|
Shorthand punctuation marks are written differently
from longhand ones to prevent them looking like shorthand outlines.
Shorthand uses the bare minimum of punctuation marks. The only ones you
really need to use are the full stop and the question mark, the rest
are optional and should not be written unless absolutely necessary.
If
you pepper your shorthand with punctuation marks, you run the
risk of them being mistaken for shorthand outlines. Your speed will
also be injured, both from the extra writing involved, and the
mental delay while you decide what marks to include.
QUICK
REFERENCE TABLE
| Name |
Longhand |
Shorthand |
|
Full stop
Period |
. |
 |
Never ever omit the full stop. The joined cross is much quicker
than a normal cross and does not clash with
anything, so long as you keep it small.
When writing longhand numerals, use the full stop as
normal within them. |
Question mark
Interrogation mark |
? |
 |
Some questions are only indicated by
the tone of voice, so always insert the question mark. |
| Exclamation mark |
! |
 |
The tone of voice lets you know whether this is needed.
Imagine someone saying:
No – No? – No!
|
| Initial capital |
None |
 |
Write it upwards, underneath the line. Place it underneath the rightmost
part of the outline, so that your pen does not travel any
farther backwards than it has to. |
| All initial capitals |
None |
 |
Instead of going back over the last 2 or 3 words to indicate
initial capitals for each of them, use this to save time.
This is a personal suggestion and is NOT part of normal New Era theory. |
Brackets
Parentheses |
[ ]
( ) |
 |
Make
the strike-through quite small, so it does not look like an
intersection on an outline.
Brackets are square and parentheses
are curved, but the terms are often used interchangeably. |
En dash
Em dash |
–
— |
 |
Dashes are used to separate sentences or parts of sentences.
The longer you draw the dash, the less likely it is that it
will look like an outline. In longhand, an En dash
(Alt+0150) has a space either side. The longer Em dash
(Alt+0151) looks better without the spaces. |
| Hyphen |
- |
 |
Write the marks upwards.
Hyphens are used to join two words, or two numerals showing a
range. The shorthand mark is the same as the
initial capital mark, but used above the line instead of under it.
There is no need to use it slavishly, only use it where it
serves your purpose.
Words that have part of the outline disjoined do not need a
hyphen to join them, they are merely written close together.
A hyphen in longhand transcription does not have a space either
side. |
Paragraph mark
New paragraph
New line |
// may be used when correcting drafts by hand |
 |
Write the marks downwards.
Paragraph marks
help with reading back or locating information, as they
break the page into
meaningful sections. You can
drop down to the next line instead of writing the paragraph
mark, but this will lose you a line of the page each time, causing an increase in the frequency of page turns.
The white space on the page may help you to keep
your place when transcribing or searching your notes.
When pushed for time, do not indulge in paragraph marks, getting all the words is far more
important.
The double slash and the pilcrow ¶
symbol have a long history as paragraph markers, continuing
to the present day on your screen to show that the Enter
key has been pressed. To type a pilcrow that will print, type Alt+0182. |
| Emphasis or
caution |
None |
 |
Wavy or zigzag line draws your attention to the word – for
emphasis, an unusual, foreign or nonsense word, a word
used out of context, longhand numerals to show they are not
outlines, doubt over the outline, or something you need to check or look up. |
| Humour |
None |
 |
Vertical squiggle indicates that the preceding word(s)
should be taken humorously. In transcription you would need
to set it within quotation marks, use italics, or whatever
is appropriate to convey the meaning and avoid ambiguity.
Some people make "quote mark" gestures with their fingers
as they are saying such things, but you will have to rely on
tone of voice to identify the way that the words should be taken. |
| Error |
Scribble! |
 |
Draw a large circle around the error and then write the
correct outline. When you transcribe, you will be ignoring
anything in the circle. Do this in preference to scribbling
over an outline or trying to correct it. In one-to-one
dictation, you would do this when the speaker changes their
mind over their choice of words. If you are using a
pencil, never use a rubber. If your pencil has a
rubber on the end, cut it off and sharpen the second end,
which will be much more useful.
If you are marking up
outlines afterwards for future looking up in the
dictionary, then use a red pencil or draw a square around it
– unless the shorthand must be kept for archive purposes,
then you should note the items on a separate pad. |
| Correction of
position |
|
 |
If you write an outline in the wrong position, correct it by
inserting some dots or dashes where the ruled line ought to
be. This is especially useful for short forms and contractions where there is
no vowel that can be inserted. It is often quicker than
writing in the first vowel for any outline, as it takes less
thought and hesitation. Useful also for notes made on
unlined paper. |
| Accented syllable |
Dictionaries use an apostroph, dot or similar mark after the syllable |
desert
desert |
Write the cross against (or in place of*) the accented vowel. This helps
distinguish pairs of words. (*It is not normal theory to replace the vowel) |
Not all
longhand punctuation is useful in shorthand. The following
are too misleading to be safe in shorthand and their
rightful place is in the transcription:
|
| Comma |
, |
Do not use |
Commas look too much like shorthand. Achieve the same effect by leaving a
wider than usual space
or judicious phrasing. If you feel a wider space is
not obvious enough, then use a shorthand dash.
When writing longhand numerals, use the
comma as normal within them. |
| Colon |
: |
Do not use |
Use a shorthand full stop. A
colon means that the following sentence is a result, explanation
or continuation of the preceding sentence. It belongs
in longhand but not in shorthand. |
| Semi-colon |
; |
Do not use |
Use a shorthand full stop. A semi-colon means that the following
sentence is grammatically separate but that the writer has
not yet finished his train of thought. It belongs in
longhand but not in shorthand. |
Apostrophe
Quote marks
Quotation marks
Speech marks |
' " |
Do not use |
Use wavy line underneath if marking one word, or a
dash or space either side for marking off several words. |
Some of the very old shorthand reading books use the
full complement of longhand punctuation within the
lithographed/engraved shorthand. In print, such marks are formed
perfectly and do not look like shorthand. They
help the reader follow the conversational passages, but such
punctuation has no place within shorthand taken from dictation.
In your shorthand you should use other expedients to show how
the words are grouped together. When transcribing you are at
leisure to choose what is necessary for good and unambiguous
presentation.
Intelligent phrasing does a good job of keeping words
in their meaningful groups and this will be discussed on a
future Phrasing page. Leaving wider
spaces between outlines does the work of commas and also more
closely reflects the way that the speaker indicates the meaning. To
indicate quoted speech, use a dash to introduce the person's speech;
to mark the end of their speech, I would use a paragraph mark.
We went into the ship and had a meal.
We went into The Ship and had a meal.
The man said John is not
here.
"The man," said John, "is not
here."
We
watched a live stock-market program.
We watched a livestock market
program.
I think the man said it is all
wrong.
I think the man said, "It is all
wrong."
"I think," the man said, "it is
all wrong."
You will NOT do that again!
You will not do THAT again!
Brush up your punctuation skills at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punctuation
Top of page |
