Editing Deseret alphabet (section)

== Design criticism ==
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The Deseret alphabet was purposely designed so as to not have [[ascender (typography)|ascenders]] and [[descender]]s.<ref name="Beesley2004" />{{rp|14}} This was envisioned as a practical benefit for the alphabet in an era of metal type: after many uses, the edges of [[sort (typesetting)|type sorts]] become dull, and narrow ascenders and descenders are most prone to this effect.<ref name="Beesley2004" />

While well intentioned, this lack has been described as a "catastrophic" mistake<ref>Nash, William V. (1957) ''The Deseret Alphabet''. Master's thesis, University of Illinois Library School: Urbana, Illinois</ref> that makes type look "monotonous"<ref name="Wentz1978" /> and makes all words look alike.<ref name="Simmonds1968" /> Some have joked that this aesthetic quality could cause the new alphabet to be mistaken from afar for a [[Turkey|Turkish]] [[Ledger|tax list]].<ref name="Simmonds1968" /><ref name="Zobell1967" />

The Mormon pioneers were apparently aware of the problems caused by its monotony:<ref name="Moore2006" />{{rp|76}}
{{Blockquote|text=President Young has decided that [the letters] are not so well adapted for the purpose designed as it was hoped they would be. There being no shanks (ascenders or descenders) to the letters, all being very even, they are trying to the eye, because of their uniformity.|sign=|source=article in the ''Juvenile Instructor'', 2 October 1875|style=overflow:inherit;}}
Other criticism of the design was harsher still. In an 18 December 1857 editorial in the ''Boston Globe'', the alphabet was described as being "so arranged and named as to cause the greatest possible annoyance to outsiders" and the design of the letters as "incomprehensible as [...] the [[Egyptian hieroglyphs|hieroglyphics]] of the [...] [[Ancient Egypt|Egyptians]]."<ref name="Schindler1998">{{Cite book|title=In Another Time: Sketches of Utah History |last=Schindler |first=Harold |publisher=Utah State University Press |year=1998 |isbn=9780874212426 |location=Logan, Utah |pages=125–127 }}</ref> On 4 March 1872, ''The New York Times'' called the alphabet "rude, awkward and cumbersome".<ref name=":12" />

Some modern computer fonts and printed books have attempted to correct this perceived fault: in the books in John Jenkins' ''Deseret Alphabet Classics'' series, the font used adds a descender to 𐑉 and 𐐻 and an ascender to 𐐼 and 𐑇 among other tweaks.<ref>{{Cite book|title=𐐜 𐐓𐐴𐑋 𐐣𐐲𐑇𐐨𐑌|last=Wells|first=H. G.|date=2013-06-14|others=adapted by John Jenkins|isbn=9781482742404|pages=iii–iv|publisher=CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform |language=en|trans-title=The Time Machine}}</ref>