Deseret Alphabet on Atlas Obscura

Last year I posted about the Deseret Alphabet created by George D. Watts.   The alphabet appears to be alive and well.  There’s an article about it this week on the Atlas Obscura website.  I’m rather envious:  they have published many classics and even the Bible in this alphabet.  If only someone was doing that for Gregg shorthand these days, too!

 


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  1. Deseret script has the advantage of being typed using any typesetting or word processing program with a suitable font. In addition, an online English-Desert alphabet translator is available. On the other hand, Gregg shorthand plates need to be handwritten and scanned, and the images placed in the final document, a process that it is much more involved and time consuming!

    Hence, from a production perspective, it is easier to create a Deseret text than a Gregg text by far.

  2. The man appointed to oversee the management of the Shavian project according to Shaw's will was James Pitman, grandson of Sir Isaac Pitman. James Pitman invented a phonemic alphabet to teach children the fundamentals of reading called the Initial Teaching Alphabet.

    As for Sir Isaac, not only did he invent his famous shorhand, but he also invented a phonemic alphabet which he called the English Phonotypic Alphabet.

    Both of these are variants of the Roman alphabet–not as odd looking as Shavian or Deseret. Wikipedia has articles on both these alphabets.

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