Isaac Pitman

Sunday, March 21st, 2010 at 2:44 pm

Sir Isaac Pitman (January 4, 1813 – January 12, 1897), 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.

In 1837 Isaac Pitman first published his system of phonetic shorthand, in a pamphlet entitled Stenographic Sound-Hand. Among the examples in this pamphlet, were the Psalm 100, the Lord’s Prayer, and Swedenborg’s Rules of Life. In about 1837 Pitman discontinued the use of all alcoholic beverages, and in about 1838 he became a vegetarian – both lifelong practices to which, in a famous letter to The Times (London), he attributed he lifelong excellent health and his ability to work long hours. Pitman founded Pitman Training, a company which he established as colleges to provide training in office skills. The early courses were only for men. There are now 100 centres across the UK, Ireland and internationally offering 125 courses.

Pitman Shorthand
Pitman shorthand is a system of shorthand for the English language that uses a phonetic system; the symbols do not represent letters, but rather sounds, and words are, for the most part, written as they are spoken. As of 1996, 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 [voiced] sounds (such as /p/ and /b/ or /t/ and /d/) are represented by strokes that 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).

Another distinguishing feature is that there is more than one way of indicating vowels. The main vowel of a word or phrase is indicated by the position of the stroke with respect to the ruled lines of the notebook. (For example, a small circle drawn above the ruled line translates to as/has; the same circle drawn on the line translates to is/his). But the marks for as/has and is/his are like irregular verbs: they are an exception to the rule. The predominant way of indicating vowels is to use dots or small dashes drawn close to the stroke of the preceding consonant. 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).

There are at least three “dialects” of Pitman’s shorthand: the original Pitman’s, Pitman’s New Era, and Pitman’s 2000. 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.

The Performance And Design of Alternating Current Machines

This book has hardback covers.Ex-library,With usual stamps and markings,In fair condition, suitable as a study copy.Dust Jacket in fair condition….

English and Shorthand Dictionary, Based on the Original Work of Sir Isaac Pitman, With Lists of Proper Names, Grammalogues and Contractions,

$19.99

Title: English and Shorthand Dictionary, Based on the Original Work of Sir Isaac Pitman, With Lists of Proper Names, Grammalogues and Contractions, and an Analytical Introduction on the Formation of Shorthand Outlines Publisher: New York : Pitman Subjects: Shorthand — Pitman Notes: This is an OCR reprint. There may be numerous typos or missing text. There are no illustrations or indexes. When…

Plant and Animal Biology. Volume I.

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