Forkner shorthand
Encyclopedia
Forkner Shorthand is an alphabetic shorthand
created by Hamden L. Forkner
and first published in 1952. Its popularity grew to its apex in the 60s through the 80s as those who needed shorthand every day (such as secretaries) began to favor the lower learning curve of alphabetic systems to the more difficult (but faster) symbol-based ones. Forkner was taught in high-schools throughout the country with comparable shorthands such as AlphaHand, Speedwriting
, and Personal Shorthand
. Courses have since ceased, as popular interest in shorthand has waned, but manuals and dictionaries are still readily available on auction and second-hand book sites.
which rely instead on the spelling of the word. The letters used are almost exclusively lower-case, being written from left to right and joined in a standard cursive hand. Capital letters are used to represent special word prefixes, and can optionally be written detached from the word, such as T for the prefix trans-.
The way Forkner represents vowels is unique among alphabetic systems. Instead of using only ordinary cursive forms, the vowels a/i/o/u are reduced to ticks or apostrophe-like strokes written after the body of word has been made, over or under the letters by which they occur. Ordinary cursive vowels are reserved for long e/i, diphthong
s (e.g., o for ow/ou), or as affix
es (e.g., u for under-).
Forkner makes use of several standard shorthand features to gain additional speed: brief forms, common abbreviations, and phrasing. Brief forms are essentially shortened versions of frequent words or words potentially encountered in business letters. They are not always immediately transparent to the untrained reader, such as Db for distribute. Brief forms are used in conjunction with more commonly known abbreviations, like those for the days of the week, which, while Forkner shorthand presumes the student knows and will use, are listed anyway throughout the learning materials.
The shorter brief forms (one or two letters) that follow each other in a sentence are joined together as though they were one word; this is known as phrasing. Those familiar with Gregg
or Pitman Shorthand
will recognize this feature: operating on the philosophy that the time taken to repeatedly lift the pen between short words is wasted, the words in a group such as "will you be able" are compacted into one word. Though it may sound confusing, it is always clear to the transcriber what is meant, both through context and the words most commonly found in phrases, such as "please" (p), "be" (b), "good" (q), etc.
Punctuation is fairly similar to the ordinary longhand equivalents. A period is a dot, a comma is a comma in a circle to distinguish it from the vowel a, and a question mark is simply ? without the dot. New paragraphs are indicated with double bars ||. Capital letters are marked with a small check-mark placed under the last letter of the word.
Speeds in Forkner are on the higher end of those generally seen in alphabetic systems. Because of the numerous time- and stroke-saving features of the system, speeds of 100wpm and even higher are possible, though probably not for extended periods of dictation.
Shorthand
Shorthand is an abbreviated symbolic writing method that increases speed or brevity of writing as compared to a normal method of writing a language. The process of writing in shorthand is called stenography, from the Greek stenos and graphē or graphie...
created by Hamden L. Forkner
Hamden L. Forkner
Hamden L. Forkner was an American educator and writer who created Future Business Leaders of America, an educational organization for high school and college students, and developed the Forkner shorthand system for taking dictation....
and first published in 1952. Its popularity grew to its apex in the 60s through the 80s as those who needed shorthand every day (such as secretaries) began to favor the lower learning curve of alphabetic systems to the more difficult (but faster) symbol-based ones. Forkner was taught in high-schools throughout the country with comparable shorthands such as AlphaHand, Speedwriting
Speedwriting
Speedwriting is a shorthand writing system developed in 1924 by Emma Dearborn, an instructor at the University of Chicago. It uses alphabetic characters and was originally designed so that it could be written by pen, or on a typewriter....
, and Personal Shorthand
Personal Shorthand
Personal Shorthand, originally known as Briefhand in the 1950s, is a completely alphabetic shorthand.There are three basic categories of written shorthand. Best known are pure symbol shorthand systems...
. Courses have since ceased, as popular interest in shorthand has waned, but manuals and dictionaries are still readily available on auction and second-hand book sites.
Writing
The body of letters are, as in many alphabetic systems like it, simplified versions of cursive letters. It is largely phonetic, relying on the sounds actually spoken, unlike others such as Teeline or Personal ShorthandPersonal Shorthand
Personal Shorthand, originally known as Briefhand in the 1950s, is a completely alphabetic shorthand.There are three basic categories of written shorthand. Best known are pure symbol shorthand systems...
which rely instead on the spelling of the word. The letters used are almost exclusively lower-case, being written from left to right and joined in a standard cursive hand. Capital letters are used to represent special word prefixes, and can optionally be written detached from the word, such as T for the prefix trans-.
The way Forkner represents vowels is unique among alphabetic systems. Instead of using only ordinary cursive forms, the vowels a/i/o/u are reduced to ticks or apostrophe-like strokes written after the body of word has been made, over or under the letters by which they occur. Ordinary cursive vowels are reserved for long e/i, diphthong
Diphthong
A diphthong , also known as a gliding vowel, refers to two adjacent vowel sounds occurring within the same syllable. Technically, a diphthong is a vowel with two different targets: That is, the tongue moves during the pronunciation of the vowel...
s (e.g., o for ow/ou), or as affix
Affix
An affix is a morpheme that is attached to a word stem to form a new word. Affixes may be derivational, like English -ness and pre-, or inflectional, like English plural -s and past tense -ed. They are bound morphemes by definition; prefixes and suffixes may be separable affixes...
es (e.g., u for under-).
Forkner makes use of several standard shorthand features to gain additional speed: brief forms, common abbreviations, and phrasing. Brief forms are essentially shortened versions of frequent words or words potentially encountered in business letters. They are not always immediately transparent to the untrained reader, such as Db for distribute. Brief forms are used in conjunction with more commonly known abbreviations, like those for the days of the week, which, while Forkner shorthand presumes the student knows and will use, are listed anyway throughout the learning materials.
The shorter brief forms (one or two letters) that follow each other in a sentence are joined together as though they were one word; this is known as phrasing. Those familiar with Gregg
Gregg Shorthand
Gregg shorthand is a form of stenography that was invented by John Robert Gregg in 1888. Like cursive longhand, it is completely based on elliptical figures and lines that bisect them. Gregg shorthand is the most popular form of pen stenography in the United States and its Spanish adaptation is...
or Pitman Shorthand
Pitman Shorthand
Pitman shorthand is a system of shorthand for the English language developed by Englishman Sir Isaac Pitman , who first presented it in 1837. Like most systems of shorthand, it is a phonetic system; the symbols do not represent letters, but rather sounds, and words are, for the most part, written...
will recognize this feature: operating on the philosophy that the time taken to repeatedly lift the pen between short words is wasted, the words in a group such as "will you be able" are compacted into one word. Though it may sound confusing, it is always clear to the transcriber what is meant, both through context and the words most commonly found in phrases, such as "please" (p), "be" (b), "good" (q), etc.
Punctuation is fairly similar to the ordinary longhand equivalents. A period is a dot, a comma is a comma in a circle to distinguish it from the vowel a, and a question mark is simply ? without the dot. New paragraphs are indicated with double bars ||. Capital letters are marked with a small check-mark placed under the last letter of the word.
Speeds in Forkner are on the higher end of those generally seen in alphabetic systems. Because of the numerous time- and stroke-saving features of the system, speeds of 100wpm and even higher are possible, though probably not for extended periods of dictation.
See also
- Alpha Hand
- Briefhand/Personal Shorthand
- Gregg ShorthandGregg ShorthandGregg shorthand is a form of stenography that was invented by John Robert Gregg in 1888. Like cursive longhand, it is completely based on elliptical figures and lines that bisect them. Gregg shorthand is the most popular form of pen stenography in the United States and its Spanish adaptation is...
- Pitman ShorthandPitman ShorthandPitman shorthand is a system of shorthand for the English language developed by Englishman Sir Isaac Pitman , who first presented it in 1837. Like most systems of shorthand, it is a phonetic system; the symbols do not represent letters, but rather sounds, and words are, for the most part, written...
- ShorthandShorthandShorthand is an abbreviated symbolic writing method that increases speed or brevity of writing as compared to a normal method of writing a language. The process of writing in shorthand is called stenography, from the Greek stenos and graphē or graphie...
- SpeedwritingSpeedwritingSpeedwriting is a shorthand writing system developed in 1924 by Emma Dearborn, an instructor at the University of Chicago. It uses alphabetic characters and was originally designed so that it could be written by pen, or on a typewriter....
- Teeline