Glossary
brief
An abbreviated outline used for greater speed that does not follow basic theory.
chord
A group of keys pressed all at once.
conflict
A situation where two translations would normally be mapped to the same steno outline.
dictionary
A file used by a steno engine to translate from outlines to the output translation.
diphthong
Two distinct vowel sounds that blend together.
entry
A section in a dictionary that defines the translation of a steno outline.
fingerspelling
A technique to output words letter-by-letter.
folding
Including keys in a previous stroke (with disregard to steno order) to fit in more sounds.
glide
IPA
International Phonetic Alphabet; a system of symbols used internationally to represent sounds in all human languages.
N-key rollover
The property of a regular keyboard to detect multiple key presses simultaneously.
orthographic
Relating to spelling.
outline
One or more strokes that form a translation.
phonetic
Relating to pronunciation.
Plover
A free and open source steno engine for Linux, Mac, and Windows.
raw steno
A textual representation of the steno strokes pressed before being translated.
steno engine
A program used to translate steno outlines to text.
embedded steno engine
A steno engine embedded on a keyboard’s firmware; allows for plug-and-play stenography with no setup required on the host machine.
steno keyboard
A keyboard made primarily by hobbyists and for hobbyists for use with stenography.
steno machine
A machine (can be standalone requiring no host machine) for stenography by professional court reporters and captioners.
NOTE: some use “steno machine” to refer to any stenographic input device (such as hobbyist steno keyboards).
steno writer
Any stenographic input device.
steno order
The order in which sounds should fall on
stroke
Synonymous with chord as a noun; can also be used as a verb to describe the action of pressing a chord.
affix stroke
A stroke that attaches to words.
prefix stroke
A stroke that outputs a prefix and suppresses the next space.
suffix stroke
A stroke that outputs a suffix and attaches to the previous word.
syllabic splitting
A Lapwing technique for splitting multisyllable words into steno strokes.
steno theory
A set of rules that govern how words are broken down into steno outlines.
basic theory
The principles of Lapwing theory that encompass the rules for writing English text.
translation
The output (text, keyboard shortcut, etc) of a steno outline.
write-out
An outline that follows basic theory.