Deseret alphabet (original) (raw)

Sample from the Deseret Second Book, printed in 1868.

The Deseret alphabet is a phonetic alphabet invented in the 19th century by the board of regents of the University of Deseret (later the University of Utah), who were members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and promoted by Brigham Young.

The purpose of the alphabet was not necessarily to reform the spelling of the English language, but to create an alternate, more phonetic alphabet of English (designed to replace the traditional Romanic/Latin Alphabet) so immigrants would find it easier to learn to read and write English (which is often considered a non-phonetic language). Similar experiments were common during the time, and some of the more well known results include: Pitman Shorthand, Braille, American Sign Language and a Cherokee alphabet.

The alphabet went through at least three major revisions during the first few years of its existence and there were three books published in the new alphabet (The First Deseret Alphabet Reader, The Second Deseret Alphabet Reader, The Book of Mormon, and a First Nephi-Omni) as well various articles and New Testament passages published in the Deseret News on a press obtained by Orson Pratt, who estimated that the cost of printing a regular library of books would be in the range of more than a million dollars.

Although heavily publicized by the Deseret News, and promoted by President Brigham Young, the alphabet never became widely accepted, and fell into disuse about twenty five years after its birth. In 1877, shortly after the death of Brigham Young, his successor, John Taylor, ended Church funding, resources and publicity of the alphabet. Scholars believe that cost was one of the major reasons why the alphabet was not better accepted and more widely promoted by Latter-day Saint leaders. It is still considered one of the most successful alternate English phonetic alphabets in History.

Unicode standard 3.1 includes the Deseret alphabet in positions 10400 to 1044F. (Most combinations of operating systems, Web browsers, and installed font sets will not be able to display this table correctly.)

Capital Lowercase
Hex Decimal Glyph Name Hex Decimal Glyph Name
10400 66560 𐐀 Long I 10428 66600 𐐨 Long I
10401 66561 𐐁 Long E 10429 66601 𐐩 Long E
10402 66562 𐐂 Long A 1042A 66602 𐐪 Long A
10403 66563 𐐃 Long Ah 1042B 66603 𐐫 Long Ah
10404 66564 𐐄 Long O 1042C 66604 𐐬 Long O
10405 66565 𐐅 Long Oo 1042D 66605 𐐭 Long Oo
10406 66566 𐐆 Short I 1042E 66606 𐐮 Short I
10407 66567 𐐇 Short E 1042F 66607 𐐯 Short E
10408 66568 𐐈 Short A 10430 66608 𐐰 Short A
10409 66569 𐐉 Short Ah 10431 66609 𐐱 Short Ah
1040A 66570 𐐊 Short O 10432 66610 𐐲 Short O
1040B 66571 𐐋 Short Oo 10433 66611 𐐳 Short Oo
1040C 66572 𐐌 Ay 10434 66612 𐐴 Ay
1040D 66573 𐐍 Ow 10435 66613 𐐵 Ow
1040E 66574 𐐎 Wu 10436 66614 𐐶 Wu
1040F 66575 𐐏 Yee 10437 66615 𐐷 Yee
10410 66576 𐐐 H 10438 66616 𐐸 H
10411 66577 𐐑 Pee 10439 66617 𐐹 Pee
10412 66578 𐐒 Bee 1043A 66618 𐐺 Bee
10413 66579 𐐓 Tee 1043B 66619 𐐻 Tee
10414 66580 𐐔 Dee 1043C 66620 𐐼 Dee
10415 66581 𐐕 Chee 1043D 66621 𐐽 Chee
10416 66582 𐐖 Jee 1043E 66622 𐐾 Jee
10417 66583 𐐗 Kay 1043F 66623 𐐿 Kay
10418 66584 𐐘 Gay 10440 66624 𐑀 Gay
10419 66585 𐐙 Ef 10441 66625 𐑁 Ef
1041A 66586 𐐚 Vee 10442 66626 𐑂 Vee
1041B 66587 𐐛 Eth 10443 66627 𐑃 Eth
1041C 66588 𐐜 Thee 10444 66628 𐑄 Thee
1041D 66589 𐐝 Es 10445 66629 𐑅 Es
1041E 66590 𐐞 Zee 10446 66630 𐑆 Zee
1041F 66591 𐐟 Esh 10447 66631 𐑇 Esh
10420 66592 𐐠 Zhee 10448 66632 𐑈 Zhee
10421 66593 𐐡 Er 10449 66633 𐑉 Er
10422 66594 𐐢 El 1044A 66634 𐑊 El
10423 66595 𐐣 Em 1044B 66635 𐑋 Em
10424 66596 𐐤 En 1044C 66636 𐑌 En
10425 66597 𐐥 Eng 1044D 66637 𐑍 Eng
10426 66598 𐐦
10427 66599 𐐧