Marion J. Shelton → Brigham Young | Illinois Deseret Consortium

Transcription | 𐐓𐑉𐐰𐑌𐑅𐐿𐑉𐐮𐐹𐑇𐐲𐑌

We provide a transcription of Marion J. Shelton’s July 1859 letter to Brigham Young, in which Shelton reports the results of his study of the Deseret Alphabet and proposes several refinements to its treatment of English sounds. In the transcription, modified Deseret characters are shown with a subsequent hyphen, following Shelton’s own recommendation for print.

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About the Letter | 𐐈𐐺𐐵𐐻 𐑄 𐐢𐐯𐐻𐐯𐑉

In July 1859, Marion J. Shelton wrote to Brigham Young after being advised to make himself thoroughly acquainted with the Deseret Alphabet, probably by apostle George A. Smith. The resulting letter is not merely a statement of support for the alphabet. It is a detailed technical argument about how the script should represent English sounds.

Shelton treats the Deseret Alphabet as a phonetic writing system whose usefulness depends on careful analysis of speech. He classifies the letters, describes which consonants may occur together, discusses the spelling of English past-tense endings, and argues that the vowel system requires additional distinctions beyond the ordinary Deseret vowel characters.

Historical Context | 𐐐𐐮𐑅𐐻𐐱𐑉𐐮𐐿𐐲𐑊 𐐗𐐱𐑌𐐻𐐯𐐿𐑅𐐻

Shelton’s letter belongs to a moment of renewed institutional attention to the Deseret Alphabet. In summer 1859, the script was being printed regularly in the Deseret News and deployed experimentally in the Church Historian’s Office, as well as in Wilford Woodruff’s journal. Shelton’s proposal shows that the alphabet was also being studied critically as a system for representing English phonology.

Shelton argued for greater phonetic precision, but Brigham Young rejected the proposed refinements. Young treated them as artifacts of prior schooling rather than defects in the alphabet, informing Shelton a few months later that “these technicalities are the result of education and if the alphabet was taught to children who had not learned any other[,] they would never realize the difference” (Journal History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 September 1859).

Portrait of Brigham Young — Brigham Young (1801–1877), president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and leading institutional advocate of the Deseret Alphabet, ca. 1855.

Portrait of Marion J. Shelton — Marion J. Shelton, author of the July 1859 letter to Brigham Young.

Shelton’s Argument | 𐐟𐐯𐑊𐐻𐐲𐑌’𐑆 𐐈𐑉𐑀𐐷𐐭𐑋𐐯𐑌𐐻

Shelton’s argument has two sides. First, he tries to regularize Deseret spelling according to English consonant structure. Second, he argues that the alphabet needs a more refined way to mark vowel quality.

Consonant Clusters

Shelton describes which consonants may occur before or after others within a word or syllable. He pays special attention to the distribution of 𐐝 /s/ and 𐐞 /z/.

Voicing

A major principle is voicing agreement. Voiceless consonants such as 𐐑, 𐐓, 𐐗, 𐐙, and 𐐛 combine with 𐐝 /s/, while voiced consonants such as 𐐒, 𐐔, 𐐘, 𐐚, and 𐐜 combine with 𐐞 /z/.

Past-Tense Endings

Shelton applies the same voicing logic to English past-tense and past-participle spellings. After voiceless sounds, he recommends 𐐓 /t/; after voiced sounds, 𐐔 /d/; and after verbs already ending in /t/ or /d/, the fuller ending 𐐯𐐼.

Vowel Refinement

Shelton argues that Webster’s analysis points to more vowel sounds than the standard Deseret vowel inventory can easily represent. He therefore proposes modified vowel characters, marked in handwriting by an additional stroke and in print by a following hyphen.

Modified Vowels | 𐐣𐐱𐐼𐐮𐑁𐐴𐐼 𐐚𐐵𐐯𐑊𐑆

Shelton’s most distinctive proposal concerns what he calls “middle” or “second” vowel sounds. He rejects the idea that such sounds are merely the result of accent, arguing instead that they deserve independent notation. His proposed solution is to modify existing Deseret vowel characters.

In manuscript, the modification is made by drawing an additional stroke through the character. In print, Shelton says that the hyphen may appear after the character, for example as 𐐆-, 𐐇-, or 𐐈-.

Shelton illustrates the proposal with several spellings of his own. The examples below represent the manuscript stroke with a postposed hyphen, according to Shelton’s suggestion for print.

event 𐐮-𐑂𐐯𐑌𐐻 Uses 𐐆- for a middle or reduced i- or e-like vowel.

hair 𐐸𐐯-𐑉 Uses 𐐇- for the vowel quality Shelton associates with hair.

nor 𐑌𐑎𐑉 Uses 𐐦 for the vowel in nor—not, as in standard Deseret usage, for the choice diphthong—probably to indicate an intermediate rounded vowel between 𐐃 and 𐐉.

are 𐐰-𐑉 Uses 𐐈- for the rhotic vowel in start.

horologiographic 𐐸𐐲-𐑉𐐲-𐑊𐐲-𐐾𐐮-𐐲-𐑀𐑉𐐰𐑁𐐮𐐿 Uses 𐐊- for a reduced vowel associated with orthographic o.

sue 𐑅{𐐮𐐳} Uses {𐐆𐐋}, almost certainly the diphthong [ɪʊ], which Shelton refers to as the “second sound” associated with 𐐅 (the vowel in boot).

The added mark therefore does not appear to indicate (lack of) stress alone. Nor does it simply mean that the vowel is shorter. Rather, it marks a related but distinct vowel quality: a “middle” or “second” value associated with the ordinary vowel sign. The exact modern phonetic value of each modified vowel is not always certain, but Shelton’s purpose is clear: he is trying to expand the Deseret Alphabet so it can represent more of the vowel distinctions he found in Websterian pronunciation. In other words, the stroke added to a letter does not appear to perform a consistent diacritic function.

Interpretation and Significance | 𐐆𐑌𐐻𐐲𐑉𐐹𐑉𐐨𐐻𐐩𐑇𐐲𐑌 𐐰𐑌𐐼 𐐝𐐮𐑀𐑌𐐮𐑁𐐨𐐿𐐲𐑌𐑅

Shelton’s letter shows that some Deseret Alphabet users were not simply adopting a fixed script. They were actively thinking through how the alphabet should analyze English sounds. His proposal treats Deseret spelling as a phonological system: consonant clusters are regulated, voiced and voiceless endings are distinguished, and some vowel qualities are marked with added notation.

Shelton clearly aims to make Deseret spelling more systematic and explicitly phonetic.
He distinguishes vowels, consonants, and composite or diphthongal signs.
He uses voicing to explain clusters involving 𐐝 /s/ and 𐐞 /z/, and applies the same logic to past-tense endings: /t/, /d/, or a fuller vowel-plus-/d/ ending.
He treats 𐐐 /h/ as onset-only, and 𐐏 /y/ and 𐐎 /w/ as glide-like sounds that precede vowels rather than close syllables.
He argues that the ordinary Deseret vowel inventory does not fully capture the vowel distinctions found in Websterian pronunciation.
His modified vowel signs are not always clear in exact phonetic value: they mark additional “middle” or “second” vowel qualities, written with an added stroke in manuscript or a following hyphen in print.
Shelton’s “middle sound” may sometimes approach schwa or another reduced vowel, but it should not automatically be equated with modern /ə/ in every case.
The notation {𐐆𐐋}, together with Shelton’s contrast between words such as new, sue, and rue and a word like view, suggests that he distinguished non-palatalized from palatalized pronunciations in this vowel series.

Source Information | 𐐝𐐬𐑉𐑅 𐐆𐑌𐑁𐐬𐑉𐑋𐐩𐑇𐐲𐑌

Marion J. Shelton Letter
July 1859. Brigham Young office files, 1832–1878, bulk 1844–1877; General Correspondence, Incoming, 1840–1877; General Letters, 1840–1877; Sa–Sm, 1859. Church History Library.

The letter is available online through the Church History Library catalog.

Shelton–Young Letter (1859)

𐐟𐐩𐑊𐐻𐐲𐑌–𐐏𐐱𐑍 𐐢𐐯𐐻𐐯𐑉 (1859)