Stolze–Smith Shorthand
Introduction
Stolze-Smith is an evolution of Smith Shorthand. It is a response to two design impulses:
To make out of Smith a truly "German"-style system; that is, to indicate vowel quality with positioning and shading rather than with diacritics and semivowels.
To simplify Smith; to reduce the number of techniques and composition rules, even at the cost of brevity.
Consonants
The core sign inventory of Stolze-Smith comprises the Cartesian product of three types of angle—straight, curving, and looping—multiplied by the two ends of a basic downstroke.
The unvoiced consonants, plus /n/, are written with signs of height=2:
| sharp | loop | curve | |
|---|---|---|---|
| sharp | f | s | n |
| loop | tʃ | ʃ | t |
| curve | θ | p | k |
The voiced consonants, and /m/, are written with the equivalents of height=3:
| sharp | loop | curve | |
|---|---|---|---|
| sharp | v | z | m |
| loop | dʒ | ʒ | d |
| curve | ð | b | g |
Liquids (/l/ and /r/) are written with signs of height=1:
The liquids are common elements of consonant clusters. They can be attached to one of the core signs, either before the downstroke (the top of the sign) or after it (the bottom of the sign) to represent the cluster.
This behaviour includes handling of the r-colored vowel.
Finally there are the hook and barb signs. These are both height=1 and come in orientations down and up. The hook curves in the named direction and then doubles back towards the original direction of the stroke; the barb doubles back in the named direction and then curves in the original direction.
By themselves, the hooks stand for the semivowels.
Finally, the /h/ sound is indicated by putting a diacritic over the affected upstroke, or to the left of the next sign. In this documentation, we use a single dot, •.
Vowels
In a sequence CVC', the quality of the vowel V is expressed by the positioning and shading of the consonant sign C'.
Ordinarily, signs sit at the baseline (position=1). They may be raised to position=2 or lowered below the baseline to position=0.
Similarly, the default width of the upstroke between C and C' is narrow; however the width can be expanded to wide in order to express a diphthong.
Finally, C' may be written shaded or unshaded.
| narrow | wide | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| unshaded | shaded | unshaded | shaded | |
| position 2 |
beat i |
boot ʊ, u |
bait eɪ |
|
| position 1 |
bet ɛ, ə |
bit ɪ |
bite aɪ |
bout aʊ |
| position 0 |
bat æ, ɑ |
boat ɔ, oʊ |
boyd ɔɪ |
|
Vowel positioning is absolute; signs are raised or lowered to a given position based on height, but the default position is always 1, and raising and lowering is always relative the the default position.
Final Vowels
When a word ends in a vowel, we can't encode the vowel in a following consonant. So we write an upstroke to the appropriate height, with the appropriate width.
| narrow | wide | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| unshaded | shaded | unshaded | shaded | |
| position 2 |
see i |
sue ʊ, u |
stay eɪ |
|
| position 1 |
saga ɛ, ə |
ɪ |
sigh aɪ |
sow aʊ |
| position 0 |
shah æ, ɑ |
saw ɔ, oʊ |
soy ɔɪ |
|
"Shaded" upstrokes can be represented either by shading the line directly, or by ending it with a small backwards tick.
Vowel Hiatus
When one vowel directly follows another, we can connect them with one of the semivowel hooks.
In practice, it's almost always acceptable to simply indicate the first vowel with the semivowel.
Consonant Clusters
We use the hook and barb signs to represent the most common consonant clusters.
Nasal Clusters
To represent the clusters nC, mC, and ngC, we attach the down-barb to the beginning of the sign standing for C. Thus we indicate common clusters like /nk/, /mp/, /nt/, and so on.
-ing Morpheme
To represent the morpheme Ming, we attach the same sign to the end of the sign(s) standing for M.
The same sign can be used, potentially affected by an intervening vowel, for the /ng/ sound.
Sibilant Clusters
To represent the clusters sC, zC, shC, and zhC, we attach the down-hook to the beginning of the sign standing for C. Thus we indicate clusters like /sp/, /sm/, /zm/.
-ed Morpheme
To represent the morpheme Med, we attach the same sign to the end of the sign(s) standing for M.
Following-Sibilant Clusters
To represent the cluster Cs, we attach the up-hook to the end of the sign standing for C. Thus we indicate clusters like /ts/, /ps/, /ks/.
-s Morpheme
To represent the morpheme Ms (or M's), we attach the same sign to the end of the sign(s) standing for M.
Following-Stop Clusters
To represent the cluster Ct, we attach the up-barb to the end of the sign standing for C. Thus we indicate clusters like /kt/, /ft/.
Other Consonant Sequences
Any sequences of multiple consequences not covered by the above constructors, we represent by writing the signs detached, writing them side-by-side with no intervening upstroke.
Briefs
We can use any of the signs, written by itself, as a brief: standing for a whole word. Every sign can be written either shaded or unshaded; so every sign has two briefs.
Being too numerous to enumerate here, they can be viewed in a simple lookup interface.
Phrasing Briefs
Many of the most common words are available as phrasing briefs. These are the core signs, at height=2, written raised. Because they're raised, they can be written joined up—either with another phrasing brief, or with an ordinary outline—without ambiguity.
Briefs
Any one of the remainder of the sign inventory, written by itself, stands for a single word.
Inflecting Briefs
To inflect the most common verbs, we can attach the morpheme hooks directly to the verb's brief.
-n't Morpheme
To represent the morpheme Mn't, we attach the up-barb to the brief standing for M.
-thing Morpheme
The hook used for -ing can also be used for the set of extremely common words ending with "-thing":
Prefixes
We can represent the most common prefixes by signs of height=4. These signs begin at the upper line and proceed downward through the baseline.
Being too numerous to enumerate here, they can be viewed in a simple lookup interface.
Suffixes
We can represent the most common suffixes with a combination of a sign from the inventory and the diacritic mark. We can place the mark to the right of the sign to denote its use as a suffix.
Being too numerous to enumerate here, they can be viewed in a simple lookup interface.
A Written Sample
When they named some object, and accordingly moved towards something, I saw this and I grasped that the thing was called by the sound they uttered when they meant to point it out. Their intention was shown by their bodily movements, as it were the natural language of all peoples; the expression of the face, the play of the eyes, the movement of other parts of the body, and the tone of the voice which expresses our state of mind in seeking, having, rejecting, or avoiding something. Thus, as I heard words repeatedly used in their proper places in various sentences, I gradually learnt to understand what objects they signified; and after I had trained my mouth to form these signs, I used them to express my own desires.
— Augustine, Confessions, I.8