Abdülmecid, Sultan, 302
Abish, Walter: Alphabetical Africa, 403
abjad, 14
accents: cedilla, 43, 329; umlaut, 327–32; circumflex, 329–30; tilde, 329
acronyms, 96, 118, 188–90, 199, 302, 321, 392
Action on Smoking and Health, 189
‘adlaut’, 328–32
Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers, The (TV series), 118
African: peoples, 168, 224; languages, 205
Agüera y Arcas, Blaise, 84–5
Albany Centinel (periodical), 358
Alberti, Leon Battista, 55
Aldermaston, 299
Aldwych, 391
Alexander I, Tsar, 305
Alexandria (Minnesota), 338
Alexandria: great library, 396
Alfred, King, 10
Algonquian family, 169
Ali, Muhammad, 398
Allen, Woody, 398
alliteration, 36, 205, 213, 272–4, 278, 385
alpha: 2–3, 91, 113–14, 182, 396; ‘alpha-bravo’ lingo, 315
alphabet: square, 55; activities, 171; rhymes, 207; poems, 212; games, 403; elimination, 411
alphabetic principle, 32–6, 77, 212
Alphabetical Africa, 403–4
alphabetical order, 255–6, 352, 356, 362, 393–9, 405
alphabets: Americanist Phonetic, 303; Arabic, 89; Athenian, 376; consonantal, 14; Deseret, 247; digital, 171; English, 5, 18–19, 142, 168; evolution of, 12, 17; fictional, 168; Futhark, 339, 342; Futhorc, 342; Goblin, 168; Greek, 115; Hebrew, 15; Icelandic, 19; International Phonetic (IPA), 303; Initial Teaching (ITA), 247; Ionian, 18; Korean, 164; Latin, 20, 130, 192, 340, 346, 396; memory-jogging, 407; New English, 168; Old English, 19, 70, 76, 142; Phoenician, 2, 13–17, 113; phonetic, 111, 231–2, 247, 315; Pitman, 235; Roman, 18–20, 72, 137, 303, 340, 382; Romic, 247; Shavian, 247; Tolkien, 168; Viking, 19, 71, 338–9
America, United States of, 57, 65, 94, 114, 127, 162–3, 169, 171, 177, 180, 184, 199, 219, 246, 316, 319, 337, 357, 368, 389, 391–2
American: Civil War, 55, 351; Army, 88, 355; National Education Association, 245; Philological Society, 245; spelling, 245, 357; Spelling Reform Association, 245; English, 246, 355
Americanist Phonetic Alphabet, 303
Andyoqenya, 168
Angles, the, 19, 339, 342, 372
Anglo-Saxon language, 19, 67–9, 339–40, 391; see also Old English
Antony, Mark, 238
Apollinaire, Guillaume, 89, 279
Apple computers, 264
Arabic: language, 10, 14, 116, 253, 276, 295; manuscripts, 10; alphabet, 89
Archaea: city of, 91
Aristophanes, 140–2
Arrius, 132–3
art deco, 223
Arts and Crafts movement, 98, 143
Asia, 85
assonance, 36, 213, 272–4, 278
Athenian alphabet, 376
Auden, W. H., 184
Augustus, Emperor, 397
Aurebesh, 168
Austen, Jane, 357
Austin, Eric, 299
A–Z Guide to London, 399
AZERTY keyboard, 258; see also typewriter
Babington, Anthony, 48–50
Bacall, Lauren, 313
Bath Spa University: Pitman Archive, 234
BBC: Schools Radio, 262; Radio 4, 320, 360, 409; Home Service, 350; Television, 394
Beatles, the, 67
Belgae, 340
Belle Absente, 404–5
Belle Présente, 404
Beowulf (poem), 67–76
Berlin, 317
Bernstein, Leonard, 313
Bible: 27, 84–7, 144, 169, 292, 356; Gutenberg, 86; Wycliffe, 279–80; King James, 292
Bibliographisches Institut AG, 353
‘Big Brother’, 322
Bildwörterbuch (picture-words book), 353
bilingualism, 248
Blake, William, 67
Bletchley Park: codebreakers, 45–6
Blue Back Speller, 357
brachygraphy, 237
Bradford: Commonwealth Collection, 300
Bradley, Charles, 196
Braille, Louis, 303–6
Bridges, Margaret, 98–100
Bright, Timothie, 239; Characterie, 240
Bristol Gardens, 400
British English, 140, 177–8, 195, 388
Broadmoor Hospital, 351
Brockton, Massachusetts, 355
Brontë, Emily 329
Brooklyn, 331
Brooksville, 314
Buren, Martin Van, 224
Burma: language spoken in, 169
Bush, George W., 184
Byron, Lord, 357
cabal, 189
Caesar, Julius, 42, 53, 132, 181, 238, 397
Caine, Michael, 398
‘Calligrammes’, 89
Calliope, 197
Cameron, David, 320
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, 300
capital letters, 69, 83–7, 143, 146
Captain Midnight (radio show), 57–8
Carnegie, Andrew, 246
Carolingian minuscule (lettering), 2, 69, 87, 108, 160, 176, 204, 252, 268, 310, 364, 376, 388
Carpathia, SS, 314
Carroll, Lewis: 89, 141, 209, 408; Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, 89, 209
Catholics, 49, 124, 189; see also Roman: Catholicism
Catullus, Gaius Valerius, 131–3, 276
Cawdrey, Robert, 398
cedilla, 43, 329; see also accents
Celto-Germanic peoples, 339–40
Césaire, Aimé, 168
Champollion, Jean-François, 10–12, 116–17
Chappe, Claude, 297–8
Characterie, 240
Chardin, Teilhard de, 381
Charlemagne: 2, 68, 180–1; scribes of, 108, 136, 150, 160, 176, 192, 204, 252, 268, 284, 310, 346, 376
Charles II, King, 189
Charles VII, King, 86
Chartley Hall, 48
Chaucer, Geoffrey: 73–4, 87, 109, 116; Canterbury Tales, The, 74, 87
Cherokee nation, 167
chi, 114
Chicago Tribune, 246
Child, Lauren, 147
Chinese language, 12, 164, 205, 253, 276
‘chi-ro’ symbol, 91
Choctaw nation, 223
‘Choson’gul’, 164
Christian missionaries, 169
Christianity: 69, 74, 91, 168–70, 188, 340, 371; Irish form, 69
chromosomes, 367–71
Church, the, 74, 276, 299, 393
Churchill, Winston, 335
ciphers, 45–62, 183; see also codes
circumflex, 329–30; see also accents
Cirth of Daeron, 168
Clay, Cassius, 398
Clio, 197
code: secret, 47, 49–56, 183, 187, 303; see also cipher; Ecriture Nocturne; encryption
Code-O-Graph, 57
code-breaking, 45, 51–3, 172; see also Bletchley Park; Enigma machine
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor, 396
Collins, Benjamin, 26
Commonwealth: Cromwell’s, 352
Commonwealth Collection, Bradford, 300
communication: long-distance, 301
Communist East, 354
computer: laptop, 236, 264, 265
computer-programming languages, 171
consonants: sounds, 23, 43, 65, 96, 109, 162, 178, 193, 205, 229; silent, 112, 244; consistent, 151; Korean, 166; sympathetic, 204; non-percussive, 385
consonant-vowel formations, 81, 137
consonantal alphabet, 14
Constantine, Emperor, 91
Cook, Captain James, 168
Cooke, William, 301–2
Coulson, J., 349–51
Coupvray, 304
Cree language, 169
crossword puzzles: 45–6; Boy’s Own, 46; Daily Telegraph, 45; Sunday Observer, 46; cryptic, 47
Cruikshank, George, 145
Crusades, 223
Crystal, David, 243–4
cummings, e. e., 83, 87–8, 279
cuneiform script, 13
da Spira brothers, 290
Daguerre, Louis, 301
Daily Telegraph crossword puzzle, 45; see also Bletchley Park: codebreakers
Danish language, 294
Dartmoor, 381
Dato, Leonardo, 55
David Copperfield, 242
Davis, Miles, 279
Debord, Guy, 394
Delmas’s method, 405–6
Densmore, James, 256–8
Derby, Earl of, 209
Deseret alphabet, 247
Dewey system, 396
Dhi Fonètik Tîcerz’ Asóciécon (FTA), 302
diacritics, 233, 303, 329–30; see also accents,
Dickens, Charles: 242, 247, 261, 389; David Copperfield, 242
dictaphones, 236
dictionaries: Oxford, 142, 303, 350–2, 357; Samuel Johnson’s, 142, 352; Nursery Rhymes, 207; Walker’s, 233; national, 243; American, 349; Shorter Oxford, 349; Webster’s Collegiate, 349, 355–8; Oxford English (OED), 351–2, 358–60; Der Grosse Duden, 353; spelling, 354; online, 360; Urban, 360–2; Wiktionary, 360; monolingual, 398
digital alphabet, 171
Dionysius: Festival of, 140
disappeared letters, 19, 67, 70–2, 311, 339, 346
D’ni, 168
Dodgson, Charles Lutwidge see Carroll, Lewis
Donne, John, 205
Doolittle, Hilda, 184
Douglas County, Minnesota, 337
Dr Seuss, 39
Drake, Sir Francis, 240
‘Dream of the Rood’ (poem), 343
Duchamp, Marcel, 146, 154; Mona Lisa, 146, 154
Duden, Konrad, 353–4
Dudley Writing Cards, 98
Dyche, Thomas, 291
Dylan, Bob, 398
Eachard, John, 207
Early Versions (radio series), 67
East Germany, 353
EastEnders (TV show), 394
Ecole des Hautes Etudes, 303
Ecriture Nocturne (Night Writing), 303; see also cipher; code; encryption
Edinburgh Court of Session, 369
Egyptian hieroglyphs, 9–10, 22, 130, 160, 192, 204, 218, 252, 268
Egyptians: ancient, 11–13, 276
Eisenhower, Dwight D., 184
elisions, 319
Elizabeth I, Queen, 48–9, 240, 398
Ellis, A. J., 234
Emil and the Detectives, 8; film, 171
Enigma machine, 45, 58–9, 172; see also Bletchley Park: codebreakers
Eminem (Marshall Bruce Mather III), 184–5, 194
encryption, 47–52; see also cipher; code; Ecriture Nocturne
Encylopaedia Britannica, 292
English Civil War, 169, 240–2, 395
English Monosyllabary, 28
English: Old, 19, 67, 70–7, 81, 109, 137, 142, 245, 274–5, 278–9, 334, 339, 343, 346, 376, 384
English speakers, 23, 131, 162, 167, 178, 205, 214, 234, 325, 328, 329, 346, 399
English spelling: debate about, 243
English Spelling Reform Association, 245
Ephesus, 396
epsilon, 113
Erato, 197
‘Estuary’ speakers, 129
eta, 114
Etruscans, 3, 18, 23, 42, 80, 94, 108, 130, 161, 204, 252, 268, 284, 310, 324, 364, 388
Euripides, 275
Euterpe, 197
Exeter text, 406
eye-rhyme, 406
Facebook, 104, 147; see also social media websites
Fair of St Ovid, 304
Fanelli, Sara, 147
Festival of Dionysius, 140
fictional languages, 168
First World War, 88, 143, 222, 302, 315, 352
Flaten, Nils, 337
Follick, Dr Mont, 247
Fordyce, Bailie William, 369
Forster, Georg, 110
France: adopts AZERTY keyboard, 258
Frankfurt am Main, 58
Fraser script, 169
French language: 42–3, 74, 116, 181, 229, 268, 279, 330, 382; Norman French, 3, 7, 19, 23, 64, 73–4, 80, 137, 218, 268, 310, 340, 347, 388; Modern French, 42, 253, 268
Frusen Glädjé, 331–2
Futhark (Viking alphabet), 339, 342; see also runes
Futhorc (Germanic alphabet), 342; see also runes
G: ‘insular’ or ‘Irish’, 76–7
Gale, Leonard, 301
gamma, 113
Gardiner, Alan, 12
Garfield, Simon, 291
Gauss, Carl, 301
Gawain and the Green Knight, 88
German dictionary: Duden, 353–4
Germanic: peoples, 7, 339, 342; alphabet (Futhorc), 342
Germany: East, 353; division of, 354; history, 354
Gifford, Gilbert, 48–9
Giss, George see Guess, George
Glover, Sarah, 200–1
Goblin Alphabet, 168
Gondolinic Runes, 168
Götalander people, 338
Government Printing Office, 246
grammar, 35, 60–1, 68, 74, 248, 266, 295, 403
Great Vowel Shift, 3, 23, 42, 64, 80, 108, 151, 228, 311
Greek: language, 9, 22, 91, 118, 279; culture, 18; letters, 49, 91, 108, 117–19, 140, 167, 303; alphabet, 115; prefixes, 237, 245
Greeks, ancient, 2, 17–18, 22, 42, 64, 80, 89, 94, 111–16, 136, 160, 176, 192, 204, 218, 228, 237, 252, 275, 284, 310, 324, 376, 388
Green, Jonathon, 360–1
Grosse Duden, Der, 353
Guess, George, 167
Gutenberg, Johannes: 83–6, 105, 290–2; Bible, 86
Hadrian, Emperor, 239
Hale, William Gardner, 132
Hammer-Purgstall, Joseph von, 10
Handbook of Simplified Spelling, 246
handwriting: standard, 69
‘Hangul’, 164–6
Hardy, Thomas, 385
Harris, Robert, 237
Harrow Road, 400
Harvey, P. J., 184
Harvey Road Junior School, 353
hashtag, 293
Hastings, Battle of, 74
Haüy, Valentin, 304–5
Hawaiian language, 168
Heaney, Seamus, 279
Hebrew: ancient, 13–15, 410; vowels, 14–15; alphabet, 15; language, 22, 27, 182, 253, 279; names, 218
Hegley, John, 273
Henry VIII, King, 197
Herbert, George, 89
Hercules, 275
Hess, Rudolf, 291
hieroglyphs, 9–10, 22, 117, 130, 160, 192, 204, 218, 252, 268
Holland, 340
Holtom, Gerald, 299–300
Holy Roman Empire, 181
Home Service, 261, 409; see also BBC
Homer: 275–6, 396; The Iliad, 275; The Odyssey, 275–6
homoconsonantism, 406
homonyms, 46
Hooke, Robert, 297
Hopkins, Gerard Manley, 278–9; ‘The Windhover’, 279
Horace, 276
Howell, James, 245
Hughes, Ted, 279
Hugo, Victor, 285
Hungarian language, 294
Hussein, Saddam, 287
Huxley, Aldous, 114
ibn Wahshiyah: 10–12; Kitab Shawq al-Mustaham, 10
‘ibn Wahshiyah–Champollion’ principle of decoding, 12
Icelandic alphabet, 19
Iliad, The, 275; see also Homer
illuminated manuscripts, 83, 144, 182
indefinite article, 3
India: Lisu spoken in, 169
Indian: speakers, 65; pronunciation, 335
Initial Teaching Alphabet (ITA), 247
inscriptions: Roman, 160, 228, 252, 284, 324
Institute for Blind Youth, 304
‘insular G’ (‘Irish G’), 76–7
interculturalism, 225
International Air Transport Association, 316
International Convention for the Amendment of English Orthography, 245
International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), 168, 302
International Radiotelegraphic Convention, 317
internet, 47, 50–1, 56, 147, 170, 250, 300, 319–21, 399
Interspel, 247
Ionian: alphabet, 18; philosophers, 197–9
Ipswich, 240
Ireland: 69, 124, 233, 341; Northern, 124
Irish: speech, 23; ‘Irish G’, 76; language, 77; spelling, 96; names, 219; Old, 275; verse, 276; writing, 290, 329
Isis (student magazine), 262
Isle of Man: runic inscriptions found, 340–3
Ismay, Bruce, 314
isopangram, 404
Italy: Etruscan, 18; Roman, 137; northern, 343
Jackson, Charles Thomas, 301
Jae-Sang, Park (‘Psy’), 163
Jagger, Mick, 58
jargon, 321, 360; see also slang
Jeffers, Oliver, 147
Jefferson, Thomas, 241
Jenson, Nicolas, 86
Jesus Christ, 110, 114, 182, 188, 231–2, 371–2
Jews: treatment in Denmark, 331
Johns, Ted, 127
Johnson, Samuel, 142, 150, 247, 352
jokes, 32, 95, 140, 153, 157, 174, 183–4, 214, 294, 320–1, 335, 349, 358
Judaic texts, 189
Julius Caesar, 42–3, 53–6, 61, 132, 181, 238, 397
Kabbalah, 189
Kante, Solomana, 167–8
Kelly, Obadiah, 223
Kenosha Telegraph, 256
Kensington runestone, 338, 341, 344
Kiernan, Kevin, 68
King, Martin Luther, 343
King James Bible, 292
Klingon, 168
Knott, Lady Veronica, 400
Kodak, 234
Korea: 163–6, 294; language, 163–6, 294; alphabet, 164–5
Kpo the Leopard, 229
L’Association Phonétique Internationale (API), 302
Lafayette, Marquis de, 301
language: evolution of, 23, 384; fictional, 168
Language in the National Curriculum Project (LINC), 187
laptop computer, 236, 264, 265
Latin: language, 13–20, 27, 74, 77, 80, 85, 102, 108–9, 124, 130–2, 137, 144, 150, 180–2, 192, 200, 233, 238, 244–5, 252, 268, 279, 284, 295–6, 302, 334, 340, 346, 396; manuscripts, 252, 268, 284, 334; alphabet, 340, 396
Lawrence, D. H., 277
Lebanon, 13
Lee, Christopher, 372
Leeu, Gheraert, 86
Leipzig, 353–4
Lethe, River, 197
lettering: Carolingian minuscule, 2, 69–70, 77, 108, 150, 160, 176, 204, 252, 268, 310, 346, 364, 376; serif, 2, 22, 42, 64, 80, 103, 108, 136, 144, 160, 176, 192, 228, 264, 284, 310, 388; Gothic, 27, 71, 219, 279, 291–2, 328; non-Roman, 73; graffiti, 147; Roman ‘minuscule’, 290
letters: disappeared, 19, 67, 70–7, 186, 262, 311, 330, 339, 346; inverted, 303
Lewis, C. S., 184
lexicographers, 110, 161, 193, 334
Lilburne, John, 242
Lindgren, Harry, 247
Lisu language, 169
Londinium, 391
London: accent, 5; vowels, 5, 112, 325; cipher school in, 49; old schools in, 90; School Board for (SBL), 90; speakers, 129; Zoo, 208; A–Z Guide to, 399–401; street atlas, 400–1
Londoners, 95, 129, 233, 365, 395
Lords, House of, 185, 247, 392
Louis XVI, 304
Lower Saxony, 340
lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), 180
McCaffary, John, 256
Maeshowe, Orkneys, 344; see also Vikings
Maida Vale, 400
Mainz, 84–6
Manding languages, 167
Mann, Thomas, 291
manuscripts: Latin, 80, 132, 252, 268, 284, 334; illuminated, 83, 144, 182; ancient, 295
Mao Tse-tung, 186
Marvell, Andrew, 272–3
Marx, Karl, 186
Mary Queen of Scots, 48–50, 239
Masefield, John, 253
Mattus, Reuben, 330–2
Maxwell, Robert, 262
medieval: period, 18, 118, 132, 136, 177, 182, 237, 284, 334, 364; society, 75; scribes, 94, 218, 376; manuscripts, 228, 296; monks, 238, 295; Europe, 364
Mediterranean, 13
Melpomene, 197
Michael, Kirk, 343
Micklewhite, Maurice see Caine, Michael
micro-visual appliances, 321
mikron, 218
Milton, John, 247
Mind Your Own Business, 262
Mini A-Z of London, 401
Minor, William Chester, 351; see also Oxford English Dictionary
Mississippi Delta, 277
mnemonics, 15, 70, 190, 193, 197, 201, 211
Mnemosyne, 197
Mona Lisa (painting), 146, 154
monoalphabetic code, 53
Monroe, James, 301
Moon, Robert Aurand, 392
Morgan, Edwin, 90
Morristown: Speedwell Ironworks, 301
Morse, Samuel Finley Breese, 300
Mulcaster, Richard, 243–4
Munich, 58
Murray, John, 357
Muses, 197
Mussolini, Benito, 291
Myst computer game, 168
N’Ko language, 167
Nash, Ogden, 273
National Biscuit Company (Nabisco), 189
National Football League, 338
National Institute for the Blind (Paris), 304–5
National Phonographic Society, 235–6
Needham, Paul, 84–5
New English Alphabet, 168; see also Tolkien, J. R. R.
New York City, 314
New York University, 301
New Zealand: shifting vowels, 3, 81
Newton, Isaac, 241
Night Writing, 303–5
Nobel Peace Prize, 302
nonsense: 207–15; words, 36, 40; writers, 207–9
Norman French, 3, 7, 19, 23, 64, 73–4, 80, 137, 218, 268, 310, 340, 347, 388
Normans, the, 3, 42, 124, 136–7, 151, 161, 228, 253, 334, 340
Norse religion, 69
North America: settlers in, 169, 338, 341, 368; continent, 338, 341; see also Vinland
Northern Ireland, 124
Northmen, 338; see also Vikings
Nuffield Theatre, Southampton, 262
nursery rhymes, 31
Observer, 47
Odyssey, The, 275–6, 328; see also Homer
Óengus II, 372
Ohman, Olof, 337
OK: origins of, 223–4
Old English, 19, 67, 70–7, 81, 109, 137, 142, 245, 274–5, 278–9, 334, 339, 343, 346, 376, 384
Old Germanic, 285
Old Irish, 275
Olivetti typewriter, 261–2; see also typewriter
Olympic Games: 1912, 294
Olympic Park, 394
omicron, 113
Onions, C. T., 349
Opie, Iona and Peter, 207
‘Oulipo’ (‘Ouvroir de Littérature Potentielle’), 403–11
Ovid, 276
Owen, Wilfred, 67
Oxford dictionaries, 142, 207, 303, 357
Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes, 207
Oxford English Dictionary (OED), 351, 358–60
Oxford English Dictionary, Shorter, 349–51
Oxford-Duden, Pictorial English Dictionary, The, 353
Page, R. I., 344
palindromes, 409
pangram, 403–4
Paris, 88, 239, 297, 301, 304–5, 394
Parliament, 137, 240–2, 249, 395
Parthenon, 237
Passy, Paul, 302–3
Pearl Harbor, 314
Pearsall, Phyllis, 399–400
Pennsylvania Gazette, 368
Penny Post, 232–4
Pepys, Samuel, 241
Perec, Georges, 406
Peter Piper’s Practical Principles of Plain and Perfect Pronunciation, 385
Phi Beta Kappa Society, 114
phi, 114
Phoenician alphabet, 2, 13–17, 113, 130, 136, 160, 176, 204, 218, 228, 252, 268, 284, 310, 376, 388, 396
phonetic: principles, 9–13; alphabet, 111, 168, 231–2, 247, 303, 315; shorthand, 231–4, 242
phonics: 32–6, 40, 129, 196, 205, 229, 399; synthetic, 32, 36, 196; ‘Screening Check’, 40
Phonographic Festival, 235
phonographic shorthand, 236
Phonography (Pitman), 234–6
pictograms, 11, 64, 165–6, 382, 396
Picts, the, 372
Pinner Wood Primary School, 253
Pitman: Sir Isaac, 170, 232, 236; shorthand, 213–50; Phonography, 236
Pitman, Jacob, 231; Archive, 234–5; alphabet, 235
Pitman, James, 247; Initial Teaching Alphabet, 247
poetry: convention of starting each line with a capital, 87; e. e. cummings, 87–8, 279; ‘concrete’, 89–90, 279; Catullus, 132–3; epic, 197; Muses, 197; pulse, 273; rhyme, 273–6; rhythm, 273–8; Old English, 274, 343; troubadour, 276; jazz, 278; workshops, 305; alliterative, 385
Poland, 33
Pollard script, 169
Polyhymnia, 168
Polynesian dialects, Porta, Giovanni, 55
Portugal, 131
postal service, 392–4
postcodes, 391–5, 400; see also ZIP codes
post-modernism, 359
Powell, General Colin, 171
prefixes, 29, 197, 205, 229, 237, 241, 245, 365
Presley, Elvis, 277
Princeton University, 84
printing ‘punch matrix’ system, 84–5
‘Prisoner’s constraint’, 407
Protestant missionaries: American, 168–9
Protestants, 124, 168, 189, 239
Proust, Marcel, 382
proverbs, 405–9
psi, 114
‘Psy’ (Park Jae-Sang), 163
Ptolemy III, 91
puns, 46
‘punch matrix’ printing system, 84–5
Punic War, First, 297
Puritanism, 172, 183, 240–1, 343, 398
puzzle books, 408
psychogeography, 394
Qenyatic, 168
Queneau, Raymond, 403
Quikscript, 247
QWERTY keyboard, 255–66, 271, 293; see also typewriter
Ransome, Arthur, 298
Reading Made Easy (booklet), 30
reading skills, 38
Reed, Lou, 146–8
Reinhardt, Django, 65
Renner, Paul, 290–1
rhymes, 30–1, 36, 136, 151, 271–81, 326, 406; see also poetry
Rich, Jeremiah, 242
Richard, Cliff, 398
Richardson, Marion, 97–102
Ritter, Nate, 293
Roman: alphabet, 18–20, 72, 137, 340; Republic, 131; Italy, 137; inscriptions, 160, 228, 252, 284, 324; Empire, Holy, 181; Catholicism, 189
Romans, the, 3, 13–23, 42, 53, 72, 86, 94, 108, 118, 124, 133, 176, 252, 268, 310, 324, 339–40, 364, 376, 388
Rome: Imperial, 204, 228, 268; public library, 397
Romic alphabet, 247
Roosevelt, Franklin D., 184
Roosevelt, Theodore, 246–7
Rosen, Connie (author’s mother), 349, 353
Rosen, Harold (author’s father), 349
Rosen, Michael: Mind Your Own Business, 262
Rosetta Stone, 9–10, 12, 116–17
Ross, Nelson E., 314–15
Rowling, J. K., 184
Royal Academy of Arts, London, 300
Royal Air Force (RAF), 316
Royal Navy, 315
Royal Society, 297
runes: 19, 71, 77, 338–44; inscriptions, 340
Runestone Museum, 338
Runo-Dynamics: First Law of, 342
Russell, George William, 184
Russian language, 125, 129, 161, 205, 294, 354
Ruthwell Cross, 343
Sacy, Silvestre de, 10
St Andrew: cross of, 372
St Bartholomew’s Day massacre, 239
St Ovid, Fair of, 304
St Petersburg, 305
Salinger, J. D., 188
saltire, 372
Sandburg, Carl, 277
São Paolo, 329
Sarati, 168
Saxony, Lower, 340
Scandinavian: 74, 329–30, 337–42; alphabet, 329–30
Schleswig-Holstein, 339
Schoeffer, Peter, 84
Scotland, 233, 341–3, 347, 369, 372
Scots: Mary Queen of, 48, 50, 239, 261; language, 90, 178, 224
Scottish islands, 341
scripts: ancient, 12; fictional, 168
Second World War, 45, 143, 300, 317, 331, 354
Sejong, King, 164
Self, Will, 394
semaphore, 296–303
Semites: ancient, 12–13, 160, 204, 218, 284, 376
Semitic: language, 2, 130, 136, 176, 192, 268, 310; writing, 14; inscriptions, 176, 192, 268, 310; sounds, 218
Senghor, Léopold, 168
Seoul, 163
Se-quo-ya see Guess, George
serifs, 2, 22, 42, 64, 80, 103, 108, 136, 144, 160, 176, 192, 228, 264, 284, 310, 388
Serre, Charles Barbier de la, 303
Seville, 295
sex chromosomes, 370–1
Shakespeare, William: 5, 48, 183, 194, 219, 240, 243, 261, 276, 286, 292, 334, 361, 388–9; Twelfth Night, 183; Henry V, 219; The Tempest, 292; Hamlet, 352
Shavian alphabet, 246–7
Shaw, George Bernard, 141, 246
Shelton, Thomas, 240–1
Sholes, Charles Latham, 256–8
Shoreditch Church, 395
Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, The, 349–51
shorthand: 231–50; phonetic alphabets, 231–5; Pitman’s ‘New Church’, 231; textbook, 232; reformed spelling alphabet, 235; brachygraphy, 237; stenography, 237; used by ancient Greeks, 237; used by medieval monks, 238; used by Charles Dickens, 242; used in court proceedings, 242; Psalms published by Jeremiah Rich, 342
Sicily, 297
sign systems, 9, 78, 286–9, 303, 306
signalling systems, 296–8
signs and symbols: study of, 288
Simplified Spelling Board (SSB), 245–6
Simpson, N. F., 184
Sinai, 12
Sinclair, Iain, 394
Singh, Simon, 55
slang, 70, 85, 96, 173, 179–80, 316, 335, 352, 360–2, 383, 389
Slavic language, 303
Slavonia (Cunard liner), 317
Slovak language, 294
Smith, George, 13
Snorri (Viking ship), 338
Snowden, Edward, 47–52
social media websites: Facebook, 104, 147; Twitter, 104, 147, 293–4; forums, 146; blogs, 147; chatrooms, 293, 319
Socrates, 306
Soho, 391
Solem, 337
‘Song of Songs’ (biblical), 392
Song of the South (film), 392
Spain: Arab presence, 276
speech: evolution of, 75
Speedwell Ironworks, Morristown, 301
speedwriting, 237
spelling reform, 73, 81, 177, 236, 243–50
Spelling Reform 1 (SR1), 247
Spot the Ball competition, 369
Ssiquoya see Guess, George
Star Wars, 168
stenographic characters, 242
Stenographic Sound Hand (Pitman), 234
Stevenson, Robert Louis, 277, 369–70
Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT), 189
Stratford-upon-Avon, 240
Suetonius, 53
suffixes, 29, 219, 241, 285, 294, 377, 389
Sunday School, 209
Swift, Jonathan, 318
Sydney, 231–2
syllabiary, 77
symbols: used to represent syllables, 11, 77, 167; Phoenician, 17; visual, 32; as phonemes, 236; systems of, 288
sympathetic consonants, 204
synonyms, 46
syntax, 61
Ta Hwa Miao people, 169
Table Alphabeticall (monolingual dictionary), 398
teaching aids, 98
Tengwar of Feanor, 168
Tengwar of Rumil, 168
Tennyson, Alfred, Lord, 247
Terpsichore, 197
text: left-handed, 407; right-handed, 407
Thailand: Lisu spoken in, 169
Thalia, 197
Thermodynamics: First Law of, 342
Third Reich, 291
Thomas, David, 98
Thomas, Dylan, 279
thorn (disappeared letter), 8, 19, 71, 76, 95, 311, 339
Thorpe, Jim, 294
Tibeto-Burman language, 169
Tiro, Marcus Tullius, 237–9; see also Cicero
Tironian notes, 237–8
Titanic, RMS, 314
Tolkien, J. R. R., 168
Tolstoy, Leo, 335
Tommy Thumb’s Pretty Song Book, 31
Toxic Club (TV programme), 180
Trafalgar, Battle of, 298
Trajan’s Column, 2
Treasure Island, 369
trigraphs, 109
Tristram Shandy, 262
Trithemius, Johannes, 55
Trowbridge, 231–2
Tschichold, Jan, 291
Tudor England, 49
Tunis, 13
Twain, Mark, 188
Twitter, 104, 147, 293–4; see also social media websites
typefaces: 8, 22, 67, 102–3, 108, 146–8, 176, 262, 290–3, 296; psychology of, 102–3; Garamond, 108; medieval French, 108; Futura, 290
typewriters: QWERTY keyboard, 255–7, 261–6, 271, 293; keyboard layout, 257; AZERTY keyboard, 258; Olivetti, 261–2
umlaut, 327–8, 331; see also accents
Uncial handwriting, 69–70, 290
Unifon, 247
Union Jack, 372
upsilon, 113–14, 188, 324, 376
Uralic, 303
Urania, 197
Urban Dictionary, 360–2
US Congress, 246
Vail, Alfred, 301
Valmaric, 168
Varro, Marcus Terentius, 397–8
Venetian printers, 292
Vercelli, 343
vernacular speech, 144
Vesel, Rose, 331
Victoria, Queen 392
video conferencing, 170
Vienna, Siege of, 297
Vietnamese language, 330
Vigenère, Blaise de, 55
Viking alphabet, 19, 71, 338–9
Vikings, the 71–8, 337–42
Vindolanda, 239
Vinland, 338
Virgil, 276
vowels: Great Vowel Shift, 3, 23, 42, 64, 80, 108, 151, 228, 311; shifting, 3, 81, 324; London, 5, 112, 325; alphabets without, 14; Hebrew, 14; sounds, 15–17, 81, 95, 111–13, 130, 165, 177, 193, 241, 269, 274, 325; short, 65; English, 81; long, 82; separating, 327; see also dieresis
Voynich manuscript, 172–4
Wahshiyah, Ahmad Bakr ibn, 10–12
Walford, 394
Walker’s Critical Pronouncing Dictionary and Expositor of the English Language, 233
Walsingham, Sir Francis, 49–50, 239
Ward, Jamie, 382
Wayne, John, 398
Webb, Harry see Richard, Cliff
Webster, Noah, Jr, 247, 349–62, 388
Webster’s Collegiate (dictionary), 349, 355
Wells, Julia see Andrews, Julie
Welsh language, 73, 178, 330, 368
Wenceslas Square, 343
West African peoples, 224
West Side Story (musical), 313
Western languages, 238
Wheatstone, Charles, 301–2
Wikoff, Viola, 314
Wiktionary (online dictionary), 360
Williams, William Carlos, 277
Williamson, Peter, 368–9
Williamsport, Pennsylvania, 392
Willis, John, 241
Wilshaw, Francis, 298
Wilson, Colin, 88
Wilson, D. M., 342; First Rule of Runo-Dynamics, 342
Wisconsin Assembly, 256
Wonder, Stevie, 398
Woodford, 394
Woolworth, F. W. & Co. Ltd, 296
word ladder stories, 408
Word of Mouth (BBC radio programme), 320, 360, 384
Writing Scholar’s Companion, 244
Wycliffe Bible, 279–80
Wyld, Henry, 351
xi, 113
XX chromosome, 370–1
XY chromosome, 370–1
Y chromosome, 370
Yale University, 300
Yiddish: 161, 205, 276, 285, 331; comedy, 276
Young Communist League (YCL), 380
Younger Futhark, 342
Youth Hostels Association (YHA), 380–1
Yunnan province, 169
Zenodotus, 396–7
Zephaniah, Benjamin, 389
Zimmerman, Robert see Dylan, Bob