Linda Ingram, age 15, of Reno, Nev., for her question:
HOW WAS SHORTHAND INVENTED?
Shorthand is used primarily to take dictation. It developed slowly over a long period of time.
Although most people speak at a rate of about 140 words per minute, a stenographer can take most dictation by writing shorthand at a rate of 80 words a minute. Court reporters must be able to take down conversation at a rate of at least 200 words a minute. Hundreds of different shorthand methods have been used through the years.
Shorthand uses symbols or letters to represent the sounds of words. Symbols are also used to represent whole words and phrases.
Marcus Tullius Tiro, a secretary to the Roman orator Cicero, is given credit for inventing a shorthand system about 50 B.C. Then, about A.D. 700, for reasons unknown, the art of shorthand disappeared and it wasn't revived until 1588.
In 1588, a book called "Characterie: An Art of Short, Swift and Secret Writing by Character" was written by Timothy Bright and published in England. Then, in 1602, came two additional books: Peter Bale's "Brachygraphy" and John Willis" "The Art of Stenography." The Willis book was the first attempt at a genuine alphabetical system of shorthand.
Most famous of the modern methods of shorthand also dates back many years. Isaac Pitman, an Englishman, came up with a shorthand book in 1837. Robert Gregg, an educator born in Ireland, wrote a book on shorthand in 1888.
The Gregg method of shorthand is the most widely used system in the world today. It was first used in England and then later promoted in the United States. The Gregg symbols are based on longhand strokes and flow along in the same smooth style as longhand writing.
Gregg came up with 129 brief forms that represent common words. The Gregg student learns to write long words by writing just enough of each word to suggest the entire word.
The Pitman shorthand method is characterized by the shading of strokes. Some strokes are light and others are heavy or dark.
Another shorthand method is called the "Thomas Natural System." It was invented in the 1930s by Charles Thomas, an American shorthand teacher. Although it uses a simple symbol system with only 12 word forms, it never became a widely accepted system of shorthand.
Martin Dupraw, an American court reporter, set the world record for writing in shorthand in 1927. Using the Gregg method, Dupraw took down testimony at the rate of 282 words a minute for five minutes.
Speedwriting is the most common of the systems that use longhand letters instead of symbols. Also, several excellent shorthand machines have been developed and are in wide use today.