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Bernard Shaw died on 2 November 1950 and his

Will contained provisions for a new Proposed
British Alphabet, a subject in which he always
had a great interest.
Shaw imposed on his trustee the duty of
seeking and publishing a more efficient alphabet
of at least forty letters than the existing on of
twenty-six letters to enable the said language to
be written without indicating single sounds by
groups of letters or by diacritical marks. ...in the
end a design by Mr Kingsley Read was adopted to
fulfill this and other terms of Bernard Shaws will.
(from a letter by the public trustee)
Introduction
Here is Shaws alphabet. It has been proved that
those who wish to read it can do so after only a
few hours of concentrated deciphering.
Why should anyone wish to use it? And why
should there be any departure from the familiar
forms of the Roman alphabet in which English is
printed and written?
You will notice that Shaws alphabet is both
more legible and one-third more economical in
space than traditional printing, and this should
lead to a great increase in reading speed. The
characters themselves are very distinct.
The economy in space and greater simplicity
of characters ought also to increase the speed
and ease of writingeven more than it does the
ease of reading. Many of the characters easily
join into pairs to form syllables which recur
frequently in English words; the sounds of the
language are completely characterized, thus
permitting abbreviation with great reliability.
Shaw insisted that, unless his alphabet were to
offer the substantial advantages he himself
desired, there would be no reason for adding to
the existing media of communication, which
include: typewriting, shorthand, morse,
semaphore, and braille.
The keymap on the following page will enable
you to achieve the beginnings of skill and the
satisfaction of success within three or four hours.
Although this means starting from scratch.
Shaw did not want you to abandon the Roman
alphabet. Hopefully the new figures would be
found to be useful without abandoning the
present one.
If those who tried it found it advantageous,
they would use it, and by their example it would
gain what following it deserved. If its benefits
were substantial enough, it would spread and
establish itself through merit.
Utilitarian advantage is thus the principle
governing the new alphabet. Shaw was unique in
pointing out that substantial economy could be
attained only (a) if the designer were to depart
from a system evolved by the Romans for carving
their public notices in stone; (b) if a single set of
alphabetical characters were usedabolishing
the different look of words in capitals, small
letters, and linked handwritten letters; and (c) if
each distinct sound of the language were spelt
with its own unvarying character.
Only a few hours will be needed to persuade
you that the new alphabet has the potential
advantages Shaw intended for it. At first you will
read and write it in a plodding childlike way, as
you once did Roman. Much more rapidly than a
childs, your familiarity and ease will grow, until
the use of Shaws alphabet becomes as natural and
automatic as your use of Romanonly faster.
(from a letter by James Pitman,
House of Commons, London, 1962)
Suggestions for writing
1. While learning to form the letters, write larger
than usual. Once their shapes are thoroughly
mastered, letters will be written fast without undue
distortion. A sheet of guidelines can be inserted
beneath your writing paper if you need them.
2. Cultivate an upright rather than a sloping
handwriting. It will be more like printed
letterpress and more distinguishable.
3. Make Tall and Deep letters about twice the
height of Shorts, to allow for the inexactitudes of
free handwriting.
4. Leave ample space between words. Write the
letters of each word closely together. Avoid
linking letters unnaturally.
There is no need to link letters at all. But it
frequently happens that the end of one letter
naturally runs into the beginning of another; and
the alphabet is so designed that this cannot
produce alternate readings.
Junctions or links can occur only along one of
the double guidelines (used or imagined) within
which the Short letters are written. No links are
possible between the guidelines, nor above them,
nor beneath them.
5. Little and oftenbut very often; that is the
way to practise. You can practise on a
newspapers margin as happily as doing its
crosswords. Earnest practice for a single week
enables one to write with assurance if not with
speed. You will be surprised at the brevity and
simplicity of Shavian writing.
6. Reread your practice writing. Learn by your
own writing and spelling slips. Make sure that a
reader would not hesitate.
7. Mutual encouragement helps. Interest yourself
and fellow writers by joining a writing circle. It
is a way to get sufficient reading as well as
writing practice. Have a shot at it; and good luck!
(from Kingsley Read,
Abbots Morton, Worcester, 1962)
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(!::., !tv,c- :-
.1, .r1, r:1r, 1962)
peep bib
p b
tot 1 dead
t d
kick ! gag
k g
fee ! vow
f v
thigh c they
t h
so : , zoo
s z
sure c , measure
s z
church judge
c j
yea \ *woe
j w
hung v ha-ha
n h
loll c : roar
l r
mime* . none
m n
if t - eat
i i
egg : age
e e
ash* . v ice
a f
ado* r : up
a u
on o oak
o o
wool v . ooze
u m
out s : oil
q q
ah* s + awe
y y
are c r or
r p
air . - urge
x x
array . r ear
d c
ian r \ yew
w v
c:r
The four most frequent words are represented by single letters: the ; of ; and ; to 1.
Proper names may be distinguished by a preceding Namer dot: e.g., :o., Rome.
The Namer dot is accessed by the key /
:1 t r c. ::, - !1 t!1-- !1 !:t!:1-- !1 .co-t: :.
peep 1 [ bib
tot 1 dead
kick c ; gag
fee 1 j vow
thigh they
so zoo
sure L ) measure
church L judge
yea \ [ *woe
hung k [ ha-ha
loll c 5 roar
mime* 1 \ none
if i - eat
egg \ t age
ash* 1 1 ice
ado* r r up
on o oak
wool v A ooze
out : : oil
ah* s z awe
are z or
air e - urge
array r r ear
ian r v yew
the j of
and \ 1 to
*written top-down or right-left
} for proper names,
use Namer dot (eg, :o., Rome) .
Shaw information pages at
demeyere.com/shavian.
Maintained by :
Ross DeMeyere [:5r :i11\-]
Creat i ve Director
DeMeyere Design Incorporated
1951 McKinley ST NE
Minneapolis MN 55418-4816
r oss@demeyere.com
demeyere.com
bookmark for use in reading and writing
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