Speedwords was designed by Reginald J.G. Dutton to serve a dual purpose: to be both an abbreviated writing system (shorthand) and an international auxiliary language. Reginald first helped his father in his Bookselling and Printing Business before becoming a journalist and developing his improved system of shorthand. Biographical notes he wrote of himself are available here.
Its main distinguishing features are:
- International Auxiliary Language: Dutton initially envisioned Speedwords as a universal language to facilitate international communication, the idea is that people speaking different national languages can use Speedwords as a common medium, as its vocabulary was designed to be unambiguous and often drew from international word roots. Thus ‘l’ was chosen to indicate ‘the’ as in French ‘the’ is ‘le’, while ‘ko’ derives from German kommen to come.
- Alphabetic Shorthand: Unlike traditional shorthand systems like Pitman or Gregg which use new symbols or geometric shapes, Speedwords uses the 26 letters of the English alphabet (plus the ampersand symbol ‘&’). Thus making it easier to learn and allowing it to be typed on a standard keyboard.
- Concise Vocabulary: Speedwords relies on a relatively small vocabulary of roots, often consisting of one, two, or three letters. The principle is that frequently used words are represented by shorter forms. For example:
- ‘&’ for ‘and’
- ‘a’ for ‘to’ or ‘at’
- ‘i’ for ‘in’
- Speed and Efficiency: As a shorthand system, its primary goal is to increase writing speed and efficiency. Users can write significantly faster than with conventional longhand.
- Grammatical Simplicity: Speedwords often simplifies grammatical features. For instance, there is no conjugation or declension (e.g., ‘e’ can mean “have” or “has,” and ‘j’ can mean “I” or “me”). Words can often serve as nouns, verbs, adjectives, or adverbs depending on the context.
- Affixes for Expansion: The core roots are combined with affixes to expand the vocabulary. For example, ‘-z’ can pluralise a word.
Although Dutton’s original manuals are out of print*, there has been a resurgence of interest (as oulined further below), particularly with the rise of the internet. However, it has several disadvantages that have limited its widespread adoption.
*’Teach Yourself Dutton Speedwords’ is downloadable here
Its main drawback are:
- Lack of support and resources: Since the passing or Reginald Dutton in 1970 there has been no coordinated or ongoing development and no central authority as exists for constructed languages such as Esparanto.
2. Ambiguity and Potential for Misinterpretation : For example, simplification of the grammar can lead to ambiguity, a single Speedword can cover different English word relying on context to derive the intended meaning and guidance on pronunciation for spoken communication was never fully formulated. There are also inconsistencies and anomalies in the Speedwords documentation which hinders learning.
3. Learning Curve and Consistency: Although based on the English alphabet, mastering Speedwords still requires memorising a core vocabulary of short, often seemingly arbitrary, roots and an affix system. Also, users are permitted to create their own supplementary lists or apply rules for abbreviating non-core words which can lead to variations in usage.
The Death of a Son, Wing Commander Peter Hiley Dutton – reported in Boston Guardian
Reginald’s son Peter joined the Royal Air Force in 1933 and was posted to 20 Squadron at Peshawar, India in 1934, till 1942. Returning from India, in September 1942, Peter took command command of 107 Sqn at RAF Great Massingham, Norfolk. On Sunday 6 December 1942 his aircraft a Douglas BD-7B Boston Mk IIIA was attacked by FW 190 A-4s of 5./JG1 from Schiphol airfield and crashed into the sea 6km West of Katwijk aan Zee, killing all on board. (A personal postscript – he was educated at the same school – Magdalen College School, Oxford – I attended)
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
‘Teach Yourself Dutton Speedwords English Universities Press 1951 SNB 340 05564 2. A scanned copy of the book is available at the Internet Archive
‘Dutton Speedwords’ in Art of Memory. An extensive description and review together with links to other shorthand methods.
‘Dutton World Speedwords’ with a translator English to Speedwords by Kafejo
Speedwords Dictionary (1951) pdf download here; Bumotet (a short Dictionary of Speedwords) by Kafejo
‘Speedwords word-building presents problems’ by Ray Brown
‘Learn to Write 25% of All Words Using Single Letters in 10 Minutes’ by Soren Bjornstad
‘Ordinary writing at Shorthand Speed por omni lingues‘ Extensive references including its use as a language. Also referenced from here
‘Wiki Books Shorthand’ for Dutton Speedwords
‘Dutton Speedwords’ Introduction
‘Dutton Speedwords Cheat Sheet’ Top 100 words
‘Dutton Speedwords Pronunciation‘