Keyscript Shorthand

Subtitle

Keyscript Taster

 Web sample                                                                         Copyright Janet Cheeseman 2008

1. The Consonants

101. The consonants in Keyscript are all written phonetically (ie, by sound). Consonants are the same as in English, except that:


c   is not used for any 's' or 'k' sounds. It is used for 'ch', e.g.

cheap = cp


g   is used only for hard 'g', as in 'gate'


h   is used for 'th' (as well as for 'h'), e.g. thin = hn; though = h

h   is omitted before 'm', 'l' or 'r' in words of one syllable, e.g.

home = m; whole = l; here = r


j   is written for soft 'g', e.g. gin = jn

    also for 'French j - zh', e.g. menage = mnj

j   is used for 'sh', e.g. shock = jk


j   is written instead of 's'

     when a word begins with 'vowel + s', e.g.  escape = jkp

     when a word ends with the sound of 's + vowel', e.g. 

regency = rjnj;     rosy = rj

     and when a word consists only of 's + vowel', e.g. 

so, sew, saw, sigh = j 

most derivatives of the word, (but not the present participle ending in 'ing' - see stage 6) use 's', e.g. 

sewed, sighed = sd;     sewn = sn

 

k   is written for all sounds of 'k', however they are spelled in

         English,   e.g.      call = kl;     back = bk

 

q   'kw' is not dealt with at this stage

 

r   is always shown in a word, although it may hardly be

    pronounced by some accents, e.g.   mark = mrk

 

s   is used for both the light and heavy sounds of 's', e.g. 

receives = rsvs;     seize, cease = ss 

          see z for an exception to this rule.


w   (consonant) is written as in English.  However, when combined with a vowel like 'o' in the middle of a word, it becomes part of the vowel, and so is not shown in Keyscript, e.g.       

      well = wl;  but  down = dn;     tower = tr

 

x   is not written for the English sound of 'x'.  'ks' or 'gs' is

     used instead,

          e.g.  exit = kst;     excuse = ksks;     exam = gsm.

(If the 's' has a heavy 'z' sound and is followed immediately by a vowel in the accented syllable of the word, 'ex' is written as 'gs'.)

['x' is put to much greater use in Keyscript]

 

y  is used for the sound of 'y' consonant (which occurs usually at the beginning of       

    a word), e.g.  use, yes = ys;   unity = ynt

('y' at the end of a word is a vowel, not a consonant, e.g.  happy = hp)

 

z   is used for the heavy sound of 's' at the beginning of a word,  

         e.g.                   zoo = z;     xylophone = zlfn

Copyright Janet Cheeseman 2008


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