What is shorthand? The meaning of the word "shorthand". A stenographer is who that is?

Shorthand is the recording of a text with special short signs. They are so shortened that they make it possible to reproduce even live speech on paper. The speed with which this letter is produced is 4-7 times higher than usual.

The definition of shorthand can also be given somewhat differently. This concept is compared with the art of writing. At the same time, it is so fast that it is not inferior in its speed of speech. How do you achieve this result? In order to increase the speed of writing, they write specially designed for this purpose simple signs. At the same time, syllables and words are subject to significant reductions. The shorthand marks allow you to save seventy-five percent of the time compared to a regular letter.

History

Shorthand for more than 2 thousand years. The meaning of the word, which means this concept, in the Greek translation - "narrowcase". In other words,

The explanatory dictionary of Dal also gives an explanation for the term "shorthand". The meaning of the word is represented here as follows: "shortened letter, cursive, rushing for speech." But the famous writer Charles Dickens called this way of reproducing words with a mysterious and noble art.

Writing appeared several thousand years before our era. Her invention was the result of man's persistent desire to communicate. At the initial stage, the writing was substantive. People passed their thoughts through certain material objects. Later the writing became descriptive. At this stage, the way of conveying the thought became pictures, hieroglyphics and, eventually, an alphabet that exists to the present day.

The stenographic record appeared from conventional writing. This happened at the earliest stage of the development of human culture, when different peoples had a need for an accurate transmission of oral speech with the help of a quick and concise recording.

In ancient Egypt, shorthand was also used . What is an accelerated letter meant for ancient people? With his help the speeches of great speakers were recorded.

The greatest flourishing shorthand reached in Rome and Ancient Greece. A special contribution to the improvement of a speedy letter was made by the secretary and slave of the great orator of Cicero, Tyrone. He became the author of Latin shorthand. This writing is still called tyronovymi notes.

The appearance of literal shorthand

At the initial stage the cursive was spoken. What does it mean? For each word, a sign has been developed. This greatly complicated the work. To reproduce the verbatim record, it became necessary to memorize a huge number of characters. Their number reached 13,000. This was shorthand. What is the number of signs to remember is very difficult, it was clear to everyone. The way out was found in the 17th century. It was then that the Englishman Willis developed the alphabet system of cursive writing. Such shorthand soon began to enjoy great popularity in many countries around the world.

Speed letter in Russia

The stenographic record was used in Pskov and Novgorod in the 15th-16th centuries. In Moscow, a high-speed letter was used already with the first Romanovs. It was in the 16th century. That such a long history has in our country shorthand. The alphabet in Russian was applied in a new original system developed by Ivanin in 1858. The first record on this method was made in Russia on March 19, 1860. She reproduced the dispute between Professor Kostomarov and Academician Pogodin. His theme was the question of the origin of Russia.

Stenographic signs on the Russian language began to be actively used in the second half of the 19th century. They were in demand by some journalists, writers, scientists, and also students.

Special development of shorthand in Russia was in the early 20th century, when the State Duma was formed. With the creation of this authority, it became necessary to record the meetings held. To solve this issue, a stenographic bureau was created, with a staff of several dozen people.

Attention to simplified writing intensified with the coming to power of the Bolsheviks. In 1925, the All-Union Conference on Shorthand Issues was held. In the USSR a special magazine was published - "Questions of shorthand". It was produced in the 20s of the last century. In the same period, state Higher Courses of shorthand were formed. Later, high-speed writing was taught in some Soviet schools and universities. The profession of a stenographer in the country was owned by tens of thousands of people.

Thus, in Russia a high-speed letter was actively used for one and a half hundred years. During this period, the world saw a lot of textbooks and books on this discipline.

Types of fast recording systems

At all times, stenography was in demand. What was the letter? For more than one century, this type of record has been improved and developed. As a result, all possible methods were reduced to two systems. One of them is geometric, and the second one is italic. At the heart of the first is a straight line, and also a circle with its parts and a point. The second system contains the oval and parts of the letters used in ordinary writing.

In France and in England the most common is geometric shorthand. The meaning of the word in this system can be established by a certain combination of straight lines, circles (parts thereof) and points.

Italic shorthand is used primarily in Germany. This system is more beautiful in style and convenient for writing.

The stenographic alphabet contains signs that differ in slope and height, in thickening and in the place occupied, etc. And this diversity can be observed in both systems.

As for modern shorthand, it seeks to unite all of the above varieties. The main task of accelerated writing at the present stage is to bring existing systems into one. And shorthand strives for a rational combination of brevity and consistency.

Who needs quick writing skills

What is shorthand? This is a very difficult discipline. And some people are surprised that it is currently included in the list of compulsory subjects in those educational institutions where, for example, they teach the profession of a secretary. Of course, modern technical means allow recording a conversation or speaking on a dictaphone. However, it will take a lot of time to process the information. In addition, not all of it can be heard due to various interference. Another thing - shorthand. The meaning of a word, phrase and the whole speech can be read with ease, as with writing plain text. Stenographic signs are perceived much easier than manuscripts.

To date, a high-speed letter is in demand in various fields of activity. Shorthand is especially needed for those who are engaged in mental work. Therefore, it is not surprising that the future secretaries are trained with the help of special signs. After all, representatives of this profession face a large amount of information every day, and the possession of shorthand allows them to significantly facilitate the work not only for themselves, but also for the leader.

The value of the cursive

Shorthand is in demand not only because of the high speed of writing. It allows you to capture information with maximum accuracy. Anyone who owns this technique can shade an important conversation literally to the smallest detail. An energetic leader who is used to working at a high pace will be satisfied with his secretary, who is able to record all the information during the negotiations or meetings.

Acquiring a useful skill

How is the shorthand course taught? Crapping lessons are built in a certain sequence. First of all, the alphabet is subject to study.

The first of the studied stenographic signs are recorded in a notebook with a narrow ruler. This is necessary because in the rapid recording the importance is the height of the sign, and the hand should gradually get used to it. Somewhat later, you can go to the sheets with a regular ruler. Having mastered the technique of stenography in full, the recording is conducted on ordinary uncoated paper. In this case, each of the stenographic signs is prescribed several times in a line. It is much more effective, if at writing its value will be spoken out. In this case, the cursive skill will be developed faster. When reading the transcript, the signs should be circled again in pencil.

Basic principles of fast writing

The shorthand system uses a method in which vowels are skipped. In one icon are combined and those combinations of letters that occur most often, and especially common syllables. For example, such endings of words as-tion, -a, -nation and -action, in stenography will have the same notation. This has to do with, say, words such as "faction", "border", "station" and "grace."

Certain icons are often used phraseological units and expressions. When teaching shorthand, they are advised to prescribe several times in a row, repeating mentally the meaning. For easier memorization, phraseological units and expressions are written into a separate notebook. In this case, the alphabetic order must be observed. This dictionary should be regularly prescribed, repeated and read. The goal of this lesson is to complete the process of writing transcripts to automatism and to develop the ability to read your own and others' records at the same speed as regular text.

After a certain time spent on training, the knowledge gained should be gradually applied in practice. To do this, first the shorthand symbols are inserted into a regular letter. Gradually the mixed text is changed to cursive.

And at the moment shorthand remains popular and popular. You can study it at special courses. As a rule, they last forty academic hours.

Characteristics of express mail

The verbatim record, built on the letter principle, has a number of features. First of all, as already mentioned above, it is distinguished by the shortness of the inscriptions. And arbitrarily to change the writing of stenographic signs is impossible. They are standard. We all know that in ordinary writing the same letter can be written in one of several existing options. This freedom in shorthand is forbidden. All signs must have only a strictly defined mark.

Features of the shorthand alphabet

In the cursive, the signs corresponding to consonant letters must be written at an angle of sixty degrees to the line of writing. In this case, the slope to the right is performed. All signs must be written on the letter line. The basic rule that is fulfilled when stenographic writing: compliance with the slope, shape and exact size of each designation. If it is violated, the record can not be read.

The size of stenographic signs is determined by their height. All images of consonant letters are divided into small, large and one-dimensional. At the same time, their heights are in a certain ratio. So, the accepted size for one-dimensional signs is 3 mm. Small designations make up one third of the height of one-dimensional ones.

The stenographic signs are divided into oval, acute and sub-linear. In the cursive, the notations corresponding to the whole word must be connected. They are written without taking the pen off the paper. Between two signs the gap should be half the measure. The designations of the letters "p", "l", "b", which are at the beginning of the word, are written with the left turn.

The signs corresponding to the writing of the whole word are joined together by the same line as in ordinary writing. If an image was recorded incorrectly when composing a stenographic record, it is not corrected, but simply crossed out with an inclined line.

Not all the punctuation marks existing in the language are used in the cursive. Stenographic records contain only a dash and a dot. Exclamation and question marks are also used. As for commas and quotes, they are used only in cases of extreme necessity.

Wizards

A shorthand specialist can be not just a woman. Often, this technique is owned and the representatives of the stronger sex. But, despite this, since the last century, the opinion has been strengthened that cursive writing is a purely female profession. What are the main requirements for these specialists?

A stenographer is a professional who is responsible for recording oral speech with the help of a specially developed system of signs. The duties of these specialists include a short fixation of everything that is being said in real time, that is, a reflection on the paper of the ongoing conversation or speech. The stenographer should be able to decipher what will be reflected on the paper, providing a record in an easy-to-read form.

In this connection, it becomes clear that cursive writing is not just any abbreviations that a person can only invent for himself. This is a certain system of special signs. In this regard, shorthand should be preliminarily trained.

Where and when are such specialists in demand? Stenographers are needed at meetings, meetings and conferences, where protocols of speeches should be drawn up. At first glance, this work seems uncreative and monotonous. However, representatives of the specialty examined must possess outstanding personal and professional qualities. First of all, the stenographer should be able to concentrate her attention, in addition, she needs a good memory, perfect knowledge of the language, accuracy and sociability.

It should be said that cursive can not only facilitate work, but also bring great benefits, as well as saving time. The study of this discipline contributes to the overall development of man, significantly enriching his vocabulary, which is replenished when writing a variety of texts.