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REMARKS ON THE ALPHABET.

The figures 1, 2, 3, mean "above the line," "below the line," respectively.

99.66 on the line,"

The learner should thoroughly master the page on which the alphabetical characters are shown, and before attempting to make any combinations he should study the following remarks:L, r, and y are written upward.

Characters which can be struck with one impulse of the handas fn, rk, tn, lr, yr, tioнr, bn, ms, xs, pt, kt, &c.-are to be so made.

Any character formed of a simple stroke or curve may be written twice as large, to express a repetition of the letter. This should generally be done at the beginning of a word spelt with a double consonant, as a distinctive character is thus given to the shorthand outline and the suggestion of the ordinary spelling is a help in reading; but except at the beginning of a word a double consonant need not be indicated unless the letters represented by it are separately pronounced.

It will be observed that each of the following letters--b, h, l, m, p, and w—has two forms. The form which in the alphabet has a space opposite to it is the second form, to which the asterisk refers. Each of these letters is begun with a loop, which, for the purpose of joining, may be made on either side of the stroke in b, h, l, m, and p, and with the curve in either direction in the case of w. The rule for joining looped letters is, that the loop should be inside a curve, but outside an angle. Thus to join dw, kw, the first form of w must be used; to join nw, rw, the second form. To join dm, fm, the first form of m must be used; to join nm, rm, the second form; and so of the other looped characters.

When b, l, m, or p, begins a word, the first form of the character should be used if it be intended to stand for a single letter. But the second form is to be written at the beginning of a word in the following cases :-when b is followed by t; when 1 is followed by 1; when m is followed by m; when p is followed by p. Thus, the second form of these four characters respectively, at the beginning of a word is to be read as meaning bt, double 1, double m, double p. When b is followed by b, one b will suffice unless the letters are separately pronounced, in which case the character must be repeated.

Except with regard to b, the remarks as to representing a double letter at the beginning of a word apply also to these looped characters. Thus, "apparent" should be begun with the second form of p; 'unapparent" requires but one p. "Imminent" should be begun with the second form of m; in "dimmer," but one m is needed.

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The first form of h is to be used at the beginning of a word in all cases except those set forth in the chapter headed "Syllables."

Either form of w may be used at the beginning of a word, according as the following character may determine; the second form, however, will generally suffice to represent "with," as in "withstand," &c.

Observe particularly that all distinctions as to the meaning of the two forms of looped characters apply only at the beginning of a word, and that after the first character has been written, the looped characters are to be made in either form, as before explained in the rule for joining.

The second forms of the looped characters, when written alone, represent various words, namely :

b

h

1

m

P

W

about 1, but 2, bought 3

hypocrite I, her, hers 2, hypocrisy 3

while I, well, will 2, whilst 3

amendment 1, immense, moment 2, movement 3
people I, press 2, purpose 3

with

When a downward character precedes fn, fs, or rk, the f or r may be omitted, and the n, s, or k, may be written touching the middle of the preceding character. The following words may be thus represented :

k touching d k touching f k touching g k touching j k touching t k touching T

n touching d

dark Africa

Greek
jerk
trick
attract-ion

advance 1, define-ition 2, (add t for
66 'definite"), divine 3
advice, advise 1, device, devise 3

s touching d When x is followed by k, it may be joined to it by making the hook only, and passing on to the k. In like manner, when m, coming after a letter which requires (as r) or which permits (as s) the second form of m, is followed by k, the loop only may be made, passing on at once to the k. The stroke of the x or

m is thus left unwritten, and the k appears to be begun with a hook or a loop outside the curve. B and may be similarly represented, the loop only being written, and the curve being begun with a loop outside it.

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The character for w may be written when it occurs in or at the end of a word, though it is silent, because it will then suggest the ordinary spelling and so aid the reading, and also because it will often give a distinctive form to an outline, and save the addition of a vowel mark. "Power," narrow, furrow," "hollow," are a few of many words in which w may be written with advantage. Wn, when the preceding character favours the use of the second form of w, should be represented by making the curve of the w twice as large. Similarly, wk should be represented, when the preceding character indicates the first form of w, by making the curve of the w twice as large. Wn, written as directed, and placed above the line, stand for "wonderful"; placed below the line, for "want." Wk, written as directed, stand for "work" above the line, and for "walk" below the line. Any word represented by w and k, w and n, and not requiring a special position, as wake," weak," "wan," is to be written as one character upon the line. vowel mark be added, the double-length curve is to be regarded, as to the position of the vowel, as being one character G is always to be used to represent the sound in "give." J is always to be used to represent the sound in " gem," and it takes the place of dg in “ judge," " pledge," and the like words.

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K is to be written for the sound of k, whether the ordinary spelling be c, k, or ch. The character for ch must always represent the sound of ch in "much." S is to be used for c whenever that letter has the sound of s. Gh in words like "light," though," "plough," &c., are not to be written at all; when these letters are pronounced f, as in "cough,” f is to be used. F is to be written for ph, as in "physic."

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The hook of the character for th is not easily formed in fast writing after 1, n, r, or y. When it follows either of these letters, it is to be represented by striking t through the 1, n, r, or y.

Double-length strokes and curves, written by themselves, represent the following words:

Double d added 1, dead, deed 2, died 3

f philosopher 1, philosophy 3

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announce-ment I, none, noon, &c. 2, annoy,

rare

annoyance 3

says I, cease, seize 2, assize, sighs, size 3
taught, tight

ch church

To these characters any character may be added that may be necessary to express a plural, or a modification of the word. To the double-length ch add m for churchman or "churchmen," w for "churchwarden," y for "churchyard."

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As a double consonant, unless the two letters are separately pronounced, need not be written after a word has been begun, a double-length t may be used (except at the beginning of a word) to represent st, as in "christian," "last." When thus used, the double-length t is joined.

The first form of y is to be used for that letter when it occurs at the beginning or in the body of a word. The second form of y is to be used when y ends a word (except in the terminations ly, ty, which are hereafter provided for). The final y must always be joined to a preceding character, and must not be joined to any following character, except s, used for the purpose of expressing a plural, in which case the y should never be so written as to be identical with the hook of x. The final y is of great service in giving clearness of definition to an outline, and it enables a number of distinctive contractions to be made. The following are some instances of its application in this respect:

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flpny flippancy
py happy

hy

history

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fly

ry

railway

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The character for "ng" is to represent the sound heard in "sung," but not the termination, "ing," which is otherwise provided for.

Many phrases compounded of auxiliary verbs, pronouns, and prepositions, may be represented by joining the characters which stand for such words, as shown in the alphabet. In these

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