Editing Shorthand (section)

=== Classical antiquity ===

The earliest known indication of shorthand systems is from the [[Parthenon]] in [[Ancient Greece]], where a mid-4th century BC inscribed marble slab was found. This shows a writing system primarily based on vowels, using certain modifications to indicate consonants.<ref>{{Citation | last = Norman | first = Jeremy M | work = History of information | title = The acropolis stone, the earliest example of shorthand | url = https://www.historyofinformation.com/detail.php?entryid=2418 |access-date= 24 October 2023}}</ref> [[Hellenistic civilization|Hellenistic]] tachygraphy is reported from the 2nd&nbsp;century BC onwards, though there are indications that it might be older. The oldest datable reference is a contract from [[Middle Egypt]], stating that Oxyrhynchos gives the "semeiographer" Apollonios for two years to be taught shorthand writing.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Apprenticeship to a Shorthand Writer |url= https://papyri.info/ddbdp/p.oxy;4;724|access-date=2021-12-07|website= Papyri}}</ref> Hellenistic tachygraphy consisted of word stem signs and word ending signs. Over time, many syllabic signs were developed.

In [[Ancient Rome]], [[Marcus Tullius Tiro]] (103–4&nbsp;BC), a slave and later a [[freedman]] of [[Cicero]], developed the [[Tironian notes]] so that he could write down Cicero's speeches. Plutarch {{nowrap|({{Circa|46|120 AD}})}} in his "Life of Cato the Younger" (95–46&nbsp;BC) records that Cicero, during a trial of some insurrectionists in the senate, employed several expert rapid writers, whom he had taught to make figures comprising numerous words in a few short strokes, to preserve Cato's speech on this occasion. The Tironian notes consisted of [[Latin]] word stem abbreviations (''notae'') and of word ending abbreviations (''titulae''). The original Tironian notes consisted of about 4,000&nbsp;signs, but new signs were introduced, so that their number might increase to as many as 13,000. In order to have a less complex writing system, a syllabic shorthand script was sometimes used. After the [[decline of the Roman Empire]], the Tironian notes were no longer used to transcribe speeches, though they were still known and taught, particularly during the [[Carolingian Renaissance]]. After the 11th century, however, they were mostly forgotten.

When many [[monastery]] libraries were [[secularization|secularized]] in the course of the 16th-century [[Protestant Reformation]], long-forgotten manuscripts of Tironian notes were rediscovered.{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}}