Shorthand machine is a device used to record speech rapidly and accurately. Shorthand machines are used mainly for recording court testimony and for transcribing television programming for closed captioning. Closed captioning causes printed captions to appear on the screen during programs.
A shorthand machine has 21 lettered keys. Any number of letters may be struck at one time. The keyboard is arranged so that the fingers of the left hand print the beginning consonants of a word, the right hand prints the concluding consonants, and the thumbs print the vowels. The letters C, I, J, M, N, Q, V, X, Y, and Z are omitted. They are represented by combinations of other letters that are printed by a single stroke.
A shorthand machine operator writes by sounds, much as do writers using other shorthand systems. Thus, the operator omits all letters of a word that are not actually pronounced. Many words and phrases can be written with single strokes. The operator writes multistroke words one syllable at a time. The letters are printed on a narrow paper pad that moves automatically, a line with each stroke. Anyone familiar with this method can transcribe the notes.
Ward Stone Ireland, a stenographer and court reporter from Dallas, invented the first shorthand machine, the Stenotype, in 1910. Today, there are several types of shorthand machines in use, including the Stenograph and Stenotype.
