SHORTHAND PRACTICE-LEGAL OUTLINE WITH MATTER

 NOTES ON OUTLINES   � “being” “doing” “going” Do not use diphones, as the first vowel is deemed to be part of the non-vocalised short form, and therefore only the dot is required against the stroke Ing. � “coming” “giving” take dot Ing (not the normal stroke Ing for horizontals) to maintain legibility, as the short form does not contain the middle consonant.  � “into” The stroke En is deemed to be the short form “in” and so that stroke is not vocalised.  � “tick the” and the short vertical sign for “he” used only in middle or end of a phrase. Write “tick the” at sharpest angle.  � “on” and “but” are vertical, but are written with a slight right slope when “tick the” is added, to distinguish from “I”.  � “oneself” omits the hook N.  � “woman” and “women” are positioned according to the 2nd vowel, to provide distinction between them.  � “can’t” Such abbreviations for negatives with an apostrophe in longhand are always written as full outlines and fully vocalised, regardless of whether t

 

  As a shorthand writer * , it is easy to feel an instant affinity with the Egyptian scribes, who used a cursive form of hieroglyphic writing known as hieratic (priestly) and demotic (popular) for their ink writings. As well as papyrus, they wrote notes on plaster tablets * , which were like wax tablets, but instead with a thin coating of plaster on the wood that could be washed clean for reuse. They must have occasionally had stenographic ordeals like our own, as they attempted to get all of a speech or message down with no gaps. Did they prefer to keep a large supply of papyrus rolls and spare tablets to hand, or did some of the less conscientious ones get down to the end of the roll, only to be requested to take more notes with space rapidly running out? Did they keep on hand a supply of good quality ink cakes and reeds, or did some of them think they could get by with lumpy ink blocks and a blunt reed pen? And did the novice scribes ever have one of those days when the words requir