Pitman Shorthand

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Pitman Shorthand is a system of shorthand for the English language developed by Sir Isaac Pitman (1813–1897), who first presented it in 1837.^[1] Like most systems of shorthand, it is a phonetic system; the symbols do not represent letters, but rather sounds, and words are, for the most part, written as they are spoken.^[2]

One characteristic feature of Pitman Shorthand is that voiceless and voiced sounds (such as /p/ and /b/) are represented by strokes that differ only in thickness (the thick stroke representing the voiced consonant).^[3]

Another distinguishing feature is that there is more than one way of indicating vowels. The main vowel of a word or phrase is indicated by the position of the stroke with respect to the rules of the notebook. (For example, a small circle drawn above the line translates to as/has and the same circle drawn on the line translates to is/his.) However, there is a more straightforward way of indicating vowels, which is to use dots or small dashes drawn close to the stroke of the preceding consonant. The type of vowel is dependent on the relative position of the dot or dash to the stroke (beginning, middle, or end).

There are at least three "dialects" of Pitman's shorthand: the original Pitman's, Pitman's New Era, and Pitman's 2000. The later versions dropped certain symbols and introduced other simplifications to earlier versions. For example, strokes "rer" (heavy curved downstroke) and "kway", (hooked horizontal straight stroke) are present in Pitman's New Era, but not in Pitman's 2000.

History

Pitman was asked to create a shorthand system of his own in 1837. He had used Samuel Taylor's system for seven years, but his symbols bear greater similarity to the older Byrom system. The first phonetician to invent a system of shorthand, Pitman used similar-looking symbols for phonetically related sounds. He was the first to use thickness of a stroke to indicate voicing (voiced consonants such as 'b' and 'd' are written with heavier lines than unvoiced ones such as 'p' and 't'), and consonants with similar place of articulation were orientated in similar directions, with straight lines for plosives and arcs for fricatives. For example, the dental and alveolar consonants are upright: "|" [t], "|" [d], ) [s], ")" [z], "(" [θ] (as in thigh), "(" [ð] (as in thy).

Pitman's brother Benn settled in Cincinnati, Ohio in the United States, and introduced Pitman's system there. He used it in the 1865–67 trial of the conspirators behind the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. In Australia the system was introduced by another Pitman brother, Jacob. Benn Pitman is buried in Sydney's Rookwood Necropolis, in Australia. The epitaph is (of course) in shorthand.

At one time, Pitman was the most commonly used shorthand system in the entire English-speaking world.^[4] Part of its popularity was due to the fact that it was the first subject taught by correspondence course. Today in many regions (especially the U.S.), it has been superseded by Gregg Shorthand, developed by John Robert Gregg.

Writing

Like Gregg Shorthand, Pitman's shorthand is completely phonetic; words are written exactly as they are pronounced. There are twenty-four consonants that can be represented in Pitman's shorthand, twelve vowels and four diphthongs. The consonants are indicated by strokes, the vowels by interposed dots.

Consonants

The consonants in Pitman's shorthand are: pee, bee, tee, dee, chay, jay, kay, gay, eff, vee, ith, thee, es, zee, ish, zhee, em, en, ing, el, ar, ray, way, yay, and hay. When both an unvoiced consonant and its corresponding voiced consonant are present in this system, the distinction is made by drawing the stroke for the voiced consonant thicker than the one for the unvoiced consonant. (Thus, es is ")", whereas zee is ")".) There are two strokes for /r/: ar and ray. The former assumes the form of the top right-hand quarter of a circle, whereas the latter is like chay (/), only less steep. There are rules governing when to use each of these forms.

Vowels

The long vowels in Pitman's shorthand are: /aː/, /eː/, /iː/, /ɑː/, /oː/, /uː/ (pronounced [aː], [eɪ], [ij], [ɑː] or [ɒː], [əʊ], and [uw]). The short vowels are /æ/, /ɛ/, /ɪ/, /ɔ/, /ə/, /ʊ/ (pronounced as such). The long vowels may be remembered by the sentence, "Pa, may we all go too?" /paː meː wiː ɑːl goː tuː/ [pʰaː meɪ wij ɑːl gəʊ tʰuw], and the short vowels may be remembered by the sentence, "That pen is not much good" /ðæt pɛn ɪz nɔt mətʃ gʊd/ [ðæt pʰɛn ɪz nɔt mətʃ gʊd]

A vowel is represented by a dot or a dash, which can be written either lightly or heavily depending on the vowel needed. As this only gives four symbols, they can be written in three different positions - either at the beginning, middle or end of a consonant stroke - to represent the 12 vowels.

The dots and dashes representing long vowels are darker than the ones representing short vowels. For example, say is written as ")•", but seh (if it did exist) would be written as ")·"; see is written as ").", but sih (if there were such a word) would be written as ").".

Another feature of Pitman's shorthand allows most vowels to be omitted in order to speed up the process of writing. As mentioned above, each vowel is written next to the consonant stroke at the beginning, middle or end of the stroke. Pitman's shorthand is designed to be written on lined paper and when a word's first vowel is a "first position" vowel (ie. it is written at the beginning of the stroke), the whole shorthand outline for the word is written above the paper's ruled line. When it is a second position vowel, the outline is written on the line. And when it is a third position vowel it is written through the line. In this way, the position of the outline indicates that the first vowel can only be one of four possibilities. In most cases, this means that the first and often all the other vowels can be omitted entirely.

Diphthongs

There are four diphthongs in Pitman's Shorthand, representing the sounds in the words "I enjoy Gow's music". These appear as small angular marks that look rather like a small version of the "less than" symbol ( < ) written on its side or upside down. The "u" sound is written as a small semi-circle. Each of these diphthongs is written in the same way as the vowels – in one of the three positions next to the consonant stroke. And in the same way, the whole outline is placed above, on or through the paper's ruled line.

Common words like and, because, can, it, shall, think, to, with, thank, the and many more are all represented by Grammalogues.

Circles

The circles are of two sizes - small & large. Small circle represents 's' (sing) & 'z' (gaze). Big circle represents 'ses' & 'swa'. If the big circle comes initially in the stroke it represents 'swa' (sweep, but not sway). Elsewhere it represents 'ses' (the vowel in the middle can be any of the vowel or diphthong (crisis, crises & exercise). If the vowel is anything other than 'e' then it must be represented inside the circle.

Loops

The loops are of two sizes - small and big. The small loop represents 'st' & 'sd' (cost and based) - pronounced stee loop. The big loop represents 'ster' (master and masterpiece). 'ster' loop does not come in the beginning of a word (sterling).

Small Hooks

Small Hook in the beginning

For straight strokes pee, bee, tee, dee, chay, jay, kay and gay the hook comes in both the sides of the stroke. Hook in clockwise direction represents 'r' after the stroke (tray, Nichrome, bigger). Hook in counter-clockwise direction represents 'l' after the stroke (ply, amplify, angle).

For curved strokes eff, vee, ith, thee, ish, zhee, em, en, ing the hook is written in before the stroke is written and it represents 'r' after the stroke (other, measure, manner, every).

Small Hook in the end

For straight strokes pee, bee, tee, dee, chay, jay, kay and gay the hook comes in both the sides of the stroke. Hook in clockwise direction represents 'en' after the stroke (train, chin, genuine). Hook in counter-clockwise direction represents 'eff' or 'vee' after the stroke (pave, calf, toughen).

For curved strokes eff, vee, ith, thee, ish, zhee, em, en, ing the hook is written in after the stroke is written and it represents 'n' after the stroke (men, thin).

Shun Hook

The big hook after any stroke represents 'shun', 'zhun' etc., (fusion, vision). 1. For straight strokes with initial circle or loop or hook the shun hook is written in opposite direction (section). Depression & depletion have shun hooks in the opposite direction. 2. For straight strokes the shun hook is written in the direction opposite to the occurrence of the vowel. Caution & auction have shun hooks written in opposite directions. 3. For curved strokes the shun hook is written after the stroke (motion, notion).

Other Hooks

Big Hook for way

The big hook in the beginning of the stroke way represents 'wh' (whine).

Hook before ell

The small hook before ell represents 'way' before it (well).

The big hook before ell represents 'wh' before it (while).

The halving principle

Many strokes (both straight and curved) may be halved in length to denote a final "t" or "d". The halving principle may be combined with an initial or final hook (or both) to make words such as "trained" appear as a single short vertical light stroke with an initial and final hook.

Doubling of curved strokes

If ter, der, ture, ther, dher comes in the word the preceding stroke is written double the size (matter, nature, mother).

Doubling of straight strokes

Doubling principle has an exception when 'ter' et. 'al.', is preceded by only a straight stroke. Doubling is not employed in that case (cadre). If it has more than stroke before 'ter' et. 'al.', or has hook in the end then doubling principle is employed (tender).

Grammalogues (Short Forms)

In shorthand, frequently or commonly occurring words are represented in a single outline which are termed as Grammalogues (or "Short Forms" in Pitman's New Era) and the shorthand outlines that represent the grammalogues are called logograms.

Grammalogues facilitate speed and are convenient to use when taking shorthand dictation. These are an essential part of shorthand transcription.

References

Pitman, Isaac. Pitman Shorthand Instructor and Key: A Complete Exposition of Sir Isaac Pitman's System of Shorthand. Carlton, Victoria (Australia): Pitman Australia. ISBN 0-85896-065-6. 

Footnotes

External links

• The Joy of Pitman Shorthand
• What is Pitman shorthand?
• general shorthand website with free demos for Pitman, Teeline and Gregg
• Shorthand Google Group