Dutton World Speedwords
Reginald Dutton created World Speedwords as an international
auxiliary language, but realized that it would be difficult to convince
people to study such a language, so he created a shorthand system based
upon the same material. The beauty of this idea is that while enjoying
the benefits of the shorthand system, the student also gains skills in
the auxiliary language. A wonderful idea, but Dutton had neither the
time nor the money to realize his dream.
Further information can be found at these websites...
It's certainly not at-sight-readable, an important criterion for some
language designers. Some have called it line noise (shades of TECO
madness!), but I have found it easier to learn, both for reading and for
writing, than some other languages that I have studied. Odd, perhaps,
but I can think of several reasons for this...
- Simply stated, the words are short and easier to recognize.
- The most commonly used words are represented by a single letter;
very easy to learn and to recognize!
- The vocabulary is based upon internationally recognizable words. The
brevity of the Speedword might obscure the relationship at first
sight, but once you discover that relationship, it is not difficult
to remember.
- You can learn the language by learning the shorthand. You don't have
to learn all of the language in order to use it. You can begin once
you've learned a single word. Using the shorthand you mingle your
native words with Speedwords, and gradually, as you learn more
shorthand, you learn the language!
Texts
Translator
I wrote a simpleminded little Speedwords/English translator.
1998-07-03 yfony, 2004-08-29 yotit.