Stenography and Shorthand Theory
What the exam tests
Stenography theory in the AITT paper covers Pitman shorthand: stroke direction and thickness, vowel places, grammalogues, phraseography, halving and doubling, hooks, circles and loops, and transcription discipline. Expect definitions, sign recognition, error correction and short transcription items rather than only speed dictation.
Core rules
- Paired consonants share shape and direction; light/heavy thickness distinguishes voiceless/voiced pairs such as P/B, T/D and K/G.
- Vowels are placed relative to the preceding or following stroke at first, second or third position; position determines which vowel is read.
- Grammalogues are fixed short signs for high-frequency words; they must be written without hesitation, not spelled out stroke by stroke.
- Phrasing joins words without lifting the pen; only familiar, grammatically safe phrases should be phrased.
- Halving adds -t/-d; doubling adds -ter/-der/-ther; hooks and circles change meaning and must be kept distinct.
Worked example
A dictation item sounds like “back”. The consonant pair P/B uses the same straight downstroke; the light stroke is P and the heavy stroke is B. Because the heard word begins with the voiced sound /b/, select the heavy stroke, then place the vowel sign in its correct place. If the item were “pack”, the same outline would be written light. The reasoning is not memorising each word separately: identify the paired stroke, then thickness and vowel place decide the word.
Traps
Writing a heavy stroke for a light pair, omitting a grammalogue, lifting the pen inside a phrase, and placing a vowel in the wrong place all change the reading. In transcription, do not guess from context alone: verify the outline. Keep shorthand notes dated and numbered so practice can be reviewed.