Pitman, Isaac

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{{epname|Pitman, Isaac}}
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[[File:Isaac Pitman.jpg|thumb|300px|Sir Isaac Pitman, from 'The Pitman Collection, University of Bath']]
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'''Sir Isaac Pitman''' (January 4, 1813 – January 12, 1897), was a [[Great Britain|British]] [[phonography|phonographer]], famous for developing the most widely used system of [[shorthand]], known now as [[Pitman Shorthand]]. He developed the Pitman Shorthand system to be simpler and more practical than the one already in existence. His new system was based on [[phonetics]] and proved highly successful. He continued to improve the system through twelve published editions. Pitman also established an institute and a journal to publicize the system, which became the most widely used in the English-speaking world. It was also translated into numerous other languages.
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{{toc}}
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Developed at a time when there was an increasing need for reporters, both in the [[newspaper]] industry and the [[court]]s, to be able to take notes quickly and accurately, Pitman's system benefited society in many ways. Its ease of use and his brothers' efforts to publicize and teach it, allowed it to become popular quickly. Although the need for shorthand has been largely superseded by advances in recording and other [[technology|technologies]], Pitman's efforts remain a valuable contribution to the advance in [[communication]] and the spread of accurate information in a quick and efficient manner.
  
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{{epname}}
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==Life==
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Isaac Pitman was born on January 4, 1813, in Trowbridge, Wiltshire in [[England]], the third of the eleven children of Samuel Pitman (1787–1863), manager of a [[weaving]] [[mill]], and his wife, Maria Pitman, née Davis (1784–1854). He attended the local [[grammar school]], but left it when he was 13 years old, due to his fragile health. He had great difficulty pronouncing words, and the overcrowded atmosphere in the classrooms caused Pitman to have frequent fainting fits.  
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'''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]]. He was the vice-president of the [[Vegetarian Society]]. He was born in [[Trowbridge]], [[Wiltshire]] in [[England]].
 
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==Pitman Shorthand==
 
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'''Pitman Shorthand''' is a system of [[shorthand]] for the [[English language]] developed by [[Isaac Pitman|Sir Isaac Pitman]] (1813–1897), who first presented it in 1837.<ref>{{cite book|title=Pitman's Shorthand Instructor: A Complete Exposition of Sir Isaac Pitman's System of Shorthand|publisher= Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons, Ltd|location= Melbourne, Victoria, Australia|edition=Second Australian|chapter=Preface|quote=This second Australian edition of the ''Instructor'' commemorates the centenary of the system of shorthand invented by Sir Isaac Pitman, who, in 1837, published his first treatise on the art.}}</ref> Like most systems of shorthand, it is a [[phonetic]] system; the symbols do not represent letters, but rather sounds, and words are, for the most part, written as they are spoken.<ref>One major exception to this is the fact that ''r''s are always transcribed, even when recording [[Rhotic and non-rhotic accents|non-rhotic accents]]. One possible reason for this could be that in the early 19th century, British English had not yet started to drop its non-intervocalic ''r''s.</ref>
 
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One characteristic feature of Pitman Shorthand is that [[voiceless]] and [[voiced]] sounds (such as /p/ and /b/) are represented by strokes that differ only in thickness (the thick stroke representing the voiced consonant).<ref>Doing this requires a writing instrument which is responsive to the user's drawing pressure: specialist [[fountain pen]]s (with fine, flexible nibs) were originally used, but [[pencil]]s are now more commonly used.</ref>
 
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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 rules of the notebook. (For example, a small circle drawn above the line translates to ''as/has'' and the same circle drawn on the line translates to ''is/his''.) However, there is a more straightforward way of indicating [[vowel]]s, which is to use dots or small dashes drawn close to the stroke  of the preceding [[consonant]].  The type of vowel is dependent on the relative position of the dot or dash to the stroke (beginning, middle, or end).
 
  
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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.  
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Pitman however continued to study at home, while at the same time working as a clerk in a cloth factory. In 1931 he was sent to the Normal College of the British and Foreign School Society in [[London]]. From 1832 to 1839 he held masterships at Barton-on-Humber and Wotton-under-Edge.  
  
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=== History ===
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He began development of the Pitman Shorthand system when his friend Samuel Bagster (1771-1852) requested he devise a new system of [[shorthand]]. At that time, Pitman was teaching [[Samuel Taylor]]'s system and was compiling a manual for its use. He offered the manual to his friend to publish it, but Bagster turned it down. He requested Pitman devise a new system, simpler and more practical for use. That was the birth of Pitman’s shorthand system, which he published in 1837 as ''Stenographic Soundhand''. At Wotton-under-Edge, he soon started to teach his students the new shorthand system.  
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{{Unreferenced|date=October 2006}}
 
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Pitman was asked to create a shorthand system of his own in 1837.  He had used [[Samuel Taylor (stenographer)|Samuel Taylor]]'s system for seven years, but his symbols bear greater similarity to the older [[John Byrom|Byrom]] system. The first [[phonetics|phonetician]] to invent a system of shorthand, Pitman used similar-looking symbols for phonetically related sounds. He was the first to use thickness of a stroke to indicate [[voiced consonant|voicing]] (voiced consonants such as 'b' and 'd' are written with heavier lines than unvoiced ones such as 'p' and 't'), and consonants with similar [[place of articulation]] were orientated in similar directions, with straight lines for [[plosive consonant|plosives]] and arcs for [[fricative]]s. For example, the [[dental consonant|dental]] and [[alveolar consonant|alveolar]] consonants are upright: "|" [t], "'''|'''" [d], ) [s], "''')'''" [z], "(" [θ] (as in ''thigh''), "'''('''" [ð] (as in ''thy'').  
 
  
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Pitman's brother [[Benn Pitman|Benn]] settled in [[Cincinnati, Ohio]] in the [[United States]], and introduced Pitman's system there.  He used it in the 1865–67 trial of the conspirators behind the assassination of [[Abraham Lincoln]]. In [[Australia]] the system was introduced by another Pitman brother, [[Jacob Pitman|Jacob]]. Benn Pitman is buried in Sydney's [[Rookwood Necropolis]], in Australia. The epitaph is (of course) in shorthand.
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In 1839 Pitman joined the [[New Jerusalem Church]], converting to [[Swedenborgianism]], based on the teachings of [[Emmanuel Swedenborg]]. For this he was fired from his teaching post. In 1839 he opened his own private school at [[Bath]], and conducted it until 1843. During that time he devoted himself to perfecting his system and propagating its use. He founded a Phonetic Institute and a ''Phonetic Journal'', which helped spread his ideas. In 1840 he published a book, ''Phonography'', which went through numerous editions. Pitman was a perfectionist, and continued to revise his system until his death, publishing twelve editions. In 1845 Pitman opened a new school in [[London]], where he continued to teach shorthand.  
  
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At one time, Pitman was the most commonly used [[shorthand]] system in the entire [[English language|English]]-speaking world.<ref>
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Pitman was married twice. He married his first wife, Mary Holgate, in 1935. She died in 1857. His second marriage was to Isabella Masters in 1861. With Isabella he had two sons, Alfred and Ernest.  
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{{cite book
 
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  | title = Pitman Shorthand
 
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  | publisher = Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons (Canada), Ltd.
 
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  | year = 1937
 
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  | location = Toronto
 
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}}</ref> Part of its popularity was due to the fact that it was the first subject taught by [[correspondence course]]. Today in many regions (especially the U.S.), it has been superseded by [[Gregg Shorthand]], developed by [[John Robert Gregg]].
 
  
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=== Writing ===
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[[File:Leading_members_of_the_Vegetarian_Society.png|thumb|400px|Pitman (bottom-centre) pictured along with other leading members of the [[Vegetarian Society]], [[John Davie (activist)|John Davie]] (left; 1800–1891), [[Francis William Newman]] (top-centre; 1805–1897), [[William Gibson Ward]] (right; 1819–1882)]]
  
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Like [[Gregg Shorthand]], Pitman's shorthand is completely phonetic; words are written exactly as they are pronounced. There are twenty-four [[consonant]]s that can be represented in Pitman's shorthand, twelve [[vowel]]s and four [[diphthong]]s. The consonants are indicated by strokes, the vowels by interposed dots.
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Pitman advocated a simple vegetarian diet. He was Vice-President of the [[Vegetarian Society]].<ref name=Baker>Alfred Edwin Baker, ''The life of Sir Isaac Pitman (inventor of phonography)'' (London: I. Pitman & Sons, 1919), 310-312.</ref> In an 1879 letter to ''[[The Times]]'' (London), he attributed his excellent health and his ability to work long hours to his vegetarian diet and abstinence from alcohol.<ref name=Baker/> His brother [[Benjamin Pitman|Benjamin]] noted that Pitman "became a vegetarian, not for religious, but humanitarian and physiological reasons".<ref>Benn Pitman, ''Sir Isaac Pitman, His life and Labors'' (C. J. Krehbial & Company, 1902), 48</ref>
  
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He was knighted in 1894 by [[Queen Victoria]] for his contributions to shorthand. Pitman died in Somerset, [[England]], on January 12, 1897.
  
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The consonants in Pitman's shorthand are: ''pee, bee, tee, dee, chay, jay, kay, gay, eff, vee, ith, thee, es, zee, ish, zhee, em, en, ing, el, ar, ray, way, yay,'' and ''hay''. When both an unvoiced consonant and its corresponding voiced consonant are present in this system, the distinction is made by drawing the stroke for the voiced consonant ''thicker'' than the one for the unvoiced consonant. (Thus, ''es'' is ")," whereas ''zee'' is "''')'''".) There are two strokes for /r/: ''ar'' and ''ray''. The former assumes the form of the top right-hand quarter of a circle, whereas the latter is like ''chay'' (/), only less steep. There are rules governing when to use each of these forms.
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==Work==
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Before he created his system, Pitman had used [[Samuel Taylor (stenographer)|Samuel Taylor]]'s system for seven years, but saw its weaknesses. Taylor’s [[symbol]]s had greater similarity to the older [[John Byrom|Byrom]] system, and were too bulk and impractical to use.  
  
−
=== Vowels ===
+
Pitman first presented his shorthand system in 1837 as ''Stenographic Soundhand''. Like most systems of shorthand, it was a [[phonetics|phonetic]] system based on phonetic rather than [[orthography|orthographic]] principles. The symbols did not represent letters, but rather [[sound]]s, and words were, for the most part, written as they were spoken. There were twenty-four [[consonant]]s that could be represented in Pitman's shorthand, twelve [[vowel]]s, and four [[diphthong]]s. The consonants were indicated by strokes, the vowels by interposed dots.
  
 +
Pitman used similar-looking symbols for phonetically related sounds. He was the first to use thickness of a stroke to indicate [[voiced consonant|voicing]] (voiced consonants such as /b/ and /d/ were written with heavier lines than unvoiced ones such as /p/ and /t/), and consonants with similar [[place of articulation]] were orientated in similar directions, with straight lines for [[plosive consonant|plosives]] and arcs for [[fricative]]s.
  
 +
Thus, a characteristic feature of Pitman shorthand was that [[voiceless sounds|voiceless]] and [[voiced sounds|voiced]] [[sound]]s (such as /p/ and /b/) were represented by strokes that differed only in thickness (the thick stroke representing the voiced consonant). Doing this required a writing instrument which was responsive to the user's drawing pressure: specialist [[fountain pen]]s, with fine, flexible nibs, were originally used, but [[pencil]]s later became more common.
  
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A vowel is represented by a dot or a dash, which can be written either lightly or heavily depending on the vowel needed. As this only gives four symbols, they can be written in three different positions - either at the beginning, middle or end of a consonant stroke - to represent the 12 vowels.
+
Another distinguishing feature was that there was more than one way of indicating [[vowel]]s. The main vowel of a word or phrase was indicated by the position of the stroke with respect to the lines of the notebook. For example, a small circle drawn above the line translated to ''as/has'' and the same circle drawn on the line translated to ''is/his''. However, there was a more straightforward way of indicating vowels, which was to use dots or small dashes drawn close to the stroke of the preceding [[consonant]]. The type of vowel was dependent on the relative position of the dot or dash to the stroke (beginning, middle, or end).
  
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The dots and dashes representing long vowels are darker than the ones representing short vowels. For example, ''say'' is written as ")•," but ''seh'' (if it did exist) would be written as ")·"; ''see'' is written as ")'''.'''," but ''sih'' (if there were such a word) would be written as ").."
+
Another feature of Pitman's shorthand allowed most vowels to be omitted in order to speed up the process of writing. As mentioned above, each vowel was written next to the consonant stroke at the beginning, middle or end of the stroke. Pitman's shorthand was designed to be written on lined paper and when a word's first vowel is a "first position" vowel (at the beginning of the stroke), the whole shorthand outline for the word was written above the paper's ruled line. When it was a second position vowel, the outline was written on the line. When it was a third position vowel it was written through the line. In this way, the position of the outline indicated that the first vowel could only be one of four possibilities. In most cases, this meant that the first and often all the other vowels could be omitted entirely.
  
−
Another feature of Pitman's shorthand allows most vowels to be omitted in order to speed up the process of writing. As mentioned above, each vowel is written next to the consonant stroke at the beginning, middle or end of the stroke. Pitman's shorthand is designed to be written on lined paper and when a word's first vowel is a "first position" vowel (ie. it is written at the beginning of the stroke), the whole shorthand outline for the word is written above the paper's ruled line. When it is a second position vowel, the outline is written on the line. And when it is a third position vowel it is written through the line. In this way, the position of the outline indicates that the first vowel can only be one of four possibilities. In most cases, this means that the first and often all the other vowels can be omitted entirely.
+
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.
  
 +
==Legacy==
 +
Pitman created and popularized his [[shorthand]] system at a time when the [[newspaper]] industry was expanding greatly. His system was adapted to the needs of [[journalism]], and it greatly simplified the work of reporters.
  
 +
Pitman's brother [[Benn Pitman|Benn]] settled in Cincinnati, [[Ohio]] in the [[United States]], and introduced Pitman's system there. He used it in the 1865–1867 [[trial]] of the [[conspiracy|conspirators]] behind the assassination of [[Abraham Lincoln]]. In [[Australia]] the system was introduced by another Pitman brother, [[Jacob Pitman|Jacob]].
  
 +
At one time, the Pitman system was the most commonly used [[shorthand]] system in the entire [[English language|English]]-speaking world. It had been adapted to at least 30 languages, including [[French language|French]], [[Spanish language|Spanish]], [[Welsh language|Welsh]], [[Afrikaans]], [[Malay language|Malay]], and [[Hindu language|Hindu]]. Part of its popularity was due to the fact that it was the first subject taught by [[correspondence course]]. Today in many regions (especially the U.S.), it has been superseded by [[Gregg Shorthand]], developed by [[John Robert Gregg]].
  
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Isaac Pitman is the grandfather of Sir [[James Pitman]], famous for developing the [[Initial Teaching Alphabet]].
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Pitman's grandson, James Pitman (1901-1985) also joined the family business founded by his grandfather, and was responsible for developing the Initial Teaching Alphabet (ITA), a phonetically augmented alphabet designed to minimize the discrepancies between spelling and pronunciation which can cause problems in the early development of reading skills.
  
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His memorial plaque on the north wall of [[Bath Abbey]] reads ' His aims were stedfast, his mind original, his work prodigious, the achievement world-wide. His life, was ordered in service to God and duty to man.'
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==Publications==
  
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==Quotes==
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*1837. Pitman, Isaac. ''Stenographic sound-hand''. London: Samuel Bagster.
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*"''Well-arranged time is the surest mark of a well-arranged mind.''"
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*1840. Pitman, Isaac. ''Phonography, or, writing by sound: a natural method of writing all languages by one alphabet, composed of signs that represent the sounds of the human voice: adapted also to the English language as a complete system of short hand, briefer than any other system, and by which a speaker can be followed verbatim, without the use of arbitrary marks''. London: Samuel Bagster and Sons.
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*"''I have no intention of becoming a shorthand author.''"
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*1845. Pitman, Isaac. ''A manual of phonography, or, Writing by sound a natural method of writing by signs that represent the sounds of language, and adapted to the English language as a complete system of phonetic short hand''. London: S. Bagster and Sons.
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*1849. Pitman, Isaac. ''Exercises in phonography; designed to conduct the pupil to a practical acquaintance with the art''. London: F. Pitman.
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*1860. Pitman, Isaac. ''The phonographic reader: a series of lessons in phonetic shorthand''. London: F. Pitman.
 +
*1897. Pitman, Isaac. ''Key to exercises in the "Phonographic reporter" or part II. of Pitman's shorthand instructor''. London: I. Pitman & Sons
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*2003. Pitman, Isaac. ''Course in Isaac Pitman shorthand''. Kessinger Publishing. ISBN 0766161692
  
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==Footnotes==
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==Notes==
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<div class="references-small">
 
 
<references/>
 
<references/>
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</div>
 
  
 
==References==
 
==References==
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* [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9060218  Pitman, Sir Isaac] (2007). In Encyclopædia Britannica.  Retrieved February 12, 2007, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online
 
  
 +
*Baker, Alfred. ''The life of Sir Isaac Pitman (inventor of phonography)''. London: I. Pitman & Sons, 1919.
 +
*Pitman, Benn. ''Sir Isaac Pitman, his life and labors''. Cincinnati, OH: Press of C.J. Krehbial & Co., 1902.
  
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{{cite book |last=Pitman |first=Isaac |authorlink=Isaac Pitman |title= Pitman Shorthand Instructor and Key: A Complete Exposition of Sir Isaac Pitman's System of Shorthand |publisher=Pitman Australia |location=Carlton, Victoria (Australia) |id= ISBN 0-85896-065-6}}
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==External links==
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All links retrieved May 28, 2022.
  
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==External links==
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*[http://www.nndb.com/people/917/000095632/ Sir Isaac Pitman] Biography at NNDB.
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*[http://www.shorthand-untangled.co.uk Learn and practice the skills of shorthand.]
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*[https://www.britannica.com/biography/Isaac-Pitman Sir Isaac Pitman] In ''Encyclopædia Britannica''.
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*[http://pitmanshorthand.homestead.com The Joy of Pitman Shorthand]
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*[http://www.homestead.com/pitmanshorthand/writsample.html Writing samples of Pitman Shorthand] Some samples in Pitman Shorthand.
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*[http://www.crazycolour.com/os/writing_06.shtml What is Pitman shorthand?]
 
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*[http://www.shorthandworld.co.uk/index.html Shorthand website that has general information on all strains.]
 
  
 
{{Credits|Isaac_Pitman|107604037|Pitman_Shorthand|129108044|}}
 
{{Credits|Isaac_Pitman|107604037|Pitman_Shorthand|129108044|}}

Latest revision as of 12:46, 22 July 2022

Sir Isaac Pitman, from 'The Pitman Collection, University of Bath'

Sir Isaac Pitman (January 4, 1813 – January 12, 1897), was a British phonographer, famous for developing the most widely used system of shorthand, known now as Pitman Shorthand. He developed the Pitman Shorthand system to be simpler and more practical than the one already in existence. His new system was based on phonetics and proved highly successful. He continued to improve the system through twelve published editions. Pitman also established an institute and a journal to publicize the system, which became the most widely used in the English-speaking world. It was also translated into numerous other languages.

Developed at a time when there was an increasing need for reporters, both in the newspaper industry and the courts, to be able to take notes quickly and accurately, Pitman's system benefited society in many ways. Its ease of use and his brothers' efforts to publicize and teach it, allowed it to become popular quickly. Although the need for shorthand has been largely superseded by advances in recording and other technologies, Pitman's efforts remain a valuable contribution to the advance in communication and the spread of accurate information in a quick and efficient manner.

Life

Isaac Pitman was born on January 4, 1813, in Trowbridge, Wiltshire in England, the third of the eleven children of Samuel Pitman (1787–1863), manager of a weaving mill, and his wife, Maria Pitman, née Davis (1784–1854). He attended the local grammar school, but left it when he was 13 years old, due to his fragile health. He had great difficulty pronouncing words, and the overcrowded atmosphere in the classrooms caused Pitman to have frequent fainting fits.

Pitman however continued to study at home, while at the same time working as a clerk in a cloth factory. In 1931 he was sent to the Normal College of the British and Foreign School Society in London. From 1832 to 1839 he held masterships at Barton-on-Humber and Wotton-under-Edge.

He began development of the Pitman Shorthand system when his friend Samuel Bagster (1771-1852) requested he devise a new system of shorthand. At that time, Pitman was teaching Samuel Taylor's system and was compiling a manual for its use. He offered the manual to his friend to publish it, but Bagster turned it down. He requested Pitman devise a new system, simpler and more practical for use. That was the birth of Pitman’s shorthand system, which he published in 1837 as Stenographic Soundhand. At Wotton-under-Edge, he soon started to teach his students the new shorthand system.

In 1839 Pitman joined the New Jerusalem Church, converting to Swedenborgianism, based on the teachings of Emmanuel Swedenborg. For this he was fired from his teaching post. In 1839 he opened his own private school at Bath, and conducted it until 1843. During that time he devoted himself to perfecting his system and propagating its use. He founded a Phonetic Institute and a Phonetic Journal, which helped spread his ideas. In 1840 he published a book, Phonography, which went through numerous editions. Pitman was a perfectionist, and continued to revise his system until his death, publishing twelve editions. In 1845 Pitman opened a new school in London, where he continued to teach shorthand.

Pitman was married twice. He married his first wife, Mary Holgate, in 1935. She died in 1857. His second marriage was to Isabella Masters in 1861. With Isabella he had two sons, Alfred and Ernest.

Pitman (bottom-centre) pictured along with other leading members of the Vegetarian Society, John Davie (left; 1800–1891), Francis William Newman (top-centre; 1805–1897), William Gibson Ward (right; 1819–1882)

Pitman advocated a simple vegetarian diet. He was Vice-President of the Vegetarian Society.[1] In an 1879 letter to The Times (London), he attributed his excellent health and his ability to work long hours to his vegetarian diet and abstinence from alcohol.[1] His brother Benjamin noted that Pitman "became a vegetarian, not for religious, but humanitarian and physiological reasons".[2]

He was knighted in 1894 by Queen Victoria for his contributions to shorthand. Pitman died in Somerset, England, on January 12, 1897.

Work

Before he created his system, Pitman had used Samuel Taylor's system for seven years, but saw its weaknesses. Taylor’s symbols had greater similarity to the older Byrom system, and were too bulk and impractical to use.

Pitman first presented his shorthand system in 1837 as Stenographic Soundhand. Like most systems of shorthand, it was a phonetic system based on phonetic rather than orthographic principles. The symbols did not represent letters, but rather sounds, and words were, for the most part, written as they were spoken. There were twenty-four consonants that could be represented in Pitman's shorthand, twelve vowels, and four diphthongs. The consonants were indicated by strokes, the vowels by interposed dots.

Pitman used similar-looking symbols for phonetically related sounds. He was the first to use thickness of a stroke to indicate voicing (voiced consonants such as /b/ and /d/ were written with heavier lines than unvoiced ones such as /p/ and /t/), and consonants with similar place of articulation were orientated in similar directions, with straight lines for plosives and arcs for fricatives.

Thus, a characteristic feature of Pitman shorthand was that voiceless and voiced sounds (such as /p/ and /b/) were represented by strokes that differed only in thickness (the thick stroke representing the voiced consonant). Doing this required a writing instrument which was responsive to the user's drawing pressure: specialist fountain pens, with fine, flexible nibs, were originally used, but pencils later became more common.

Another distinguishing feature was that there was more than one way of indicating vowels. The main vowel of a word or phrase was indicated by the position of the stroke with respect to the lines of the notebook. For example, a small circle drawn above the line translated to as/has and the same circle drawn on the line translated to is/his. However, there was a more straightforward way of indicating vowels, which was to use dots or small dashes drawn close to the stroke of the preceding consonant. The type of vowel was dependent on the relative position of the dot or dash to the stroke (beginning, middle, or end).

Another feature of Pitman's shorthand allowed most vowels to be omitted in order to speed up the process of writing. As mentioned above, each vowel was written next to the consonant stroke at the beginning, middle or end of the stroke. Pitman's shorthand was designed to be written on lined paper and when a word's first vowel is a "first position" vowel (at the beginning of the stroke), the whole shorthand outline for the word was written above the paper's ruled line. When it was a second position vowel, the outline was written on the line. When it was a third position vowel it was written through the line. In this way, the position of the outline indicated that the first vowel could only be one of four possibilities. In most cases, this meant that the first and often all the other vowels could be omitted entirely.

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.

Legacy

Pitman created and popularized his shorthand system at a time when the newspaper industry was expanding greatly. His system was adapted to the needs of journalism, and it greatly simplified the work of reporters.

Pitman's brother Benn settled in Cincinnati, Ohio in the United States, and introduced Pitman's system there. He used it in the 1865–1867 trial of the conspirators behind the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. In Australia the system was introduced by another Pitman brother, Jacob.

At one time, the Pitman system was the most commonly used shorthand system in the entire English-speaking world. It had been adapted to at least 30 languages, including French, Spanish, Welsh, Afrikaans, Malay, and Hindu. Part of its popularity was due to the fact that it was the first subject taught by correspondence course. Today in many regions (especially the U.S.), it has been superseded by Gregg Shorthand, developed by John Robert Gregg.

Pitman's grandson, James Pitman (1901-1985) also joined the family business founded by his grandfather, and was responsible for developing the Initial Teaching Alphabet (ITA), a phonetically augmented alphabet designed to minimize the discrepancies between spelling and pronunciation which can cause problems in the early development of reading skills.

Publications

  • 1837. Pitman, Isaac. Stenographic sound-hand. London: Samuel Bagster.
  • 1840. Pitman, Isaac. Phonography, or, writing by sound: a natural method of writing all languages by one alphabet, composed of signs that represent the sounds of the human voice: adapted also to the English language as a complete system of short hand, briefer than any other system, and by which a speaker can be followed verbatim, without the use of arbitrary marks. London: Samuel Bagster and Sons.
  • 1845. Pitman, Isaac. A manual of phonography, or, Writing by sound a natural method of writing by signs that represent the sounds of language, and adapted to the English language as a complete system of phonetic short hand. London: S. Bagster and Sons.
  • 1849. Pitman, Isaac. Exercises in phonography; designed to conduct the pupil to a practical acquaintance with the art. London: F. Pitman.
  • 1860. Pitman, Isaac. The phonographic reader: a series of lessons in phonetic shorthand. London: F. Pitman.
  • 1897. Pitman, Isaac. Key to exercises in the "Phonographic reporter" or part II. of Pitman's shorthand instructor. London: I. Pitman & Sons
  • 2003. Pitman, Isaac. Course in Isaac Pitman shorthand. Kessinger Publishing. ISBN 0766161692

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Alfred Edwin Baker, The life of Sir Isaac Pitman (inventor of phonography) (London: I. Pitman & Sons, 1919), 310-312.
  2. ↑ Benn Pitman, Sir Isaac Pitman, His life and Labors (C. J. Krehbial & Company, 1902), 48

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  • Baker, Alfred. The life of Sir Isaac Pitman (inventor of phonography). London: I. Pitman & Sons, 1919.
  • Pitman, Benn. Sir Isaac Pitman, his life and labors. Cincinnati, OH: Press of C.J. Krehbial & Co., 1902.

External links

All links retrieved May 28, 2022.

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