Shorthand

Shorthand

Lecture notes take time to write down if you do not have a shorthand system. For instance, instead of writing 'the', you might write t' because your pen can do that a lot quicker.

Some people use the first 4 letters of a word but remove vowels from the rest of it; they hope to write their notes out neatly later but, in the meantime, this way, they can write notes at the speed that the lecturer is giving notes.

Beyond those techniques is the idea of learning several shorthand ways of writing common grammatical words which frequently occur in sentences. I set out to do that also. I tried to use letter pairs and letter-digit codes to represent common grammatical words. In this way, my writing time could be reduced. Also, I have developed a memory system for actually memorising paragraph text: using images from my AA-ZZ alphabet pair library, etc.. [see the 'Memorising Text' article]

The NakedScience.com Shorthand System by Michael Curtis

why	0	PEU
how	1	DEU
because	2	BEU
what	3	CEU
to	4	TEU
where	5	MEU
or	6	REU
when	7	SEU
and	8	GEU
if	9	FEU
a / an	A	A
always	AA	AA
about	AB	AB
add	AD	AD
above	AE	AE
after	AF	AF
again	AG	AG
anyhow	AH	AH
aim	AI	AI
ask	AK	AK
all	AL	AL
anyone	AO	AO
able	AP	AP
are	AR	AR
as	AS	AS
at	AT	AT
or	AU	AU
avoid	AV	AV
anywhere	AW	AW
away	AY	AY
so	B	B
best	B0	BAY
beneath	B1	BEE
buy	B3	BIE
bad	B5	BOO
before	B7	BAU
back	BA	BA
become	BC	BC
behind	BD	BD
because of	BE	BE
being	BG	BG
behave	BH	BH
big	BI	BI
below	BL	BL
bottom	BM	BM
been	BN	BN
both	BO	BO
borrow	BR	BR
bit	BT	BT
but	BU	BU
believe	BV	BV
between	BW	BW
her	C	C
carry	C0	CAY
clear	C1	CEE
call	C3	CIE
change	C5	COO
cause	C7	CAU
can	CA	CA
concern	CC	CC
could	CD	CD
correct	CE	CE
choose	CH	CH
certain	CI	CI
can	CN	CN
contain	CO	CO
compare	CP	CP
care	CR	CR
consider	CS	CS
come	CU	CU
these	D	D
day	D0	DAY
decide	D1	DEE
die	D3	DIE
do	D5	DOO
doubt	D7	DAU
during	DA	DA
direct	DC	DC
did	DD	DD
depend	DE	DE
differ [maybe different also]	DF	DF
doing	DG	DG
difficult	DI	DI
done	DN	DN
do	DO	DO
direction	DR	DR
Due [meanings: pending/due to]	DU	DU
down	DW	DW
they	E	E
everything	EB	EB
either	EC	EC
ever	ED	ED
effect	EF	EF
every	EG	EG
enter	EM	EM
end	EN	EN
each	EP	EP
enough	ER	ER
easy	ES	ES
else	ET	ET
everywhere	EW	EW
exclude	EX	EX
this	F	F
far	F0	FAY
fear	F1	FEE
find	F3	FIE
few	F5	FOO
for	F7	FAU
fact	FA	FA
feel	FE	FE
favour	FI	FI
from	FM	FM
follow	FO	FO
further	FR	FR
front	FT	FT
future	FU	FU
favourite	FV	FV
something	G	G
great	G0	GAY
greet	G1	GEE
grow	G3	GIE
good	G5	GOO
group	G7	GAU
gone	GA	GA
went	GD [go-ed']	GD ['GO-ED']
get	GE	GE
give	GI	GI
general	GN	GN
go	GO	GO
got	GT	GT
guess	GU	GU
he [/him]	H	H
had	H0	HAY
here	H1	HEE
hard	H3	HIE
happen	H5	HOO
high	H7	HAU
have	HA	HA
happy	HE	HE
hardly	HI	HI
hold	HL	HL
however	HO	HO
help	HP	HP
hear	HR	HR
hope	HU	HU
I or me	I	I
imagine	IA	IA
inform	IB	IB
important	IC	IC
idea	ID	ID
I've	IF	IF
are there	IG	IG
inside	II	II
I'm	IM	IM
in	IN	IN
intend / intent/ intention	IO	IO
I'll	IP	IP
into	IR	IR
is	IS	IS
it	IT	IT
involve	IV	IV
that	J	J
journey	J1	JEE
job	J2	JE
better	J3	JIE
jump	J4	JI
angle	J5	JOO
stage	J7	JAU
already	J9	JA
join	JO	JO
just	JU	JU
your	K	K
key	K0	KAY
keep	K1	KEE
know	K2	KE
kind	K3	KIE
knew	K5	KOO
almost	K7	KAU
anything	K8	KU
anybody	K9	KA
kill	KI	KI
his	L	L
large	L0	LAY
leave	L1	LEE
lie	L3	LIE
let	L5	LOO
likely	L7	LAU
last	LA	LA
like	LE	LE
left	LF	LF
little	LI	LI
look	LK	LK
limit	LM	LM
lend	LN	LN
lot	LO	LO
listen	LS	LS
late	LU	LU
level	LV	LV
those	M	M
may	M0	MAY
mean	M1	MEE
my	M3	MIE
maybe	M5	MOO
more	M7	MAU
many	MA	MA
me	ME	ME
much	MH	MH
main	MI	MI
major	MJ	MJ
make	MK	MK
most	MO	MO
measure	MS	MS
might	MT	MT
must	MU	MU
move	MV	MV
no / not	N	N
nature	N0	NAY
need	N1	NEE
never	N3	NIE
new	N5	NOO
note	N7	NAU
now	NA	NA
number	NB	NB
include	NC	NC
next	NE	NE
negative	NG	NG
neither	NH	NH
near	NI	NI
name	NM	NM
none	NN	NN
nor	NR	NR
nothing	NU	NU
nowhere	NW	NW
nobody	NY	NY
other	O	O
opinion	O2	OB
only	O3	OC
outside	O4	OI
once	O5	OM
out	O7	OS
odd	OD	OD
one	OE	OE
of	OF	OF
off	OG	OG
OK	OK	OK
old	OL	OL
opposite	OP	OP
order	OR	OR
onto	OT	OT
over	OV	OV
owe	OW	OW
it is	P	P
pay	P0	PAY
perhaps	P1	PEE
piece	P3	PIE
place	P4	PI
put	P5	POO
poor	P7	PAU
part	PA	PA
problem	PB	PB
person	PE	PE
point	PN	PN
possible	PO	PO
purpose	PU	PU
positive	PV	PV
any	Q	Q
could have	Q0	QAY
are a	Q1	QI
is the	Q1	QEE
is a	Q2	QE
quite	Q3	QIE
are the	Q5	QOO
can the	Q6	QO
could the	Q7	QAU
could you	Q9	QA
quick	QK	QK
question	QU	QU
another	R	R
right	R0	RAY
reach	R1	REE
ready	R3	RIE
regular	R5	ROO
around	R6	RD
rest	R7	RAU
rather	RA	RA
relate	RE	RE
refer	RF	RF
regard	RG	RG
reason	RI	RI
real	RL	RL
remember	RM	RM
result	RO	RO
respect	RS	RS
return	RT	RT
run	RU	RU
reverse	RV	RV
really	RY	RY
some	S	S
say	S0	SAY
see	S1	SEE
show	S3	SIE
soon	S5	SOO
shall	S7	SAU
same	SA	SA
somebody	SB	SB
success	SC	SC
should	SD	SD
specific	SE	SE
safe	SF	SF
sign	SG	SG
somehow	SH	SH
since	SI	SI
subject	SJ	SJ
sell	SL	SL
still	SL	SL
similar	SM	SM
someone	SN	SN
so	SO	SO
stop	SP	SP
start	SR	SR
sense	SS	SS
sometimes	ST	ST
such	SU	SU
somewhere	SW	SW
size	SZ	SZ
it	T	T
take	T0	TAY
True	T1	TEE
type	T3	TIE
too	T5	TOO
talk	T7	TAU
than	TA	TA
two	TE	TE
thing	TG	TG
then	TI	TI
think	TK	TK
tell	TL	TL
time	TM	TM
to	TO	TO
top	TP	TP
times	TS	TS
try	TU	TU
typical	TY	TY
our	U	U
act	U9	UA
unknown	UB	UB
unless	UC	UC
understand	UD	UD
use	UE	UE
useful	UF	UF
usual	UG	UG
unusual	UM	UM
up	UP	UP
under	UR	UR
us	US	US
until	UT	UT
usually	UY	UY
the	V	V
various	V0	VAY
variety	V1	VEE
view	V3	VIE
do you	V5	VOO
did the	V7	VAU
value	VA	VA
very	VE	VE
visit	VI	VI
do the	VO	VO
does the	VU	VU
we [/us]	W	W
way	W0	WAY
we	W1	WEE
why	W3	WIE
wish	W5	WOO
work	W7	WAU
whereas	WA	WA
which	WC	WC
would	WD	WD
we	WE	WE
wrong	WG	WG
whether	WH	WH
with	WI	WI
will	WL	WL
want	WO	WO
word	WR	WR
was	WS	WS
without	WT	WT
wonder	WU	WU
will the	WV	WV
while	WY	WY
there	X	X
their or theirs	X0	XAY
there is	X1	XEE
there are	X2	XE
there was	X3	XIE
there will	X4	XI
there would	X5	XOO
there should	X7	XAU
there has	X8	XU
there was a	X9	XA
there has been	XB	XB
there can	XC	XC
there had	XH	XH
there needs	XN	XN
there could	XO	XO
you	Y	Y
yes	Y0	YAY
yet	Y1	YEE
you'd	Y3	YIE
you'll	Y4	YI
you	Y5	YOO
you're	Y7	YAU
you've	Y9	YA
yesterday	YE	YE
yourself	YF	YF
are you ...	YO	YO
yours	YS	YS
young	YU	YU
too	Z	Z
who	Z0	ZAY
whom	Z1	ZEE
whose	Z2	ZE
was a	Z3	ZIE
was the	Z4	ZI
according	Z5	ZOO
also	Z6	ZO
would the	Z7	ZAU
were the	Z8	ZU
although	Z9	ZA

The shorthand system was adjusted in August 2007 to allow images which represent 2 words. This was done by considering that the images for 00, 01, 02, ... 98, 99 [00 to 99] could all represent a pair of words if the first digit occurs in a list of 10 words and the second digit occurs in another list of 10 words:

First digit represents these possibilities:

0 you

1 he

2 she

3 we

4 they

5 it

6 I

7 this / which

8 that / what

9 there / where

Second digit represents these possibilities:

0 is / are

1 has / have

2 want

3 had

4 can

5 could

6 will

7 should

8 would

9 were

So, 23 is 'she' followed by 'had': 'she had'.

94 is 'there / where' followed by 'can': 'there can' or 'where can' [deduced from the context].

Another adaption is to allow a digit and a letter to represent 2 words; the intention is to create an image library to represent 0A, 3D, and so on [a digit followed by a letter].

First digit represents these possibilities:

0 why / from

1 how

2 because / with

3 what

4 to

5 where

6 or / through

7 when / on / in

8 and

9 if / of / by

The letter represents these possibilities:

A a / an

B so / such

C she / her

D these

E they / them

F this

G something

H he / her

I I / me

J that

K your / you're

L his

M those

N no / not

O other

P its / it's

Q any

R another

S some

T it

U our

V the

W we / us

X their / there/ they are

Y you

Z to / too

9R is 'if / of / by' followed by 'another':

'if another'; or

'of another'; or

'by another'

[deduced from the context]

If I refer to this shorthand system elsewhere in the course then I might be referring to a previous version; and that would perhaps explain any differences in the versions. This current version attempts to fit the shorthand system with ideas I had for an artificial language - hence the change.

By coincidence, in April 2007, I learned of the Gardiner system for representing hieroglyphs. It uses codes like A1 and A2. So, I resolved to build an image system for representing such codes by using images inspired by Egyptian hieroglyphs. But, as a memoriser of words, you can use a system which makes sense to you.

Lexical Necklace

Imagine stringing a necklace with beads where different bead types represent shorthand words or alphabet letters. By reading the beads across the string, you can reconstruct a message - and may have been a popular device before the popularity of portable paper.

Later in the course, you will learn the 'peg' method of memorising images in sequence. In that way, you can make a string of ideas and reproduce sentences from memory.

Further Reading

Inca quipu - An article about necklaces containing meaning.