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These lists give three types of
distinguishing outline:
Vowels - Outlines which
are identical in shape and position, and have similar or closely
related meanings, and sometimes opposite meanings. These must be
distinguished by writing in the vowel, or one of the vowels, that is
different.
Rule - These are the
outlines given in instruction books, called "special
outlines/distinguishing outlines", where one of the pair is
purposely written against the general rule, in order to provide the
distinction. They must be learned as is, and the one that breaks the
rule is underlined.
Care - These are
outlines that need no special distinguishing when they are
correctly written. They do need care in writing because difficulty
may arise when they are written less than neatly, their position is
not clear, or if the writer does not know the correct outline and has
made up a plausible but incorrect one, and some of the pairs just
anticipate this type of error. In those cases inserting a vowel sign
can ensure correct reading back. Although Pitman's has many
methods for representing various similar syllables or groups of
consonants, they are not always interchangeable. There are reasons why one
is used rather than the other, often to indicate the presence or
absence of vowels, where the stress or accent is, or where the
syllables break, and so this is the principal built-in method of
ensuring outlines are readable without all the vowel signs being
written. This is an important feature of the system that is not
obvious to beginners, but becomes clear as learning progresses. Sometimes an outline is formed with a view to being able to
make derivatives without changing it too much, or to avoid awkward
combinations that would be unwritable or unclear. None of this
can be guessed at in the fraction of a second available during a
dictation and choosing one of the rules at random will likely result
in a wrong outline and errors in the transcript.
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The Vowel and Rule lists need
to be learned, to prevent mistakes in reading back.
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The Care list does not need
to be learned, but perused to pick out those that fill the gaps
in your knowledge, in order to make up your own list for
revision.
There will always be times when
it is necessary to insert a vowel in the occasional outline, and this
is why you need to attain a good speed, to allow time for
this and also to enable neat writing. A helpful rule to follow is to:
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Vocalise single stroke
outlines.
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Put in initial and final
vowels, where the outline does not already indicate their
presence.
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Put in diphthongs and
diphones.
It is prudent to add to your own personalised lists as you come across pairs that
might be confused, especially in specialist subjects.
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