The Troab shorthand method

© 1946, 1951, 1996, 2018

Troab shorthand is a way of writing the spoken word with pen and paper. It is a simple and
versatile method of word abbreviation (basic shorthand) for making quick notes.

It is an integrated system of shorthand / speed-writing; which can be written at two levels; the
Basic level and the Professional level.

The Basic level (Basic shorthand) is a simple method of writing designed for general
note-taking in the classroom or in the office (Alpha-Script speed-writing).

The writer’s own familiar longhand (script) letters are used. There are only a few
abbreviation rules.
The Basic level Keyboard version can be written on a standard QWERTY keyboard.

The Professional level uses an alphabet of contracted script letters; it is used for
high speed verbatim note-taking writing at more than 100 words a minute.
(T-Script shorthand.)

The difference between the two levels is that at Basic (Alpha) level you use primarily your
own familiar script (longhand) letters and at the Professional level all consonants are written
as simplified, or contracted script forms, each letter written as a single pen-stroke.

This Tutorial presents Troab Basic level shorthand.

The few rules of word abbreviation are largely intuitive and follow common usage.

A particular feature which contributes to fast writing is the use of the core consonants, D, T, N
and S. These letters are contracted from familiar Roman script letters; they are the forms
used at Troab Professional level (T-Script). Because they occur in almost every written and
spoken sentence they very soon become familiar friends which you will be able to write and
read easily and quickly.

Troab is an integrated method of speed-writing/shorthand enabling easy progression from the

Basic to the Professional level if there is a need later for high-speed verbatim reporting.
The abbreviation rules are common throughout.

Shorthand is a valuable skill not only as an aid to memory, but the act of writing notes
involves the writer, whether at meetings or at classes, in ways which help to clarify and
strengthen understanding of what is being said. Taking notes in shorthand, or speed writing,
has a potential impact for the writer far beyond “just making a note of things”.

“If deliberations are to be remembered, revised or acted upon, they must first be
recorded”.

The ancient Chinese proverb is also particularly relevant to the shorthand note-taker;

“Tell me, I forget;

Show me, I remember; Involve me, and I understand”
 Troab© Basic-level Speed-writing
(Alpha-Script)

© Troab Shorthand, 1946, 1951, 1996, 2018

Invitation Tutorial
This Tutorial of Troab Basic-level speed-writing introduces the essential elements of the
Troab shorthand method which uses an intuitive approach to word abbreviation. It is
presented for self-study.

Troab Basic-level is a method of writing fast notes with pen and paper using primarily the
writer’s own familiar script letters. This level is used by the occasional note-taker.

CONTENTS
Part One
1.1 Principles of word abbreviation;
1.2 The core consonants, D, T, N, S, R, Quick Forms
1.3 Indicating vowels
1.4 The paired consonants, TH, CH, SH, WH
1.5 Quick Forms (most frequent words, alternative H & R)
1.6 Writing ‘s’, Core consonant ‘s’ , Plurals

Part Two
2.1 The sound of R
2.2 Prefixes, con- , -en, -in , -un
2.3 Suffixes, ‘shun’ –tion, -sion. –cian; -NG, -ing, -ification, -ment, -tive
2.4 The sound of L
2.5 L-related suffixes, -ly, -less, -lity, -bility, self
2.6 Core consonants Blends, ND, NT, CT
2.7 Diphthongs and Double vowels

Part Three
3.1 More about abbreviation
3.2 Writing compound words and phrases
3.3 More prefixes
3.4 More Suffixes
3.5 Consonant forms used at Professional level

Scroll down to start the Tutorial

Troab Basic-level Speed-writing – Tutorial
Introduction
Writing fast is an acquired skill building on your familiar hand-writing skill with pen and
paper. Writing notes quickly involves both simplification of the way individual letters are
formed and the judicious abbreviation of words.

The first step is to examine your hand-writing and decide whether it needs modifying – letters
should not be too large or too small and without unnecessary curls or flourishes.

As far as possible keep to the forms you are used to writing as these will be quicker for you
to write, but at the same time aim for simple letter forms,
At Basic-level Speed-writing five core consonants are used, D, T, N, S and R; these letter
sounds occur particularly frequently and are written in simple forms to increase the speed of
writing.

Vowels are needed occasionally for easy reading of your notes; a simple system of vowel
indicators is used providing simplicity and speed of writing and reading.

The basic theory of this method can be mastered in only a few hours. However, speed writing,
or shorthand, is a writing skill and the more frequently you write it the more familiar it will
become and your note-taking will become easier and faster.

Troab is a simple method of word abbreviation (shorthand), writing words as they sound,
e.g. the words ‘way’ and ‘weigh’ are both written with the two sounds, w + a.

Punctuation
Normal punctuation signs are used.
(A small cross or a slash may be written instead of a full stop.)

Proper nouns
Proper nouns may be distinguished by writing two short lines below the word.

Jane John

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1.1 Principles of word abbreviation

Words are abbreviated following common usage; this is intuitive word abbreviation.
e.g give = gv, some = sm, was = ws.

Rule 1. Write the significant sounded letters of the word.

Most vowels can be omitted in the body of a word,

e.g. ‘Give him a medal’ – ‘gv hm a mdl’.

When needed, a significant vowel indicator may be included.

Use your own familiar script (longhand) letters, but keep these simple and clearly formed.
You may like to consider how you write ‘b’, ‘f’, ‘h’, ‘j’, ‘r’, ‘s’, ‘z’ simply and economically.

fml ml wf bg bl bm bs
female male wife bag, beg, big bill bomb bus

cl cf fls fl fx gs gp gv
call, coal cough false file fix guess gap gave, give

lf lgl lv ls lv mjc miss mb

leaf legal live, love less live, love magic miss mob

ps psj rsc sm rl rsv sl sv

pass passage risk some real, rule receive sail, sale save

vsl wl ws wv wsl hl
vessel wall, wheel was wave whistle whole, hole, heal

Similar word outlines may represent more than one word but this is not a problem when they
occur in the context of a sentence where the meaning can be clearly read.

Familiar words
Many words that you meet everyday can be abbreviated simply and intuitively using this
fundamental principle; you will find that the following abbreviations will be ‘natural’, the sort
of short forms that you use already when writing quick notes. All these ‘natural’ abbreviations
follow the principles outlined above.

You would have no difficulty reading these short forms when they occur in the context of a
sentence. e.g.
‘Go bc to the beginning’.
‘You have made a bg mistake’.
‘Can you fl the heat’?
‘This hs nothing to do with hs mother’.
‘Do you really lv him’?
‘Why do you always pc on her’?
‘It can be done wl you wait’.
‘The car was a complete rc’.

Note the following consonant sounds,

Use ‘c ’ for the hard K sound, as in cat, kill
Write ‘f ’ however it is spelled,
Write ‘g’ for the hard sound, as in go,
Use ‘j ’ for the soft sound of ‘g’, as in engine,

cc cl cs lc sc pc rc rf lf sf
kick kill kiss luck sick pick wreck rough laugh safe

bc bg cf fs gs gg lg bj hj
back big cough fuss gas gig log badge hedge
jb jm bgj cbj msj psj wg
job gem baggage cabbage message passage wig

Quick Forms
Research has shown that a small number of words make up some 50% of all spoken and
written matter; these are the Quick Forms and they are given special attention.

Quick forms are represented by, usually, a single letter using either the first letter of the word
or its dominant sound; this may be a familiar script letter, a contracted letter or a vowel
indicator.

The first letter of the word,

c f g m p q w v
can, come for go, good me, my page quick we, with very
or

The dominant sound of the word,

b x v z l y
be, by except have she all, will why

The contracted letter forms are also used as Quick Forms,

are he, him is quick which

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1.2 The core consonants, D, T, N, S, R and H

These frequently occurring letters are always written in their contracted forms as used at the
Professional level. They are a special feature of this method and greatly increase writing
speed. You will find that at least one of these letters occurs in almost every sentence.

They are also used to represent very frequently occurring words,

D T N S H R

do to, it no, not is he, him are

D and T are not symmetrical curves; they may be deepened at either end as appropriate for
fluid writing and to make distinctive joins with adjacent letters.
Follow your normal handwriting style.

to-do do-not

The contracted form, S-circle is written inside the curve of a core consonant.
When written outside the curve it is read as ‘is’.

The word ‘is’ may be written in its normal script form, ‘s’ or as the S-circle as convenient.
The script form of ‘s’ may be used at any time, but always when it is the first letter of a word.

Note that the contracted S is written outside the curve of H or T to indicate that it is to be
read as a separate word, ‘is’ .

he-is his it-is she-is sit sad sun guess miss was

Some Quick Forms represent more than one word but this is not a problem when they occur
in the context of a sentence as different parts of speech.

he, him are heat, height right, write reason

All the contracted forms, D, T, N, S, R and H, join smoothly with each other.

dust test tested nest need net rested write

deaf deal get said gift discover tempt west wet

rest reason written

R (/) is derived from the stem of the familiar script letter. A disjoined R can be written for the
prefix ‘re-‘.

The sound of ‘x’

A familiar script letter ‘x’ may be written, box bx fix fx mix mx .

Where this sound occurs as ‘-cs’ it may be written as it sounds, ‘c + S-circle’ e.g. ‘physics’.

Familiar words
Many words that you meet everyday can be abbreviated simply and intuitively; you will find
that the following abbreviations will be ‘natural’, the sort of short forms that you use already
when writing quick notes. All these ‘natural’ abbreviations follow the principles outlined
above.

You would have no difficulty reading these short forms when they occur in the context of a
sentence. e.g.
‘Go bc to the beginning’.
‘You have made a bg mistake’.
‘Can you fl the heat’?
‘This hs nothing to do with hs mother’.
‘Do you really lv him’?
‘Why do you always pc on her’?
‘It can be done wl you wait’.
‘The car was a complete rc’.

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1.3 Indicating vowels
Sometimes it is useful to insert a vowel for clarification of a word, e.g. ‘I saw the mn go into
the bank’, where the context does not help and it is necessary to distinguish between ‘man’
and ‘men’.

A simple system of Vowel indicators is used; these short diacritic marks are inserted only
when they may be needed to distinguish between similar word abbreviations.

They are also used to represent some very frequently occurring words (Quick Forms).
a e i o oo * u

and the I, in of on you

* The indicator for OO is also used as an alternative for O (used especially with the letter N,
own, know).

own know known

When the OO-indicator is written on the line it represents ‘on’, and when written above
another letter it represents ‘over’.

on the over the under the on the ball over the top

Similarly the U-indicator, when written above another letter represents ‘under’.

you and I under the mat

Medial vowels
When used in the body of a word the indicators are written,
ABOVE the word to indicate a SHORT vowel sound,
BELOW the word to indicate a LONG vowel sound.

man men bet beat whip wipe rot wrote

A final sounded vowel indicator is written on the line adjacent to the last consonant.

pay day guy

An initial vowel indicator is written joined or close to the first consonant of the word.

aid as egg

A fast way to indicate a long vowel that occurs in the middle of a word is to join the
indicator on to the final consonant.

This is rarely needed for words written in the context of a sentence.

pain take sign

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1.4 The paired consonants, TH, CH, SH, QU, WH

The paired consonants are represented by single letters with an associated sound.

TH is simply the contracted core letter ‘T’ written on a downward slant.

T TH On its own, TH represents ‘that’ (or ‘thing’ in compound words).

both myth nothing path south something

truth month birthday

Note how the vowel indicator is written as a continuation from the S-circle.

this these those thought thus

CH and SH are written as single script letters having an associated sound.

The normal print forms are used for ‘j’ and ‘z’, jazz jz .
Use your own familiar longhand letters.

The script forms can be distinguished by writing the paired letters with a looped ‘tail’.

j CH z SH
which she

jc js jf jp bj cj mj wj
check chess chief chip batch catch much watch
zv zl zc zp cz czr fz pz rz
shave shall shock shop cash cashier fish push rush
rbz wz
rubbish wash, wish
Note. Throughout this text CH and SH are represented by their normal print forms, ‘j’, ‘z’;
use your own familiar longhand letters with a distinguishing looped ‘tail’.

QU may be written as a familiar letter ‘q’, or the distinctive form used at Professional level;
this is written as the Quick Form for ‘quick’

quick question quite quiet

WH; the H is not fully vocalized and can be omitted; wheel, while wl

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1.5 Blended NT and ND

When the consonant combination NT occurs without an intervening vowel, the T is modified
and blended with N as a small anti-clockwise hook.
Similarly with ND, the D is modified and blended to a clockwise hook; this is also used for
DD.

sent want send wind did (cf) died

(writing the full D indicates a long vowel)

Consonant CT can be similarly blended (no intervening vowel)

act fact

When a vowel intervenes (syllable CT) the CT blend is not used; writing the T instead of
blending it indicates that an intervening vowel is to be read.

tact ticket duct docket pact packet

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1.6 Writing S

A familiar script letter ‘s’ is written when it is the first letter of the word.

This may also be written after a core letter, D, T, N, R, H and TH, but the contracted S-circle
(as used at Professional level) is usually preferred to use with the core letters.
The S-circle is derived from the familiar script letter ‘s’,

Either form may be used as a Quick Form for ‘is’.

or

debts sets sense dance dances

A long vowel is distinguished by blending the indicator with the ‘s’.

these those nice dice expertise recognise

say sue sit sun

Plural S
The S-circle is contracted to the S-dot (a filled-in circle) and used to indicate a plural-S word,
particularly a Quick Form, or the present tense of a verb.

books cats dogs seems

Writing double ‘ses’

A double-S syllable is indicated by writing a disjoined script letter ‘s’.

sister suspect system

basis bases census system

crisis genesis thesis

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Part Two
2.1 The sound of R

Rule 2. The sound of R is read after a consonant that is written DOUBLE-SIZE;

script letters are written as capitals (upper-case).

bar car door part sort your

bread cry crew free grow proof press

drug track banner winner north weather there

W
her were, war

Alternatively, a contracted core letter R / may be written blended with a lower-case

consonant as convenient.
crime c/m more m/ poor p/ summer sm/
rebel /bl receive /sv reserve /Sv reveal /vl

Either form may be used; use the form that is familiar and easy to join with your normal script
(longhand) letters.

f/ or F g/ or G l/ or L m/ or M p/ or P v/ or V W z/ Z
FR GR LR MR PR VR WR ZR

crime Cm more M park Pc summer sM

Using an alternative will be influenced by the writer’s own hand-writing; use the form that is
suited to your style of writing and frequency of note-taking.
girl g/l previous p/vs (Pvs) price p/s (Ps)

Because a vowel indicator cannot be doubled in size, a long vowel followed by R is indicated
by writing the relevant vowel indicator and a contracted R; an immediately following
R-syllable is indicated by writing a double-length core letter R /.

air ear care carer dear dearer error

Alternatively, a vowel followed by R may be indicated by writing a normal lower-case script

vowel letter; an immediately following R-syllable is indicated by writing a double-size
(capital)vowel letter (or the core letter form R / may be written ).
 ca/ pu/
air ear care carer pure purer carer purer

art earth origin organ urge

am pa fe lo fu Pa fa fa/
arm pair fear lower fewer prayer fair fairer

Note: These alternatives are presented to allow for the variations in each individual’s style of
hand-writing. Your own familiar letter forms will be easy and fast to write.

The sound of R, a short vocabulary

B Bc Bf Cs cV Cv Fm Fz Gj Jm
bar break brief course, cross cover curve firm freeze garage germ
Gs Gp Mc MJ M P PF Ps Pps rSv
grass grip, group mark merger more poor prefer press purpose reserve
rVs rV rB Sv sF sP Sj W Wc Ws
reverse river rubber serve suffer supper surge were work worse
Jj rSj Sj Ss Sfs
charge research search source surface

SH+R
When using script (longhand) letters, SH is distinguished from ‘z’ by writing your own
familiar hand-script letter ‘z’ with a clearly formed ‘tail loop’.

compare,
z SH

The sound of ‘SHR’ is written as a script letter ‘z’ with a contracted R.

shrink shrine

(The sound of R may be read after a capital letter Z, a double-size letter (SHR), following the
general rule.)

shore short shrink shrine

‘sure’
The word ‘sure’, pronounced as ‘shure’, is written distinctively as a capital letter ‘S’.

sure assure ensure exposure leisure seizure treasure

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2.2 Prefixes, con- , -en, -in , -un;

con-, com-, are written as ‘c’

contain container compare combine computer comparison

can-, coun-, are written as blended C + N

candid cancer count counter

‘en-’, ‘in-’, ‘un-’

‘en-’ is written as it sounds, as contracted N. A vowel indicator may be included, but is rarely
necessary.

end enter entry engine

‘in-‘ is represented by the I-indicator (the Quick Form for ‘in’).

indeed indecent intent internal into

‘un-’ is represented by the U-indicator; the N may be included.

uncover undo unfit unknown until unsure

But when the U-vowel is LONG the N is included.

unit unison universe union

‘ex-’ is represented as it sounds, by the letter ‘x’.

exact examine excellent exempt expect

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2.3 Suffixes, ‘shun’ , -NG, -ing, -ification, -ment, -tive , -iar

‘shun’
-tion, -sion, -cian, each pronounced as ‘shun’, are all written as a disjoined contracted N
(Shun-N).

For extra clarity a relevant vowel indicator may be included but this would be rarely needed
for words written in the context of a sentence.

condition mention nation mission location munitions

The Shun-N suffix is doubled in length to add the sound of R, e.g. pensioner.

It is written in a subscript position to add the sound of L, e.g. national. (see 2.4 below)

‘shunt’
The NT blend is used for the word ending ‘-cient’, ‘-tient’ (pronounced as ‘shunt’).

deficient efficient patient sufficient

‘shul’
The ‘shul’ suffix may occur as ‘-cial’ or ‘-tial’, both are written as a subscript ‘z’.

financial martial partial racial social special

‘shus’
The ‘shus’ ending – ‘ious’
In some words the vowel combination ‘-ious’ is pronounced as ‘shus’; this may be spelled
variously as ‘-cious’, ‘-tious’ or ‘-xious’, and occurs in such words as delicious, ambitious and
anxious.

The syllable ‘-ious’ pronounced as ‘shus’, is written as it sounds – ‘zs’ (SHs).

anxious conscious gracious precious

-NG
As a word ending, -NG is written as ‘g’; this is often written slightly smaller to indicate this
particular usage.

A capital letter ‘G’ is written (a double-size ‘g’) to add the sound of ‘R’.

long longer song singer finger

Alternatively, a lower-case ‘g’ with a contracted letter R may be written.

long longer song singer finger

But when NG is sounded separately it is written as N + G or J.

engage engine engineer ingest hinge

The ‘-ing’ suffix is indicated specifically by writing a disjoined I-indicator on the line.

caring giving having longing ringing saving taking

-ification, write a disjoined ‘f ’.

modification notification specification

-ment, -mount are abbreviated to writing ‘m’ (may be written smaller).

comment document statement paramount

-tive is abbreviated to writing ‘v’.

positive negative narrative punitive

-ier, -ior A disjoined R indicates the double-vowel syllables ‘ier’, ‘ior’. The contracted form
is fast to write.

barrier carrier inferior interior

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2.4 The sound of L

Rule 3. The sound of L is read after a letter written in a SUBSCRIPT position

(Note that a final L-syllable may be spelled variously, e.g. cymbal, trouble, symbol, medical,
article, raffle, careful, legal, principal, principle, metal, mettle, kettle.)
Following normal writing practice, the first letter of a word may be written on the line and the
letters following the L are raised above the line sufficiently to indicate the subscript position.

blue black blood climate cloth flat

build felt health milk pillow rely

The ‘l’ may be written to indicate an intervening LONG vowel (or a subscript vowel
indicator could be written).
fl ml cl rl sl wl
fail, feel mile coal real sale while

A relevant vowel may be indicated specifically if needed.

fail feel file reel

When writing on lined paper the first letter of the word may be written through the line.

blue black blood climate cloth flat real, rule

pill kill deal filled glad tell

Writing SL
Initial SL is written in full, ‘sl ’.

slave slavery sleep slide slight slim slow slower

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2.5 Some ‘L-related’ suffixes

Several ‘L-related’ suffixes may be written using the L-principle.

The suffix ‘-less’ can be simply indicated by writing a slightly raised letter ‘s’ (read L after
the preceding subscript letter).

careless faceless worthless

The suffix ‘-ly’ is indicated by writing a slightly raised E-indicator.

badly barely falsely family lastly lovely mainly nearly

The suffix ‘-lity’ is indicated by writing a raised ‘TE’.

facility fertility futility mentality quality utility

The suffix ‘-bility’ may be indicated specifically by writing a subscript ‘bE ’.

disability capability feasibility probability

The suffix ‘-tional ‘ is written as a subscript Shun-N.

additional conditional professional traditional

The suffix ‘-self’ is indicated by writing ‘s’ as a subscript.

itself herself himself myself yourself selfish

herself himself

The syllable ‘-LR’ is written as a raised contracted R.

clearer earlier familiar nuclear colour, killer retailer thriller

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2.7 Diphthongs and Double Vowels

Diphthongs may usually be omitted in words written in the context of a sentence.

bought caught taught

‘She caught the ball’

But when needed a specific vowel indicator is used.

The sound of ‘OU’ in ‘ought’ is represented by a modified letter ‘o’, this is a combination of
the vowel indicators for OO and U.

‘O + U’.

The sound of AW (law, author, ought) may be indicated generally by this modified form
(‘o’ + ‘u’).

ought author caution ought caught taught

The diphthong ‘OI’ may be indicated by writing AW + E (as it sounds), ,

and ‘OW’ is written as ‘o’.

cow now power our

boy coin joy toy cow now our power

The ‘OI’ indicator may often be omitted in words written in the context of a sentence.

join coin noise soil

Double vowels
Occasionally two vowels follow each other and are sounded separately without forming a
diphthong, e.g. radio, create.

When two sounded vowels follow each other without forming a diphthong,
the stressed vowel can be written and the unstressed vowel omitted.

diet poem riot science

A double vowel sound may be indicated by combining two vowel indicators.

Usually, for convenience these are written as a small, non-specific, ‘ v ’ (= EI ).

area idea create appreciate

This may be inverted as appropriate or makes an easier join.

Where a double vowel sound is followed by S, as in ‘-ious’, ‘uous’, it is contracted to writing

only the ‘s’.
cus fus ses vas
curious furious serious various

devious impervious impetuous previous

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Part Three

3.1 More about word abbreviation

Familiar long words written in the context of a sentence may be abbreviated following
common usage. Such abbreviations are the short, truncated forms which you use intuitively
when writing notes or lists.

For many people it seems intuitive to shorten a long word to just two or three syllables which
give the sense of the word. From this short form the word can later be re-constructed as it
appears in the context of a sentence; say the word aloud as you write it.

approximate extraordinary particular represent unanimous

The general guideline to abbreviating long words when written in the context of a sentence is,

Write the first part of a word up to and including the stressed syllable.

Sometimes a relevant word ending may be added for clarification.

imposs/ible unan/imous certif./icate approx/imate partic/ular

This is an urgent matter.

You must come urgently.
His work is satisfactory.
They completed the task satisfactorily.

satisfy, satisfactory, satisfactorily

urgent, urgently, urgency

The plural of an abbreviated word is indicated specifically by writing the plural S-dot.

particulars situations suggestions universities

But note that the plural of a word need not be indicated specifically where the context of the
sentence makes the plural obvious.
e.g. After a numeral or adjective, Five miles, Two men, Many times.

3.2 Writing compound words and phrases

Comparison words such as ‘better’, ‘bigger’ and ‘worse’ are usually followed by ‘than’.
These phrases are easily written using a joined TH, ‘than’.
(‘better’ and ‘more’ are written in the R-position.)

better-than more-than less-than quicker-than

Compound words with ‘every’.

everyone everybody every-time everywhere everyday everything

(In compound words ‘day’ may be abbreviated to the A-vowel indicator.)

Compound words with some

Compound words beginning with ‘some’ may be abbreviated to writing ‘s’.

somehow something sometime somewhat somewhere

Writing ‘for’
The Quick Form for ‘for’ ( f ) is used in its compound words.

forgive forget fortune forgotten forgo

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3.3 More prefixes

anti- is expressed by AN joined to the following letter.

antibiotic anti-abortion anti-freeze anti-social

electr- write disjoined ‘Ec’.

electr-, electric electrical electronic

‘multi-’ is expressed as a disjoined ‘m’ written through the line.

multi-lateral multi-level multi-purpose multi-racial multi-storey

‘super’ is written as ‘su’.

super, superintendent, superintend* supermarket superman superficial

* In the context of a sentence the short form ‘SU’ can represent ‘super, superintend,
superintendent’.

trans- is written as TRS (using the S-circle is preferred)

trans- transmit transport

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3.4 More Suffixes

-ology, is indicated by a raised ‘j ’.

apology psychology zoology

‘-ship’ is indicated by a disjoined ‘z’ (SH).

censorship friendship hardship membership ownership

-ward, -wood written as a disjoined ‘w’ (A contracted letter ‘w’ may be used).

backward forward inward outward

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3.5 Consonant forms used at Professional level

b c d f g h j k l m n p q r s t v w x y z

As confidence grows with use, some of the Professional level consonants may be used and
integrated as appropriate with your normal script letters.

The paired consonants, CH and SH

The Professional level forms may be used as preferred.

CH, at Professional level; is written as a contracted H written on a downward slant,

check, cheque choose match such touch which

SH is written at Professional level by a combined ‘S + H’

she

shave shock shop short shoot

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End of Invitation Tutorial

Scroll down to an overview of Basic Keyboard.

 Basic (Alpha-script) Keyboard

Occasional note-taking

For the very occasional note-taker it is possible to use familiar script letters instead of the
contracted forms.

This is the Alpha Keyboard version. It is designed to be written on a QWERTY keyboard but it
may be written also with pen and paper. This makes it even easier to learn but would be
slower to write than Alpha-script Basic speed-writing.

Basic shorthand (Alpha-script speedwriting) is written using pen or pencil, but it can also be
written with a QWERTY keyboard using the Alpha-script Keyboard version.

With Keyboard, words are written following the common, and intuitive, practice used at
Basic level. The abbreviation rules are common throughout and using them consistently
avoids ‘on-the-fly’ shortcuts which can present difficulties when reading back notes.

The differences between Basic (Alpha-Script) speed-writing and Basic Keyboard are that by
using a keyboard all letters, consonants and vowels, are created by a single key-stroke; the
hand-written letters are created as the writer’s familiar print letters.

debt dt done dn tide td tent tnt need nd nest nst

aim am pay pa east est see se know no knew nu
check jc cheap jp catch cj much mj shop zp wish wz

TH is keyed in full,
that, than th this ths them thm both bth north nrth south sth

CH and SH are written in their associated script letter forms.

which j chance jns change jnj check jc rich rj watch wj
she z shock zc shut zt cash cz rubbish rbz rush rz wish wz

The R rule.
The sound of R is indicated by keying ‘r’; this is faster that using the shift key to key a capital
letter.
dirt drt turn trn certain srtn arm arm earth erth
report rprt certain srtn conservation csrv-n

A long vowel sound followed by R may be indicated by writing the relevant vowel.
care ca carer car dearer der fair fa fairer far fear fe
ear, here e prepare prpa curious cus furious fus urge uj
Writing L.
The letter ‘l ’ is always keyed.

ball bl kill cl file fl mail ml female fml colour clr learn lrn (len)

large lrj lorry lre

film flm flare fla clear cle field fld explanation xpln-n

Diphthongs.
Diphthongs may often be omitted in words written in the context of a sentence.

When needed, OI is indicated by ‘y’, and OW by ‘o’.

how ho now no allow alo power por tower tor

The sound of AW is indicated by ‘w’.

caught ct or cwt law lw saw sw

The special sound of AW occurring in ‘ought’ may be written as ‘out ’

Double vowels.
Double vowels are usually keyed in full.
area area idea idea riot riot

Prefixes and Suffixes

Generally the rules of Basic level apply to writing prefixes and suffixes but an optional
hyphen may be added as a specific indicator of a prefix or suffix.

classification cls-f quality q-l apology ap-j himself h-s herself hr-s
itself t-s ourselves or-s mention mn-n nation n-n action ac-n
condition cd-n over there o-thr under this u-ths electrical el-cl
counter cn-tr element el-m detriment dtr-m detrimental dtr-ml

But for the common affixes this is not necessary.

special spzl precious przs positive psv negative ngv
transform trsfm transmit trsmt excellent xlnt
Quick Forms
The Quick Forms follow the Basic level rules.
are r be b the e do d can c no, not n that th
he, him h she z it, to t we w without wo

Speed and legibility

Using a set of abbreviations consistently enables you to increase your usual typing speed.

Your notes will always be legible even when written at speed and under the pressure of the
note-taking session.

You will find the following ‘Keyboard’ sentences easy to read.

Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of the party.
no s e ti f al gd mn t c t e ad o e prte.

I would like to apply for the post of club secretary.

i wd li t apli f e pst o clb scrtry

It is a political issue which must be resolved quickly.

t s a pltcl isu j mst b rslvd qe.

It is not possible to tell one from the other.

t s n psbl t tl wn fm e othr.

There is no possibility at this moment that any other reason should be considered.
thr s n psbe a ths mm th ane othr rsn zd be csdrd.

Every time you say that sort of thing I begin to worry.

evr tim u sa tht srt o thg I bgn to wre.

We were not certain that you had read the letter which was sent to you yesterday.
w wr n srtn tht u hd rd e ltr wj ws snt t u ysd.

Someday, someone, somewhere will discover the truth of what happened here.
smd, smn, sma, l dscvr e trth o wt hpnd he.

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