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This page last updated 10-04-97

Rap Lin Rie is the nickname I have given to Dutton World Speedwords. Dutton World Speedwords was intended to be a shorthand system that could also be used as an international language. And, it turns out that it is the perfect email shorthand system for the 21st Century.

On this page we take the opportunity to try and answer some of your questions. If you have questions that are not answered here, please email them to us. We will try to add them to this page as rapidly as possible.

Q. Just exactly, what is Rap Lin Rie or Dutton World Speedwords?

A. The easiest way to answer this, perhaps, is to quote Dutton himself. Here is what he writes about Speedwords. "Dutton Speedwords is a new fast note-taking and note-making system which uses only the familiar letters of the Roman alphabet. There are, accordingly, no hooks, strokes, circles, or other strange geometric symbols to be memorized."

"Because they are composed of ordinary alphabetic letters, speedwords can be typed on a typewriter [or computer] as well as written by hand. Speedwords typists are therefore able to attain typing speeds never known before. Indeed, those with nimble fingers attain speeds up to 150 words per minute."

"Another outstanding and attractive feature of Dutton Speedwords is the fact that it is the first abbreviated writing invention in history which at once transcribes all languages."

Not only is Rap Lin Rie/ Dutton World Speedwords a rapid notetaking system, it "at once transcribes all languages." In other words, it is an "International Auxiliary Language."

Q. What is an International Auxiliary Language?

A. Again, to quote Mr. Dutton. "The purpose of an International Auxiliary Language is not to displace any national tongue, but to provide for every country a second language which would designate every separate object and idea by a special international appellation. Such an I.A.L. would sweep away language barriers to spoken and written communication between all peoples of both hemispheres." That is what Rap Lin Rie is, it is an International Auxiliary Language.

Q. If it is a shorthand/notetaking system how can you say it is also an International Auxiliary Language?

A. I would hope that if you wish a full and complete discussion of Rap Lin Rie/ Dutton World Speedwords, that you will subscribe to the free newsletter.

However, Rap Lin Rie, just like any language, has a vocabulary, has a grammar with rules, and it is spoken and written. Thus, it meets all the requirements of a language. Plus, its vocabulary is built upon as many "universal" words as possible. That is, words that are the same, or very similar in several languages. The Speedword "to write" is a good example of this. It is "ri". Thus, you find "ri" in all of these words from other languages, meaning "to write". English = write; French = escrire; Spanish = escribir; Italian = scrivere; German = schreiben; Dutch = schrijven; Roumanian = scrie; and Scandinavian = skrive. Therefore, Rap Lin Rie is a language, an Auxiliary language.

Q. If Rap Lin Rie is both an Auxiliary language, and a shorthand system doesn't this present problems? For instance, it can't be fast enough for a verbatim shorthand system in English, or any other language?

A. This is a common reaction to Speedwords. However, this auxiliary/shorthand language can be used for fast verbatim note taking. Here's how.

The first thing you must remember is this. Don't confuse Rap Lin Rie/ World Speedwords with a phonetic shorthand system. Rap Lin Rie is based on using words that are, on average, one half the size of its comparable word in any language. For instance, RI is the word for write in English. RI is two letters. Write has five letters. Which is shorter? This is where the name Speed words comes from. In Spanish the word is escribir, eight letters. And so on with any language you choose to compare it with. Thus, no matter what language is the natural language of the Speedwordist, he or she will always write faster with "speed", i.e. shortened words. In some cases the speedword is longer, but this is the exception not the rule. In addition to this, IF one does not want to use Rap Lin Rie as an auxiliary language, then there are phonetic rules that can be added to the system. Even so, Dutton recommended a person know the first 1,000 Speedwords, (based on word frequency) before adding the phonetic rules. If a person increases his or her vocabulary, then Speedwords becomes fast enough and detailed enough to be used as a verbatim shorthand system in any language.

At the University of Arizona are several volumes on research into various shorthand systems. In one volume a long term study was done to compare a famous symbol system with an alphabetic system. The results of this comparison came down on the side favorable to the alphabetic system. [Much of this material will be covered in detail in the newsletter and the future Rap Lin Rie magazine.] Dutton comes down on the side of the alphabetic kind of shorthand, so it begins on the plus side.

Another long term research study compared 26 different shorthand systems. Some of the criteria used were; how easy to learn, how useful in the long term, number of strokes for each word, and more. Further, one of the main concerns was the ability to read notes after days, weeks, months or years had passed. In some symbol systems, and alphabetic, it was found some could not accurately read their own old notes. Now, with Rap Lin Rie, as a shorthand system in all the criteria given, does not have that problem. Why? Because the words are always the same and are not phonetically spelled words that need extra deciphering. Of all the systems rated, I rate Speedwords in the top 1-3 of those 26. That is my estimation, as Speedwords was not in the actual study. Here is what I base my conclusion on.

All shorthand systems use special set "word-symbols" for the most frequently used words, even though they base the system on phonetic spelling. Thus, only about a fourth of any vocabulary in any shorthand system uses "special word-symbols". Speedwords, on the other hand, is 100% word symbol, based on word frequency. Next, in writing phonetic shorthand words that are not special word-symbols, each word is spelled as it sounds. In comparing five different alphabetic shorthand systems myself, the Speedword words were always shorter on average than the others. That means, Speedwords is faster. It's obvious that if you write less you write faster.

Rap Lin Rie has a set vocabulary right now of over 10,000 words. That is, a base of 4,000+ words with all their derivatives gives 10,000 words. The vocabulary is presently being expanded with a goal in mind of at least 30,000 words. [The importance of this is: as the vocabulary grows the easier it becomes to take notes in Speedwords verbatim without additional shorthand rules.] And, that vocabulary was built upon Ernest Horn's Word Frequency Study of 10,000 words. I have access to a portion of that study now, and hope to have the full list soon. Now, please remember this, in shorthand note taking word frequency is very important. Here's why:

"The STENOSCRIPT ABC SHORTHAND dictionary includes the one thousand most common words used in the English language. Stastitics show that fifty of these words make up one-half of all written words." Dutton's words for these fifty are shorter overall than other systems that are phonetic.

"Three hundred words of the thousand words constitute three-fourths of all written words and the thousand most common words makeup about nine-tenths of all written words." Overall, Dutton's Speedwords for these 1,000 words are shorter than other systems. Thus, again, for those 1,000 words, Speedwords would be written faster. And, these 1,000 words, remember,cover nine-tenths of all written words. So, you can see you can, in any language, write at least nine-tenths of your notes at twice normal speed. By adding to your vocabulary, you can cover, eventually, the last one-tenth.

Finally, this from Stenoscript ABC Shorthand. All quotes from page 2. "Are you surprised to know that the, of, I, to, in, a, that, you and for comprise one-fourth of all written words?" In future newsletters I plan to show examples of Speedwords versus other "abc shorthand words."

Since one does not easily forget the Speedwords, since they are always written the same, it becomes extremely easy to read old notes. Again, Rap Lin Rie/Dutton Speedwords stands out. Even though, not every language is exactly the same, generally speaking, this same frequency of word use would be comparable. Thus, Speedwords would be comparably fast in writing ease in any language.

Q. And, even if it is fast enough, how can a Japanese or Russian read the verbatim English notes you've made? Or, even each other's notes for that matter?

A. I'm glad you ask the question that, at this time, is the extreme possibility and not the norm. However, there is an answer. I might ask you back this question to begin with. "If a Russian learned French, and a Japanese person learned French, and they talked or wrote to each other in French, could they understand each other?" I think the answer is self evident. Also, before going further, please do not confuse the fact that Speedwords is a shorthand system with a regular shorthand system that uses phonetic spelling. If that were the case, then only an English speaker, for instance, could read your English notes. Assuming the person knew shorthand. A Russian or Japanese person could not read those notes, or each others. I hope this is clear enough. Now,

Remember that Speedwords is above all, based on this concept: "One word, one idea." Thus, there would never be confusion in any situation where Speedwords is used, based on the "idea" meaning of any word read. For instance, in English we use the term "right" to mean "to the right", i.e. a direction. Or, you are "right" meaning correct. Speedwords uses separate words for these two ideas, and we would write the correct word to express what we mean, even in our shorthand notes. Another word is "way". In English we can do it this "way", or we can go to town that "way". One means method, the other means road or path. Thus Speedwords would use "od" for method, and "via" for road or path. There is more, but let me quote an argument against Esperanto that borders on the same question.

"Some critics consider an Esperanto text from the point of view of immediate comprehensibility for polyglots who have not studied the Esperanto grammar and the rules for the formation of words. Such immediate comprehensibility is not claimed by Esperanto. Facility of reading, writing, and speaking not only for polyglots, but for everybody, after a study of the grammar, prefixes, and suffixes, is the criterion." Page 28-29 of Esperanto the World Interlanguage. Even so, a person, Russian, Japanese, German, Israeli, etc. could not use Rap Lin Rie for international communication if he or she had never studied it.

Q. Why did Reginald Dutton combine a shorthand system and an auxiliary system into one?

A. Let's let Mr. Dutton answer this one. "But ultimately it had to be admitted that for some reason the great masses of the people remained apathetic. [i.e. to an international auxiliary language] Consequently, those who regarded a second language as essential to world understanding exercised their minds as to whether some new additional advantages could not be introduced which would have the effect of attracting much greater nunmbers to the study of an international auxiliary language."

"Brevity in regard to its written and printed script has accordingly been the guiding principle in the construction of Speedwords, and the invention thus breaks entirely new ground so far as international language is concerned. One valuable outcome of such brevity is that it will enable the nationals of every country to write twice as fast as when using their own tongue. By its saving in paper and type-setting costs Speedwords will also enable books and printed publications of all kinds to be produced at less than half their present cost...."

This is what Dutton, then, wanted to add as a new advantage in an auxiliary language. For instance, this brevity would do the following: "a. Sweep away for ever all language barriers to full international understanding, social intercourse, and cultural development. b. Read, write, and typewrite any given matter in less than half the time required to do so in any national language. c. Purchase the translated literary and technical works of all nationals at one-third of the cost of publication in any national language. d. Double the possible contents of all Air letters. e. Double the speed of transmission, and thereby halve the cost, of all plain language cables and telegrams." Dutton was giving the masses more reasons to learn and use Speedwords than just the idea of learning only another language. He made it practical in one's personal daily life, with the added benefit that it was an international communication tool. That's why he combined the two.

Here is an example that should help clear this up better. It is a comparison of Speedwords with English and Esperanto. Remember, both the English speaker and Esperanto speaker have learned Rap Lin Rie/ Speedwords and are using the Speedwords to write the following.

Speedword/ English Word/ Esperanto Word

Speedwords in this list total 56 letters used. English used 102 letters. and Esperanto used 97. So, which is shorter? Speedwords is shorter by 46 letters less than the English, and 41 letters less than Esperanto. This would hold true in comparison with other languages. Therefore, which of the three would be faster to write? I hope this helps answer your question.

Please return, we will be adding more questions and answers as fast as we can.

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