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The stroke Ell in its basic form can be written in
either direction:
-
The default is to
write Ell upwards.
-
Written downwards
to gain a more legible join.
-
Written downwards
to continue the curve of the preceding or next stroke.
-
Written downwards
in certain combinations for vowel indication.
-
Thickened for -Ler
– always downward.
-
Halved and
thickened for -Ld – always downward.
-
The sound of L as
part of a compound consonant (as in play, flow) uses the L Hook,
see Theory 7 Hooks R L page.
-
A longhand letter L
that is not pronounced is not shown in the outline.
Upwards Ell
Reasons for downwards Ell:
1. Continue curve
2. Clear join with
preceding or next
stroke
3. Choice of direction for vowel
indication
Derivatives
Negatives
Joined vowel signs
Downstroke Ler
Downstroke Ld
Unpronounced longhand
letter L
Upwards Ell
Upwards when it is the
only stroke in the outline, regardless of length (halved, full or
doubled) or attachments:
ale ales ill eel Ely allow
else sale seal sill silt salt slot soil silo
stall stale still stool stilt swell swill
hall hallo hill heal hilt halt halter
lie low lea/Lee loss losses lost last less lose/loose
list Lister oleaster line lines lawn lane lone lion
lot lots let late elate lute/loot lit slit slat light lights slight
lend/lent lint silent Solent lends lender lenders slender
slander
launder lotion elation elision lesion illusion Silesian Alsatian
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Upwards with most
strokes, other than in the combinations described in the next
sections:
Alp alpine lapse elapse leap lupin
Paul pale ball bill lab label elbow
tall tally tile tale towel latte lattice lettuce
lad led dale dull idle idol ideal
like lake lick slick silk sulk elastic
kale keel coal cool log leg
gallon gale gull goal guile
latch leech/leach Ilchester chill chilly itchily sketchily patchily
ledge ledger sledge sludge allege lodge village
jolly jelly gel Jill/Gill Jillian/Gillian Julian
jail jowl agile lull lily lowly Lola Leila
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laugh left self life leaf elephant Olaf
love live leave alive lath loth althaea
Athol Othello thrill thrall throstle
health stealth tilth filth lathe loathe withal
lasso lassie lossy lazy laser loser
lash lush leash mile male mole mill meal
mule/mewl impel puzzle appraisal reprisal basil bristle
tussle teazel/teasel trestle docile dazzle drizzle castle Cassell
crossly crassly gristle/grizzle grizzly guzzle
chisel chastely jostle justly
rustle/Russell wrestle whistle
chrysalis Chrysler useless hazel
hustle
sprucely sparsely cautiously Cecil sessile isosceles
frizzle frazzle versal reversal mizzle measles
muscle/muzzle embezzle mostly muslin mucilage impiously
loosely wholesale callously keenly cleanly
kindly grandly secondly subsequently frequently blandly friendly
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rational national optional occasional professional
pelt bolt tilt adult dolt searchlight torchlight jilt jolt
kilt colt exalt*
exult**
guilt/gilt fault felt asphalt
*elevate, raise **be joyous
volt revolt vault lilt assault oscillate zealot shallot
malt moult melt tumult result somersault quilt
polder bolder/boulder/boulter belter assaulter
Calder kilter quilter gilder/guilder
guelder
folder defaulter violator revolter
smelter smoulder
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Reasons to
use downward Ell, in order of priority:
-
To continue the
direction of curve of the preceding or next stroke, or its hook
or circle, i.e. keeping them all clockwise, or all
anti-clockwise, called "similar motion".
-
Make a legible join
with the next stroke in the outline. This may necessitate
ignoring the rule of similar motion.
-
With certain
strokes, to differentiate between words that have an initial or
final vowel and those that do not. Vowel indication only occurs
in cases where both directions of Ell are equally convenient.
Some of the words naturally fall into pairs e.g. full, fully.
An initial downwards
Ell cannot take an initial circle or loop.
Note the placing of the
vowel signs against the Ell: first place vowels are written at the
beginning of the stroke, which with downwards Ell is at the top. In
such cases it is behaving similarly to stroke Chay.
1. Continue curve
An initial or final Ell
is written downwards in order to continue the motion of the
preceding curved stroke, or straight stroke with hook or circle:
(a) After En and Ing
Nile nail null anull knoll nil kneel/Neal/Neil anneal
Noel/Nowell canal denial annual annually only unless annulus
unlace unlaced enlist presently sandal sand-eel soundly swindle
meanly manly manual Nielsen sanely senile
Stanley Stoneleigh stonily stainless tuneless somnolent consonantal
newly nightly/knightly inlet unlet insult insulate
vanilla Fenella plainly Townley suddenly certainly
wrongly strongly kingly Headingly exceedingly jokingly
seemingly surprisingly*
accordingly Note:
accord/according* *short
forms
adoringly sparingly amazingly*
amusingly*
*always
insert 2nd vowel in amaze/amuse -s -d -ing -ingly -ment
antlike auntlike saintlike womanlike sportsmanlike kinglike
springlike ringlike analog analyse analyst
nylon aniline
clothesline mainland inland downland England*
Englander inlander
*contraction
natural naturally insulator insulter ventilator vacillator
candlestick inelastic inlay inlaying in-law*
father-in-law
*uses
short form in, hence first position
"underl-" words
are disjoined, therefore the Ell can remain upward – as these words
are mostly derivatives, this allows the original word to remain
unchanged, whilst avoiding the undesirable join between the En
stroke and upwards Ell. It also has he added advantage that the
outlines are less likely to be confused with all the "in-" and "un-"
words:
underlay underlaid underline underling underlying
Note also:
inlying*
*uses
short form in, hence first position
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(b) N-S-L
nasal nozzle nuzzle noiseless noiselessly senseless businesslike
unseal groundsel Onslow Kingsley densely
tensile tonsil council counsel cancel consul
nicely pencil stencil utensil chancel
sensual
immensely Barnsley benzol benzolene insolent
Although Chay is not
written after downwards Ell, Jay is allowed. This does not produce
an ideal join to the Ell (shallow angle, and both strokes going backwards)
but does allow similar motion between the En and Ell. Presumably the
thickness of Jay helps readability despite the poor join (compare
with "unlatch" below). Such a join is avoided
where possible by using Hook L, mainly the "-ology" words:
analogy mineralogy ensilage Note:
silage criminology
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(c)
L-S-N and L-S-Ing
license licentious lesson/lessen listen lozenge
loosen looseness loosing/losing leasing Alison Lawson Lessing
Elsinore Elysian, Los Angeles, Los Alamos
adolescence convalescence opalescence coalescence
Halesowen halcyon hallucination
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(d) More instances
of maintaining similar motion
elusive elusively illusive lascivious lucific
fossil facile fussily fizzle faceless voiceless nervously
fusil fusel-oil vassal vessel vaseline vacillation vastly
mischievously conversely aversely adversely Eversley everlasting
thistle Methuselah Thessalonians thusly, this letter*,
this will*
but
they will
*Because of the circle S, downward Ell is the only way to make a
join. Ell used in phrases for "will" is normally upwards.
Special outlines
London Londoner Londonderry
but generally thus:
Landon Linton
After small Shun Hook,
follow the motion – most of them have downward Ell:
sensational positional conversational transitional compensational
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(e) These not only
continue the motion, but also produce compact outlines with clear
sharp joins
film fulminate volume voluminous vellum Velma realm
column columnar calumny Coleman calamity
coulomb calamine columbine Colombo Columbus
skulk skullcap but
skulker onlooker to join the Ker
helterskelter
compare skelter scolder scalder – one
might expect upwards Ell in the second part of "helterskelter" in
order to retain the direction of the circle, but compactness is more
important here.
For compactness:
unwarlike mirrorlike
lawyerlike
Compare
warlike warily rarely relic
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2. Clear join with
preceding or next stroke
Downwards Ell does not
always make a good join with the following stroke, or may produce an
outline with too much backward movement, so in some cases the rule
of similar motion cannot be used. With some of the words beginning "-un" this has the
incidental advantage of
retaining the outlines they are derived from:
inlaid unlaid unled unload unladen unladylike
unlatch unlearn unlovable unleavened unleash
unlettered unlighted unlikelihood unlaboured unlabelled
unsullied insulted unsling enslave unsaleable
facile
but facility
fuselage fossilology footslog
Note distinguishing outlines:
unsold unsoiled
(unsold has the shorter outline as it is the
most frequent word; outlines with diphthongs very often keep the
strokes in full)
Hook L is used in a few
instances (even though vowels may intervene) where it produces a brief and distinctive
outline that cannot clash with anything else (more such outlines on
Theory 7 Hooks R
L page):
analytic enliven molecule
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3. Vowel indication
For initial and final
Ell, and only with certain strokes, different in each case. Vowel
indication never occurs medially – medial Ell is chosen only for
convenience and to a lesser degree to show derivatives.
(a) Initially
Before simple horizontal stroke - Kay Gay Em Emp En Ing - the
downward Ell (full or halved) is used to indicate an initial vowel:
elk alike alcove Alec Alexander
compare
like Luke
Alcock Ilkeston elixir
compare
Laycock Laxton Luxor
allocate election elocution alkaline compare
locate location
electricity*
electron electrician alchemy compare
laxity leukaemia
*contraction
alligator allegation elegant elegance
compare
legate legation legacy
elegaic Olga Elgin
compare
league Logan
element elementary eliminate illuminate
compare
lament Lomond lemonade
elm aluminium aluminum alimony
compare
lame lemony
Elmleigh Elmsley Ilminster compare
Lumley Leominster*
*pronounced "lemster"
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Alhambra Olympia Olympus Olympic
compare
lumpy lambast lampoon
Allenson ulna Olney Illinois Iolanthe compare
luna Lana
Ealing Illingworth along oolong elongate
compare
long
Langworth
Allingham Allington
compare
Langham Langton
ultimate ultimatum allotment altimeter Eltham
compare
Feltham
alone*
align*
alien*
Alan*
Elaine*
Ellen*
Elena
Compare:
lone lonely lanoline line Len Lennie
Lena
In those marked above*
stroke En is used despite no following vowel, to make it obvious the
Ell is written downwards. Downward Ell standing alone never takes a
hook, as this would look like stroke Wel. When the Ell is attached to
another stroke, it becomes obvious that it is an Ell written
downwards and is not a Wel/Whel written upwards:
lone well, lotion whale, nylon*
welling
*more examples
above
The rule for vowel
indication does not apply if there is a circle or hook coming
between the Ell and the next stroke, as downward Ell there would not
make a good join:
Alaska Lasky Elswick Liskeard*
algorithm logarithm
*pronounced "liss-kard"
logger Elgar liner ulnar Eleanor/Ellenor lissom alyssum
Exceptions:
alienor Pilsener
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(b) Finally
After normal-length Eff Vee S-Kay Kway Ray Way Yay and upward Hay:
full file fail awful compare
fully folly failure awfully
successful graceful false falsity compare
successfully gracefully felicity
Val vale vole vowel compare
volley villa viola Evelyn
level Lovell
revulsion
compare
lovely Clovelly revolution
scale skull skill scowl scholastic
compare
scaly Scully
Note that the SK above has no vowel between. If there is a
vowel between, then the outlines are formed under the basic rules,
with no need for a downward Ell:
sickle cyclist sickly sackless sicklist
quell quail quill quilling colloquial compare
Aquila quelea
squall sequel Gwillim
compare
squally sequela Gwalia
dwell yell Howell compare
waylay yellow Yolande unholy
royal roll/role real compare
royally Rollo really relay
rill rule spiral compare
gorilla Rula spirally
plural mural viral compare
pluralist muralist virally
coral choral
compare
coralline choralist
enrol snarl
compare
snarly
Note:
gnarl
compulsorily satisfactorily*
but 2 exceptions:
sincerely necessarily
where the Ell matches the direction of the circle.
*Contraction
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rascal fiscal
compare rascally fiscally
Note: physical
physically
Distinguishing outlines
alcohol alcoholic alkali alkaline
To remember these, pair them with other
outlines: full/alcohol fully/alkali
fall falling follow following avail
available value valuable
carol carolling fuel fuelling flail flailing
Varying the Ell form for vowel indication does not
apply to SKR and SK-R. Normal upwards Ell is used, which also
achieves similar motion:
scrawl scrawly scroll scrolly secretly
The rule for final vowel indication is stretched to
include these:
actual actually structural structurally
artistical artistically fantastical fantastically
statistical statistically logistical logistically egotistical
egotistically
These follow similar motion, but do not vary
for final vowel indication:
intellectual intellectually
conjectural conjecturally
electoral
Note:
electorial
When a suffix is adding another L sound to a word
that already ends in L, the outline repeats the Ell, to reflect the
lengthened pronunciation. This seems to happen when there is a long
vowel preceding:
foully*
vilely*
servilely*
full-length*
veil-less*
vowel-less*
nail-less*
scaleless*
skill-less*
* The second Ell here is at slightly shallower angle in order
to be writable
soulless styleless tailless guileless futilely
hostilely
wholly solely dully coolly
compare
holy/holey dolly coolie
With a short vowel, the pronunciation of the L sounds
is generally unchanged, so no extra Ell is needed:
additional additionally conditional conditionally provisional
provisionally
Words like the following are adding the -y sound to
form an adjective, and the longhand LL is merely a convention of
spelling to show that a short spoken vowel precedes. Only an extra final
dot is needed:
weasel weaselly tinsel tinselly
It is always helpful to insert the final vowel sign
if the outline itself does not show whether there is a final vowel
or not.
A small number of words with halved strokes take a
downward Ell to achieve similar motion with the preceding curve,
hook or circle. Such words generally do not come in pairs like "full
fully" and so similar motion is the only issue:
completely boldly bloodless softly swiftly exactly adequately
worldly
Compare
proudly broadly
sprightly
strictly contritely where the normal
upward Ell achieves similar motion as a matter of course. Note also
short form coldly.
deservedly unreservedly vividly fervidly pectoral
fatal fatally fitly foothill thoughtless thoughtlessly effortless
effortlessly comfortless
Distinguishing outlines fatal
futile, thoughtless thankless*
*Uses short form
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Although Ell halved for T is mostly written upwards,
it is written downwards in these circumstances:
dwelt indwelt
but
twilight twilit
(These seem to be the only examples, as most instances of w-lt
use stroke Wel halved)
Keeping halved Ell mostly upwards has the additional
benefit of providing distinction from
stroke Ld
which is always downwards.
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Derivatives
Some derivative outlines may change the direction of
the stroke Ell. Keeping derivatives similar to the original is
useful but is never done at the expense of a flowing and reliable
outline:
ail ailing lose/loose losing/loosing looseness lace lacing
fallen is an exception, compare
felon villain,
fall-out
to enable the next stroke to join
lawful unlawful, lamented unlamented
link unlink, limited unlimited, licensed unlicensed
like likely unlike unlikely unlikeliness
lock unlock, lucky unlucky, located unlocated
Some derivative outlines are clearer if they retain
the direction of the Ell in the original outline:
ally alliance allying, allow allowing allowance
fool foolish fallacy fallacious eligible ineligible*
*avoiding 3 downstrokes and an
unclear join between the Ell and Jay
alloy alloying oil oiling owl owling*
See more oil & owl
below
*wool-smuggling, a reference to it
being a night-time activity
Parts of compound words benefit from keeping their
forms, enabling the components can be more easily
recognised, but only if a good outline results:
ill illness ill-natured ill-omened quicklime
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Negatives
"unl-" words follow the
rules above i.e. use downward Ell, so long as the next stroke can be
joined:
unless unlike unloved
"ill-" words will use
downward Ell if possible, to signify an initial vowel, making it
obvious it is a negative:
limited illimited also
unlimited
Often that is not
possible, because the Ell would not make a good join with the
following stroke. In those cases the Ell is repeated. This means
that the negative is still obvious even when no vowels are written
in:
legal illegal, legitimate illegitimate, licit illicit
liberal illiberal, literate illiterate
logical illogical, liquid illiquid
Some words starting
ill- are not negatives, the "in" part meaning "into", or are formed
from the word "ill", and so follow the normal rules for choice of
Ell:
illumination illinition illustration illustrious
illude illusion illusory ill-informed*
*contraction
Outlines for similar
negatives such as imm- irr- inh- inn- unn- etc are dealt with in the
same way (see Theory 18 Prefixes
page). This section on negatives points up the
necessity for shorthand writers to have a good grasp of how
English words are formed and their meanings.
These and similar
negatives are also described on
Theory 18 Prefixes page.
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Joined vowel signs
Some initial vowel signs are joined to the stroke Ell:
isle/aisle aisled islet/eyelet oil oily oiled owl*
owlet*
owlish*
*3rd
place vowel joined at the beginning for convenience, these are the
only outlines that do this with this diphthong. This is the same
liberty that is being taken when the first place "I" diphthong is
joined to the end of the stroke e.g. night.
awl altar/alter alteration Allsop Alston Alcester* *pronounced
"awlster"
all-clear all-fours also all-spice all-hail All-Hallows
Do not confuse this
with instances of the short form "all" being joined. The short form
includes the L sound, so no stroke Ell is required:
almost always all-wise all-round all-rounder
almighty already although altogether all-important all-in
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Downstroke Ler
Downward Ell is
thickened to add the unaccented sound of "-er". It is it is only
used where a downward Ell would normally be used, i.e. it never
replaces an upward Ell. No vowel sign is required for the unaccented
vowel within it. No vowel may come after the stroke, but it can take
a final circle S:
fuller feeler feelers fowler/fouler revealer reviler reveller
leveller ovular dweller bewailer roller
nailer/Naylor kneeler antler annular
granular
squalor scowler secular vascular
councillor counsellor consular chancellor
chandler stenciller tonsillar inhaler peninsular*
*adjective
wine-cellar to avoid an awkward join, but
generally thus: bookseller
salt-cellar
In comparison, where
upward Ell is used, use stroke Ar to add the "-er" sound:
tailor trailer dealer drawler jeweller bachelor
paler follower miller similar Weller
caller colour cooler healer hillier
puzzler dazzler scrawler wheeler hustler
ocular jocular lenticular muscular crepuscular*
*compare corpuscular below
As no vowel can come
after Ler, use Ray when there is a final vowel:
valour Valerie scholar scullery railer raillery
insular insularity insularism
The vowel in stroke Ler
is unaccented, so use full strokes if the vowel is accented:
failure velour/velours chevalier bandolier/bandoleer
chandelier gasolier electrolier hotelier*
espalier* *accent is on
2nd syllable
Stroke Ler never stands
alone, as a lone Ell stroke is always upwards and will always have an
accented vowel:
lore lair leer lure allure
lyre liar lower lair lower lour/lower*
Loire
*= to be gloomy or threatening, rhymes with flower
seller cellar styler staler stellar holier
As stroke Ler is only
used where a downward Ell would be written, it cannot replace a Hook
L:
prevail prevailer
but groveller
babbler
muffler tunneller
circular binocular spectacular corpuscular*
*compare crepuscular above
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Downstroke Ld
Ell is halved and
thickened to indicate the sound of Ld. The stroke Ld is always
written downwards. No vowel comes between the L and D sounds, and no
vowel comes after it. With the derivatives, it does not matter
whether the original Ell was up or down:
ailed old old-age Oldham piled polled pulled boiled bowled
Note: bold
bailed billed brawled tailed trailed toiled tolled doled dialled
drilled
coiled cowled culled killed skilled scold scaled
scrolled guild/gild geld beguiled regaled
filed foiled failed fold filled field fuelled
veiled reviled revealed mild milled mulled mould/mold
nailed kneeled annealed annulled lolled lulled
riled railed rolled ruled world
yelled yield
behold withhold foothold stronghold stranglehold
installed smiled squealed cancelled excelled chiselled
scaffold nestled pencilled stencilled herald
puzzled bristled tussled dazzled drizzled guzzled grizzled nuzzled
Note short forms:
build/building told called
cold/equalled gold child
Stroke Ld can take a final circle or dot ing/dash
ings:
folds fields guilds scolds moulds upholds
balding foldings fieldings gelding gilding beholding withholding
When it stands alone,
stroke Ld can have no attachments, therefore:
sold styled welled swelled hold oldest oldster
As stroke Ld is only
used to replace a stroke Ell, it cannot replace a Hook L:
prevail prevailed
but grovelled
babbled muffled
tunnelled
Where it is not
convenient or even possible to write stroke Ld, full strokes must be
used:
wrestled whistled frizzled frazzled
mizzled muscled/muzzled embezzled sizzled sozzled
shelled shoaled shield freehold household leasehold
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Unpronounced longhand
letter L
Most of these have a long vowel before the L sound and a consonant
immediately after:
stalk baulk/balk talk chalk caulk/calk walk
folk yolk palm balm psalm psalmist
psalmody
calm qualm halm haulm calf/calve half/halve Ralph*
*When pronounced "rafe"
alms almond salmon Malcolm Colquhoun
Similar words with a short vowel generally have the
L pronounced, and it is therefore shown in the outline:
bulk hulk polka whelk talc talcum
overwhelm palmate palmetto psalmodic
golf gulf self elf Rolf Ralph*
*When pronounced as written
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