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Deseret alphabet

The Deseret alphabet (/dɛzəˈrɛt/ ( listen)[1]) is a writing system invented in the 19th Century in America by the Mormon Church. A group of leaders called the Board of Regents created it. They were from Brigham Young University.[2]

Deseret alphabet
Deseret Alphabet.svg
TypeAlphabet
Spoken languagesEnglish, Native American languages (Hopi language)
Created byGeorge D. Watt, under the direction of the Board of Regents led by Brigham Young
Time periodMainly 1854–1869; some use in modern era
Parent systems
Isaac Pitman phonotypy
Unicode rangeU+10400–U+1044F
ISO 15924Dsrt
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode.


Deseret.svg
 This article contains Deseret alphabet characters. Without the correct software, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Deseret letters.

Brigham Young wanted all letters to match sounds, to make reading and writing easier for immigrants. Teachers taught the alphabet in the school system at the time.[2]:65–66 [3]

Between 1854 and 1869, books, newspapers, street signs and mail used the new alphabet. Even though the LDS church tried very hard to support the alphabet, it wasn't continued for very long.[2][4][5][6][7]

History

 
Early Deseret alphabet chart found in Jules Remy and Julius Brenchley's A Journey to Great-Salt-Lake City (1855)

Creation (1847–1854)

Church leaders Brigham Young, Parley P. Pratt and Heber C. Kimball were part of the Board of Regents that made the Deseret alphabet.[2] Other important creators were George D. Watt and William W. Phelps.[4][8]

Before they decided to use the Deseret alphabet, the Board of Regents thought they would use Pitman style alphabets. On 29 November 1853, they came together to vote. Then, Willard Richards, who was sick when the Board of Regents had talked about which alphabet to use, saw the Pitman style alphabet. He said it looked too much like the English alphabet, and he wanted to start over with something new.[4] His words convinced Brigham Young and the rest of the Board of Regents to make the Deseret alphabet. Less than two months later, the Board of Regents approved the first 38-letter Deseret alphabet.[4]

 
The Deseret alphabet was based on Isaac Pitman's English Phonotypic Alphabet, and in fact, the Board of Regents almost chose Pitman's alphabet as the new alphabet.

Alphabet

In the Deseret alphabet, capital letters ("majuscule" or upper case) look the same as the lower case ("minuscule") letters, except the capital letters are larger. In the chart below, the "Glyph" is the letter shape, and next to it is the letter's name, which is how it sounds.

Glyph Name   Glyph Name   Glyph Name   Glyph Name
𐐀 𐐨    Long I /iː/ 𐐁 𐐩    Long E /eɪ/ 𐐂 𐐪    Long A /ɑː/ 𐐃 𐐫    Long Ah /ɔː/
𐐄 𐐬    Long O /oʊ/ 𐐅 𐐭    Long Oo /uː/ 𐐆 𐐮    Short I /ɪ/ 𐐇 𐐯    Short E /ɛ/
𐐈 𐐰    Short A /æ/ 𐐉 𐐱    Short Ah /ɒ/ 𐐊 𐐲    Short O /ʌ/ 𐐋 𐐳    Short Oo /ʊ/
𐐌 𐐴    Ay /aɪ/ 𐐍 𐐵    Ow /aʊ/ 𐐎 𐐶    Wu /w/ 𐐏 𐐷    Yee /j/
𐐐 𐐸    H /h/ 𐐑 𐐹    Pee /p/ 𐐒 𐐺    Bee /b/ 𐐓 𐐻    Tee /t/
𐐔 𐐼    Dee /d/ 𐐕 𐐽    Chee /tʃ/ 𐐖 𐐾    Jee /dʒ/ 𐐗 𐐿    Kay /k/
𐐘 𐑀    Gay /ɡ/ 𐐙 𐑁    Ef /f/ 𐐚 𐑂    Vee /v/ 𐐛 𐑃    Eth /θ/
𐐜 𐑄    Thee /ð/ 𐐝 𐑅    Es /s/ 𐐞 𐑆    Zee /z/ 𐐟 𐑇    Esh /ʃ/
𐐠 𐑈    Zhee /ʒ/ 𐐡 𐑉    Er /r/ 𐐢 𐑊    El /l/ 𐐣 𐑋    Em /m/
𐐤 𐑌    En /n/ 𐐥 𐑍    Eng /ŋ/ 𐐦 𐑎    Oi* /ɔɪ/ 𐐧 𐑏    Ew* /juː/
  *Not part of original alphabet

Deseret Alphabet Media

  • The Sermon on the Mount as it appears in the 16 February 1859 edition of the Deseret News.

  • An 1876 campaign ticket for the People's Party of Utah. The Deseret type is recycled to make a border. The "words" in the border are gibberish.

  • Three questions ("Where is my room?", "Where is the beach?" and "Where is the bar?") in a Deseret digital computer typeface

  • 𐐆𐑌𐑁𐐲𐑉𐑋𐐩𐑇𐐲𐑌 𐐶𐐪𐑌𐐻𐑅 𐐻𐐭 𐐺𐐨 𐑁𐑉𐐨 ("Information wants to be free") in the following five fonts:* * Noto Sans Deseret * QueenBee Star * TuBeeRound * Times Bee * Analecta

  • Shelton using his schwa to handwrite the word "broken" (𐐺𐑉𐐬𐐿ı𐑌) (/ˈbroʊkən/). The standard way to render this word is 𐐺𐑉𐐬𐐿𐑌 (/ˈbroʊkn/).

  • Hymn from the Deseret Second Book, printed in 1868. The first line of the hymn reads "I'll serve the Lord while I am young" (𐐌'𐑊 𐑅𐐲𐑉𐑂 𐑄 𐐢𐐫𐑉𐐼 𐐸𐐶𐐴𐑊 𐐌 𐐰𐑋 𐐷𐐲𐑍), and is pronounced as /aɪl sʌrv ð(ə) lɔːrd hwaɪl aɪ æm jʌŋ/.

  • Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit𐐎𐐮𐐿𐐨𐐹𐐨𐐼𐐨𐐲, 𐑄 𐑁𐑉𐐨 𐐯𐑌𐑅𐐴𐐿𐑊𐐬𐐹𐐨𐐼𐐨𐐲 𐑄𐐰𐐻 𐐯𐑌𐐨𐐶𐐲𐑌 𐐿𐐰𐑌 𐐯𐐼𐐮𐐻

Related pages

References

  1. ↑ LDS.org: "Book of Mormon Pronunciation Guide" (retrieved 2012-02-25), IPA-ified from "dĕz-a-rĕt'"
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Moore, Richard G. (2006). "The Deseret Alphabet Experiment" (PDF). Religious Studies Center. Brigham Young University. Retrieved 2017-01-06.
  3. ↑ Young, Brigham (8 October 1868). Journal of Discourses. Vol. 12. delivered in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, UT. p. 289.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Beesley, Kenneth R. (2004). "Typesetting the Deseret Alphabet with LATEX and METAFONT" (PDF). Presented at the 25th Annual Meeting and Conference of TeX Users Group. Berlin: Springer-Verlag GmbH – via CiteSeerX.
  5. ↑ Zobell, Jr., Albert L. (1967). The Improvement Era. Vol. 70. Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. pp. 10–11.
  6. ↑ Simmonds, A. J. (1968). Utah's Strange Alphabet. Sparta, Illinois: Major Magazines, Inc.. http://web.chem.ucla.edu/~jericks/Historical%20or%20Technical/History%20Looking%20Backwards/Magazine%20articles/True%20Frontier/Utah's%20Strange%20Alphabet%20by%20A.%20J.%20Simmonds1968.pdf. Retrieved 2017-01-10. 
  7. ↑ Spendlove, Loren Blake (2015-01-01). "Say Now Shibboleth, or Maybe Cumorah". Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture. 15. Archived from the original on 2015-07-09. Retrieved 2018-01-24.
  8. ↑ Jules Remy, A Journey to Salt Lake City (London, 1861) 185.

Further reading

  • Bigler, David. 1998. Forgotten kingdom: the Mormon theocracy in the American West, 1847–1896. Spokane: Arthur Clark
  • Ivins, Stanley S. 1947. The Deseret Alphabet. Utah Humanities Review 1:223-39.
  • Lynott, Patricia A. 1999. "Communicating Insularity: The Deseret Alphabet of Nineteenth-Century Mormon Education." American Educational History Journal 26 (1):20–26.
  • Thompson, Roger. 1982. Language planning in frontier America: The case of the Deseret Alphabet. Language Problems and Language Planning 6:45–62.
  • Wintersteen, Larry Ray. 1970. A History of the Deseret Alphabet. MA thesis, Brigham Young University.
  • Young, Brigham (October 8, 1868), "Southern Missions—Deseret Alphabet—Relief Societies—Home Manufactures", Journal of Discourses Volume 12 By President Brigham Young, his two Counsellors, and the Twelve Apostles, vol. 12, Liverpool: Albert Carrington, pp. 297–301.

Other websites

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