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The sounds of N F V are also represented by hooks, in
addition to the strokes.
-
All straight
strokes can take these hooks.
-
Curved strokes only take N hook, as there is only
one side on which to write it.
The sound of F or V following a curve requires the stroke Eff or Vee.
-
There is always a
vowel sound between the stroke and the N, F or V hook, therefore
strokes with these hooks are not compound consonants (unlike the
R and L hooks where the sounds are generally spoken together).
Adding circles and
loops to the hooks is entirely covered in the
Theory 4 Circles and
Theory 5 Loops pages
N & F/V
hook to straight strokes
N hook to curved strokes
Hooks in middle of outline
Vocalisation
Halving and doubling
Derivatives
When not to use
N & F/V
hook to straight strokes
N is shown by a clockwise hook at the end of
the stroke.
pen open bone bin ton
dine done chain chin John Jane June
gain again rain terrain wine
won/one win whine yen hen hone
F or V is shown by an anticlockwise hook at
the end of the stroke. The hook signifies either F or V and context
is required to ascertain which one is meant. F and V are the least
common sounds of all the hooks and, with judicious vowel insertion,
this is not a problem in practice:
pave
puff proof/prove reproof/reprove reprieve buff rebuff above brief
deprive
tough tiff doff deaf chafe chief active attractive dive endive drive chive achieve
gave
gaffe graph gruff grove groove grief/grieve aggrieve engrave
rough/ruff roof rife/rive rove tariff deserve reserve swerve sheriff
wife waif/wave
weave whiff huff heave behave behoove
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N hook to
curved strokes
N is shown by a small hook inside the end of the
stroke:
fine fan fun phone fin often soften
refine roughen
van vine vain/vane/vein even Evans riven heaven
leaven Bevan
thin thane methane polythene marathon
dethrone Nathan Athens
than then thine heathen leathern
assign Essene zone ozone zen ocean Asian
man mine moon nine none
impugn campaign campion
Ell takes its N Hook at its end, whether upwards or
downwards. An Ell standing alone is always written upwards and
therefore a hook at the base is Wel and at the top is L-N. See also
below When Not To Use/Downward
Ell
lane lone/loan line fallen nylon aniline
but will
well
earn urn, fuller than, hang on
(phrases)
F or V cannot be shown by a final hook on a curved stroke,
because attachments (circles, loops, hooks, attached vowels) are never written outside the curve, so a full stroke Eff or Vee must be used.
fife
five Viv Vivian thief thieve arrive
sheaf shave
love leaf muff move
knife nave/knave
Ish + N hook is used in those cases where the Shun
Hook is not appropriate or convenient, mostly single stroke words and
sometimes sh-nt/sh-nd:
shine shined Sean/Shaun shown
sheen shin shinned
ashen machine ancient mentioned pensioned sanctioned
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Hooks in middle of outline
(a) The hook is used medially if it makes an easy and
clear join:
penning paving profit prophet provide provoke perfect prefix
plenty planet browning bluffing
briefing
traffic toughen telephone advance define defect defer diverse
driving divide drifting toning training dining draining tendency presidency
canning counting graining graphic organic
fanning fountain convenient
Athenian manning mining
(b) With horizontals and upstrokes, a hook may
be impossible to write or the angle insufficient for clarity, so strokes
En is used:
count counted, ground grounded, gift gifted
surround surrounded, rift
rifted, wind windy, waft wafted
hound hounded, hand (short
form)
handy, heft hefty, iron*
ironing*
ironic
*R sound is always shown, even though
it is not pronounced in many English accents; exceptions only occur
in a very few abbreviating devices.
mind minded, mound/mount mounted mountain maintain maintenance
(c) Stroke En is used when it produces a more facile
outline or to ensure distinguishing outlines, mainly before Chay/Jay
and Ess/Zee:
plunge sponge expunge pinch poncho bench Benjamin blanch
drench drainage strange stringent
tonnage tinge contingence change challenge impinge
but bandage appendage
to avoid using a full stroke Dee
lunge lunch crunch munch dentist dental suddenly
mange manger manage manager mannish
garnish regency
Stroke En is preferable when it starts its own
syllable, so long as the join remains
good. Syllables generally have their own stroke, with abbreviating
devices used for additional sounds within the syllable. In practice you
will omit most vowels and the remaining consonant structure of the
outline generally lets you know where the syllables break and where
the vowels are:
lemonade panacea lunacy
compare
mend/meant pansy fancy brilliancy
solvency
Barton Morton Martin compare
baritone puritan Samaritan
bountiful panache
compare
painful punish banish Spanish replenish brandish
lioness zoneless Zionist
compare
lions zones Zion's
(d) The hook may need to be opened out slightly to join the
next stroke:
chiefly jovial ignominy canary appendix opencast penmanship
(e) Medial N hook is not used if it unbalances
the outline. If both attachments are on the same side of a straight stroke
and therefore written in the same direction, the outline
would tend to curve and become illegible at speed. This mostly occurs in past
tenses with the suffix "-ted" and "-ded":
paint painted plant planted
but
print printed, sprint sprinted, misprint misprinted
grant
granted, ground grounded, graft grafted, decant decanted
band banded blend blended, attend attended
but
brand branded, strand stranded
appended abandoned expended responded
supplanted disappointed* suspended*
*Although the attachments are on the
same side, the initial stroke helps to keep the
second stroke straight, therefore N Hook can be
used.
Note compound words: up-end
up-ended print-out
bran-tub
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Vocalisation
The stroke is vocalised as normal, with a third place
vowel being written outside the hook. The stroke is read first,
then the vowel, then the hook.
pan pen bin bon bun boon tine join
town tune
open happen ribbon fatten adjoin
pigeon attune
If the next syllable starts with a vowel, the vowel
sign is placed against the next stroke, as it is spoken after the N
sound:
opening open-air open-eyed defence/defense plantain
A fully vocalised outline will generally have a vowel
sign after the stroke and before the N or F/V hook, even if that vowel is
slurred or unaccented (unlike some of unaccented vowels with the R & L hooks):
eaten pardon deaden
kitchen kitten reckon dozen raisin exception:
cousin*
*The dictionary outline gives no
second vowel for this word, despite its similarity to dozen and
raisin. A third-place light dot vowel would be appropriate, if vowel insertion was
felt necessary.
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Halving and doubling
The stroke is read first, then the hook, then the
halving or doubling sound. It is easier to remember if you think of
the hooked stroke as being halved or doubled:
pen penned/pent, pave paved, puff puffed,
pine pint/pined, bone boned, buff buffed
tone toned, tough toughed/tuft, drain
drained, drive drift, gain gained, gave gift
chain chained, chuff chuffed, jive jived, win wind went, wave waved, wife waft
hone honed,
heave heaved, rain rained, rough/ruff roughed/ruffed, rave raved
fine fined/find, vain/vane/vein vent event, thin
thinned, assign assigned
shun shunned/shunt, man manned, nine anoint, lean
leaned, earn earned
ponder tender canter render winter minder fender venture
Circles or loops are read last of all, after the hook
and the halving/doubling:
bone bones, bond bonds,
bounder bounders
pain pains, paint paints,
painter painters
spin spins spinster spinsters, Dan
dance dances danced
dove doves, drift drifts,
drifter drifters
fine fines, find/fined finds,
finder finders
lean leans, lend/Lent lends,
lender lenders
rain rains, rent/rend rents/rends, render renders, raft
rafts, rafter rafters
hunt hunts, hunter hunters, win wins, wonder wonders
The only time the hook is read after a halving
or doubling sound is when the hook is used in a few phrases to represent
another whole word. This goes against the rule for the order
in which the elements are read – the rule is always observed within a word,
and only occasionally broken for adding a word in a phrase. The instances
of such phrases are few but
the usefulness gained is worthwhile, and no clashes will be found:
serVeD,
leNDer (normal order within a
single word)
sorT oF,
laTer oN
(phrase order)
part, part of, sort, sort of
but parts
of, sorts of
compare bereft served
later on/later than, further on/further than
compare
lender fender
If the N hook is already in use in the main word,
you cannot then make it do double duty for the next word in the
phrase as well, such as "kinder than" "blunder on" "gift of"
"bereft of".
Derivatives
Derivatives will not always retain the N hook of the
primitive outline, they will vary according to the subsequent
strokes, vowels, and attachments that are involved, in exactly the
same way as spoken words change their syllable stress and their
vowels. This also
applies to words that are not derivatives but share the same
consonant structure.
Where the syllable after the N F or V is unaccented, a
following R- or L-hooked stroke or full strokes are often used,
producing a better
reflection of the pronunciation and therefore more legible outlines:
prefer proffer, discovery discover, refer roofer
defer deferential, differ differential
brave bravery braveness bravest braver
bravely
grave graver engraver gravely
graveness
tough toughness tougher
toughly, midwife midwifery
wafer
Derivatives may replace a stroke with a hook,
or vice versa, to accommodate vowels or suffixes, or to obtain a compact
or faster outline:
serve serving served server servery
service servant serval
solidify solidified, electrify
electrification, deviate deviation
pains painstaking painless, found founder foundry foundation founded
geographic geographical geography
geographer
In some cases distinguishing outlines are needed:
refer referee reference, revere
reverie reverence
provide proviso providence, pervade pervasive,
perverse perversion
situation
station, divide defied
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When not to use
When N is the only stroke, no hook is possible:
sun stone swoon
When a final vowel follows the N F or V sound, the stroke
En is used. Thus the existence of a final vowel is indicated without actually
writing it:
pen penny, puff puffy, proof/prove
privy, Ben Benny, Bev bevy
tune tuna, toff toffee, Dan Danny, Dave Davey
cough coffee, cave cavy, gran granny
men many, nan nanny,
Len Lenny
earn/Ern Ernie, run runny, rave revenue
wave wavy,
win winnow, hone honey, heave heavy
Where a medial hook would be illegible or cannot be
written, use full strokes:
defame prevail defile cavity gravity refuge refuse reveal
When the N sound is preceded by a circle or loop,
there is no stroke to put a hook on. In these cases using stroke En
is the only option and therefore does not indicate a following vowel:
prison basin treason design chosen
Jason suggestion
fasten ensign monsoon
reason hasten
After a curved stroke, when adding a Ses, Stee or Ster loop
after the N sound, the full stroke En is required, in order to be
able to write the circle or loop:
fine finest mean meanest minster
minister lenses
With straight strokes, a full stroke En is needed if there
is a vowel before the ST:
keenest
canister
compare against canst
A few words retain the hook and used halved Ess for
the "-est" sound, to gain a better outline:
kindest grandest earnest plainest toughest
Use stroke N after a triphone starting with
diphthong U:
genuine
pursuance continuant constituent
compare constant continent
After other triphones, and diphones, N hook is used:
buoyancy truant neon
client gradient expedient ebullient diaphanous
Some exceptions to above:
buoyant truancy triune Rayon ruin ruined fluent
fluency affluent confluent pioneer
Following a curve, a final NS sound is always stroke
En plus Circle S. As such words are not plurals, the stroke En
allows easy derivatives to be formed (explained in full on
Theory 4 Circles/S
versus Z sound page):
NZ sound: fens
NS sound: fence
fencing
You cannot use the NS circle (i.e. hook N closed up
into a circle to indicate NS) medially between two strokes because that
would rely on the direction of the circle. As the direction of a
medial circle is decided by convenience only, its direction cannot indicate an
N Hook (see
Theory 4 Circles/Medial
Circles for fuller explanation).
dusty density destroy, expense expensive
(short form)
expensiveness,
pens pencil Paisley
prince princeling princess principled
prosper precept
In the following outlines the NS/NZ circle is being
used to show the N, but that is allowed because there is no other stroke immediately following, only the small shun hook:
compensation condensation transition
transitional compare
compensatory transit
In some cases it is possible to show
the medial hook followed by Circle S. These need extra care to
write clearly and it is helpful to exaggerate the length of the hook
and the flattened circle (see also explanation of
R
Hooks in middle of outline which have a similar formation):
ransom kinsman lonesome
winsome hansom
(but
handsome derivative of "hand")
Downward Ell is
generally an upstroke, but an initial Ell is written downwards
before horizontals (Kay, Gay, En, Em, Ing) to show that there is a vowel before
the Ell, and
then stroke En is used, because an N Hook would make the Ell look like Wel. Using stroke N in such cases does
not necessarily signify a following vowel:
alone lone/loan well
See Theory 14 L Forms
page for details on when to write Ell up or
downwards.
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