Excerpt from Shorthand ConstructionWhat are the minimum shorthand characters that can be used to represent these sounds?Obviously, if outlines of words in shorthand are to be reduced to the minimum, they must be composed of the following characters: straight lines and curved lines (arcs of circles) of different lengths written in different directions, circles, semicircles and loops, of different sizes.In shorthand we speak of characters, not letters. A character is a mark or sign that distinguishes something.The straight line, the curved line and the circle are, of course, the shortest marks that can be used as characters to distinguish sounds.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.