Editing Shorthand

{{short description|Abbreviated symbolic writing method}}
{{Redirect|Stenography|the process of concealing information in messages|steganography|machine stenography|stenotype}}
[[File:Eclectic shorthand by cross.png|upright=1.35|thumb|The [[Lord's Prayer]] in [[Gregg shorthand|Gregg]] and a variety of 19th-century systems]]

[[File:Groote.jpg|thumb|right|upright|[[Dutch language|Dutch]] stenography using the "System Groote"]]
'''Shorthand''' is an abbreviated symbolic writing method that increases speed and brevity of writing as compared to [[Cursive|longhand]], a more common method of writing a language. The process of writing in shorthand is called '''stenography''', from the [[Greek language|Greek]] ''stenos'' (narrow) and ''graphein'' (to write). It has also been called '''brachygraphy''', from Greek ''brachys'' (short), and '''tachygraphy''', from Greek ''tachys'' (swift, speedy), depending on whether compression or speed of writing is the goal.

Many forms of shorthand exist. A typical shorthand system provides symbols or abbreviations for words and common phrases, which can allow someone well-trained in the system to write as quickly as people speak. Abbreviation methods are alphabet-based and use different abbreviating approaches. Many journalists use shorthand writing to quickly take notes at press conferences or other similar scenarios. In the computerized world, several [[autocomplete]] programs, standalone or integrated in text editors, based on word lists, also include a shorthand function for frequently used phrases.

Shorthand was used more widely in the past, before the invention of recording and [[dictation machine]]s. Shorthand was considered an essential part of  [[Secretary|secretarial]] training and police work and was useful for journalists.<ref>McCay, Kelly Minot. " All the World Writes Short Hand": The Phenomenon of Shorthand in Seventeenth-Century England." ''Book History'' 24, no. 1 (2021): 1-36.</ref> Although the primary use of shorthand has been to record oral dictation and other types of verbal communication, some systems are used for compact expression. For example, healthcare professionals might use shorthand notes in medical charts and correspondence. Shorthand notes were typically temporary, intended either for immediate use or for later typing, data entry, or (mainly historically) transcription to [[Cursive|longhand]]. Longer-term uses do exist, such as [[encipherment]]; diaries (like that of [[Samuel Pepys]]) are a common example.<ref>{{citation |last1=Pepys |first1=Samuel |year=1970 |title=The diary of Samuel Pepys: a new and complete transcription |first2=Robert |last2=Latham |first3=William |last3=Matthews |publisher=Bell & Hyman |isbn=978-0-7135-1551-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JS9bAAAAMAAJ}}, Volume I, pp. xlvii–liv (for Thomas Shelton's shorthand system and Pepys' use of it)</ref>

== History ==

=== 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}}

=== Imperial China ===
{{See also|Cursive script (East Asia)}}
[[File:Treatise On Calligraphy.jpg|thumb|right|upright|[[Sun Guoting]]'s ''Treatise on Calligraphy'', an example of cursive writing of Chinese characters]]
In imperial [[China]], clerks used an abbreviated, highly cursive form of [[Chinese character]]s to record court proceedings and criminal confessions. These records were used to create more formal transcripts. One cornerstone of imperial court proceedings was that all confessions had to be acknowledged by the accused's signature, personal seal, or thumbprint, requiring fast writing.{{citation needed|date=December 2022}} Versions of this technique survived in [[Clerical worker|clerical]] professions into the modern day and, influenced by Western shorthand methods, some new methods were invented.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://blog.163.com/su_yi168/blog/static/25354182200762410439112/?hasChannelAdminPriv=true|title=(原创)漢語速記的發展及三個高潮的出現 - 阿原的日志 - 网易博客|author=su_yi168,阿原|work=163.com|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304185536/http://blog.163.com/su_yi168/blog/static/25354182200762410439112/?hasChannelAdminPriv=true|archive-date=2016-03-04}}</ref><ref>[http://www.59146.com/sujichangshi/2006/6/2006060511315637175.html 中国速记的发展简史]  {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091112112454/http://www.59146.com/sujichangshi/2006/6/2006060511315637175.html |date=2009-11-12 }}</ref><ref>[http://suji.net.cn/news/jctj/jctj/2006810183842.htm 迎接中国速记110年(颜廷超)] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101228161417/http://suji.net.cn/news/jctj/jctj/2006810183842.htm |date=December 28, 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://blog.sina.com.cn/suji123|title=教授弋乂_新浪博客|work=sina.com.cn|url-status=live|archive-url=http://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/20160208205300/http://blog.sina.com.cn/suji123|archive-date=2016-02-08}}</ref>

=== Europe and North America ===

An interest in shorthand or "short-writing" developed towards the end of the 16th century in [[England]]. In 1588, [[Timothy Bright]] published his ''Characterie; An Arte of Shorte, Swifte and Secrete Writing by Character'' which introduced a system with 500 arbitrary symbols each representing one word. Bright's book was followed by a number of others, including Peter Bales' '' The Writing Schoolemaster'' in 1590, John Willis's ''Art of Stenography'' in 1602, Edmond Willis's ''An abbreviation of writing by character'' in 1618, and [[Thomas Shelton (stenographer)|Thomas Shelton]]'s ''Short Writing'' in 1626 (later re-issued as ''Tachygraphy'').

Shelton's system became very popular and is well known because it was used by Samuel Pepys for his diary and for many of his official papers, such as his letter copy books. It was also used by [[Isaac Newton]] in some of his notebooks.<ref>{{citation |author=[[Richard S. Westfall]] |title=Notes and records of the Royal Society, Volume 18, Issue 1 |year=1963|pages=10–16|publisher=Royal Society |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SGQSAAAAIAAJ |chapter=Short-Writing and the State of Newton's Conscience, 1662}}</ref> Shelton borrowed heavily from his predecessors, especially Edmond Willis. Each consonant was represented by an arbitrary but simple symbol, while the five vowels were represented by the relative positions of the surrounding consonants. Thus the symbol for B with symbol for T drawn directly above it represented "bat", while B with T below it meant "but"; top-right represented "e", middle-right "i", and lower-right "o". A vowel at the end of a word was represented by a dot in the appropriate position, while there were additional symbols for initial vowels. This basic system was supplemented by further symbols representing common prefixes and suffixes.

One drawback of Shelton's system was that there was no way to distinguish long and short vowels or diphthongs; so the b-a-t sequence could mean "bat", or "bait", or "bate", while b-o-t might mean "boot", or "bought", or "boat". The reader needed to use the context to work out which alternative was meant. The main advantage of the system was that it was easy to learn and to use. It was popular, and under the two titles of ''Short Writing'' and ''Tachygraphy'', Shelton's book ran to more than 20 editions between 1626 and 1710.

Shelton's chief rivals were [[Theophilus Metcalfe]]'s ''Stenography'' or ''Short Writing'' (1633) which was in its "55th edition" by 1721, and [[Jeremiah Rich]]'s system of 1654, which was published under various titles including ''The penns dexterity compleated'' (1669). Rich's system was used by [[George Treby (judge)|George Treby]] chairman of the House of Commons Committee of Secrecy investigating the [[Popish Plot]].<ref>McKenzie, Andrea. "Secret Writing and the [[Popish Plot]]: Deciphering the Shorthand of Sir George Treby." ''Huntington Library Quarterly'' 84, no. 4 (2021): 783-824.</ref>  Another English shorthand system creator of the 17th century was William Mason ([[floruit|fl.]] 1672–1709) who published ''Arts Advancement'' in 1682.

[[File:Heinrich Roller Grabstein.jpg|thumb|upright|Tombstone of [[Heinrich Roller]], inventor of a [[German language|German]] shorthand system, with a sample of his shorthand]]

Modern-looking geometric shorthand was introduced with [[John Byrom]]'s ''New Universal Shorthand'' of 1720. [[Samuel Taylor (stenographer)|Samuel Taylor]] published a [[Taylor shorthand|similar system]] in 1786, the first English shorthand system to be used all over the English-speaking world. [[Thomas Gurney (shorthand writer)|Thomas Gurney]] published ''Brachygraphy'' in the mid-18th century. In 1834 in [[Germany]], [[Franz Xaver Gabelsberger]] published his [[Gabelsberger shorthand]]. Gabelsberger based his shorthand on the shapes used in German cursive handwriting rather than on the geometrical shapes that were common in the English stenographic tradition.
[[File:קצרנות בשפת יידיש.jpg|thumb|[[Yiddish]] shorthand]]
[[File:שיטות קצרנות בשפה העברית.jpg|thumb|[[Hebrew]] shorthand]]
Taylor's system was superseded by [[Pitman shorthand]], first introduced in 1837 by English teacher [[Isaac Pitman]], and improved many times since. Pitman's system has been used all over the English-speaking world and has been adapted to many other languages, including [[Latin language|Latin]].{{citation-needed|date=November 2021}} Pitman's system uses a [[phonemic orthography]]. For this reason, it is sometimes known as ''phonography'', meaning "sound writing" in Greek. One of the reasons this system allows fast transcription is that [[vowel]] sounds are optional when only consonants are needed to determine a word. The availability of a full range of vowel symbols, however, makes complete accuracy possible. Isaac's brother Benn Pitman, who lived in [[Cincinnati]], Ohio, was responsible for introducing the method to America. The record for fast writing with Pitman shorthand is 350 [[wpm]] during a two-minute test by Nathan Behrin in 1922.<ref>{{cite web | work = The new York times |url= https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1922/12/30/102911691.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180926234747/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1922/12/30/102911691.pdf |archive-date=2018-09-26 |url-status=live |title=New World's Record for Shorthand Speed | date = December 30, 1922}}</ref>

In the [[United States]] and some other parts of the world, it was largely superseded by [[Gregg shorthand]], which was first published in 1888 by [[John Robert Gregg]]. This system was influenced by the handwriting shapes that Gabelsberger had introduced. Gregg's shorthand, like Pitman's, is phonetic, but has the simplicity of being "light-line." Pitman's system uses thick and thin strokes to distinguish related sounds, while Gregg's uses only thin strokes and makes some of the same distinctions by the length of the stroke. In fact, Gregg claimed joint authorship in another shorthand system published in pamphlet form by one Thomas Stratford Malone; Malone, however, claimed sole authorship and a legal battle ensued.<ref>{{cite web|title= Guide to the John Robert Gregg Papers | work = Manuscripts and Archives Division | publisher = [[New York Public Library]]|url= http://legacy.www.nypl.org/research/chss/spe/rbk/faids/greggj.pdf|date=27 July 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110727084212/http://legacy.www.nypl.org/research/chss/spe/rbk/faids/greggj.pdf |archive-date=27 July 2011}}</ref> The two systems use very similar, if not identical, symbols; however, these symbols are used to represent different sounds. For instance, on page 10 of the manual is the word d i m 'dim'; however, in the Gregg system, the spelling would actually mean n u k or 'nook'.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://archive.org/stream/scriptphonograph00maloiala#page/10/mode/2up |title=Script phonography| via = Archive |url-status=live|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160306205113/http://www.archive.org/stream/scriptphonograph00maloiala#page/10/mode/2up|archive-date=2016-03-06}}</ref>

Andrew J. Graham was a phonotypist operating in the period between the emergence of Pitman's and Gregg's systems. In 1854 he published a short-lived (only 9 issues) phonotypy journal called ''The Cosmotype,'' subtitled ''"devoted to that which will entertain usefully, instruct, and improve humanity"'',<ref>{{Cite journal |title=The Cosmotype | volume =1 | number = 1–9 |url= https://www.abebooks.com/first-edition/cosmotype-Vol-vol-Graham-Andrew-J/30364474019/bd |access-date=2022-11-08 | via = Abe books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book | via = NYPL |url= https://www.nypl.org/research/research-catalog/bib/b15415610 |title=The Cosmotype: devoted to that which will entertain usefully, instruct, and improve humanity |editor-last=Graham |editor-first=Andrew J. |location=New York}}</ref> and several other monographs about phonography.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book | via = World catalogue |last=Westby-Gibson |first=John |url= https://worldcat.org/title/2032721 |title=The Bibliography of Shorthand |publisher=I. Pitman & Sons |year=1887 |location=London}}</ref> In 1857 he published his own Pitman-like "Graham's Brief Longhand" that saw wide adoption in the United States in the late 19th century.<ref name= ":0" /> He published a translation of the New Testament. His method landed him in a 1864 copyright infringement lawsuit against Benn Pitman in Ohio.<ref name=":0" /> Graham died in 1895 and was buried in Montclair's [[Rosedale Cemetery (Orange, New Jersey)|Rosedale Cemetery]]; even as late as 1918 his company Andrew J. Graham & Co continued to market his method.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sexton |first= Chandler |title=Graham's Business Shorthand. An Arrangement of Graham's Standard or American Phonography for High and Commercial Schools |publisher=Andrew J. Graham & Co |year=1916 |location=New York}}</ref>

In his youth, [[Woodrow Wilson]] had mastered the Graham system and even corresponded with Graham in Graham. Throughout his life, Wilson continued to develop and employ his own Graham system writing, to the point that by the 1950s, when the Graham method had all but disappeared, Wilson scholars had trouble interpreting his shorthand. In 1960 an 84-year-old anachronistic shorthand expert Clifford Gehman managed to crack Wilson's shorthand, demonstrating on a translation of Wilson's acceptance speech for the 1912 presidential nomination.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Jackson |first=James O. |date=January 21, 1974 |title=Presidential Papers Snarl Began in 1797 |work=[[The Chicago Tribune]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=February 8, 1960 |title=People |url= https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,828640-2,00.html |work =[[Time Magazine]]}}</ref>

=== Japan ===
{{quote |Our Japanese pen shorthand began in 1882, transplanted from the American Pitman-Graham system.  Geometric theory has great influence in Japan.  But Japanese motions of writing gave some influence to our shorthand.  We are proud to have reached the highest speed in capturing spoken words with a pen.  Major pen shorthand systems are Shuugiin, Sangiin, Nakane and Waseda [a repeated vowel shown here means a vowel spoken in double-length in Japanese, sometimes shown instead as a bar over the vowel].  Including a machine-shorthand system, Sokutaipu, we have 5 major shorthand systems now.  The Japan Shorthand Association now has 1,000 members.|Tsuguo Kaneko<ref>{{citation | publisher = Homestead | url = http://pitmanshorthand.homestead.com/PitmanBooks.html | title = Pitman Shorthand | contribution = Books | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160304032502/http://pitmanshorthand.homestead.com/PitmanBooks.html | archive-date = 2016-03-04 }}.</ref>}}

There are several other pen shorthands in use (Ishimura, Iwamura, Kumassaki, Kotani, and Nissokuken), leading to a total of nine pen shorthands in use. In addition, there is the Yamane pen shorthand (of unknown importance) and three machine shorthands systems (Speed Waapuro, Caver and Hayatokun or sokutaipu). The machine shorthands have gained some ascendancy over the pen shorthands.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Kaneko |first1= Tsuguo |title=Shorthand Education in Japan - 47th Intersteno Congress, Beijing 2009 |url= https://www.intersteno.it/materiale/Beijing2009/Conferences/KanekoEduRepo.ppt |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230210112622/https://www.intersteno.it/materiale/Beijing2009/Conferences/KanekoEduRepo.ppt |archive-date= 2023-02-10 |format=PPT | url-status = live |date= 2009-08-16<!--date from congress program at https://www.intersteno.it/uploads/FinalReportBeijing2009.pdf-->}}</ref>

Japanese shorthand systems ('sokki' shorthand or 'sokkidou' stenography) commonly use a syllabic approach, much like the common writing system for Japanese (which has actually two syllabaries in everyday use). There are several semi-cursive systems.<ref>{{citation | url = http://sokki.okoshi-yasu.net/sb-housiki.html | publisher = Okoshi Yasu | title = Housiki | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160303222518/http://sokki.okoshi-yasu.net/sb-housiki.html | archive-date = 2016-03-03 }}.</ref> Most follow a left-to-right, top-to-bottom writing direction.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://sokki.okoshi-yasu.net/sb-bunrei.html|title=速記文字文例|work= Okoshi-yasu |url-status=live|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160303230155/http://sokki.okoshi-yasu.net/sb-bunrei.html|archive-date=2016-03-03}}</ref> Several systems incorporate a loop into many of the strokes, giving the appearance of Gregg, Graham, or Cross's Eclectic shorthand without actually functioning like them.<ref name= "Sokkidou">{{citation | publisher = OCN | place = JP | url = http://www12.ocn.ne.jp/~sokkidou/t12/ | title = Sokkidou | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130522074907/http://www12.ocn.ne.jp/~sokkidou/t12/ | archive-date = 2013-05-22 }}.</ref> The Kotani (aka Same-Vowel-Same-Direction or SVSD or V-type)<ref name="Sokkidou 60">{{citation | publisher = OCN | url = http://www12.ocn.ne.jp/~sokkidou/t12/60c.html | title = Sokkidou | page = 60 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130522081801/http://www12.ocn.ne.jp/~sokkidou/t12/60c.html | archive-date = 2013-05-22 }}</ref> system's strokes frequently cross over each other and in so doing form loops.<ref>{{citation | publisher = Nifty | url = http://homepage3.nifty.com/Steno/001g/2/20.html | title = Steno | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160304112954/http://homepage3.nifty.com/Steno/001g/2/20.html | archive-date = 2016-03-04 }}.</ref>

Japanese also has its own variously cursive form of writing kanji characters, the most extremely simplified of which is known as [[Cursive script (East Asia)|Sōsho]].

The two Japanese syllabaries are themselves adapted from the Chinese characters: both of the syllabaries, katakana and hiragana, are in everyday use alongside the Chinese characters known as kanji; the kanji, being developed in parallel to the Chinese characters, have their own idiosyncrasies, but Chinese and Japanese ideograms are largely comprehensible, even if their use in the languages are not the same.

Prior to the Meiji era, Japanese did not have its own shorthand (the kanji did have their own abbreviated forms borrowed alongside them from China). Takusari Kooki was the first to give classes in a new Western-style non-ideographic shorthand of his own design, emphasis being on the non-ideographic and new. This was the first shorthand system adapted to writing phonetic Japanese, all other systems prior being based on the idea of whole or partial semantic ideographic writing like that used in the Chinese characters, and the phonetic approach being mostly peripheral to writing in general.  Even today, Japanese writing uses the syllabaries to pronounce or spell out words, or to indicate grammatical words. [[Furigana]] are written alongside kanji, or Chinese characters, to indicate their pronunciation especially in juvenile publications. Furigana are usually written using the hiragana syllabary; foreign words may not have a kanji form and are spelled out using katakana.<ref>{{citation |last1=Miller |first1=J. Scott |year=1994 |title=Japanese Shorthand and Sokkibon |journal=Monumenta Nipponica |volume=49 |issue=4 |pages=471–87 |publisher=Sophia University |jstor=2385259 |doi= 10.2307/2385259}}, p. 473 for the origins of modern Japanese shorthand.</ref>

The new sokki were used to transliterate popular vernacular story-telling theater (yose) of the day. This led to a thriving industry of sokkibon (shorthand books). The ready availability of the stories in book form, and higher rates of literacy (which the very industry of sokkibon may have helped create, due to these being oral classics that were already known to most people) may also have helped kill the yose theater, as people no longer needed to see the stories performed in person to enjoy them. Sokkibon also allowed a whole host of what had previously been mostly oral rhetorical and narrative techniques into writing, such as imitation of dialect in conversations (which can be found back in older gensaku literature; but gensaku literature used conventional written language in between conversations, however).{{Sfn | Miller | 1994 |pp =471–87}}

== Classification ==

=== Geometric and script-like systems ===
Shorthands that use simplified letterforms are sometimes termed ''stenographic'' shorthands, contrasting with alphabetic shorthands, below. Stenographic shorthands can be further differentiated by the target letter forms as geometric, script, and semi-script or elliptical.

''Geometric'' shorthands are based on circles, parts of circles, and straight lines placed strictly horizontally, vertically or diagonally. The first modern shorthand systems were geometric. Examples include [[Pitman shorthand]], [[Boyd's syllabic shorthand]], Samuel Taylor's Universal Stenography, the French Prévost-Delaunay, and the [[Duployan shorthand|Duployé]] system, adapted to write the [[Kamloops Wawa]] (used for [[Chinook Jargon]]) writing system.<ref>{{cite web |last=Anderson |first=Van |url=https://www.unicode.org/wg2/docs/n3895.pdf |title=Proposal to include Duployan script and Shorthand Format Controls in UCS |publisher=ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2/WG2 |date=2010-09-24 |access-date=2024-06-25}}</ref>

''Script'' shorthands are based on the motions of ordinary handwriting. The first system of this type was published under the title ''Cadmus Britanicus'' by Simon Bordley, in 1787. However, the first practical system was the German [[Gabelsberger shorthand]] of 1834. This class of system is now common in all more recent German shorthand systems, as well as in [[Austria]], [[Italy]], [[Scandinavia]], the [[Netherlands]], [[Russia]], other Eastern European countries, and elsewhere.

''Script-geometric'', or ''semi-script'', shorthands are based on the ellipse. Semi-script can be considered a compromise between the ''geometric'' systems and the ''script'' systems. The first such system was that of George Carl Märes in 1885. However, the most successful system of this type was [[Gregg shorthand]], introduced by [[John Robert Gregg]] in 1888. Gregg had studied not only the ''geometric'' English systems, but also the German Stolze stenography, a ''script'' shorthand. Other examples include [[Teeline Shorthand]] and [[Thomas Natural Shorthand]].

The semi-script philosophy gained popularity in Italy in the first half of the 20th century with three different systems created by Giovanni Vincenzo Cima, Erminio Meschini, and Stenital Mosciaro.

=== Systems resembling standard writing ===
Some shorthand systems attempted to ease learning by using characters from the Latin alphabet. Such non-stenographic systems have often been described as '''alphabetic''', and purists{{who|date=May 2025}} might claim that such systems are not 'true' shorthand. However, these alphabetic systems do have value for students who cannot dedicate the years necessary to master a stenographic shorthand. Alphabetic shorthands cannot be written at the speeds theoretically possible with symbol systems—200 words per minute or more—but require only a fraction of the time to acquire a useful speed of between 70 and 100 words per minute.

Non-stenographic systems often supplement alphabetic characters by using punctuation marks as additional characters, giving special significance to capitalised letters, and sometimes using additional non-alphabetic symbols. Examples of such systems include [[Stenoscript]], [[Speedwriting]] and [[Forkner shorthand]]. However, there are some pure alphabetic systems, including [[Personal Shorthand]], SuperWrite, Easy Script Speed Writing, Keyscript Shorthand and Yash3k which limit their symbols to ''a priori'' alphabetic characters. These have the added advantage that they can also be typed—for instance, onto a [[computer]], [[Personal digital assistant|PDA]], or [[cellphone]]. Early editions of Speedwriting were also adapted so that they could be written on a typewriter, and therefore would possess the same advantage.

=== Varieties of vowel representation ===
Shorthand systems can also be classified according to the way that vowels are represented.
* ''[[Alphabet]]ic'' – Expression by "normal" vowel signs that are not fundamentally different from consonant signs (e.g., Gregg, Duployan).
* ''Mixed alphabetic'' – Expression of vowels and consonants by different kinds of strokes (e.g., Arends' system for German or [[Melin Shorthand|Melin's Swedish Shorthand]] where vowels are expressed by upward or sideway strokes and consonants and consonant clusters by downward strokes).
* ''[[Abjad]]'' – No expression of the individual vowels at all except for indications of an initial or final vowel (e.g., Taylor).
* ''Marked abjad'' – Expression of vowels by the use of detached signs (such as dots, ticks, and other marks) written around the consonant signs.
* ''Positional abjad'' – Expression of an initial vowel by the height of the word in relation to the line, no necessary expression of subsequent vowels (e.g., Pitman, which can optionally express other vowels by detached diacritics).
* ''[[Abugida]]'' – Expression of a vowel by the shape of a stroke, with the consonant indicated by orientation (e.g., Boyd).
* ''Mixed abugida'' – Expression of the vowels by the width of the joining stroke that leads to the following consonant sign, the height of the following consonant sign in relation to the preceding one, and the line pressure of the following consonant sign (e.g., most German shorthand systems).

=== Machine shorthand systems ===
Traditional shorthand systems are written on paper with a stenographic pencil or a stenographic pen.  Some consider that only handwritten systems can strictly speaking be called shorthand.

Machine shorthand is also a common term for writing produced by a [[stenotype]], a specialized [[Alphanumeric keyboard|keyboard]]. These are often used for court room transcripts and in live [[subtitling]]. However, there are other shorthand machines used worldwide, including: [[Velotype]]; [[Palantype]] in the UK; Grandjean Stenotype, used extensively in France and French-speaking countries; Michela Stenotype, used extensively in Italy; and Stenokey, used in Bulgaria and elsewhere.

== Common modern English shorthand systems ==
One of the most widely used forms of shorthand is still the [[Pitman shorthand]] method described above, which has been adapted for 15 languages.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://pitmanshorthand.homestead.com/|title=The Joy of Pitman Shorthand|website=pitmanshorthand.homestead.com|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110515090449/http://pitmanshorthand.homestead.com/|archive-date=2011-05-15}}</ref> Although Pitman's method was extremely popular at first and is still commonly used, especially in the UK, in the U.S., its popularity has been largely superseded by [[Gregg shorthand]], developed by John Robert Gregg in 1888.

In the UK, the spelling-based (rather than phonetic) [[Teeline Shorthand|Teeline shorthand]] is now more commonly taught and used than Pitman, and Teeline is the recommended system of the [[National Council for the Training of Journalists]] with an overall speed of 100 words per minute necessary for certification. Other less commonly used systems in the UK are Pitman 2000, PitmanScript, [[Speedwriting]], and Gregg. Teeline is also the most common shorthand method taught to New Zealand journalists, whose certification typically requires a shorthand speed of at least 80 words per minute.

In Nigeria, shorthand is still taught in higher institutions of learning, especially for students studying Office Technology Management and Business Education{{update inline|date=December 2024}}.

== Notable shorthand systems ==
{{Main list|List of shorthand systems}}

* [[Mary Chandler Atherton|Chandler shorthand]] (Mary Chandler Atherton)<ref name="Sketches1904">{{cite book |last1=Howe |first1=Julia Ward |last2=Graves |first2=Mary Hannah |title=Sketches of Representative Women of New England |date=1904 |publisher=New England Historical Publishing Company |pages=416–18 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BY0EAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA416 |language=en |chapter=MARY ALDERSON ATHERTON}} {{Source-attribution}}</ref>
* [[Current Shorthand]] ([[Henry Sweet]])<ref>{{citation |last=Sweet |first=Henry |year=1892 |title=A manual of current shorthand orthographic and phonetic by Henry Sweet |publisher=Clarendon |oclc=250138117}}</ref>
* [[Duployan shorthand]] (Émile Duployé)<ref>{{citation |last1=Perrault |first1=Denis R |title=La sténographie Duployé adaptée aux langues des sauvages de la Baie d'Hudson, des Postes Moose Factory, de New Post, d'Albany, de Waswanipi & de Mékiskan, Amérique du Nord / [between 1889 and 1895] |last2=Duploye |first2=Emile |last3=Gueguen |first3=Jean Pierre |last4=Pilling |first4=James Constantine |language=fr |oclc=35787900}}</ref>
* [[Eclectic shorthand]] (J.G. Cross)<ref>{{citation |last=Cross |first=J G |year=1879 |title=Cross's eclectic short-hand: a new system, adapted both to general use and to verbatim reporting |publisher=Chicago, S.C. Griggs and Co. [1878] |oclc=2510784}}</ref>
* [[Gabelsberger shorthand]] (Franz Xaver Gabelsberger)<ref>{{citation |last=Geiger |first=Alfred |year=1860 |title=Stenography, or, Universal European shorthand (on Gabelsberger's principles) : as already introduced in Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Russia, Greece, Italy &c |publisher=Dresden |oclc=41010411}}</ref>
* [[Deutsche Einheitskurzschrift]]<ref>{{citation |last=Czerny |first=Karl |year=1925 |title=Umlernbuch auf die deutsche Einheitskurzschrift : Für Gabelsbergersche Stenographen |publisher=Eigenverl |language=de |oclc=72106122}}</ref> (German Unified Shorthand), which is based on the ideas of systems by Gabelsberger, Stolze, Faulmann, and other German system inventors
* [[Gregg shorthand]] ([[John Robert Gregg]])<ref>{{citation |last1=Gregg |first1=John Robert |year=1901 |title=Gregg shorthand dictionary |last2=Power |first2=Pearl A |publisher=Gregg Pub. Co |oclc=23108068}}</ref>
* [[Munson Shorthand]] (James Eugene Munson)<ref>{{citation |last=Munson |first=James Eugene |year=1880 |title=Munson's system of phonography. The phrase-book of practical phonography, containing a list of useful phrases, printed in phonographic outlines; a complete and thorough treatise on the art of phraseography&nbsp;... etc |publisher=New York, J.E. Munson |oclc=51625624}}</ref>
* [[Personal Shorthand]], originally called ''Briefhand''<ref>{{citation |last1=Salser |first1=Carl Walter |year=1968 |title=Personal shorthand |last2=Yerian |first2=C Theo |publisher=National Book Co |oclc=11720787}}</ref>
* [[Pitman shorthand]] ([[Isaac Pitman]])<ref>{{citation |author=Isaac Pitman |year=1937 |title=Pitman shorthand |publisher=Toronto |oclc=35119343}}</ref>
* [[Speedwriting]] (Emma Dearborn)<ref>{{citation |last=Dearborn |first=Emma B |year=1927 |title=Speedwriting, the natural shorthand |publisher=Brief English systems, inc. |oclc=4791648}}</ref>
* [[Teeline Shorthand]] ([[James Hill (stenographer)|James Hill]])<ref>{{citation |last=Hill |first=James |year=1968 |title=Teeline: a method of fast writing |publisher=London, Heinemann Educational |oclc=112342}}</ref>
* [[Tironian notae|Tironian notes]] ([[Marcus Tullius Tiro]])<ref name=Mitzschke1882>{{citation |last1=Mitzschke |first1=Paul Gottfried |year=1882 |title=Biography of the father of stenography, Marcus Tullius Tiro. Together with the Latin letter, "De notis," concerning the origin of shorthand |last2=Lipsius |first2=Justus |last3=Heffley |first3=Norman P |publisher=Brooklyn, N.Y |oclc=11943552}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{Portal|Writing}}
{{div col}}
* [[Abbreviation]]
* [[Autocomplete]]
* [[Breviograph]]
* [[Captioned telephone]]
* [[Closed captioning]]
* [[Court reporter]]
* [[Internet slang]]
* [[Interpreting notes]]
* [[Modi script]]
* [[Quikscript]]
* [[Shavian alphabet]]
* [[Speech-to-text reporter]]
* [[Stenomask]]
* [[Stenotype]]
* [[Transcript (law)]]
{{div col end}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* Keyscript Shorthand: {{URL|https://keyscriptshorthand.com/}} & {{URL|http://keyscriptshorthand2.website3.me}}
* {{Commons category-inline}}
* {{Wiktionary-inline}}
* [http://cdm15457.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/search/collection/p15457coll1/searchterm//field/all/mode/all/conn/and/order/title/ad/asc The Louis A. Leslie Collection of Historical Shorthand Materials at Rider University] – materials for download

{{European calligraphy}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Shorthand systems| ]]
[[Category:Stenographers| ]]
[[Category:Transcription (linguistics)]]
[[Category:Western calligraphy]]
[[Category:Occupations]]