Higher Education Commission HEC Islamabad Jobs June 2023

Stenography and Shorthand

A stenographer is a person who records speech in shorthand and then types the same information. The demand for stenographers is high in both government and private enterprises, making stenography a desirable profession. In this article, we will discuss stenography and shorthand in detail.

What is Stenography?

The Greek terms "Stenos," which means "narrow," and "Graphie," which means "writing," are the origin of the word stenography. To save time and get rid of the task, a language is written concisely to attain objectivity and clarity. It is additionally known as shorthand. It includes symbols and abbreviations for commonly used words and phrases, enabling stenographers to write as quickly as speakers. Stenographers are those who take down these symbols and acronyms. The stenographer writes on plain paper or a notebook with a stenographic pencil before typing, as necessary, on a computer or a typing machine. The main goal of shorthand and stenography is to capture spoken dictation or speech for concise, insightful, thorough, and focused communication. For the disposal of official correspondence and the preservation of records, stenography and stenographers are vital components of government departments, courts, private organizations, journalism, etc.

History of Stenography

In the fourth century BC, the Greeks were the first to use shorthand. In the 16th century, stenography began to take shape in Europe, where it has since grown further. As a pioneer of shorthand, Sir Isacc Pitman created the most well-known and widely used shorthand method, which is now used in fifteen different languages. The Pitman's System was translated and accepted by the Japanese in the late 19th century and has been used ever since. The American Graham System took the place of the Pitman System, but it is still widely used. Stenographers are taught the Pitman system (shorthand method) in Pakistan to handle official correspondence and work.

Stenography Profession

Stenography requires technological expertise. It is a profession that both men and women can choose to pursue a successful career with the right care and dedication. Stenographers around the world have many options for career advancement.

What is shorthand?

Isaac Pitman developed the shorthand system, which was originally published in 1837. In various editions, many improvements were implemented. It is safe to say that, in terms of comprehensiveness, no other system can match the current New Era Edition. We need to understand shorthand first. This system takes sound into account. We can state that the system of sound is shorthand.

Shorthand is used to represent the sound that you hear. For example, the shorthand sign for the word "General" with the first J sound is "(stroke)". While transcribing, "General" is written starting with G. Similar to how one word, "Rough," has “F" after the "R". Therefore, in shorthand, the strokes for R and F will be indicated. Whereas when transcribing in English, "Rough" will be written correctly rather than "Rof." Similar to this, the word "Cut" also has a T sound after a K. Therefore, when transcribing in English, "Cut" will be written instead of "Kut," while K and T will be denoted as strokes.

These illustrations show that in shorthand, sound is prioritized over spelling. For a better understanding, carefully review the following examples:

Go, Major, Psychology, Scale, Disposal, Cat, Birth, Debt, etc.

In the situations given above, the word "Debt" appears. Since 'B' is silent in this instance, it will be denoted in shorthand with the strokes D and T. While writing in English, the word "Debt" will be spelled out in its entirety. In the same way, the term "Birth" in the instances above has a similar-sounding English equivalent called "Berth," which means "car seat." The word "birth" or "berth" will be selected during transcription based on the phrase, however, due to their similar sounds, they will be typed the same in shorthand.

In conclusion, it is clear from the explanation of these examples that the entire shorthand system depends on sound. The shorthand will reflect the kind of sound that reaches our ears.

The shorthand system includes principles, vowels, and strokes.