STRAIGHT DOWNSTROKES & SECOND PLACE VOWELS

Straight Downstrokes

The strokes have names that match their sounds. Always use the shorthand name for the stroke.

Pee Bee Tee Dee Chay Jay

Write the thin strokes as lightly as possible, and the thick strokes slightly heavier, but not digging the paper.

P and B have an angle of 45 degrees and take up about two-thirds of the line height. Chay and Jay are written at a steeper angle of 60 degrees, which reduces backward movement of the pen.

The length of each stroke must remain the same all the time. This is necessary, as later on half length and double length versions will be introduced.

A "outline" means the shorthand stroke or strokes that are used to represent the word, and these are nearly always the consonants of the word. A few outlines may have a vowel sign attached, and these then count as part of the outline.

Vowel signs

Vowel signs are written as a dot or a dash.

They are written thin or thick - thin for short vowels, thick for long vowels.

They have three positions along the side of the stroke: first, second and third place:

This gives 12 plain vowels.

Write all the strokes of an outline first and then add the vowel sign(s) afterwards.

The vowel signs do not touch the stroke.

The vowel signs refer only to the sound and have no relation to the longhand spelling.

Second Place Vowels
 

There are four second place vowels, heard in:

bet bait butt boat

The vowel signs are written against the middle of the stroke. The outlines are written in second position, which is with the base of the stroke resting on the notepad line.

A vowel spoken before the sound of the stroke is written on the left side.

A vowel spoken after the sound of the stroke is written on the right side.

Dot vowels as in "bet" and "bait":

Thin dot for the short vowel:

ebb Ed ate etch edge

Thick dot for the long vowel:

ape pay Abe bay eight Tay

aid day aitch Chay age Jay

Two short lines underneath an outline signify an initial capital letter in longhand.

Dash vowels as in "butt" and "boat"

The dash vowel signs are written at right angles to the stroke.

Write the dash from left to right, to match the movement of the pen along the line:
 

Thin dash for the short vowel:

up

Thick dash for the long vowel:

bow oboe oat toe ode doe Joe

Joining strokes

Strokes are joined end to end without lifting the pen. Write the whole outline smoothly without stopping at the angle and afterwards put in the vowel sign against the first stroke.

The rule for position writing is "the first up or downstroke is written in position". All the following examples have a second place vowel, therefore the outline is written in second position, with the base of the first downstroke stroke resting on the line:

pep bet Ted debt Deb jet
 

paid pay-day page babe bait tape date jape
 

pup pub butt budge tub touch
 

dub Dutch chub jut judge
 

Pope poach boat towed/toad taupe

dope depot dote Job

Short Forms

The dot on its own is used to represent "a/an" and "the". A short form is a brief way to write very common words.

A full stop (period) can be written as a small cross, or joined at the base as shown which is faster. Keep it small so it does not look like a large outline:

a/an, the, full stop

SUMMARY

• Vowels have a "place" against the stroke and strokes have a "position" in relation to the notepad line. In normal speaking, "place" and "position" have almost the same meaning, but in shorthand they are used with the above separate meanings.

• Second place vowels go against the middle of the stroke

• A second position outline has the first up or downstroke resting on the line

• A vowel before is written to the left of the stroke

• A vowel after is written to the right of the stroke

• Thin vowel sign = short vowel

• Thick vowel sign = long vowel

• A dash vowel is written at right angles to the stroke, going from left to right

Top of page