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This article contains Deseret alphabet characters. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Deseret letters.

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 "/wʌn ɒv ð(ə) wʌɹst hæbɪt(s)/")

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,^[3] 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^[4] called the Republic of Molossia found near Dayton, Nevada.

Table of glyphs

An 1860 $5 gold piece, with inscription "Holiness to the Lord" in the Deseret alphabet

The only difference between the minuscule 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 𐐨	Long I	/i/	𐐁 𐐩	Long E	/eɪ/	𐐂 𐐪	Long A	/ɑ/	𐐃 𐐫	Long Ah	/ɔ/
𐐄 𐐬	Long O	/oʊ/	𐐅 𐐭	Long Oo	/u/	𐐆 𐐮	Short I	/ɪ/	𐐇 𐐯	Short E	/ɛ/
𐐈 𐐰	Short A	/æ/	𐐉 𐐱	Short Ah	/ɒ/	𐐊 𐐲	Short O	/ʌ/	𐐋 𐐳	Short Oo	/ʊ/
𐐌 𐐴	Ay	/aɪ/	𐐍 𐐵	Ow	/aʊ/	𐐎 𐐶	Wu	/w/	𐐏 𐐷	Yee	/j/
𐐐 𐐸	H	/h/	𐐑 𐐹	Pee	/p/	𐐒 𐐺	Bee	/b/	𐐓 𐐻	Tee	/t/
𐐔 𐐼	Dee	/d/	𐐕 𐐽	Chee	/t͡ʃ/	𐐖 𐐾	Jee	/d͡ʒ/	𐐗 𐐿	Kay	/k/
𐐘 𐑀	Gay	/ɡ/	𐐙 𐑁	Ef	/f/	𐐚 𐑂	Vee	/v/	𐐛 𐑃	Eth	/θ/
𐐜 𐑄	Thee	/ð/	𐐝 𐑅	Es	/s/	𐐞 𐑆	Zee	/z/	𐐟 𐑇	Esh	/ʃ/
𐐠 𐑈	Zhee	/ʒ/	𐐡 𐑉	Er	/ɹ/	𐐢 𐑊	El	/l/	𐐣 𐑋	Em	/m/
𐐤 𐑌	En	/n/	𐐥 𐑍	Eng	/ŋ/	𐐦 𐑎	Oi	/ɔɪ/	𐐧 𐑏	Ew	/ju/

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.

See also

• Deseret
• English spelling reform
• Shavian alphabet

References

Notes

General references

External links