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(whether or not AE exceptions are easy to remember or to learn is irrelevant to this article. evaluation of the quality of the methods is irrelevant. is there a better way to make short not sound so much better than long?)
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For beginners, read the recommendations on how to [[Choosing a steno theory|choose a steno theory]].
For beginners, read the recommendations on how to [[Choosing a steno theory|choose a steno theory]].


== The rationale for multiple English steno theories ==
== Overview ==
A common question for those unfamiliar with stenography is, why are there multiple steno theories? And why do they all use the [[Ward Stone Ireland layout|same layout]]? Machine stenography has been around for over a hundred years, so it may seem strange that there is no "standardized" steno theory. The primary reason for this is that languages are complicated and all people interpret the language they speak in their own unique way. English, in particular, has great variance in spelling and pronunciation. Being one of the most spoken languages in the world, it is very unstandardised in its pronunciation and spelling rules, which vary depending on what regions of the world you are in.  Unlike languages like French, the English language has no governing body that defines rules. And for the spelling rules that are somewhat standard, such as for General American English or British English spelling, they still poorly reflect the pronunciation, largely due to the [[wikipedia:History_of_English|many phonological changes]] English has undergone through the centuries.  
{{See also|Choosing a steno theory}}
Steno theory is not "standardized" and there are many theories and variants because languages are complicated and all people interpret the language they speak in their own unique way.


Being a language with no standard rules, a poor orthography-phonology correspondence, and billions of speakers naturally invites multiple interpretations on how to represent it in shorthand.
English, in particular, has great variance in spelling and pronunciation worldwide. Unlike other languages such as French, the English language has no governing body that defines rules. And for the spelling rules that are somewhat standard, such as for General American English or British English spelling, they still poorly reflect the pronunciation, due to the [[wikipedia:History_of_English|many phonological changes]] English has undergone through the centuries.
 
These features of English (no standard rules, a poor orthography-phonology correspondence, and billions of speakers) have led to multiple interpretations on how to represent it in shorthand.


=== Homophones ===
=== Homophones ===
Homophones that have different written forms cause [[Glossary#Conflict|conflicts]] for phonetic stenographic theories. First of all, there are many exceptions and edge cases. Different theories take a different stance on how to resolve these exceptions. A method that works well for one person may not be effective for another person.
Homophones (words that sound the same and are spelled differently) cause [[Glossary#Conflict|conflicts]] for phonetic stenographic theories. Different theories take different stances on how to resolve these conflicts.


Constructing outlines for homophones (words that sound the same but are spelled different) is a common difference between steno theories. In Lapwing theory and Plover theory, a word's outline can differ depending on if a homophone exists. For example, the "ee" sound as in "seem" can be either <code>AOE</code> or <code>AE</code>. The word "cream" has no homophones, so it is given <code>AOE</code>. However, the word "team" has a homophone, and thus it is given <code>AE</code>. This isn't ideal because it relies on having to stop and think if a word has any homophones. However, for people who have no problem memorizing these exceptions, this is a perfectly good method.
For example, many theories use the phonetic outline to represent the more common of two homophones, and the phonetic outline with an asterisk <code>*</code> to represent the less common homophone. For example, "team" may be represented by the outline <code>TAOEPL</code> while "teem" is represented by the outline <code>TAO*EPL</code>. With more than two homophones, the disambiguation gets more complicated.


Some theories deal with homophones entirely [[Glossary#Orthography|orthographically]]. So the words "tear" and "hear" would be written with the same vowel chord, despite being pronounced differently. This is very consistent spelling-wise, but some people may prefer not having to think about spelling—especially when transcribing spoken word.
Many theories also use [[Glossary#Orthography|orthographic]] (spelling-based) outlines to resolve a conflict. For example, "teem" may be represented by the outline <code>TAOEPL</code> while "team" is represented by the outline <code>TAEPL</code> (because team contains A and E).


Steno theories can also handle homophones by just adding an [[Phoenix theory#Disambiguation Stroke|extra stroke]] at the end. If "teem" is given the TAOEPL outline, then "team" would be written as <code>TAOEPL/R-R</code>. This method can be nice because it requires no extra cognitive load; if the wrong homophone was outputted, it can be corrected easily just by pressing another stroke. However, this method relies on having quick finger speed to make up for the extra stroke.
Some theories handle homophones by adding an [[Phoenix theory#Disambiguation Stroke|extra stroke]] at the end. For example, "team" may be represented by the outline <code>TAOEPL</code> while "teem" is represented by the outline <code>TAOEPL/R-R</code>.


=== Shorter versus longer theories ===
=== Shorter versus longer theories ===
Steno theories exist on a vague continuum between short and long. By definition, short steno theories require fewer strokes for any given text — words are abbreviated and compressed to a great extent. On the other hand, long steno theories require more strokes for any given text because the steno outlines closely resemble the output words —  long multisyllable words will require as many strokes as there are syllables. The length of a steno theory is often measured by strokes per word.
Steno theories tend to be classified on a vague continuum between short and long.  


* Short steno theories require more cognitive load since there is more mental effort needed to create abbreviated steno outlines.  
The word "short" is used to describe steno theories that have a low number of strokes per word. That is, use of briefs to reduce the number of strokes needed to write multisyllabic words and multi-word phrases is a central feature. Short steno theories tend to require more cognitive load since there is more mental effort needed to create and memorize abbreviated steno outlines, which pays off in speed compared to longer theories.


* Long theories require less mental processing going from words to outlines, but require fast stroke speeds of around 6 strokes per second.  
The word "long" is used to describe steno theories that have a higher number of strokes per word. The steno outlines closely resemble the output words, and long multisyllable words typically require as many strokes as there are syllables. Long theories tend to require less mental processing going from words to outlines, but to reach high speeds time must be spent shortening the theory, adding briefs, and possibly a faster stroke speed.


Different individuals may be better with one or the other, or somewhere between. Choosing a theory that is just right can pay off in the learning and speed building process. Both types of theories are used in practice to reach professional certified speeds, so it is entirely the preference of the user.
Different individuals may be better with one or the other, or somewhere between. Both types of theories are used in practice to reach professional certified speeds, so it is entirely the preference of the user.


=== Varieties of English accents and dialects ===
=== Varieties of English accents and dialects ===
English dialects and accents can affect how words are spelled and pronounced. It is difficult to create an effective steno theory that works for all speakers and writers. For phonetic theories, it is much more practical to have multiple steno theories that tailor to specific variants of English. That being said, pretty much all steno theories (at time of this writing) are based on North American English.
{{See also|English steno with a non-American accent}}
English dialects and accents can affect how words are spelled and pronounced. It is difficult to create an effective steno theory that works for all speakers and writers.
 
However, as of 2026, the complete theories known to the Plover community are all based on a North American English accent.


== Open steno theories ==
== Open steno theories ==
As part of the Open Steno Project's initiative to make steno available to learn for all, there are a few steno theories that have been made freely available to use. They are fully supported by the Plover app, but have different learning resources that can be found online.
As part of [[Open Steno]]'s initiative to make steno available to learn for all, there are a few steno theories that have been made freely available to use.


=== Plover theory ===
=== Plover theory ===
''See also: [[Plover theory]]''
{{See also|Plover theory}}
 
[[Mirabai Knight]], a professional captioner, developed her own personal theory over time and shared it for free. Two textbooks explaining the theory have been developed, and the [[dictionary]] was openly shared (most professional stenographers do not openly share their dictionary). Most notably, the dictionary is distributed by default with every installation of the [[Plover software|Plover app]].


The Plover app comes with a default dictionary, <nowiki><code>main.json</code></nowiki> that we claim you can learn by learning Plover theory. It originated as Mirabai Knight’s own personal dictionary that she uses for stenocaptioning. The dictionary is very brief-heavy, and outlines are often short. Plover theory has its origins in [[NYCI Steno theory]], where Mirabai learned from, which itself is derived from [[StenEd theory]]. The documentation for Plover theory arose partly as ''an analysis of the dictionary'' donated by Mirabai, and can be understood as an understanding of how Mirabai approaches stenography. The closer your conception of stenography is to Mirabai's, the better you will be at using Plover theory.
The first textbook, [https://www.openstenoproject.org/learn-plover/ Learn Plover!], was developed as an analysis of the dictionary, reverse engineering theory rules from synthesizing dictionary entries.


As the dictionary of a professional stenocaptioner, it contains outlines for a broad range of subject matter and can be regarded as being much more complete than many other stenographic theories, which often only contain general vocabulary and justice system terminology. Using Plover theory will allow you to approach practically any word you see out there.
The second textbook, [https://www.artofchording.com/ The Art of Chording], was written in exchange for lessons from Knight.


However, as a personal dictionary that has been used and built for many years, there are many inconsistencies on application of rules, mistaken definitions, and personalised misstrokes that come with the dictionary. Many of the rules outlined in the documentation for Plover theory are understood to guide you to the correct definition ''most'' of the time. The rules are not complete enough to judge whether or not any strange definitions are correct — this judgement is left to the intuition of the user. These shortfalls often lead to frustration in the learning process. Much of this frustration could be alleviated if people in the community went through the effort of creating a new dictionary based on Plover theory that eliminated inconsistent definitions and mistakes. However, most attempts at doing this result in the creators adding additional rules and spawning new theories, such as ''Lapwing theory''.
In theory, compared to the implementation of theory by a court reporter focused on the legal setting, Plover's dictionary is a more broad implementation of theory covering terms for a range of subject matter seen in captioning.


For details on how to set up and learn Plover theory, see [https://www.artofchording.com/ Art of Chording]. You can also reference [https://www.openstenoproject.org/learn-plover/home.html Learn Plover], but that resource is outdated.
Both textbooks are generally considered incomplete explanations of Plover theory and the lack of resources has led to frustration in the learning process for some. Others enjoy filling in the gaps or designing their own solutions for undocumented rules.


=== Lapwing theory ===
=== Lapwing theory ===
''See also: [[Lapwing theory]]''
''See also: [[Lapwing theory]]''


Lapwing theory was created by a community member who wanted to address the shortcomings of Plover theory. It shares many principles with Plover theory, but incorporates new rules—particularly when it comes to writing complicated words. Many regard it as easier to learn than Plover theory due to its improved consistency.
Lapwing theory was created by a community member who wanted to address what he perceived as the shortcomings of Plover theory. It shares many principles with Plover theory, but incorporates new rules—particularly when it comes to writing complicated words.


We recommend starting with Lapwing theory because it is more beginner friendly. For details on how to set up and learn Lapwing theory, see the [https://github.com/aerickt/lapwing-for-beginners/wiki Lapwing for Beginners Wiki].
Lapwing was created with the idea that the dictionary should be a more consistent implementation of the theory rules and should not contain misstrokes or outlines that did not follow theory. Lapwing also codifies more rules compared to Plover theory and has a complete textbook.


== Proprietary steno theories ==
== Proprietary steno theories ==
Below is an overview of a few of the most common proprietary steno theories.


=== Platinum theory ===
=== Platinum theory ===

Revision as of 07:22, 20 March 2026

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This page needs clean-up. The information may be complete, but help revise the page by removing first-person speech, breaking up large blocks of text, adding inter-wiki links, and making information more concise and easy-to-read.



A steno theory is the set of rules a stenographer learns that allows them to convert words to stenographic outlines. Stenographic outlines are a shorthand form for English words that is quicker to input, using a stenographic keyboard. Most theories include a corresponding dictionary that contains a lot of outlines and their translations that work according to the set of rules, as well as teaching materials such as a textbook.

There are several English steno theories in existence, which have evolved over time as technology evolves. Additionally, while most people start with one theory, each person makes individual customizations to that theory and may eventually incorporate elements of other theories as well. That is to say, there is no singular way to write English using stenography, and most stenographers use similar but mutually unintelligible theories.

Community member Sammi Ta created a visualization of the evolution of English steno theories.

Many of the traditional stenographic theories in existence are proprietary; that is to say, they are protected by some combination of copyright, trademark, or other intellectual property protections, and are not freely available. Some theories and their textboooks and dictionaries are available for purchase online from their owners, and some are available to learn through stenography schools which license the theories from their owners.

There are a few stenographic theories which are available for free; that is, their creators have shared learning resources and dictionaries openly at no cost to the community. The majority of the Plover community chooses to learn one of these free theories. Currently, the main theories available for free are Plover theory, Lapwing theory, and Platinum theory.

For beginners, read the recommendations on how to choose a steno theory.

Overview

See also: Choosing a steno theory

Steno theory is not "standardized" and there are many theories and variants because languages are complicated and all people interpret the language they speak in their own unique way.

English, in particular, has great variance in spelling and pronunciation worldwide. Unlike other languages such as French, the English language has no governing body that defines rules. And for the spelling rules that are somewhat standard, such as for General American English or British English spelling, they still poorly reflect the pronunciation, due to the many phonological changes English has undergone through the centuries.

These features of English (no standard rules, a poor orthography-phonology correspondence, and billions of speakers) have led to multiple interpretations on how to represent it in shorthand.

Homophones

Homophones (words that sound the same and are spelled differently) cause conflicts for phonetic stenographic theories. Different theories take different stances on how to resolve these conflicts.

For example, many theories use the phonetic outline to represent the more common of two homophones, and the phonetic outline with an asterisk * to represent the less common homophone. For example, "team" may be represented by the outline TAOEPL while "teem" is represented by the outline TAO*EPL. With more than two homophones, the disambiguation gets more complicated.

Many theories also use orthographic (spelling-based) outlines to resolve a conflict. For example, "teem" may be represented by the outline TAOEPL while "team" is represented by the outline TAEPL (because team contains A and E).

Some theories handle homophones by adding an extra stroke at the end. For example, "team" may be represented by the outline TAOEPL while "teem" is represented by the outline TAOEPL/R-R.

Shorter versus longer theories

Steno theories tend to be classified on a vague continuum between short and long.

The word "short" is used to describe steno theories that have a low number of strokes per word. That is, use of briefs to reduce the number of strokes needed to write multisyllabic words and multi-word phrases is a central feature. Short steno theories tend to require more cognitive load since there is more mental effort needed to create and memorize abbreviated steno outlines, which pays off in speed compared to longer theories.

The word "long" is used to describe steno theories that have a higher number of strokes per word. The steno outlines closely resemble the output words, and long multisyllable words typically require as many strokes as there are syllables. Long theories tend to require less mental processing going from words to outlines, but to reach high speeds time must be spent shortening the theory, adding briefs, and possibly a faster stroke speed.

Different individuals may be better with one or the other, or somewhere between. Both types of theories are used in practice to reach professional certified speeds, so it is entirely the preference of the user.

Varieties of English accents and dialects

See also: English steno with a non-American accent

English dialects and accents can affect how words are spelled and pronounced. It is difficult to create an effective steno theory that works for all speakers and writers.

However, as of 2026, the complete theories known to the Plover community are all based on a North American English accent.

Open steno theories

As part of Open Steno's initiative to make steno available to learn for all, there are a few steno theories that have been made freely available to use.

Plover theory

See also: Plover theory

Mirabai Knight, a professional captioner, developed her own personal theory over time and shared it for free. Two textbooks explaining the theory have been developed, and the dictionary was openly shared (most professional stenographers do not openly share their dictionary). Most notably, the dictionary is distributed by default with every installation of the Plover app.

The first textbook, Learn Plover!, was developed as an analysis of the dictionary, reverse engineering theory rules from synthesizing dictionary entries.

The second textbook, The Art of Chording, was written in exchange for lessons from Knight.

In theory, compared to the implementation of theory by a court reporter focused on the legal setting, Plover's dictionary is a more broad implementation of theory covering terms for a range of subject matter seen in captioning.

Both textbooks are generally considered incomplete explanations of Plover theory and the lack of resources has led to frustration in the learning process for some. Others enjoy filling in the gaps or designing their own solutions for undocumented rules.

Lapwing theory

See also: Lapwing theory

Lapwing theory was created by a community member who wanted to address what he perceived as the shortcomings of Plover theory. It shares many principles with Plover theory, but incorporates new rules—particularly when it comes to writing complicated words.

Lapwing was created with the idea that the dictionary should be a more consistent implementation of the theory rules and should not contain misstrokes or outlines that did not follow theory. Lapwing also codifies more rules compared to Plover theory and has a complete textbook.

Proprietary steno theories

Below is an overview of a few of the most common proprietary steno theories.

Platinum theory

See also: Platinum theory

A free but proprietary theory for court reporting students available for download on the Platinum steno website taught through YouTube videos.

Phoenix theory

See also: Phoenix theory

A theory known for patenting the Vowel Omission Principle that reduced conflicts while still allowing the theory to remain highly phonetic.

Magnum theory

See also: Magnum theory

A brief-heavy steno theory used by Mark Kislingbury, the current record holder for stenography transcription at 370 wpm at 95.4% accuracy.

StenEd theory

See also: StenEd theory

Possibly the most popular stenographic theory in the industry.

Realwrite/Realtime theory

See also: Realwrite/Realtime theory

Unique among steno theories for using chords not directly based on the original Ward Stone Ireland. The theory makes use of chords that represent more orthography. The theory was built with realtime writing in mind, unlike other theories which existed before computer transcription and were adapted.

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