The Speedwords Shorthand System

Years ago, Reginald J. G. Dutton created a shorthand writing system that shortened common words, and called them Speedwords.

With this, maybe overly confusing, system, words like but, you and because become b, v and zi, respectively.

If you’re interested in implementing such a system in your shorthand lexicon, check out Jonathan Aquino’s Cheatsheet for Speedwords shorthand system.

For a brief history, list of words and pronunciation, check this Overview of Speedwords.

Would, or do, you implement such a shorthand language?

The Speedwords Shorthand System
  • ray haines

    I have implemented the Dutton SpeedWords (for common words) with Active Words so that I type shorthand and the full words appear on the screen.

    l = the
    b = but
    o = on
    k = that
    u = one

    It works pretty well for me.

    Ray