterclockwise.

     10. Characters taken from the left-motion oval are called left-motion, because the rotation is from left to right; characters taken from the right-motion oval are called right-motion for a like reason; thus:

     The terms "left motion" and "right motion" refer to the rotation in movement, and not to the direction.

How Circles Are Joined

     The following movement drills are intended to develop skill in the joining of circles.

     11. Circles Joined to Single Strokes.  At the beginning or end of a single curve, the circle is placed inside the curve:

     12. At the beginning or end of a single straight stroke, the circle is written with right motion:

13. Reading and Dictation Practice

Transcription Key to this Unit
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