Pitman Shorthand
Encyclopedia
Pitman shorthand is a system of shorthand
for the English language
developed by Englishman
Sir Isaac Pitman
(1813–1897), 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 as they are spoken. , Pitman shorthand was the most popular shorthand system used in the United Kingdom
and the second most popular in the United States
.
One characteristic feature of Pitman shorthand is that unvoiced and voiced
pairs of sounds (such as /p/ and /b/ or /t/ and /d/) are represented by strokes which differ only in thickness; the thin stroke representing 'light' sounds such as /p/ and /t/; the thick stroke representing 'heavy' sounds such as /b/ and /d/. Doing this requires a writing instrument which is responsive to the user's drawing pressure: specialist fountain pen
s (with fine, flexible nibs) were originally used, but pencil
s are now more commonly used.
Pitman shorthand uses straight strokes and quarter-circle strokes, in various orientations, to represent consonant
sounds. The predominant way of indicating vowel
s is to use light or heavy dots, dashes, or other special marks drawn close to the consonant. Vowels are drawn before the stroke (or over a horizontal stroke) if the vowel is pronounced ahead of the consonant, or drawn after the stroke (or under a horizontal stroke) if pronounced after. Each vowel, whether indicated by a dot for a short vowel, or by a dash or a longer, more drawn-out vowel, has its own position relative to its adjacent stroke (beginning, middle, or end) to indicate different vowel-sounds in an unambiguous system. However, to increase writing-speed, rules of "vowel indication" exist whereby the consonant stroke is raised, kept on the line, or lowered to match whether the first vowel of the word is written at the beginning, middle, or end of a consonant stroke—without actually writing the vowel. This is often enough to distinguish words with similar consonant-patterns. Another method of vowel-indication is to choose between a choice of different strokes for the same consonant. The sound "R" has two kinds of strokes: round, or straight-line, depending on whether there is a vowel-sound before or after the R.
There have been several versions of Pitman's shorthand since 1837. The original Pitman's shorthand had an "alphabet" of consonants which was later modified. Additional modifications and rules were added to successive versions. Pitman New Era (1922–1975) had the most developed set of rules and abbreviation lists. Pitman 2000 (1975–present) introduced some simplifications and drastically reduced the list of abbreviations to reduce the memory-load, officially reduced to a list of 144 short forms. The later versions dropped certain symbols and introduced other simplifications to earlier versions. For example, strokes "rer" (heavy curved downstroke) and "kway", (hooked horizontal straight stroke) are present in Pitman's New Era, but not in Pitman's 2000.
's system for seven years, but his symbols bear greater similarity to the older Byrom
system. The first phonetician
to invent a system of shorthand, Pitman used similar-looking symbols for phonetically related sounds. He was the first to use thickness of a stroke to indicate voicing (voiced consonants such as /b/ and /d/ are written with heavier lines than unvoiced ones such as /p/ and /t/), and consonants with similar place of articulation
were orientated in similar directions, with straight lines for plosives and arcs for fricatives. For example, the dental and alveolar
consonants are upright: "|" = /t/, "|" = /d/, ")" = /s/, ")" = /z/, "(" = /θ/ (as in thigh), "(" = /ð/ (as in thy).
Pitman's brother Benjamin Pitman
settled in Cincinnati, Ohio
in the United States, and introduced Pitman's system there. He used it in the 1865–67 trial of the conspirators behind the assassination of Abraham Lincoln
. In Australia
the system was introduced by another Pitman brother, Jacob. Jacob Pitman is buried in Sydney's Rookwood Necropolis, in Australia. The epitaph is written phonetically.
At one time, Pitman was the most commonly used shorthand system in the entire English-speaking world. Part of its popularity was due to the fact that it was the first subject taught by correspondence course. Today in many regions (especially the U.S.), it has been superseded by Gregg shorthand
, developed by John Robert Gregg
. Teeline has become more common in recent years, as it is based on spelling, rather than pronunciation.
, Pitman shorthand is phonetic; with the exception of abbreviated shapes called logograms, words are written exactly as they are pronounced. There are twenty-four consonants that can be represented in Pitman's shorthand, twelve vowels and four diphthong
s. The consonants are indicated by strokes, the vowels by interposed dots.
The consonants in Pitman's shorthand are pronounced pee, bee, tee, dee, chay, jay, kay, gay, eff, vee, ith, thee, es, zee, ish, zhee, em, en, ing, el, ar, ray, way, yay, and hay. When both an unvoiced consonant and its corresponding voiced consonant are present in this system, the distinction is made by drawing the stroke for the voiced consonant thicker than the one for the unvoiced consonant. (Thus, s is ")", whereas z is ")".) There are two strokes for r: ar and ray. The former assumes the form of the top right-hand quarter of a circle, whereas the latter is like chay (/), only less steep. There are rules governing when to use each of these forms.
, and the short vowels may be remembered by the sentence, "That pen is not much good" /ðæt pɛn ɪz nɒt mʌt͡ʃ ɡʊd/.
A vowel is represented by a dot or a dash, which can be written either lightly or heavily depending on the vowel needed. As this only gives four symbols, they can be written in three different positions - either at the beginning, middle or end of a consonant stroke - to represent the 12 vowels.
The dots and dashes representing long vowels are darker than the ones representing short vowels. For example, say is written as ")•", but seh (if it did exist) would be written as ")·"; see is written as ").", but sih (if there were such a word) would be written as ").".
Another feature of Pitman's shorthand allows most vowels to be omitted in order to speed up the process of writing. As mentioned above, each vowel is written next to the consonant stroke at the beginning, middle or end of the stroke. Pitman's shorthand is designed to be written on lined paper and when a word's first vowel is a "first position" vowel (i.e. it is written at the beginning of the stroke), the whole shorthand outline for the word is written above the paper's ruled line. When it is a second position vowel, the outline is written on the line. And when it is a third position vowel it is written through the line. In this way, the position of the outline indicates that the first vowel can only be one of four possibilities. In most cases, this means that the first and often all the other vowels can be omitted entirely.
There are four diphthongs in Pitman's shorthand, representing aɪ/, /ɔɪ/, /aʊ/, /juː, as in the words "I enjoy Gow's music." The first three appear as small checkmarks; the "ew" sound is written as a small arch. Both "ie" and "oi" are written in first position, while "ow" and "ew" are written in third position. And in the same way, the whole outline is placed above, on or through the paper's ruled line. If the diphthong is followed by a neutral vowel, a little flick is added.
Loops:The loops are of two sizes - small and big. The small loop represents 'st' & 'sd' (cost and based) - pronounced stee loop. The big loop represents 'ster' (master and masterpiece). 'ster' loop does not come in the beginning of a word (sterling).
Small hooks
Shun hook
The shun hook is written on the right hand side of a simple t, d or j.
To represent the sound s-shun as in sessation, decision, musician etc. you write a small circle and continue round to form a small hook.
Other hooks
a final "t" or "d". The halving principle may be combined with an initial or final hook (or both) to make words such as "trained" appear as a single short vertical light stroke with an initial and final hook. There are some exceptions to avoid ambiguous forms: a straight-r stroke can't be halved if it's the only syllable, because that might be confused for some other short-form (logogram) consisting of a short-stroke mark in that direction ("and" or "should").
Doubling of curved strokes:If ter, der, ture, ther, dher comes in the word the preceding stroke is written double the size (matter, nature, mother). There are exceptions to avoid ambiguous forms: for example, "leader" is not written as a doubled-l but as l plus a hooked-d representing "dr".
Doubling of straight strokes:Doubling principle has an exception when 'ter' et al., is preceded by only a straight stroke. Doubling is not employed in that case (cadre). If it has more than stroke before 'ter' et al., or has hook in the end then doubling principle is employed (tender).
's novels 'Emergence' and 'Tracking' purportedly writes her journals in Pitman Shorthand, declaring it the "best, potentially fastest, most versatile of various pen systems".
The Vogons in the 2005 movie version of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
use a blockier form of Pitman 2000.
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...
for the English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
developed by Englishman
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
Sir Isaac Pitman
Isaac Pitman
Sir Isaac Pitman , knighted in 1894, developed the most widely used system of shorthand, known now as Pitman shorthand. He first proposed this in Stenographic Soundhand in 1837. Pitman was a qualified teacher and taught at a private school he founded in Wotton-under-Edge...
(1813–1897), 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 as they are spoken. , Pitman shorthand was the most popular shorthand system used in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and the second most popular in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
One characteristic feature of Pitman shorthand is that unvoiced and voiced
VOICED
Virtual Organization for Innovative Conceptual Engineering Design is a virtual organization that promotes innovation in engineering design. This project is the collaborative work of researchers at five universities across the United States, and is funded by the National Science Foundation...
pairs of sounds (such as /p/ and /b/ or /t/ and /d/) are represented by strokes which differ only in thickness; the thin stroke representing 'light' sounds such as /p/ and /t/; the thick stroke representing 'heavy' sounds such as /b/ and /d/. Doing this requires a writing instrument which is responsive to the user's drawing pressure: specialist fountain pen
Fountain pen
A fountain pen is a nib pen that, unlike its predecessor the dip pen, contains an internal reservoir of water-based liquid ink. The pen draws ink from the reservoir through a feed to the nib and deposits it on paper via a combination of gravity and capillary action...
s (with fine, flexible nibs) were originally used, but pencil
Pencil
A pencil is a writing implement or art medium usually constructed of a narrow, solid pigment core inside a protective casing. The case prevents the core from breaking, and also from marking the user’s hand during use....
s are now more commonly used.
Pitman shorthand uses straight strokes and quarter-circle strokes, in various orientations, to represent consonant
Consonant
In articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the vocal tract. Examples are , pronounced with the lips; , pronounced with the front of the tongue; , pronounced with the back of the tongue; , pronounced in the throat; and ,...
sounds. The predominant way of indicating vowel
Vowel
In phonetics, a vowel is a sound in spoken language, such as English ah! or oh! , pronounced with an open vocal tract so that there is no build-up of air pressure at any point above the glottis. This contrasts with consonants, such as English sh! , where there is a constriction or closure at some...
s is to use light or heavy dots, dashes, or other special marks drawn close to the consonant. Vowels are drawn before the stroke (or over a horizontal stroke) if the vowel is pronounced ahead of the consonant, or drawn after the stroke (or under a horizontal stroke) if pronounced after. Each vowel, whether indicated by a dot for a short vowel, or by a dash or a longer, more drawn-out vowel, has its own position relative to its adjacent stroke (beginning, middle, or end) to indicate different vowel-sounds in an unambiguous system. However, to increase writing-speed, rules of "vowel indication" exist whereby the consonant stroke is raised, kept on the line, or lowered to match whether the first vowel of the word is written at the beginning, middle, or end of a consonant stroke—without actually writing the vowel. This is often enough to distinguish words with similar consonant-patterns. Another method of vowel-indication is to choose between a choice of different strokes for the same consonant. The sound "R" has two kinds of strokes: round, or straight-line, depending on whether there is a vowel-sound before or after the R.
There have been several versions of Pitman's shorthand since 1837. The original Pitman's shorthand had an "alphabet" of consonants which was later modified. Additional modifications and rules were added to successive versions. Pitman New Era (1922–1975) had the most developed set of rules and abbreviation lists. Pitman 2000 (1975–present) introduced some simplifications and drastically reduced the list of abbreviations to reduce the memory-load, officially reduced to a list of 144 short forms. The later versions dropped certain symbols and introduced other simplifications to earlier versions. For example, strokes "rer" (heavy curved downstroke) and "kway", (hooked horizontal straight stroke) are present in Pitman's New Era, but not in Pitman's 2000.
History
Pitman was asked to create a shorthand system of his own in 1837. He had used Samuel TaylorSamuel Taylor (stenographer)
Samuel Taylor was the British inventor of a widely-used system of stenography.He began working on his own method of stenography in 1773, based on earlier efforts. In 1786, he published An essay intended to establish à standard for an universal system of Stenography, or Short-hand writing, the...
's system for seven years, but his symbols bear greater similarity to the older Byrom
John Byrom
John Byrom or John Byrom of Kersal or John Byrom of Manchester FRS was an English poet and inventor of a revolutionary system of shorthand. He is also remembered as the writer of the lyrics of Anglican hymn Christians Awake, salute the happy morn.- Early life :John Byrom was descended from an old...
system. The first phonetician
Phonetics
Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that comprises the study of the sounds of human speech, or—in the case of sign languages—the equivalent aspects of sign. It is concerned with the physical properties of speech sounds or signs : their physiological production, acoustic properties, auditory...
to invent a system of shorthand, Pitman used similar-looking symbols for phonetically related sounds. He was the first to use thickness of a stroke to indicate voicing (voiced consonants such as /b/ and /d/ are written with heavier lines than unvoiced ones such as /p/ and /t/), and consonants with similar place of articulation
Place of articulation
In articulatory phonetics, the place of articulation of a consonant is the point of contact where an obstruction occurs in the vocal tract between an articulatory gesture, an active articulator , and a passive location...
were orientated in similar directions, with straight lines for plosives and arcs for fricatives. For example, the dental and alveolar
Alveolar consonant
Alveolar consonants are articulated with the tongue against or close to the superior alveolar ridge, which is called that because it contains the alveoli of the superior teeth...
consonants are upright: "|" = /t/, "|" = /d/, ")" = /s/, ")" = /z/, "(" = /θ/ (as in thigh), "(" = /ð/ (as in thy).
Pitman's brother Benjamin Pitman
Benjamin Pitman
Benjamin Pitman , also known as Benn Pitman, was an English-born author and popularizer in the United States of Pitman shorthand, a form of what was then called phonography . He was also active in the arts and crafts movement in the United States.-Biography:He was born at Trowbridge, Wiltshire,...
settled in Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
in the United States, and introduced Pitman's system there. He used it in the 1865–67 trial of the conspirators behind the assassination of Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
. In Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
the system was introduced by another Pitman brother, Jacob. Jacob Pitman is buried in Sydney's Rookwood Necropolis, in Australia. The epitaph is written phonetically.
IN MUVING MEMERI OV JACOB PITMAN, BORN NOV. 28, 1810 TROWBRIDGE ENGLAND, SETELD IN ADELAIDE 1838 DEID 12TH MARCH 1890 ARKITEKT INTRODIUST FONETIK SHORTHAND AND WOZ THE FERST MINISTER IN THEEZ KOLONIZ OV THE DOKTRINZ OV THE SEKOND OR NIU KRISTIAN CHURCH WHICH AKNOLEJEZ THE LORD JESUS CHRIST IN HIZ DEVEIN HIUMANITI AZ THE KREATER OV THE YUNIVERS THE REDEEMER AND REJENERATER OV MEN GOD OVER AUL BLESED FOR EVER.
At one time, Pitman was the most commonly used shorthand system in the entire English-speaking world. Part of its popularity was due to the fact that it was the first subject taught by correspondence course. Today in many regions (especially the U.S.), it has been superseded by Gregg shorthand
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...
, developed by John Robert Gregg
John Robert Gregg
John Robert Gregg was an educator, publisher, humanitarian, and the inventor of the eponymous shorthand system Gregg Shorthand.-Childhood:...
. Teeline has become more common in recent years, as it is based on spelling, rather than pronunciation.
Writing
Like Gregg shorthandGregg 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...
, Pitman shorthand is phonetic; with the exception of abbreviated shapes called logograms, words are written exactly as they are pronounced. There are twenty-four consonants that can be represented in Pitman's shorthand, twelve vowels and four 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. The consonants are indicated by strokes, the vowels by interposed dots.
Logograms (Short Forms)
Common words are represented by special outlines called logograms (or "Short Forms" in Pitman's New Era). Words and phrases which have such forms are called grammalogues. Hundreds exist and only a tiny number are shown above. The shapes are written separately to show that they represent distinct words, but in common phrases ("you are", "thank you", etc.) two or three logograms may be joined together, or a final flick added to represent the.Consonants
The consonants in Pitman's shorthand are pronounced pee, bee, tee, dee, chay, jay, kay, gay, eff, vee, ith, thee, es, zee, ish, zhee, em, en, ing, el, ar, ray, way, yay, and hay. When both an unvoiced consonant and its corresponding voiced consonant are present in this system, the distinction is made by drawing the stroke for the voiced consonant thicker than the one for the unvoiced consonant. (Thus, s is ")", whereas z is ")".) There are two strokes for r: ar and ray. The former assumes the form of the top right-hand quarter of a circle, whereas the latter is like chay (/), only less steep. There are rules governing when to use each of these forms.
Vowels
The long vowels in Pitman's shorthand are: /ɑː/, /eɪ/, /iː/, /ɔː/, /oʊ/, and /uː/. The short vowels are /æ/, /ɛ/, /ɪ/, /ɒ/, /ʌ/, and /ʊ/. The long vowels may be remembered by the sentence, "Pa, may we all go too?" /pɑːA vowel is represented by a dot or a dash, which can be written either lightly or heavily depending on the vowel needed. As this only gives four symbols, they can be written in three different positions - either at the beginning, middle or end of a consonant stroke - to represent the 12 vowels.
The dots and dashes representing long vowels are darker than the ones representing short vowels. For example, say is written as ")•", but seh (if it did exist) would be written as ")·"; see is written as ").", but sih (if there were such a word) would be written as ").".
Another feature of Pitman's shorthand allows most vowels to be omitted in order to speed up the process of writing. As mentioned above, each vowel is written next to the consonant stroke at the beginning, middle or end of the stroke. Pitman's shorthand is designed to be written on lined paper and when a word's first vowel is a "first position" vowel (i.e. it is written at the beginning of the stroke), the whole shorthand outline for the word is written above the paper's ruled line. When it is a second position vowel, the outline is written on the line. And when it is a third position vowel it is written through the line. In this way, the position of the outline indicates that the first vowel can only be one of four possibilities. In most cases, this means that the first and often all the other vowels can be omitted entirely.
Diphthongs
There are four diphthongs in Pitman's shorthand, representing aɪ/, /ɔɪ/, /aʊ/, /juː, as in the words "I enjoy Gow's music." The first three appear as small checkmarks; the "ew" sound is written as a small arch. Both "ie" and "oi" are written in first position, while "ow" and "ew" are written in third position. And in the same way, the whole outline is placed above, on or through the paper's ruled line. If the diphthong is followed by a neutral vowel, a little flick is added.
Other shapes
Circles:The circles are of two sizes - small & large. Small circle represents 's' (sing) & 'z' (gaze). Big circle represents 'ses' & 'swa'. If the big circle comes initially in the stroke it represents 'swa' (sweep, but not sway). Elsewhere it represents 'ses' (the vowel in the middle can be any of the vowel or diphthong (crisis, crises & exercise). If the vowel is anything other than 'e' then it must be represented inside the circle.Loops:The loops are of two sizes - small and big. The small loop represents 'st' & 'sd' (cost and based) - pronounced stee loop. The big loop represents 'ster' (master and masterpiece). 'ster' loop does not come in the beginning of a word (sterling).
Small hooks
- At the start. For straight strokes pee, bee, tee, dee, chay, jay, kay and gay the hook comes in both the sides of the stroke. Hook in clockwise direction represents 'r' after the stroke (tray, Nichrome, bigger). Hook in counter-clockwise direction represents 'l' after the stroke (ply, amplify, angle). For curved strokes eff, vee, ith, thee, ish, zhee, em, en, ing the hook is written in before the stroke is written and it represents 'r' after the stroke (other, measure, manner, every).
- At the end. For straight strokes pee, bee, tee, dee, chay, jay, kay and gay the hook comes in both the sides of the stroke. Hook in clockwise direction represents 'en' after the stroke (train, chin, genuine). Hook in counter-clockwise direction represents 'eff' or 'vee' after the stroke (pave, calf, toughen). For curved strokes eff, vee, ith, thee, ish, zhee, em, en, ing the hook is written in after the stroke is written and it represents 'n' after the stroke (men, thin).
Shun hook
The shun hook is written on the right hand side of a simple t, d or j.
- The big hook after any stroke represents 'shun', 'zhun' etc. (fusion, vision).
- For straight strokes with initial circle or loop or hook, the shun hook is written in opposite direction (section). Depression & depletion have shun hooks in different directions.
- For simple straight strokes, the shun hook is written in the direction opposite to the occurrence of the vowel. Caution & auction have shun hooks in different directions.
- For curved strokes, the shun hook is written after the stroke, continuing the curve (motion, notion).
To represent the sound s-shun as in sessation, decision, musician etc. you write a small circle and continue round to form a small hook.
Other hooks
- Big hook for 'wh'. The big hook in the beginning of the stroke way represents 'wh' (whine).
- Hook before ell. The small hook before ell represents 'way' before it (well). The big hook before ell represents 'wh' before it (while).
Halving and doubling
Many strokes (both straight and curved) may be halved in length to denotea final "t" or "d". The halving principle may be combined with an initial or final hook (or both) to make words such as "trained" appear as a single short vertical light stroke with an initial and final hook. There are some exceptions to avoid ambiguous forms: a straight-r stroke can't be halved if it's the only syllable, because that might be confused for some other short-form (logogram) consisting of a short-stroke mark in that direction ("and" or "should").
Doubling of curved strokes:If ter, der, ture, ther, dher comes in the word the preceding stroke is written double the size (matter, nature, mother). There are exceptions to avoid ambiguous forms: for example, "leader" is not written as a doubled-l but as l plus a hooked-d representing "dr".
Doubling of straight strokes:Doubling principle has an exception when 'ter' et al., is preceded by only a straight stroke. Doubling is not employed in that case (cadre). If it has more than stroke before 'ter' et al., or has hook in the end then doubling principle is employed (tender).
Cultural references
The protagonist of David R. PalmerDavid R. Palmer
David R. Palmer , Highland Park High School , is a science fiction author who has been nominated three times for Hugo Awards. He is married and lives in Florida , where he works as a court reporter.-Published works:...
's novels 'Emergence' and 'Tracking' purportedly writes her journals in Pitman Shorthand, declaring it the "best, potentially fastest, most versatile of various pen systems".
The Vogons in the 2005 movie version of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a science fiction comedy series created by Douglas Adams. Originally a radio comedy broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1978, it was later adapted to other formats, and over several years it gradually became an international multi-media phenomenon...
use a blockier form of Pitman 2000.
External links
- Shorthand Untangled - A popular website and community helping both new and experienced writers
- Long Live Pitman's Shorthand - A wealth of material and advice for learning Pitman's New Era
- The Joy of Pitman Shorthand - Brief explanation, list of links, and video in 3 parts demonstrating writing (linked to YouTube).
- Pitman for Geeks - An introduction to the basics of Pitman, with some information on its history.
- Shorthand website that has general information on all strains.
- Dutton v Pitman (Shorthand) Alleged Libel Lawsuit