Speedwriting

Speed ​​Writing is an abbreviation font, the shortened letter of conventional cursive ( longhand ) used and achieves a further reduction by a variety of reduction rules.

Formation

Last letters

Last letters

This Abbreviaturschrift was invented around 1924 by the US-American Emma Dearborn, a high school teacher at the University of Chicago. This document version can be written not only by hand but also with the typewriter, because all the characters are available on the keyboard. From 1941 the font has been revised by the American Dr. Alexander L. Sheff large scale and widespread. In 1949 she received then for the English language its final form and published under the title " Speedwriting ABC shorthand ". Sheffs version, which can be used because of the sign changes only in manuscript form, but is more powerful, is very different from Dearborn font. Were also made adjustments for other languages ​​, such as the Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Flemish language and in Afrikaans.

In 1965 for the German language an adaptation of Alfred Gross, the head of Benedict language school in Dortmund under the name " ABC shorthand speed writing". The reduction rules are aligned with the stenographic reduction principles. With writing speed to 140 to 180 syllables per minute can be achieved. The font has both the English-speaking parent system as well as in the adaptation of the German language a fairly extensive set of rules, resulting in a high learning curve means.

The alphabet of Abbreviaturschrift Speedwriting uses the partially modified alpha characters exclusively from the longhand. There is no mixing with own stenographic characters, such as in the German note font.

Reductions in the German adaptation

There are a large number of contractions. The arrival and spreads long written letters are omitted, as head loops on letters in word-initial and word-final letters in Fußschleifen. The dots on i and j and the cross of the t omitted. The F is used in some Stenografiesystemen (eg Stiefografie ) for V. The Mitlautfolge chs pronunciation is under represented by x. The letter m will receive a special form. Basically, nouns and proper names - written only small - as usual in all shorthand systems. Reduced capital letters are used only as additional shortcuts. Letters that are dispensable for the re- readability, such as simple vowels in the word inside and also the second vowel in a vowel sequence, omitted. The diphthongs ei, ai, eu and AEU be replaced by y. Instead ch to write only h, instead of sch only c. The comma is used for st, stands on the base line and is connected to the next letter. Nachlaut -st is deposed and placed under the writing line, which, however, makes special rules for some punctuation required. To B, CH, F, G, L, k and p Nachlaut T may be omitted. The sound sequences tz, protected, ts, zt and tze in final position are replaced by z.

Contraction

For the most common words, prefixes and suffixes, there are shortcuts; each word consists of only one or a few small or capital letters. The point is for " the ", " the " ( in plural underscore the point ), "this " and " that " is used; this shows - as well as at other locations in the German adaptation - the influence of the American parent system: point for the only English Gender word "the ". Overall, the abbreviation shortcuts for directory has 177 words with 230 meanings. In addition, there are special forms for greetings, directions, phrases, etc. The abbreviation selection on the frequency of words aimed at the German adaptation of Speedwriting more like American frequency statistics. Some shortcuts have on as well as many short writings, multiple meaning; in Speedwriting eg da = you = know, it = it for = against, opposite = good, have (t ) = has = today, I = in = in, can come = (e, s, t); the development is carried out by the sentence context.

Punctuation mark

Since the point for various shortcut is already taken, the sentence final point is replaced by a right- angled slash (new paragraph two slashes ). Because of the use of the comma for the decimal point st in use as punctuation by strikethrough is (also applies to semi-colon) indicated.

Textbook

The German Speedwriting adaptation of Alfred Gross consists of five learning and practice books of 58 pages (Book with dictation texts) to 169 pages ( dictionary ) for each band. The lessons could be obtained only teachers who were authorized by Deutsche Speedwriting headquarters. A distance education was offered. The remote students had to undertake not to distribute for educational purposes to third parties, the teaching materials.