Duployan Affix Low Line

It marks a recurring word part in a Duployan shorthand system.

Duployan is a shorthand—a system of fast writing based on signs—created by French priest Émile Duployé and published in 1860. Its marks shorten recurring parts of words, such as prefixes at the start and suffixes at the end. The low affix in Duployan has different values across adaptations: French Duployan uses -isme, while Pernin’s English shorthand uses mis-.

LeJeune adapted Duployan for Chinook languages of interior British Columbia. The Chinook-language newsletter Kamloops Wawa ran from 1891–1923. In the Chinook adaptation, affix signs are not used, so the French and Pernin readings do not carry over.

Why does the Duployan affix low line look different in text?

Its low mark sits beside the base and below its neighboring letter.

Low affixes are spacing marks: unlike connected letters, they sit next to the written base but below the adjacent letter instead of joining it. Neighboring characters and ligatures (letters drawn as one shape) affect their placement; the font and app also affect how the mark is drawn, so the code chart shows one sample, not a fixed design.

A Basic Duployan keyboard layout puts common characters on reachable keys; a layout matched to a particular orthography may fit that version better. In Sloan shorthand, another Duployan adaptation, a zero-width joiner (ZWJ)—an invisible character that requests a joined shape—can connect successive high and low affix marks. Use that join only where the spelling calls for it.