Part II. The journal system

Lesson 15. Shorthand

Full marks are slow. For daily writing, use shorthand [course rule]:

1. Drop all marks except shadda.
2. a is unwritten inside a word. A bare consonant means a or no vowel. At the end of a word, a is ه.
3. e is ا, i is ي, o/u is و.
4. Rising diphthongs: the glide letter does the work: no extra letter for the i or u before it.
5. Initial vowels and hiatus: أ for a, أا for e, إي for i, أو for o/u.
6. a before a glide keeps its fatḥa, or it vanishes: causa · كَوسه, baile · بَيلا, ao · أَو. Without it, causa would read cosa, and ao would look like o.

Why a is the one left out: it's the commonest vowel, so leaving it out saves the most writing. Written Arabic does the same with its short vowels. The cost: كس could be cas or kas, and you rely on knowing your own words.

Why final a is ه: final -a carries gender and number in both languages, so it's worth a letter. Ladino did the same with Hebrew ה, per the Wikipedia printout. Persian and Ottoman writing also use ه for a final vowel. [course rule]

Other ambiguities: ي and و are both vowels and consonants.

The fix: add a mark where you'd misread it. Shorthand is a default, not a rule against marks. If a word could go two ways, add the one mark that settles it: a fatḥa for a, a sukūn for no vowel. For example, ترس could be tras or taras; تْرس is tras. Only mark the words you'd stumble on.

Exercises 15

Write in shorthand.

1. cuando
2. mañana
3. eu son de Monforte
4. todavía
5. hermano
6. Read نويتا.
7. Read بّارو.
8. Read تانغو.