Sometimes it may be necessary to spell out a word letter by letter. This is known as Fingerspelling. Please note that this should only be used as a last resort as it will be a lot slower than normal steno writing. If you need to write a word that is not defined in the dictionary of your steno software, you should only have to fingerspell it once when you add it to the dictionary. After this time you can use proper steno strokes to write that word. All good steno software will have tools for defining a new entry in your dictionary and Plover is no exception.
As you may have noticed, the left hand side of the steno keyboard is the only side that has a key or chord for every letter of the alphabet. We use the left hand side for Fingerspelling.
In order to write a lower case letter, simply use the left hand side key or chord for the required letter in conjuction with the asterisk key.
For Example: To write a lower case "T" you would stroke "T*". To write a lower case "Q" you would stroke "KW*".
If you require the upper case version of the letter, simply follow the above method but add the "P" key from the right hand side.
For Example: To write "T" you would stroke "T*P". To write "Q" you would stroke "KW*P".
If you require the upper case version of the letter followed by a dot, follow the basic method but add the keys "F", "P", "L" and "T" from the right hand side.
For Example: To write "T." you would stroke "T*FPLT". To write "Q." you would stroke "KW*FPLT".
Finally, if you want to write a dash after the lower case version of the letter, use the left hand side key or chord for the required letter in conjuction with the keys "P", "L" and "T" from the right hand side.
For Example: To write "t-" you would stroke "T-PLT". To write "q-" you would stroke "KW-PLT".
Click Next to practice Fingerspelling