Shorthand Theory and Outlines
Shorthand Theory and Outlines tests your knowledge of the writing system itself: consonant strokes, vowel signs, diphthongs, joins, halving and doubling, prefixes and suffixes, grammalogues, phraseograms, and special outlines. A theory paper can ask you to explain why an outline is written in a particular way, not merely to reproduce it.
Core rules
- Consonants are classified by direction, curve, and thickness. A thick stroke is a different sound, not emphasis: p and b, t and d, k and g, f and v, s and z are light/heavy pairs.
- Vowel signs are placed before, after, above, or below a stroke and in first, second, or third position; the first vowel decides the outline's position.
- Use blends such as pr, br, and fl only when the joined stroke stays legible and keeps the vowel place clear.
- Learn grammalogues and contractions as whole units; rebuilding them stroke by stroke wastes time and invites errors.
- Phraseography is permitted only when the joined outline remains readable at speed.
Worked example
For "nation", write the n stroke and the sh stroke for the "-tion" suffix; do not insert a t. For "action", write k + sh. Reasoning: "-tion" is a standard suffix represented by the sh stroke, which already carries the sound /ʃən/. Adding a t stroke is both wrong under the system and slower. The same logic applies to other standard suffixes: recognise the unit, not the letters.
Traps
Confusing light and heavy strokes; placing a vowel on the wrong side of a stroke; inventing a phraseogram that cannot be read back; and treating a special outline as if it followed the ordinary consonant rules.