History of the Czech and Slovak Shorthand

Jan Amos Komenský and his letter from London

From among the Czechs it has been Jan Amos Komenský who for the first time mentioned the existence of the so called steganography ( = secret writing) in England, namely in his letter written in Latin from London to his friends in Polish Lešno in 1641. Judging by "steganography", Komenský had in mind Bright´s secret writing, although at that time the Willis´ sound shorthand had prevailed in England already.

When more than one and a half centuries later - on 30 December 1813 - died on the consequences of his wounds in the battle at Leipzig in October of that year in the village Kouty at Poděbrady in Bohemia the co-founder of the French stenography Jean Félicité Coulon de Thévenot, in Bohemia and Moravia nothing has at that time been known about shorthand.

The Czech Stenography

For practical reasons Heger´s adaptation to Czech has proved inconvenient. That´s why - when after the constitutional reform in 1861 there were land Houses of Parliament established and among them also the Czech and Moravian Houses of Parliament, where the official languages were both Czech and German (while in the Empire House of Parliament it was only German), the practical need of a suitable adaptation of the Gabelsberger system to the Czech language arose. Tenders were invited concerning the best adaptation. A commission was established by the interested organizations with the famous physiologist Jan Evangelista Purkyně (1787-1869) at the head. The commission obtained five works. The work submitted by a priest František Gába (1829-1896) deserves to be mentioned particularly. The author proclaimed therein the principle that the Czech stenography must not be a mere adaptation of the German system, but that it had to be based on specific characters of the Slav languages, especially on those of the Czech language.

The commission did not express itself in favour of any particular of the submitted works. That´s why a seven-member commission was elected in 1862, presided over by Professor Edvard Novotný (1833-1876), the task of which was to elaborate the adaptation of the Gabelsberger system to the Czech language. The resulting work was published in a little booklet issued on 1863 New Year´s Day under the title "Těsnopis český" (The Czech Stenography). This way of stenographing has been subject to no more basic changes, has been further elaborated, introduced to schools and applied in practice. In 1921, "The Czech Stenography" was published in its fourteenth and the last edition.

Works on original Czech and other Slav shorthand systems

Gába´s idea that Czech stenography must be based on the spirit of the Czech language and for this reason it must also have its own alphabet, was further developed. Since the time Gába submitted his considerations, the evolution of the Czech stenography proceeded in such a way that on one side the system based on Gabelsberger was further perfectionned and on the other side a number of stenography theorists and practicians exerted efforts to create such a shorthand system which by its structure would correspond to the nature of the Czech and Slovak languages. This conception found its expression at the third Congress of the Czech Stenographers in Brno in 1888 where a resolution was adopted to the effect that efforts would have to be exerted to elaborate an entirely new shorthand system, a system corresponding to the character of Czech and the other Slav languages. As chief reporters on this subject spoke at the Congress Josef Dürich and Antonín Krondl.

Since that time an intense work continued, aimed at drafting original systems. At the fourth Congress of the Czech and at the same time the first Congress of the Slav Stenographers held in Prague in 1891, a nine-member Scientific Board on Stenography was elected the task of which was to examine the suggestions directed at modifications in the Gabelsberger system adaptations, to examine the newly proposed original systems and to submit reports thereon to the Congress of Stenographers for approval. Besides Czech representatives, the members of the Board were: on each representative of Poles, Croats and Bulgarians and a representative of Russians named J. Šercl - a Czech by his origin - who was active in Russia. This indicates the intention was not only to draft original systems by Czech authors, but also by authors of other Slav nations.

From the efforts on the unified all-Slav shorthand system to the efforts on the original Czechoslovak system

Gába´s conception was applied in his system work by a medical doctor Jan Bareš and it was to a substantial extent elaborated by Josef Dürich (1847-1927) in his work "Pokus o jednotný těsnopis všeslovanský" -  A Trial for a United All-Slav Shorthand System (1892-1895), second edition in 1907). The author´s conception was based on the then understanding of the Slav languages which considered all those languages to be dialects of one original Slav language. This approach lead to a Utopian effort to compile a unified all-Slav shorthand system, the effect of which would be such that a text written in shorthand e.g. in Czech would be read in Polish by a Pole, in Russian by a Russian and in Serbo-Croat by a Yugoslav. Such a system which would be satisfactory as far as speed-writing is concerned proved to be not realizable. The effort to create an original Czechoslovak system was crowned by succes only after the principle of pan-slavism yielded ground to the effort to create a Czechoslovak system first and then to procede from this system to the systems for the other Slav languages. This had been proclaimed long before the decision on the question of the original system especially by Antonín Krondl (1851-1937) and Dr A. Herout (1860-1943).

In 1901 the Scientific Board on Stenography approved of the drafts submitted by J. Dürich, A. Holas and by A. Krondl to be a suitable basis for the Board´s further work. In 1910 the Board adopted the same positive attitude towards the work by Mr. Mikulík (1869-1952) "Těsnopis slovanský" (The Slav Stenography). From among the other chief specialists in the field of the original systems the names should not be omitted of Professor Divoký, Mr. Hradilík, brothers A. and J. Lochmanns, Father Řepa, and Professor Dr Trnka who tried to apply in practice the results of the functional phonology, to the pioneers of which he belonged. The following other Slav nationals took part in the works on the original systems: M. Suchecki and J. Poliński (Polish), A. Zupan (Slovenian) and Č. Šercl (Russian). By the end of World War One Dr Herout - a long-time member of the Scientific Board on Stenography and finally its Chairman - started working on his own original system.

The birth of the official Czechoslovak shorthand system

In connection with the foundation of the Czechoslovak state and national independence, the efforts aimed at the creation of an original official shorthand system gained a substantial impetus. In 1919 the authors Dr A. Herout and S. Mikulík decided to work jointly and in 1920 the Scientific Board on Stenography reached a unanimous view that from among all the works that had been submitted the Herout-Mikulík system was the best. By a decree of the Ministry of Schools of 23 June 1921 this system has been declared the official system of the Czechoslovak stenography. Starting by the school year 1922-1923, this system replaced in the Czechoslovak schools the then existing adaptation of the Gabelsberger system.

Shorthand in Slovakia

The above mentioned ministerial decree was valid all over the State including Slovakia. This brings us to the question what preceded there the introduction of the Herout-Mikulík system, as Slovakia was, due to the dualistic form of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, within the framework of Hungary.

The first effort to adapt the Gabelsberger system to the Slovak language can be traced in 1868 when a Professor of the grammar-school in Banská Bystrica Emil Černý (1840-1914) published a six-page outline of it in "Letopis Matice slovenské". This system could not, however, be taught or practised, as at that time, after a  previous political relaxation, a wave of an accentuated Hungarian national oppression in Slovakia grew up. Several Slovak junior grammar-schools that had been opened with a great strain a short time ago were closed down or hungarized and Professor Černý had, because of his national feeling - being a Czech by his origin - to leave Slovakia and became professor of classic languages in Lublanka in Russia where he also dealt with Russian stenography. In 1912 he published a 600-page book in three parts entitled "Novaja naučnaja sistema russkoj stenografii" (The New Scientific System of Russian Stenography).

Later became prominent another important figure of the Slovak stenography, Vladimír Krivoš (1865-1942). In the field of shorthand he was also active outside Slovakia. Having completed his University studies, he settled definitely in czarist Russia and published there a textbook of the Russian adaptation of the Gabelsberger system "Samoučitel russkoj skoropisi-stenografija" (Petersburg 1893). When in 1906 a two-chamber State Assembly (duma) had been established, Krivoš became Head of the Stenography Office. As a practical stenographer he was also prominently active in the period of the Great October Socialist Revolution.

The possibility of a favourable development for the Slovak stenography came after 1918 in connection with the establishment of Slovak schools on grammar-school and University level. The first ones to initiate the interest in stenography and in practical knowledge thereof were at that time Czech pedagogues active in Slovakia (E. Krejcárek, K Kutílek, J. Nový and Vl. Jukl, the first Chairman of the Association of the Slovak Stenographers). The coming Slovak generation of stenographers began soon to co-operate with them.

A number of highly qualified Czech and Slovak stenographers had extremely broad conceptions in their minds, reaching often far beyond their own languages and nations, irrespectively of whether they favoured the adaptation of the Gabelsberger system or the creation of an original shorhand system.

The influence of the Czech adaptation of the Gabelsberger system on other Slav shorthand systems

Jozef Poliński bound his first adaptation of the Gabelsberger system to Polish, published in 1861, strictly to Gabelsberger´s original. But in the later editions after "The Czech Stenography" had been published, he took this as a guide and inspiration. Not less penetrating was the influence of the Czech adaptation of the Gabelsberger system on all the southern Slavs - Slovenians, Croats, Serbs and Bulgarians. Authors of the Slovenian works, A. Bezenšek (1854-1915), published in 1893) and F. Magdič, worked on the basis of the Czech system. The founder of the Croat stenography F. Magdič directed himself in his work published in Zagreb in 1871 by the guidelines of "The Czech Stenography" and he kept improving his work through a permanent contact with Czech stenographers. After the parliamentary reform in the little Serb kingdom, the Serb Government sent a young official Jovan Milovanović to Prague in 1872 in order to prepare there, on the basis of the Czech system, with the assistance of two Czech specialists, and in conformity with the third edition of "The Czech Stenography", the adaptation of Gabelsberger to Serb. When in 1879 the little Bulgarian monarchy had been established, a Slovenian, A. Bezenšek, was called to Sofia in order to elaborate the Bulgarian stenography. He carried out his task along the lines of  "The Czech Stenography". During his study tour in Prague in 1876, Bezenšek passed successfully the teacher´s examination of the Czech stenography and since 1880 he has been, together with his students, the precis-writer in the Bulgarian National Assembly. The positive influence of Emil Černý and Vl. Krivoš on the Russian stenography was mentioned already. It can be concluded that, at the initial stage, the Czech adaptation of the Gabelsberger system was influencing the shorthand development of all the Slav nations.

A similar situation existed as far as the idea of an all-Slav stenography was concerned.

Adaptations of the Herout-Mikulík system on other languages

The effort to expand the Herout-Mikulík system on other Slav nations found its expression in the fact that adaptations of it were prepared for all the other Slav languages of greater importance, namely Russian, Ukranian, Polish, Serbo-Croat and Bulgarian. But the congress of the Slav Stenographers in Prague in  1934 took a negative position to the pan-slavistic efforts and to the suggestions that the Herout-Mikulík system should serve as the basis for it. At the Congress the specialists in stenography of the Slav nations were invited to work on their own original systems and the principle was adopted that only on this basis a united all-Slav shorthand system would be worked out in the future.

Besides the adaptations to Slav languages, adaptations of the Herout-Mikulík system to German, English, French, Hungarian, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, Latin and Esperanto were worked out.

The State Shorthand Institute

By the introduction of the Herout-Mikulík system, an independent development begins of the Czechoslovak shorthand system. Until then, the fostering and the distension of stenography was taken care of by associations and by individuals. By the decree declaring the Herout-Mikulík system the official system of the Czechoslovak stenography, the Ministry of Schools intervened officially and with initiative into the shorthand development. In the future, stenography was to be the subject of public interest through the State. For the implementation of this task the Ministry of Schools established by the decree of 6 December 1921 the State Shorthand Institute and appointed a Board on Stenography associated with the Institute. The Board took over the existing function of the Scientific Board on Stenography. The new Institute was entrusted with all-State sphere of activity and was at the head of the stenographic life so that the associations started losing their former leading position. But when the "First Prague Association of the Czechoslovak Stenographers" got into the hands of new officials who represented the Herout-Mikulík system, the publishing and propagation activities started to have again a substantial extent in the early thirties.

During the Na occupation and World War Two the shorthand activities were gradually limited and finally entirely paralysed. Since 1945 the centre of all theoretical, methodical and practical shorthand activities has become the State Shorthand Institute. The associations renewed their activities, too. It was especially the "Fist Prague Association" that returned again to its publishing activities. In Bratislava began its activities the Slovak Shorthand Association. But in the early fifties the associations gradually ceased to exist due to a new legislative regulation on their activities. As the last one closed its activties the "First Prague Association" which was deleted in the associations´ register in 1959, in the year of the 100th anniversary of this foundation. In 1953 an independent State Shorhand Institute was established in Bratislava that has taken care of the development of stenography in Slovakia, so as has been doing the Prague Institute in the Czech lands. Both Institutes co-operated closely. There was also a permanent working contact among their internal professional staff on one side and a number of externists on the other side.

Both Institutes published specialized periodicals in support of shorthand instruction and of experimental activities in the fields of shorthand and typing. In Prague there were published "Těsnopisné rozhledy" - Shorthand Review (monthly except summer holidays), "Sekretářská praxe" - Secretarial Practice (five times a year), "Zprávy Státního ústavu těsnopisného" -  News from the State Shorthand Institute (five times a year) and in Bratislava "Slovenský stenograf" - The Slovak Stenographer (monthly except summer holidays).

Research on stenography and a system of strong abridgement

A creative spirit has been demonstrated in the research activities of the State Shorthand Institutes in the postwar period. Broadly based research works have been started after thorough preparations by the authors of strong abridgement, Karel Matoušek (1914-1969) and Miloš Matula (1919-2005). They carried out a statistical analysis of the frequency of words and of groups of words in papers taken from the chamber stenographic practice and then they used these and other results of their research activities as the foundation for the system of strong abridgement dealt with in the publication "K nejvyšším rychlostem v těsnopise" - To the Highest Speeds in the Stenography (1952). This system of abridgement led to a substantial increase of the speedwriting level of the Czechoslovak stenograpehrs - pracitcians.

The reform of the Herout-Mikulík system in 1960

The second stage of the frequency research works was concentrated on the statistical analysis of texts form the phere of the enterprise correspondence. The respective research workers, Dr J. Čáp and J. Petrásek, compiled the results of both frequency research works in one publication entitled "Frekvence slov ve stenografické praxi" - The Frequency of Words in the Stenographic Practice (1961). By these works a scientific basis was created for the most penetrating reform of the Herout-Mikulík system in 1960 (the previous revisions of a limited nature were in 1929 and 1954) aimed at simplifying the basic grade of the shorthand writing, the purpose of which was to make shorthand a valuable assistant in the work, in making notes and in the general office practice, with less energy devoted to its study.

Other research activities on Czech and Slovak shorthand

Besides the above mentioned specialists, research activities were taken up especially by Josef Horák (in connection with work on the method of shorthand instruction and in connection with the draft of his original system called Stenop) and Dr Jiří Kraus (especially in connection with the general theory of shorthand systems as seen through the mathematical linguistics). Research works directed at elaborating foreign language adaptations of the Herout-Mikulík system were performed by Dr L. Havelka, Mr. Kuča and J. Petrásek.

Within the framework of expert activities of the Czechoslovak stenographers after World War Two the following synthetic works were written and published: in the field of shorthand theory M. Matula´s "Teorie a praxe těsnopisu" (Theory and Practice of Stenography, 1958, 2 volumes, 439 pages). In the field of shorthand history the book "Dějiny těsnopisu" (The History of Stenography) by J. Petrásek (its first edition was in 1964) and in the field of the methodology of shorthand instruction J. Horák´s "Metodika vyučování těsnopisu" - The Methodology of Shorthand Instruction (1967). In the research activities in Slovakia a prominent position belongs to Dr. J. Mistrík, author of "Frekvencia slov v slovenčine" - The Frequency of Words in Slovak (1969).

In shorthand instruction the so called direct teaching method has been applied in Czechoslovakia since 1950 (initiated by A. Klančík). The chief principle of this method is to demonstrate to the students the stenographic pictures of words in such a "definite" version that they have in the abbreviated writing.

State examinations on shorthand

Within the framework of the State Shorthand Institutes in Prague and in Bratislava there were several State Commissions on Examinations that carried out the State examinations of the office stenography (examinations for stenographers and stenotypists from enterprises and administration), newsmen stenography and chamber stenography. Besides these practical examinations, there were also State examinations for shorthand instruction, one part of it being speedwriting examination (the speed is up to 80 words, that means about 200 syllables per minute), the other part examination of theory, methodology and history of stenography.

Competitions in shorthand

At competitions of practicians the Czech and Slovak stenographers have reached outstanding performances, especially M. Matula, who is the holder of the Czechoslovak record in the speed-limit up to 200 words per minute (average number of 515 syllables in the last three minutes of the dictation), K. Matoušek, L. Bojnanský, J. Kujal and K. Lorenz.

At competitions in stenotyping (since 1951) the participants stenographed the text dictated at a certain speed and reproduce it thereafter on the typewriter. The correctness of the reproduction, the accuracy of the typing and the speed of the reproduction were evaluated.

There have also been competitions on international scale in the framework of Intersteno and on some other occasions. Czech and Slovak stenographers, taking part therein, have reached top performances (expecially Mr. Matula, Bojnanský, Kujal, Lorenz).

The State Shorthand Institutes in Prague and in Bratislava have also been organizing shorthand service in the field of practical stenographic activities. High performing stenographers practicians were loosely associated in groups of practicians to both Institutes and these groups performed through their members the practical stenographic works (shorthand records of congresses, of important consultations and meetings, symposia etc.). These works had been carried out not only by the internal staff, but also with the assistance of a larger number of external staff.

Conclusion

These are in brief the circumstances explaining why Czechoslovak stenography has had a rich and a glorious tradition, and why in the general history of this branch Czechoslovakia has reached both in the theoretical and in the practical respect a truly high level.

Recently, in 2020, the State Shorthand Institute no more exists, it was closed on 31 December 2019. Shorthand is officially no more taught and it is very difficult to find a teacher. The only official shorthand institution in the Czech Republic is the Czech Shorthand Association, which was founded on 5 March 2001 in Prague and continued the activity of the "First Prague Association" founded by J. Fügner in 1859.