Duployan Letter S P

This mark records consonant sounds; its value depends on the system. In Pernin and Perrault shorthand, it writes “s p”; Sloan’s English adaptation assigns the same outline “kw.” Duployan is phonetic shorthand: it represents speech sounds instead of ordinary spelling.

Émile Duployé and his brother Aldoric first published a version closely based on the Aimé Paris method Émile had learned in seminary. Émile’s own distinct system aimed to make speech easier to record and shorthand easier to learn; he also promoted it as a way to widen access to reading and writing.

The system later took another role in interior British Columbia. Catholic missionary Jean-Marie-Raphaël Le Jeune adapted and expanded it for Chinook Jargon, a regional trade language, and several First Nations languages. Duployan served as an alternate primary script for local languages; the Catholic diocese’s Kamloops Wawa, a newsletter in Chinook Jargon aimed at Indigenous readers, is the richest surviving record of that use.

Why does 𛰴 change shape in a word?

Duployan letters connect in flowing strokes. A neighboring character can change how one stroke meets the next, so the isolated chart form may not match its outline inside a word. The font and the app or system displaying it can also change the result.