Note: I sometimes use * as a wildcard in the IPA because some rules assume skipping a vowel : journal JOURBL (IPA ʒuʁnal), fournil FOURBL (IPA fuʁnil))
Note: I sometimes use ~ in IPA because some rules are relevant for all nasal vowels. If confused, ask me.
Note: I commented some rules with TODO:. It's not always things to do, but that allowed for a consistent way to add comments from me when a rule wasn't clear, or there is some thinking to do, etc.
The H key designates the hard H/aspirated H (TODO: are those actually the same?).
Vowel: Keys AE followed by a consonant designate the sound "iè" (IPA jɛ) (tiers TAER, hier HAER, pierre PAER, Pierre PA*ER)
Keys *N are used for the "on" ending (IPA ɔ̃) (Caron KAR/*N, melon M-L/*N)
The *Z chord, hit separately, designates words that end with the sound "a" (IPA a)
The *EL chord designates words ending in "el" (IPA ɛl).
Keys STPH (SN) designate the sound "sne" (IPA sn) (TODO: Isn't that just normal though? Does this need to be a rule?)
Keys WHR- designate the sound "vle" (IPA vl) TODO: This seems like a natural combination, not a needed rule ?
TODO: The next 5 might rather be orthographic suffixes, but they're written as sounds in the book
Keys -PBGS/*B or -GZ designate sounds "ntionne" and "nctionne"
Keys -PBGS/-R designate the "ctionner" sound
TODO: The last 5 might rather be orthographic suffixes, but they're written as sounds in the book
Keys *T designate the sound "ette" (IPA ɛt)
Keys A*IR designate words ending in "aire" (IPA ɛʁ).
Keys SW designate the "swe" sound (IPA sw)
Keys TW designate the "twe" sound (IPA tw)
Keys STW designate the "stwe" sound (IPA stw)
Keys DW designate the "dwe" and "dve" sounds (IPA dw and dv) TODO: Skipping a vowel too? (divorce DVORS)
Keys -FPL designate the "sme" sound (IPA sm)
Keys *-S designate final sound "ste" (IPA st)
Keys *-BGS designate final sound "xte" (IPA kst)
Keys -FL designate sounds "val" (IPA val), "vail" (IPA vaj) and "vel" (IPA vɛl)
Keys -PLT designate the sound "ment" (IPA mɑ̃).
Keys -FPLT designate the sound "vement" (IPA vmɑ̃).
Keys -RK designate the sound "cre" (IPA kʁ)
Keys -FRKS designate the sound "cre" (IPA ~kʁ)
Keys -FRBG designate the "nqu" sound (IPA ~k)
Keys -FRBLG designate the "nqul" sound (IPA ~kl)
Keys -FRLG designate the "ngl" sound (IPA ~gl)
Keys -NG designate the "ngue" (IPA ~g) sound.
Keys -PBLG designate the "nge" (IPA ~j) sound.
Keys -PG designate the "gne" (IPA ɲ) sound.
Keys -FR designate the "fre" and "vre" (IPA fʁ and vʁ) sounds.
Keys -FRB designate the "fer", "vaire" and "erve" (IPA fɛʁ, vɛʁ and ɛʁv) sounds.
Keys -FRPB designate the "rche" sound (IPA ʁʃ)
Keys -FRPBLG designate the "nche" sound (IPA ~ʃ)
Keys SRAGS designate the "ciation" sound (IPA sjasjɔ̃)
Keys KWR- (Y) designate the sound "i" (IPA j) followed by a vowel in the body of a word.
Keys -LZ designate the sound "ille" (IPA ij)
Keys -RLZ designate the sound "reille" (IPA ʁɛj)
Keys -NL designate the "nl" and "nal" (IPA ~l and nal) sounds.
Keys -RBL designate the "rnl" sound (IPA ʁn*l)
Keys -PGS designate sound "ption" (IPA psjɔ̃)
Keys -LGTS designate "-t-elle", "-t-elles" and sound "tel" (IPA tɛl)
Key S- designates the "ps" sound (IPA ps)
Key N- also designates the "pn" sound (IPA pn)
Keys TH- designate the sounds "ten", "tén" (IPA tən, ten) TODO: Maybe tɛn or even t*n as well?
Keys VH- (WH-) designate the sounds "ven", "vén" (IPA vən, ven) TODO: Maybe vɛn or even v*n as well?
Keys KP- (X) designate sounds "exce" and "exci" (IPA ksɛ, kse, ksə, ksi)
Keys SK- designate words starting with sounds "ch" and "sh" (IPA ʃ, tʃ)
Chord A*EM designates the ending of words in "ième" (huitième AUT/A*EM, seizième SAIZ/A*EM)
The -R key is used in a separate chord to indicate an infinitive form of a first group verb (parler PARL/-R, suer SU/-R)
The -D key is used in a separate chord to indicate the final é of a "passé composé" (past tense) (parlé PARL/-D, sué SU/-D)
The R- chord designates the "re" prefix that will be attached to the following word: flux FLU, reflux R-/FLU
Keys AER designate the suffix "ier" (financier FINS/AER, voilier VOIL/AER, caissier K-S/AER)
Keys A*ER designate the suffix "ière" (financière FINS/A*ER, théière TE/A*ER, caissière K-S/A*ER)
The -S key in a separate chord designates the "ait" ending (past tense).
The -RS keys in a separate chord designate the "rait" ending (conditional).
The -G key in a separate chord designates the "ant" ending (orthographic, but IPA ɑ̃) (present participle) (courant KOUR/-G, riant RI/-G)
Keys -BLG designate the word "quel" (laquelle LABLG, de quel TK-BLG, lequel L-BLG, séquelle SEBLG)
Keys -RP designate the "peur" ending (trappeur, torpeur, rappeur)
Keys -RL designate the "leur" ending (voleur, malheur)
Keys EBS designate the sound "éner" (IPA enɛʁ)
The *LG chord designates the "-là" particle (cette table-là, celui-là)
Keys *EZ are used for verbs ending in "ez" (trouverez TROUF/R*EZ, parlerez PARL/R*EZ)
The A*IB chord designates suffix "aine".
The *EB chord designates the "ène" suffix.
The W*E chord designates the "ué" and "oué" suffixes.
The W*EL chord designates the "uel" suffix.
The *RT or RT and *RTS or RTS chords designate words ending in "teur" and "trice".
The O*IB chord designates the "oine" orthographic suffix.
Keys A*EN designate the "ien" suffix.
Keys A*EB designate the "ienne" suffix.
Keys KH- designate the "mne" sound (TODO: this is a weird one, basically anything with an M and N sound, with a vowel inbetween).
Keys AE designate words beginning with "a" (IPA a).
Vowel: Keys AEN designate the sound "ian" (IPA jɑ̃).
Keys -NS designate words ending in "ance" or "ence" (IPA ɑ̃s).
Keys -ND designate words ending in "ande" (IPA ɑ̃d)
Keys -KT designate words ending in "cte" (IPA kt)
Keys -TS designate the "tre" (IPA tʁ) sound.
Keys -NTS designate the "ntre" sound (IPA ~tʁ) (TODO: IPA?).
Keys -RTS designate the «rtre» sound (IPA ʁtʁ).
Keys -DZ designate the «dre» sound (IPA dʁ).
Keys -NDZ designate the «ndre» sound (IPA ~dʁ).
Keys -RDZ designate the «rdre» sound (IPA ʁdʁ).
Keys -BS designate the «bre» sound (IPA bʁ).
Keys -RBS designate the «rbre» sound (IPA ʁbʁ).
Keys -PS designate the «pre» sound (IPA pʁ).
Keys -RPS designate the «rpre» sound (IPA ʁpʁ).
The K* chord designates the "com" prefix.
The KM- chord designates the "comm" prefix.
Keys -FBG designate the "fic" and "fec" sounds (IPA fik and fɛk)
Keys -GS are used for words ending in "ssion", "tion", "cial", "tial", "ciel" and "tiel"
Keys -GS designate words ending in "cien" and -GZ words ending in "cienne".
Keys -BGS (X) designate words ending in "cation".
Keys -FT designate words ending in "vité" and "cité".
Keys -RD designate words ending in "deur".
Keys -RG designate words ending in "gueur".
Keys -RN designate words ending in "neur".
Keys AO*R designate words ending in "eur".
The keys *IFL designate the "if" suffix.
The keys *IF designate the "ive" suffix.
Keys -RGS designate words ending in "rtion" or "ration"
Keys -LGTS designate "-t-elle".
The *L chord designates suffix "elle".
Keys -RB designate words ending in "cis" and "-ci"
Keys -RB also designate words ending in "rbe"
Keys -RB also designate words ending in "rne"
Keys KOEN designate words starting with "con".
Keys KOENS designate words starting with "cons".
Keys STPH- designate words starting with "conn".
When a word starts with "co" followed by two "r" or two "l", omit the "o" and write KR- or KL-
Keys TRANS designate words beginning with "trans"
Keys ITD designate words ending in "ité"
Keys -LT designate words ending in "ilité"
Keys -BT designate words ending in "bité"
Keys -BLT designate words ending in "bilité"
Keys -RL designate words ending in "ral"
Keys -BL designate words ending in "bal" and "ble"
Keys -RBL designate words ending in "rbal" and "rible"
Keys -RT designate words ending in "rité"
Keys -GS within the body of a word designate the sound "gr" (IPA gʁ)
Keys -BS within the body of a word designate the sound "bre" (IPA bʁ)
Keys -FRS designate words ending in "voir"
Keys DAOEZ designate words starting with "dés" when they're not immediately followed by a vowel on the keyboard.
Keys -GT at the end of a word designate "th" TODO: As an orthographic ending I guess, to differentiate from -T ending words. "maintenant" MIT or "mythe" MIGT.
Keys LO*EG designate words ending in "logue".
Keys LO*IG designate words ending in "logie".
Keys LO*IS designate words ending in "logiste".
Keys LO*IK designate words ending in "logique".
Keys -LGS designate words ending in "lation".
Keys O*EX designate plurals in "aux".
Keys ST*E designate words ending in "sité"
Keys WH- designate words starting with "fin" and "fen".
Keys -LGTS designate "-t-elle", "-t-elles" and sound "tel" (IPA tɛl)
The -BGS (-X) chord designates words that start with "ex" followed by a consonant.
The AIBGS (AIX) chord designates the "ex-" prefix.
Keys STK- designate words beginning with "dé".
Keys EG designate words ending with "igé"
Keys *EG designate words ending with "iger"
Keys -LZ designate words ending in "lise"
Keys -BLZ designate words ending in "bilise"
Keys -RLZ designate words ending in "ralise"
Keys KPW- designate words beginning with a vowel followed by "mp" or "mb"
Keys -SZ designate words ending in "ce" (to distinguish homonyms)
Keys TPH- designates words starting with "in" followed by a vowel.
Keys STPH- designate words beginning with "ins" and "ens" followed by vowel.
Keys -FK designate words ending in "sque".
Keys -TS designate words ending in "ture"
Keys HO*N designate words ending in "gnon"
The star in a chord is used to distinguish verbs and nouns that are homophones. Starred chords are verbs. (TODO: Verify that. Is it always the case? The examples in this particular lesson aren't very telling.)
The star is used for capitalised nouns ("Rose" vs "rose", "Fleur" vs "fleur"...).
The number bar works exactly like Plover theory
The star is used to cancel the last chord in case of a mistake
The middle "i" can be omitted in several words (édifice DWIS, rapide RAPD, formidable FORM/DABL)
To speed things up, it is possible to do groupings while inverting -Z (sa), OZ (son), EZ (ses), ESZ (ces).
The AI keys in a separate chord are used to distinguish between first group verbs in the past tense and homophones (tirait TIR/S, tiret TIR/AI, filait FIL/-S, filet FIL/AI)
We don't write the "e" in the body of a word (relevé R-L/VE, degré D-G/R*E)
When "ré" is a suffix, we add a star
"s'est" is written *Z in groupings (elle s'est L*Z)
Key H designates the "n" in a negation (ne H-, n'est pas HEPS, ni HI, ne le H-L, n'est plus HEP)
The Y is used to represent the pronoun "il" (il a YA, il est Y-Z, il a les YALS, il a été YAET)
When a proper noun is ended with the letter "Y", write AO*E in a separate chord.
When a word ends in "ette", write *T in a separate chord.
When a consonant is doubled, it is possible to skip a stroke (TODO: What?)
To avoid moving hands to get to the numbers bar, numbers can all be written phonetically.
When "100" isn't multiplied, write SUN. Otherwise, write S-N for when you hear "cent" (IPA sɑ̃)(100).
When "mille" (1000) isn't multiplied, write PHRIL. When "mille" is multiplied and followed by three zeros, write WR-RB.
TODO: Fingerspelling and punctuation is different than it is in Plover theory, and explained in lesson 20 of the book. Maybe see if we can't use Plover theory for those?
The -FRBGS chord is used to remove spaces before and after a comma.
The -RPBGS chord is used to remove spaces before and after a period.
Key -G is used for the "en" preposition in groupings.
Keys KOEN designate the "con" prefix
Keys STK (SD) designate words beginning with "dés" and "déc" when followed with a vowel. TODO: This is maybe phonetic. It should be with "déc", "déc", "déç", "dec", "des", maybe "det" in some cases
Keys DAOE designate words starting with "dé" (see lesson 56) TODO: This might be phonetic as well. Inspect examples and lesson 56.
It is possible to eliminate an S when it's immediately followed by a consonant.
When two consonnants ending a word are in the reverse order relative to the keyboard, we either reverse the order of those letters, or we write the last consonant on the right hand.
The -FR chord in front of -BGS (X) becomes an "n".
The word "ça" can be written in two ways: SHA and -SZ TODO: Used in groupings like "c'est ça" S-SZ or "ça va" SHAFZ
The -D key/chord designates past participles. TODO: This might be a hard one, those take different forms.
The "s" in front of a "c" or a "p" can be omitted.
Key -G designates the word "en" (in groupings like "on en" OG, "t'en" T-G, "elle en" L-G)
Key * is used to distinguish endings in "ou" ("mate ou" MAT/OU, "matou" MAT/O*U, "cour ou" KOUR/OU, "courroux" KOUR/O*U)
Key * is used to distinguish nouns from names (or common nouns from proper nouns)
The *UT code is used in the interrogative form ("Parles-tu", "fais-tu", etc)
The -Z, when hit alone, means "est" ("il est")
The H- key can be used for "il" when there are groupings.
Keys KP (X) also designate "que ce". (Briefs)
Keys KWA designate "il y a"
Keys SWA designate "s'il a"
Keys SKWA designate "s'il y a"
Keys SKWHR designate "je le"
Keys STK (SD) designate the word "des".
- Keys
EFSindicate the "ez-vous" ending (second person plural, present tense, interrogative form). TODO: This might just be natural, as the simple combination of the soundEand-FSbeing "vous" - Keys
AEFSindicate the "iez-vous" ending (second person plural, past tense, interrogative form) TODO: This might just be natural, as the simple combination of the soundAEand-FSbeing "vous"
-
While
-Sin a separate chord indicates the "ait" ending for the past tense, third person singular, I didn't see a way to write "ais" (same tense, second person singular).-SZcould work, but barring any conflicts I think it would make more sense to use-Tfor "ait" and-Sfor "ais".-NScould also be use for "aient" (which has no phonetic difference). "ai" is another one, which could simply beAEU, since that's the stroke for that sound to begin with. Looking at the book, lesson 32, conjugations of "être" and "pouvoir", the theory seems to rely on grouping verbs with their pronouns to deduce verb endings: "j'étais"JETS, "il était"YETS. This would make the dictionary much bigger because it would require every verb to exist with the pronouns in the conjugated form. -
While
-Dis used to indicate a past participle, there's no way (in the book at least) to "match it" (don't know the actual word) with the subject. "allé" would beALD, but there's no way to write "allés" (plural), "allée" (fem.) or "allées" (fem. plural). Since theEkey isn't used for past principles, "allée" could beALED, "allés"ALSDand "allées"ALESD. It's all a bit backwards relative to the steno order but using those as rules could make sense.