encyclopedia

Stenotype

A stenotype machine is a specialized keyboard used by stenographers for shorthand use. A trained court reporter or closed captioner can type speeds of approximately 225 words per minute at very high accuracy. Many users of this keyboard can even reach 300 words per minute.

The keyboard looks more like a compact piano than a regular keyboard. Multiple keys are pressed simultaneously to instantly spell out whole words and syllables at once. This makes realtime transcription practical for court reporting and live closed captioning.

The stenotype machine is an invention of the french Marc Grandjean in 1909.

This is the keyboard layout of the machine:

This is a basic chart of the letters of this machine:

English Letter	Stenograph Letter
Final B	B
Final CH	F P
Final D	D
Final DZ	DZ
Final F	F
Final G	G
Final J	PBLG
Final K	B G
Final L	L
Final M	P L
Final MP	FRP
Final N	PB
Final NG	PB G
Final NJ	PB G
Final NK	* PB G
Final P	P
Final R	R
Final RCH	FRPB
Final RF	FR B
Final RVE	FR B
Final S	S
Final SH	R B
Final T	T
Final V	F
Final X	B G S
Final Z	Z
Initial B	PW
Initial CH	K H
Initial D	TK
Initial F	T P
Initial G	TKPW
Initial H	H
Initial J	S K W R
Initial K	K
Initial L	HR
Initial M	P H
Initial N	T P H
Initial P	P
Initial QU	K W
Initial R	R
Initial S	S
Initial T	T
Initial V	S R
Initial W	W
Initial Y	K W R
Initial Z	STKPWHR
P: Comma	R B G S
P: Correction (Asterisk)	*
P: Paragraph	* P
P: Period (.)	F P L T
P: Question Mark	ST P H
Vowel A	A
Vowel A (Long)	A EU
Vowel Aw	A U
Vowel E	E
Vowel E (Long)	AO E
Vowel I	EU
Vowel I (Long)	AO EU
Vowel O	O
Vowel O (Long)	O E
Vowel OI	O EU
Vowel OO	AO
Vowel OU	O U
Vowel U	U
Vowel U (Long)	AO U

Stenotype

See also