THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES X Q. BAKEH LAWYER COMPACT EDITION of the WHITSTOCK STANDARD SHORTHAND S Y S 1^ E M Price $1.00 Published by WHITSTOCK SHORTHAND COMPANY, Inc. 122 WEST 12th STREET NEW YORK CITY Copyright 1916 BY OTTO M. WHITSTOCK All rights reserved PREFACE The characters employed in Standard Shorthand are truly Script; every stroke can be traced to ordinary longhand. Consonants and vowels are joined in a natural manner without stopping, in the same consecutive order in which they are pronounced. Every vowel sound is indicated by a distinct down- stroke. The vowels are arranged in groups as in standard dictionaries. Being strictly phonetic, Standard Shorthand can !^ be easily adapted to any modern language, especially *" Spanish. The early issue of a Spanish adaptation > of the system is contemplated. g In Standard Shorthand the consonants are in- 3 dicated by either upstrokes or sidestrokes, which can be easily extended or written through the writing line to form compounds. Any person of average intelligence and educa- ** tion may easily acquire a complete knowledge of ^ Standard Shorthand in a few hours. For this reason the system is a boon to all professional men, college students and children attending public schools. 3 Standard Shorthand is a new departure in short P writing, and is bound to supplant the old and obsolete ^ methods of the Nineteenth Century. It is un- surpassed as to legibility, ease of execution and brevity of outlines. Otto M. Whitstock, Author of Standard Shorthand 122 West 12th Street, New York City. April, 1916. 4483G(> ADVICE TO BEGINNERS Learn the shorthand characters thoroughly and in this way avoid the loss of time necessary to refresh your memory. Do not start a new paragraph until you have thor- oughly mastered the preceding one. Write at first upon ruled paper, preferably with double lines, about one-eighth of one inch apart, as used in the lower classes of public schools. Use either a medium grade pencil, or a suitable fountain pen, and hold same as you would in or- dinary writing. Copy the examples given in the manual carefully and repeatedly, reading them aloud. Endeavor to accustom yourself to a correct and uniform height and slope, which corresponds with your writing of longhand. Write slowly and carefully at first and do not at- tempt to increase your speed until you have fully mastered the system. Read - - Write - - Persevere PART I 1. CONSONANTS are arranged in pairs and can be easily memorized. The height of up- strokes is always the same when indicating single characters. The height shown in the shorthand text of this manual is recommended to those employing letters of average size in longhand. T is written almost vertical, D is written more slanting. Both characters are upstrokes. 5" is indicated by a short and light dash for use after vowels. SH is indicated by a somewhat longer dash. Both characters are sidestrokes and must be written horizontally. 2. VOWELS are indicated by downstrokes ending on the writing line. Throughout the system they stand out quite distinctly, forming a natural writing line and dispensing with the necessity of using ruled note hooks. £ is a very common vowel and has, therefore, been given the plain downstroke. The first thought of beginners that it can clash with the letter t is quite erroneous, as the latter charac- ter is a light upstroke, and the vowel a heavy downstroke. The light vowel sound e, as in het, is indi- cated by a lighter downstroke. In practical writing the distinction between heavy and light downstrokes, although easily and naturally ef- fected, is rarely employed, as the text itself will indicate the proper vowel sound. The obtuse vowel sound, usually found in medial or final syllables y, ey, is indicated by re- ducing the plain downstroke to a tick. 3. CHARACTERS ARE JOINED naturally as in ordinary writing — the second character begin- ning where the first character ends, and so forth. As all vowels are written on the line, initial sidestrokes must necessarily be written above the line in order to bring the vowel in position, te, de, se, she; et, ed, es, esh. 4. SILENT LETTERS are invariably omitted. Debt is written det, dead is written ded, eat is written et, tease is written tes. For this reason, beginners are strongly recom- mended to pronounce shorthand outlines aloud, character for character. 5. TH is indicated by shortening the upstroke representing t. death, thee. 6. INITIAL S, followed by a vowel, is very fre- quent and it has been found eminently practical to indicate it by means of lengthened down- strokes ending on the writing line, which take no longer to execute than ordinary downstrokes. se; seat, seed, seas, seethe. 7. EXAMPLES : deed, easy, says, seedy, set, shed, sheet, teeth, these. I:- ■ PART II ..,,,.. 8. P, B (upstrokes); R, CHAY (horizontal side- strokes). 9. A is the second most important vowel sound, and is indicated by a hooked downstroke. The short a sound, as in cat, is indicated by a lighter outline. 10. pay, ape, hay, rape, chap, hatch. 11. When r follows a vowel, the r outline may be omitted and the sound indicated by simply con- tinuing the vowel downstroke through the line, except when followed by another down- stroke. pear (but: parry), hear, rare, chair, third, church. 12. When a sidestroke occurs between t w o vowels, the first of which is initial, the first vowel is written above the line in order to bring the second vowel in position on the writing line. array, arrcar. 13. When the long vowel ah is followed by r, the outline for the short vowel a may be used. par, part, har, parch. PART III 14. KAY, GAY (upstrokes); L, JAY (horizontal sidestrokes). 15. is indicated by a small loop written to the right and joining a plain, heavy downstroke. The short o and u sounds, as in dot, dove, tough are denoted by a lighter outline. 16. coat, goat, Joe; cod, log, judge. 17. When final I follows a downstroke, it is unnecessary to complete the I character. The I sound may be indicated by curving the down- stroke slightly to the left. coal (but: collie), goal (but: golly), loll (but: jolly). 18. The plain consonant strokes t, d, may be added, thus :" colt, gold, jolt. PART IV 19. F, V (upstrokes) ; A'^, M (horizontal side- strokes). Both upstrokes are of the same height, but V is more slanting than /. Both sidestrokes are alike, but m is longer than n. 20. / is indicated by a heavy downstroke curved from right to left. The short vowel i, as in bit, is indicated by a lighter outline. 21. fie, vie, if, nigh, in, my; fee, fate, vote. 22. NG is a very frequent sound and has, there- fore, been given a distinctive character. It is indicated by the first half of the letter n, written somewhat heavy. thing, things, length, mink. 10 23. Where convenient, n and tn, when followed by other consonants, may be indicated by using only the first half of the outline. fined, fines, ninth, mint, lambkin, nymph, lamp, Bombay. PART V 24. PV-IVH, YAY, H. These three sounds are indicated by curved outlines of three different lengths, but may in most cases be omitted. 25. The outline W-WH is only used initially when the vowel following it is subject to the r rule in paragraph 11, part 2. In other cases, initial W-WH is indicated by placing the entire outline below the writing line. This rule also ap- plies to words beginning with aw and awh, in which case the prefix a may be indicated by a small a character written on the line. word, worth, worse, twice, thwack, dwell, quite, acquaint; we, wait, whence, why, aware, awoke. 26. YAY is usually an initial sound. When the sound occurs medially between two consonants, it may be indicated by a small y tick. yet, yard; alien, onion. 27. H is used initially when the vowel following it is immediately followed by a sidestroke and a second vowel, or when the outline is subject to the r rule in paragraph 11, part 2. At other times, where the sound h occurs initially, it is indicated by placing the entire outline above the writing line. This rule also applies to words beginning with ah, in which case the prefix a may be indicated by a small a character, and the entire outline placed above the line. hero, hollow, hurt; he, hair, Jiigli, alia, aJiead. 28. AH. The soft vowel ah, except when followed by r, may be indicated by simply enlarging the hook of the short a character. palm, aunt; but: ant, art, arm. 29. AW. The long vowel aw is indicated by an outline resembling somewhat the figure 3. balk, malt, taught, bought, vault, war. PART VI 30. OW, 00, EU. The above vowel compounds are denoted by light irregular downstrokes. owl, book, feud. 31. 01, 00 (long). The outline for oi, in order to distinguish it from ozv, is written heavier. The outline for the long oo sound, as in boot, in order to distinguish it from the short oo sound, as in foot, is written heavy. oil, booty. 18 32. When either of the above characters is followed by p, b, r, ch, the last half of the downstrokes may be omitted so that the hooked consonant character may be more readily joined. pouch, loop, dupe. 33. Where FINAL T or D \s immediately preceded by another consonant (excepting short length characters), the sound may be indicated by lengthening the outline of the preceding consonant, peep, peeped; life, lift; dash, dashed; reach, reached; but: art, built, ant, empty. 34. When TH is immediately preceded or followed by another upstroke, which rarely occurs, the joining point is indicated by a meaningless dot. bathed, depth. 35. Where the 5" SOUND is immediately preceded or followed by a plain consonant, it may be indicated simply by a do t. stay, tax, taxed, danced. 36. Where the ^ sound is immediately preceded or followed by a hooked or curved con- sonant, it may be indicated by forming a circle, speed, sphere, snow, swim. 37. Where the s sound, followed by a consonant, occurs immediately after a vowel, it is written thus: east, lisp, task, reason. 13 PART VII 38. Where the SOUND R immediately follows an initial full size upstroke, the r outline is omitted and the sound indicated by lengthening the initial upstroke and writing it through the line. Where such up- stroke is preceded by an initial short vowel, the vowel sound may be indicated by a small character joined to the balance of the outline. tea, tree, street, spray, bride, script, astray, astride. 39. . Where r immediately follows initial TH or SH, the r outline must be written in full. three, through, shred, shrink. 40. When FINAL R follows a consonant, the r character may be indicated by simply curving the preceding stroke to the left, instead of completing the r character. FINAL RS may be indicated by continuing the curve to form a small circle; FINAL RT or RD may be indicated by a larger circle. better, betters, bettered; manner, manners, man- nered. 41. Where the SOUND L immediately follows an initial upstroke, the I outline is omitted and the sound indicated by lengthening the initial upstroke, thus bringing the fol- lowing vowel outline above the writing line. This rule may also be applied to words where an initial short vowel immediately pre- cedes the upstroke. pay, play, glow; apply, ablaze. 14 42. Where FINAL L follows a consonant, the I character may be indicated by simply curving the preceding stroke to the right, instead of completing the I character. FINAL LS may be indicated by continuing the curve to form a small circle; FINAL LT or LD may be in- dicated by a larger circle. total, totals, totalled; trouble, troubles, troubled. 43. MEDIAL L is written in full, unless followed by plain consonant characters. help, elbozv, sohc, elk, elm; but: dealt, Welsh. PART VIII PREFIXES PREFIXES are generally indicated by the principal character of their outlines, and do not govern the position of the word. Where prefixes, indicated by consonant out- lines, are followed by hooked characters, the outlines should join by means of an angle. Otherwise a small tick is used. 44. ab, ac, ad are indicated by a small a character, as in: abstract, advice, adhere. 45. Where the s sound occurs between the above prefixes and another downstroke, the .y outline must be used to indicate the sound, as in: accent, accept. 15 40. be is indicated by the b outline, as in: become, betake, bemoan. 47. CO, con, com are indicated by the k character, as in : correct, condense, compact, commence. 48. de, di are indicated by d, as in: debase, delay, disable, distract, display, describe, dislike. 49. en, in, mi \ are indicated by n and m respec- em, im, um f lively, as in : entire, intense, uncertain, inspire, inhale; em- power, impress, imbibe. 60. ex is indicated by a small tick which may be written somewhat slanting from left to right, as in: extend, expense, exclude, except. 51. re is indicated by an r outline, as in : repair, retake, regret, receipt. 52. with is indicated by the w curve, as in: -without, withstood, withdraw. SUFFIXES Suffixes are generally indicated by their prin- cipal character, except in a few instances where it has been found advisable to give them special outlines. 16 53. fold, hold are indicated by the Id circle, as in: tenfold, blindfolded; leasehold, freehold. 64. graph is indicated by g, as in : autograph, telegraphy, stenographer. 55. ic is indicated by a reversed tick, as in : topic, panic, authentic. 56. ific is indicated by a larger reversed tick, as in : specific, pacific, terrific. 57. ing is indicated by ng, as in: saying, betting, knowing, meaning. 68. ment is indicated by either half of the m out- line, as in : payment, argument, appointment. 59. shun is indicated by a small descending n character, as in: nation, patient, stationer, rational; action. 60. ture, tual, tune are written without the vowel, as in : nature, fixture, actual, fortune. These examples of prefixes and suffixes are given to illustrate the possibilities of the system. 17 APPENDIX FREQUENT WORDS Quoting from Leonard P. Ayres, "A Measur- ing Scale for Ability in Spelling" (issued by the Division of Education, Russell Sage Founda- tion), which contains a list of one thousand frequent words: ". . . these figures show that the 50 com- monest words (from a list of 100,000 words) are repeated so frequently that with their repetitions they constitute nearly half of all the words we write." The advantage derived from reducing the out- lines for these most common words as much as possible, will immediately be recognized by the stenographer. Standard Shorthand achieves this object with the least mental effort on behalf of the writer. Far-reaching rules, covering a number of words at the same time, make the outlines very easy and brief. For example: The initial consonant may be dropped in: 61. be, been, being, they, their-there, go, haze. The vowel may be dropped in: 62. to, what, do, had, would, did, this, those, up, hope, put, by, but, brought, can, week, could, if, from, half, have, beg, great, as-is, has-his, was, us, she, should, wish, are, her, here, were, where, all. whole, will, each, which, huge, in, when, whence, one, once, ani-me, may-niy, him, whom, make. so The most frequent words are given special short outlines, as : 63. the, a-an, of, on, at, it, out, than, that, or, our, for, before, and, with, so, also. READING EXERCISE 64. Being at the end of our little book, let us talk about travelling. What a charm lies in this one word. But we have to make preparations for a journey. We must make out the route from the time-table and look up the places which we shall go through on the map. When our trunks are ready, we must start for the station in time. If we have not a carriage, we take a cab or a hansom. Trolley cars are much cheaper than other means of conveyance. Arrived at the station, we have to pay our fare. Where do we get our ticket? At the booking-office. We take a single ticket, a return ticket, a through- ticket, or a circular ticket. Then we call a porter to have our luggage labeled. If we have time to spare and wish to take a walk, we may leave our small luggage in the cloak-room. Having some time left before the train will start, we go into the waiting-room. When the train comes in, we go out and wait a few minutes till it stops. Then we take leave of our friends or people at home, bidding them farewell and shaking hands with them, get in and take a seat in a compartment. If we have to change, we must ask the guard. When our train starts, our friends will call to us: "A pleasant journey!" and "Good-bye!" 21 7- T y^ ^ 22 ^%^ ^ /- o/*i- < — -' -^, ^ A^ A^ 9. 7 yec 1> , ^^ ^ 2/ .^ ' l/..^^ //. ^ /'^J; ^ y^, t^y /JL. h.y. /J. ^ ^ -7 ^ . / 23 Z^t /^ ^ /- ^ 24 l^ ^^t^- zi/^^ ''^y ■ zt^yj-. 7/; ^72- 25 ^%A.^:^^oy^ ^u^y 5/ ^ ^ /^' ^ if. ^ ^r — ^-^ — ^ 26 y -^ 2S y[^^^<- ^ty^^iCc^ ^/ . y A A a. /.^ ; V /^ ^ ? /^ ,^ c c-o 29 ^7: ^£.^i^07 JAN 2 11991 I'm ifl-ur OCT 07 1991 5rrt-10,'48(B1039)444 LOS ANGELES LIBRARY UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY » V AA 001 171 636 2 W6lc