In addition to the strokes, the sounds of S and Z are also represented by circles and loops. This page also describes how to write these sounds when the circles cannot be used. Loops are on separate page but are shown in the quick reference tables below.
- Pitman Shorthand Consonants And Vowels Examples
- Consonant And Vowel Pdf
- Pitman Shorthand Consonants And Vowels
- Teaching Vowels And Consonants
- Vowels And Consonants Sounds
– Anticlockwise to straight strokes
– Inside curves
In this video, you will be taught the basic consonants of 'PITMAN SHORTHAND' which you must learn and memorize in order to proceed to the intermediate and ex. Direction Of Strokes. Of the consonants on the opposite page every straight line is written in the direction of one of the lines in the first of the following diagrams, in which the lines are so drawn as to end at a common point.
– Outside an angle
– With hooks
– With R Hook and N Hook to straight strokes
– S versus Z sound
– Why Circle S and Ses include the Z sound
– With hooks
– When not to use
– Vowels
– Adding a third S
– Other uses
CIRCLE SWAY
CIRCLE SWAY
– With hooks
– When not to use
Name | Sound | Initially | Medially | Finally |
Circle S | Initially=S Elsewhere=S or Z Z initially uses stroke Use Ess if no other stroke | soap zeal session | posing | pose |
Circle Ses | S-S, S-Z, Z-Z | - | persist | poses |
Circle Sway | Sw Use Way if no other stroke, or medially or finally | sweep sway | - persuading | - Kingsway |
Stee Loop | St Use Tee if no other stroke | stop stay Please note this outline has been corrected to show circle anticlockwise 23.7.14 | testing | post |
Ster Loop | Ster Never initially, use other strokes | - sterling starry | masterpiece | poster |
Ses and Sway are mutually exclusive as regards position on the stroke, therefore they will never clash with each other.
Pitman Shorthand Consonants And Vowels Examples
Name | R hook | L hook | N hook | F/V hook |
Circle S | spray supper suffer summer | supple splay civil | pens moons | paves puffs |
Circle Ses | - | - | dances | - |
Circle Sway | sweeper | - | - | - |
Stee Loop | stopper | - | danced | - |
Ster Loop | - | - | Dunster | - |
See Theory Vowels page for vowel placement against strokes that have these circles and loops.
- Only Circle Ses can be vocalised, the others cannot. Other than Circle Ses, it is the stroke that is vocalised.
- There are no thick versions of circle or loops.
- They must be written in the correct circular motion i.e. anti-clockwise (left motion) or clockwise (right motion), according to the rules below.
- They are read first and last in the outline, or that section of the outline, with the stroke and its various vowels, hooks, halving, etc coming in the middle.
- If the word starts or ends with a vowel, strokes must be used instead.
- May be added to short forms and contractions.
- May form part of phrases.
- Ensure to close the circle or loop so that it does not look like a hook.
- Ensure to take the circles right round so they do not look like loops. When used medially, circles will not always be exactly circular, they will take on distortions, see adjustment and chisel below as examples of this. When this occurs, do not mistake them for loops – medial loops are always followed by a sharp change of direction, see masterpiece in table above, something circles never do.
A vowel may come between the Circle S and the stroke (e.g. sap, pass), or the two may be run together (e.g. spa, apse). The outline gives no indication of this, unless vocalised. In this respect the Circle S differs from the R and L hooks which generally represent a compound consonant e.g. PL and PR.
Circle S is written:
- Anticlockwise to straight strokes
- Inside curves
- Outside an angle
Anti-clockwise to straight strokes:
sap spa apse pass sub bus abs sit stay eats teas
sad ads days such choose sage juice
sack sky axe case sag guess eggs hose (=upward Hay) ways yes
Between two similar straight strokes, still anti-clockwise, the same as you would write it if the first stroke was the only one:
decide disdain tacit testy precept exact cask bespoke Busby
Inside curves:
safe face sphere save voice Seth thaws seethe this
size cease sash shows sign snow nice inns
same maze aims smile simile songs sir ears
passer passive possess basin bosom design flotsam
cousin chasm chosen adjacent adjustment reason resume
Between two curves that have thesame motion, follow that motion:
evasive fasten lissom listen unsafe muscle nicely noiseless
If the curves have opposite motions, the circle generally goes clockwise, often (but not always) resulting in the circle being outside the angle:
mason massive season unsolved arising
facile but facility, vacillate but vacillated, insulate but insulated
What you should NOT do with Circle S is make a sudden change of direction; this somewhat awkward joining is used very sparingly, being reserved for indicating:
- An R Hook on a following straight stroke, where the hook cannot be shown in any other way; however, after P and B the R hook is omitted for convenience (if it were shown, it would look too much like a Stee loop):
describe discretion disagree discourage R omitted in: prescribe subscribe - Stroke Hay medially, in order to differentiate between Hay and Circle S:
anyhow, any such, upheld passer-by
Between M-N and N-M, in derivative words, the circle should remain with its original curve:
miss missing, seemly unseemly, mince mincemeat
some noisome (=annoy+some), noise noise-maker
Outside an angle:
passage beseech basic task dosage tassel chisel respond
Where the circle and hook would individually be written on the same side of the stroke, when you wish to show both, the circle must be written INSIDE the hook. Theoretically, circle is extra small and the hook remains its normal size; in practice the hook generally needs to be ever so slightly larger to avoid ink blobbing, and the circle can be flattened into a tiny loop (it is not a Stee loop which are never used inside hooks). Do not let your small hooks grow in size and get confused with the larger hooks (Shun, and L Hook on curves).
L Hook: supple splay settle saddle satchel sickle safflower soufflé civil
R & N Hooks to curves: suffer sever summer mains signer nines fines vines
F/V Hook: puff puffs cuff cuffs tough toughs
Kway (Gway): square squash squeal squeeze consequence
(Gway could take Circle S but no examples found)
Way: use Circle S with Way for those words when Circle Sway is not possible:
way sway persuade but swerve swayed
Wel: does not take Circle S, instead discard the hook and use Sway Circle on stroke Ell:
well swell
Whay Whel Yay: do not take an initial Circle S
Where there is a vowel between a final F/V and S, this is generally a plural of an outline that is already written with full strokes:
cave caves, cavy cavies, buff buffs, bevy bevies
tiff tiffs, toffee toffees, Dave Dave's, Davey Davey's
A medial Circle S does not indicate a hook purely by its direction, because the direction of the circle is used only for convenience. In many cases a medial hook can be shown as well, with the circle following the motion of the hook:
bicycle express listener display miscreant unschooled inscrutable
![Pitman Pitman](/uploads/1/1/1/8/111800069/675660061.jpeg)
Small Shun Hook: Circle S, and Circle S following N hook, can both be followed by the small shun hook
composition compensation decision condensation transition
With R Hook and N Hook to straight strokes:
On a straight stroke, the R or N Hook is closed up to make a circle. Both are thus indicated, because that is not the usual side/direction for an initial or final circle:
R: spay spray, sub sobriety, stay stray, sky screw
N: pays pains, toes tones, choose chance, Joe's John's
N: guess gains, rays rains, ways wanes, yes yens
Medial circles Between two straight strokes the hook should be shown, the circle following the direction of the hook. Medial circles use the direction that is most convenient, so the direction cannot be reversed to indicate any hooks, unlike at the beginning and ends of strokes (apart from the necessity to choose the direction for legibility, it would also not be clear whether the plain circle, if so used, meant an N Hook on the first stroke, or an R Hook on the second stroke):
prosper destroy district excursion corkscrew
If there is a vowel after the N sound, use stroke En so that it can be vocalised. The presence of the stroke N lets you know there is a vowel, so vocalisation is normally unnecessary:
bones bonus, tens tennis, chines Chinese, mines minus
The combination S-CH-R is not found standing alone in any English word, therefore this outline is used for the stroke downward Hay. Should such a combination appear in a new word or name, it would be have to be written with stroke Ar after the S-CH, or stroke Ess plus Cher if the word began with a vowel. However, this sequence of sounds can be written in the middle of a word, providing the S is shown inside the hook, thus avoiding clashing with the downward Hay:
beseech beseecher Abraham
Circle S can be added to final Stee and Ster loops and Circle SES:
posts posters exercises
In case of difficulty, mentally remove the circle and then read the outline correctly, before mentally adding the S back in:
pray spray, upper supper, play splay, apple supply, pint pints, dove doves, roof roofs
fund funds, amount amounts, nine nines, inner sooner, ever sever
Dot 'con-' dot '-ing' and dash '-ings' are read first and last, if present:
strict constrict, strain constrain, some consume, dance dancing, rinsing rinsings
Use the stroke Ess or Zee when:
(a) there is an initial vowel before the S, or a final vowel after it. The stroke can then be vocalised, although its presence lets you know there is a vowel involved:
sack ask, mess messy, seed acid, sense essence
boss bossy, noise noisy, haze hazy, slate isolate
(b) the S is the only consonant sound in the word (because you need somewhere to put the vowel); retain the stroke in derivatives:
ice sigh sighing sighs/size, sea sea-level but sleeve, sea-kale but sickle
(c) the vowel between the S sound and the stroke is a triphone, and in other places to distinguish from plurals:
signs science, virtues virtuous, heirs heiress, Jews Jewess, dangers dangerous
Initially, the sound is S; medially and finally the sound can be S or Z:
seep piece/peas same mace/maze
Final NS and NZ sound after a curve are differentiated by using:
- Hook N for NZ – generally a plural, but not always
- Stroke En for NS – generally a word that can be used as a verb, and therefore needs to have easy derivatives
NZ: fen fens NS: fence – fences fenced fencing fencer
NZ: vine vines NS: evince – evinces evinced evincing evincible
NZ: mean means NS: mince – minces mincedmincing mincer
NZ: nine nines NS: announce – announces announced announcing announcer
NZ: line lines NS: lance - lances lanced lancing lancer lancet
Note: lens lenses As lens is singular, despite its Z sound, stroke N and Circle Ses have to be used for the plural, and there is no such word as 'lences' for the plural to clash with.
More examples of NS verses NZ:
thins thence, shines conscience, salines silence
Pauline's opulence, vines Venice, Essenes essence
Those with a linguistic interest may notice that words like mince/mints are pronounced identically, but perceived differently. 'Mints' is halved to indicate the T, as the T sound is part of the original word; the T sound in 'mince' is the first part of the S sound (if you removed it the word would sound like 'minz'):
mint mints mince, fent fents fence, silent silents silence
comment comments commence, dent dents dense
assistant assistants assistance, chant chants chance
This is a timely reminder that (a) shorthand dictation must be undertaken intelligently, and the meaning followed while writing, and (b) Pitman's Shorthand is not designed to be entirely phonetic, it only needs to indicate which word was spoken.
The S sound can change into the Z sound in plurals and genitives, but when it does, it is not changing the word into a different word. The circle is used to represent both in order to preserve the general shape of the outline and to allow its consistent use for plurals and genitives:
house (noun) = 'hous'
houses (plural) = 'houziz'
house (verb), hows (plural noun) = 'houz'
house's (genitive) = 'housiz'
Consistent and easy outlines are achieved, but at the expense of some words such as mace/maze peace/peas where the S and Z sounds signify different words. The longhand has solved the problem, in only using the letter Z and sometimes letter C, to show the difference. The shorthand has partly solved this problem in a similar manner, with the aim of writing words briefly and reliably, rather than strictly phonetically. Shorthand does not always preserve the basic outline when forming derivatives, but as plurals and genitives cover so many words, the advantages of allowing Circles S to do duty for both S and Z sounds outweigh the disadvantages.
An initial Z sound has to use the stroke, even though no vowel comes before it:
zeal zebra zenith zero zest zinc zip zone zoologist
This is a large circle, used in middle or at the end of an outline, placed in the same way as Circle S, to represent:
S-S: basis necessary necessity insist thesis
S-Z: bases paces busses faces voices losses masses taxes fixes
Z-S: possessive exhaust exist resist
Z-Z:opposes dazes fuses cruises muses mazes noses raises/razes
S-S sound at the beginning: Circle Ses is never used at the beginning of an outline, as that place is taken by Circle Sway. Two initial S sounds should be shown with the full stroke Ess followed by Circle S. This makes an easier outline and logical derivatives, as the formation of an angle is avoided, its place being taken by the circle.
sauce sauces, cease ceases ceasing, sighs/size sizes sizing sizeable, scissors secede
Do not follow longhand: Do not be misled by words like those below, which do not contain the sounds of s-vowel-s, they merely appear at first glance to do so in longhand; they are in fact Circle S followed by Shun Hook:
decision possession accession incision cessation secession
Differentiation: Where the SeS or SeZ (with short E) is part of the basic word (e.g. not a plural or a verb S-ending) or if a diphthong or diphone is involved, Circle S plus stroke Ess is generally preferred; this is because there is such a large number of this type of word that a regular means of differentiation is needed between them and plurals of shorter words. The derivatives will generally keep the stroke Ess, but Circle Ses is sometimes used where it is more convenient e.g. to avoid an awkward joining or to shorten the outline. This is an example of speed/ease of writing being more important that having 'tidy' rules:
pose poses but possess possesses possessed possessing possessive possessor
axe axes but access accesses accessed accessing, excess excessive
boss bosses/boss's but abscess abscesses, obsess obsesses obsessive
raise raises, recess recesses recessed recession recessive
gas gases but gaseous (this word is sometimes pronounced 'gayshus')
Exceptions have been made for the following very common words for the sake of convenience. The outlines are distinctive with Circle Ses, and therefore they do not need to use the stroke S:
exercise exercising, success successful, emphasise emphasised
Top of page
Basic words with vowel other than short E can use the Circle Ses:
crisis analysis hypothesis
Words like those above form their plural by a change of vowel. It would be good practice to omit the singular vowel, and always insert the plural one:
crises hypotheses
Some of these types of words have identical plurals and verb endings in longhand, although pronounced differently, so vocalising the Circle Ses may be helpful:
Noun: diagnosis diagnoses Verb: diagnose diagnoses
Noun: analysisanalyses Verb: analyse analyses
If the accent falls in different places, you can indicate this by adding a small cross next to the vowel. This method is useful for many pairs of words where the nouns and verbs have different syllables accented. Ensure that the cross does not look like a diphthong or diphone:
Plural noun analyses Verb analyses
![Pitman shorthand consonants and vowels words Pitman shorthand consonants and vowels words](/uploads/1/1/1/8/111800069/104136841.gif)
Circle Ses can be combined with N hook to straight strokes, in the same way as Circle S:
bounces dances expenses experiences
It cannot be combined with F/V hooks, or any hooks on curved strokes.
When written medially it is impractical for it to be followed by a hooked stroke.
See Theory Vowels page for how to vocalise Circle Ses. In brief, the short vowel sound as in 'pen' is not indicated in Circle Ses, as it is the most common, but any other vowel between the S-S may be written inside the circle.
Circle S can be added onto the big Circle Ses by continuing the motion, writing the small circle on the other side of the stroke:
emphasises successes exercises censuses
The large circle can represent two circles:
- In a few compound words it can represent two S's that belong to separate parts of the compound, even though only one S is sounded, to make the outline more readable:
house-sparrow house-surgeon flaxseed gas-stove bus-stop - In a few words with diss- and miss- to provide distinction or improve readability, see Theory 18 Prefixes/Dis and Mis
- Circle S followed by the stroke Hay circle, see Theory 12 Hay/Large medial circle page.
This is a large circle, used at the beginning of an outline, placed and read in the same way as Circle S, to represent the sound of SW.
- Never used medially or finally.
- No vowel comes before the 'SW-' and not vowel comes between the S and the W.
- Never vocalised, as there is no vowel to show. The vowel that follows it is placed against the stroke.
- The name 'Sway' is for convenience – any vowel may come after it.
sweep swab sweat swayed/suede Swedish switch swag
swivel swath swathe Swiss Swaziland swish swim swamp swan swing
swear swirl swarm swarthy swerve swerved*
*Special outline, see Distinguishing Outlines 2 Rule/served swerved
It can be placed on a halved or doubled stroke:
swept sweated swathed swooned swelter
Circle Sway can be combined with R hook to straight strokes, just like Circle S:
sweeper swabber sweater switcher swagger
It is not combined with any other hooks.
When used with stroke Ell, it replaces the hook of the Wel stroke:
ell well swell, low wallow swallow
Consonant And Vowel Pdf
It never combines with the hook on stroke Yay or Way.
Use Circle S on stroke Way:
(a) if the SW is the only consonant in the outline, retaining it in derivatives:
sway sways swayer swaying but swayed/suède for convenience, swayback
(b) In the middle of a word or outline:
dissuade persuade persuasion persuasive (suasion and suasive retain this form)
In a derivative, the SW may end up in the middle:
sweetened but unsweetened, swerving but unswerving
Pitman Shorthand Consonants And Vowels
(e) before stroke Hay:
Swahili
In some words the S and W, although together, are parts of separate words:
crosswise passway password (word=short form) glassware (but ware/wear)
If a vowel comes before the SW, use stroke Ess and medial semicircle W:
assuage a-swirl aswarm* Not in shorthand dictionary
Use Circle S and medial semicircle W where it is not convenient to use stroke Way:
Homeswell Harmsworth
Do not be misled by longhand spelling:
sward has the W sound but sword does not.
Teaching Vowels And Consonants
Do not be tempted, in a confused moment, to use Circle Sway for these types of words where the sound is SKW:
Vowels And Consonants Sounds
square squash squiggle
Face shorthand learning square on, squash the problems and master the squiggles!