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Deseret alphabet

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Deseret alphabet
Script type
Alphabet
CreatorBoard of regents and church leaders led by Brigham Young
Time period
The later half of the 19th century
DirectionLeft-to-right Edit this on Wikidata
LanguagesMostly English, but intended for others too
ISO 15924
ISO 15924Dsrt (250), ​Deseret (Mormon)
Unicode
Unicode alias
Deseret
U+10400–U+1044F
 This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

Template:Contains Deseret text The Deseret alphabet (Deseret: 𐐔𐐯𐑅𐐨𐑉𐐯𐐻 or 𐐔𐐯𐑆𐐲𐑉𐐯𐐻) is a phonemic English spelling reform developed in the mid-19th century by the board of regents of the University of Deseret (later the University of Utah) under the direction of Brigham Young, second president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

In public statements, Young claimed the alphabet was intended to replace the traditional Latin alphabet with an alternative, more phonetically accurate alphabet for the English language. This would offer immigrants an opportunity to learn to read and write English, he said, the orthography of which is often less phonetically consistent than those of many other languages. Similar experiments were not uncommon during the period, and some of the better-known results include Pitman Shorthand and (much later) the Shavian alphabet.

Young also prescribed the learning of Deseret to the school system, stating "It will be the means of introducing uniformity in our orthography, and the years that are now required to learn to read and spell can be devoted to other studies" [1].

Development and use

The Deseret alphabet was developed primarily by a committee made up of the university's board of regents and church leaders Parley P. Pratt and Heber C. Kimball. The two main contributors to the alphabet's character development were Pratt and George D. Watt, a local expert on shorthand systems. In addition, a Frenchman visiting Utah at the time the alphabet was being developed reported that William W. Phelps "worked out the letters." (Jules Remy, A Journey to Salt Lake City [London, 1861].185.) Assistant Church Historian, Andrew Jenson, also reported that the alphabet was produced by a committee composed of Orson Pratt, Parley P. Pratt, Wilford Woodruff, George D. Watt, Robert L. Campbell, and others.

Sample from the Deseret Second Book, printed in 1868. The first four words (plus part of the fifth) read "One of the worst habit[s]" (The first four words are read in IPA as "/wən əv ði wɺst habɪts/")

The Deseret alphabet may have been inspired by Michael Hull Barton's phonetic "PerfectAalphabet" he published out of Boston and the Shaker community at Harvard, Massachusetts from 1830-1832. Originally a Quaker, Barton was baptized a Mormon in Portsmouth, New Hampshire about October 1831 (during his phonetic alphabet experiment), but within a few months then converted to Shakerism, although he continued to meet with early Mormon leaders until at least 1844[2]. The alphabet went through at least three major revisions during its first few years.

At least four books were published in the new alphabet: The First Deseret Alphabet Reader, The Second Deseret Alphabet Reader, The Book of Mormon, and a Book of Mormon excerpt called "First Nephi-Omni". Additionally published in the Deseret News were various articles and passages from the New Testament, which were printed on a press obtained by Orson Pratt.

Considerable non-printed material in the Deseret alphabet still exists, including one headstone in Cedar City, some coinage, letters, diaries, and meeting minutes. Pratt supervised the transcription of the complete Bible and the Doctrine and Covenants. One of the more curious items found in the Deseret alphabet is an English-Hopi dictionary.

Despite heavy promotion, the Deseret alphabet was never widely adopted. This reluctance was partly due to prohibitive costs; Pratt estimated that the cost of printing a regular library would be over one million dollars. Interest nonetheless continues among hobbyists who generally produce material for private consumption. With modern computer systems lowering the costs associated with typesetting, new material in the Deseret alphabet occasionally appears. The alphabet continues to be used, however, by a micronation[3] called the Republic of Molossia found near Dayton, Nevada.

Table of glyphs

File:1860 Utah $10 gold piece.jpeg
An 1860 $5 gold piece, with inscription "Holiness to the Lord" in the Deseret alphabet

Only the majuscule form of each glyph is given, as the only difference between the miniscule and majuscule forms is that one is slightly larger. The unicode values for each glyph can be found below.

Glyph Name IPA Glyph Name IPA Glyph Name IPA Glyph Name IPA
𐐀 Long I /i/ 𐐁 Long E /eɪ/ 𐐂 Long A /ɑ/ 𐐃 Long Ah /ɔ/
𐐄 Long O /oʊ/ 𐐅 Long Oo /u/ 𐐆 Short I /ɪ/ 𐐇 Short E /ɛ/
𐐈 Short A /æ/ 𐐉 Short Ah /ɒ/ 𐐊 Short O /ʌ/ 𐐋 Short Oo /ʊ/
𐐌 Ay /aɪ/ 𐐍 Ow /aʊ/ 𐐎 Wu /w/ 𐐏 Yee /j/
𐐐 H /h/ 𐐑 Pee /p/ 𐐒 Bee /b/ 𐐓 Tee /t/
𐐔 Dee /d/ 𐐕 Chee /t͡ʃ/ 𐐖 Jee /d͡ʒ/ 𐐗 Kay /k/
𐐘 Gay /g/ 𐐙 Ef /f/ 𐐚 Vee /v/ 𐐛 Eth /θ/
𐐜 Thee /ð/ 𐐝 Es /s/ 𐐞 Zee /z/ 𐐟 Esh /ʃ/
𐐠 Zhee /ʒ/ 𐐡 Er /ɹ/ 𐐢 El /l/ 𐐣 Em /m/
𐐤 En /n/ 𐐥 Eng /ŋ/ 𐐦 Oi /ɔɪ/ 𐐧 Ew /ɛu/

Unicode

The Deseret alphabet (U+10400–U+1044F) was added to the Unicode Standard in March, 2001 with the release of version 3.1. The letters Oi and Ew were added to the Unicode Standard in April, 2003 with the release of version 4.0.

Deseret[1]
Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF)
  0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F
U+1040x 𐐀 𐐁 𐐂 𐐃 𐐄 𐐅 𐐆 𐐇 𐐈 𐐉 𐐊 𐐋 𐐌 𐐍 𐐎 𐐏
U+1041x 𐐐 𐐑 𐐒 𐐓 𐐔 𐐕 𐐖 𐐗 𐐘 𐐙 𐐚 𐐛 𐐜 𐐝 𐐞 𐐟
U+1042x 𐐠 𐐡 𐐢 𐐣 𐐤 𐐥 𐐦 𐐧 𐐨 𐐩 𐐪 𐐫 𐐬 𐐭 𐐮 𐐯
U+1043x 𐐰 𐐱 𐐲 𐐳 𐐴 𐐵 𐐶 𐐷 𐐸 𐐹 𐐺 𐐻 𐐼 𐐽 𐐾 𐐿
U+1044x 𐑀 𐑁 𐑂 𐑃 𐑄 𐑅 𐑆 𐑇 𐑈 𐑉 𐑊 𐑋 𐑌 𐑍 𐑎 𐑏
Notes
1.^ As of Unicode version 16.0

See also

References

  1. ^ Young, Brigham (1868). Journal of Discourses. Vol. 12. delivered in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, UT. p. 289. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  2. ^ Barton, Michael H. "Something New, Comprising a New and Perfect Alphabet Containing Forty Distinct Characters". OCLC 4237065; online reprint available from the Internet Archive. {{cite web}}: External link in |postscript= (help)CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  3. ^ "Deseret Alphabet". Republic of Molossia. Retrieved 16 June 2011.
  • 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.
  • 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.
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