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| Tironian notes |
|
|---|---|
| Type |
shorthand
|
| Languages | Latin |
| Creator | Marcus Tullius Tiro |
| Created | 60s BC |
|
Time period
|
1st century BC – 16th century AD |
| Status | some Tironian symbols still in modern use |
| Et: U+204A; MUFI | |
Tironian notes (Latin: notae Tironianae; or Tironian shorthand) is a system of shorthand invented by Tiro (94 BC – 4 AD), Marcus Tullius Cicero's slave and personal secretary, and later his freedman. Tiro's system consisted of about 4,000 abstract symbols that were extended in classical times to 5,000 signs. During the medieval period, Tiro's notation system was taught in European monasteries and was extended to about 13,000 signs. The use of Tironian notes declined after 1100 but some use can still be seen in the 17th century.
Tironian notes can be themselves composites (ligatures) of simpler Tironian notes, the resulting compound still being far shorter than the word it replaces. This accounts in part for the large number of attested Tironian notes, and for the wide variation in estimates of the total number of Tironian notes. Further, the "same" sign can have other variant forms, leading to the same issue.
Nicknamed "the father of stenography" by historians,Tiro (94 BC – 4 AD) was a slave and later a freedman who served as Marcus Tullius Cicero's (106 – 43 BC) personal secretary. Like others in his position, Tiro was required to quickly and accurately transcribe dictations from Cicero, such as speeches, professional and personal correspondence, and business transactions, sometimes while walking through the Forum or during fast-paced and contentious government and legal proceedings.
The only systematized form of abbreviation in Latin at the time was used for legal notations (notae juris), but it was deliberately abstruse and only accessible to people with specialized knowledge. Otherwise shorthand was improvised for note-taking or writing personal communications and these notations would not have been understood outside of closed circles. Some abbreviations of Latin words and phrases were commonly recognized, such as those inscribed on monuments, but according to literature professor Anthony Di Renzo, "Up to this point, no true Latin shorthand existed".
Scholars believe that after learning about the intricacies of the Greek shorthand system, Cicero recognized the need for a comprehensive, standard Latin notation system and delegated the task of creating one to his slave, Tiro, whose highly refined and accurate method became the first standardized and widely adopted system of Latin shorthand. Tironian notes (notae Tironianae), also known as Tironian shorthand, consisted of abbreviations with Latin letters, abstract symbols contrived by Tiro, and symbols borrowed from Greek shorthand. Tiro's notes represented prepositions, truncated words, contractions, syllables, and inflections. According to Di Renzo, "Tiro then combined these mixed signs like notes in a score to record not just phrases, but, as Cicero marvels in a letter to Atticus, 'whole sentences'".
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