science

Melin Shorthand

Melin Shorthand is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Melin Shorthand rather than just read about it. In short: The Melin system of shorthand is the dominant shorthand system used in Sweden. It was created by Olof Melin (1849–1940), an officer in the Swedish Army.

Key takeaways

Melin Shorthand belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Melin Shorthand to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Melin Shorthand from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Melin system of shorthand is the dominant shorthand system used in Sweden. It was created by Olof Melin (1849–1940), an officer in the Swedish Army. He was a teacher of the Gabelsberger shorthand system in the Swedish army, but he was dissatisfied with it so he created an alternate system, that today is known as the Melin System.

Basic forms The basic forms of the Melin System are the consonants, vowels, and combinations. In addition there are a large number of ending forms as well as abbreviations. The basic forms are shown below:

Some of the vowels and consonants have the same shapes, but they are distinguishable from their context, as vowels are always written from the bottom up and consonants from the top down. Here follows a longer text from the 1917 edition of the Swedish encyclopedia Nordisk familjebok:

In clear text this corresponds to:

Korthet och snabbskrifvenhet äro onekligen viktiga egenskaper hos stenografien, men af fullt ut lika stor betydelse är tillförlitligheten och tydligheten, och där den saknas, har man intet egentligt gagn för det praktiska lifvet af kunskapen i stenografi. Det system, som visar sig bäst motsvara anspråken på tydlighet, skall därför i längden komma att stå som segrare i striden mellan de olika metoderna. In English translation:

Conciseness and the ability to write fast are no doubt important traits for the shorthand practitioner, but just as important are the reliability and the clarity, and where it is lacking, there is no gain in practical life for the knowledge of shorthand. The system, that is shown to best fulfill the requirements of clarity, will therefore in the long run stand out as a winner in the battle between the different methods.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Melin Shorthand

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Melin Shorthand claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Melin Shorthand before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Melin Shorthand ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Melin Shorthand

In research: Melin Shorthand appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Melin Shorthand in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Melin Shorthand is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Shorthand systems, Writing system stubs, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Melin Shorthand outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Melin Shorthand” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Melin Shorthand in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Melin Shorthand means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Melin Shorthand out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Melin Shorthand in simple terms?

The Melin system of shorthand is the dominant shorthand system used in Sweden. It was created by Olof Melin (1849–1940), an officer in the Swedish Army.

Why does Melin Shorthand matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Melin Shorthand?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Melin Shorthand.