Deseret alphabet

The Deseret alphabet (LDS.org: "Book of Mormon Pronunciation Guide" (retrieved 2012-02-25), IPA-ified from "dĕz-a-rĕt'") 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.

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. 

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.

History

 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. Other important creators were George D. Watt and William W. Phelps.Jules Remy, A Journey to Salt Lake City (London, 1861) 185.

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. 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.  left| thumb|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 25px25px  Long I     𐐁 𐐩 25px25px  Long E      𐐂 𐐪 25px25px  Long A     𐐃 𐐫 25px25px  Long Ah    𐐄 𐐬 25px25px  Long O     𐐅 𐐭 25px25px  Long Oo     𐐆 𐐮 25px25px  Short I    𐐇 𐐯 25px25px  Short E    𐐈 𐐰 25px25px  Short A    𐐉 𐐱 25px25px  Short Ah    𐐊 𐐲 25px25px  Short O    𐐋 𐐳 25px25px  Short Oo   𐐌 𐐴 25px25px  Ay         𐐍 𐐵 25px25px  Ow          𐐎 𐐶 25px25px  Wu         𐐏 𐐷 25px25px  Yee        𐐐 𐐸 25px25px  H          𐐑 𐐹 25px25px  Pee         𐐒 𐐺 25px25px  Bee        𐐓 𐐻 25px25px  Tee        𐐔 𐐼 25px25px  Dee        𐐕 𐐽 25px25px  Chee        𐐖 𐐾 25px25px  Jee        𐐗 𐐿 25px25px  Kay        𐐘 𐑀 25px25px  Gay        𐐙 𐑁 25px25px  Ef          𐐚 𐑂 25px25px  Vee        𐐛 𐑃 25px25px  Eth        𐐜 𐑄 25px25px  Thee       𐐝 𐑅 25px25px  Es          𐐞 𐑆 25px25px  Zee        𐐟 𐑇 25px25px  Esh        𐐠 𐑈 25px25px  Zhee       𐐡 𐑉 25px25px  Er          𐐢 𐑊 25px25px  El         𐐣 𐑋 25px25px  Em         𐐤 𐑌 25px25px  En        𐐥 𐑍 25px25px  Eng        𐐦 𐑎 25px25px  Oi*        𐐧 𐑏 25px25px  Ew*         *Not part of original alphabet

Related pages
International Phonetic Alphabet
Brigham Young

References

 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.
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Other websites

The Mormon Alphabet Experiment | "From the Stacks" at New-York Historical Society
 M. Scott Reynolds' Deseret alphabet portal
 Joshua Erickson's Deseret alphabet pages
 The Deseret Alphabet at Omniglot
 Deseret Alphabet Translator  Converts standard orthography to Deseret alphabet and vice versa
 Deseret to IPA converter Converts Deseret input to International Phonetic Alphabet

Category:Alphabets
Category:Mormonism