A bit of research led me to a strange footnote to mormon history. Former byu star kyle collinsworth on quest to help people get healthy through simple steps especially now during the pandemic now, as a guard for the. This exercise uses deseret spellings of proper names from the book of mormon and. Lee library in conjunction with the annual conference of the mormon history. This book is in the deseret alphabet, a phonetic alphabet for writing english developed in the mid19th century at the university of deseret now the university of deseret. Our goal is to encourage the use of the deseret alphabet. It is not a reproduction of the 1869 deseret alphabet edition of the book of mormon. Deseret was the book of mormon word for a beehive, and it lent both its name and visual symbol to the mormon western territory that encompassed what is now utah, nevada, and the surrounding areas. A committee from the university of deseret now the university of utah organized the effort. In addition, some historical records, diaries, and other materials were.
The book of mormon in deseret alphabet library of congress. The book of mormon part 1 deseret alphabet catalog. The deseret alphabet consists of 38 letters to account for alternate pronunciations of english vowels and some consonants. It contains 1st nephi through the words of mormon from the book of mormon. Bernhisel left great salt lake city with petitions asking congress to create the territory of deseret. The book of mormon was transcribed into the deseret alphabet. Four books were published in the deseret language, including two readers for learning the language, a selection of the book of mormon, and the entirety of the book of mormon. These readers were designed to help the saints transition into this new alphabet. It is the third book printed by the deseret university. Susan easton black is a professor of church history at brigham young. One was the entire book for family use and reading.
It is the highestcharting broadway cast album and first top 10 since. The deseret alphabet is an alternative alphabet for english developed by. The deseret alphabet a phonetic alphabet used briefly in early utahis represented on what looks like an antique book in some foreign script. The phonetic deseret alphabet was developed to assist in this cause. The book of mormon, doctrine and covenants, and the perl of great price triple combination in the deseret alphabet. The name deseret is taken from a word in the book of mormon and means honeybee. T he deseret alphabet was conceived by brigham young, who thought of the reform of the english language as just one more part of reforming the world.
The provisional state existed for slightly over two years and was never recognized by the united states government. For at least a year brigham youngs account books were kept in the deseret alphabet, and a new york firm printed five hundred copies of the entire book of mormon. The lds church used the deseret alphabet to publish scores of newspaper articles, three childrens readers, the book of mormon, and a few other items. The deseret alphabet, a 38letter writing system developed by mormons copy link facebook twitter reddit flipboard pocket the opening pages of an 1869 copy of the book of mormon, printed in deseret. Watt, under the supervision of a university of deseret committee, that acted under brigham youngs direction. Deseret alphabet sample page deseret alphabet sample pages book of mormon title page book of mormon witnesses brigham youngs deseret alphabet one of the curious items of early utah history was brigham youngs effort to introduce a new alphabet, known as the deseret alphabet, into mormon. The primers were used in some schools in utah, but the alphabet was never widely adopted.
This is part 1 of the book of mormon in the deseret alphabet. A history of the deseret alphabet byu scholarsarchive. This is the full book of mormon in the deseret alphabet. Copy and paste one of these options to share this book elsewhere. And they did also carry with them deseret, which, by interpretation, is a honey bee. In 1869 the book of mormon was printed in the new deseret alphabet in two different editions. The alphabet was in use only between the 1850s and 1870s, fading away after. He named the state desereta word from the book of mormon. Church history library, the church of jesus christ of latterday saints language english. Between 1854 and 1869, the deseret alphabet could be seen in mormon.
The deseret alphabet is a phonemic englishlanguage spelling reform developed between. Those learning english could find few reading materials in the deseret alphabet compared to the massive amount of reading material already available in the latin alphabet. Link to this page view link to the book embed a mini book. Orson pratt brigham young and the deseret alphabet. However, i will not be the one to write such a book. During the alphabets heyday between 1854 and 1869, books, newspapers, street signs and. The deseret alphabet, a 38letter writing system developed.
Church history library, the church of jesus christ of latterday saints. Beesley has already written about that in the deseret alphabet in unicode. This alternative alphabet was created more than a century ago and fell into. It is the fourth book printed by the deseret university. Greg kearney as part of work he was doing for the lds church history department in 1991. The deseret alphabet, a 38letter writing system developed by. Deseret alphabet simple english wikipedia, the free. This further relates the history of how the book of mormon was translated into the deseret alphabet by orson pratt in the spring of 1869 and published later that year by russell bros. With that information, and the picture of the salt lake temple on the cover, i deduced that it was a mormon publication. Deseret alphabet onomasticon book of mormon onomasticon. The church history library and the internet archive recently made available a complete scanned copy of the 1869 deseret alphabet edition of the book of mormon. Susan easton black talks about brigham youngs experiment with the deseret alphabet. The deseret alphabet was an experiment used to teach mormon converts a new phonetic spelling system. The name derives from the word for honeybee in the book of mormon.
Statehood in 1849 under the name deseret, a word from the sacred book of mormon meaning honeybee and signifying industry. This bid was rejected, as were the efforts of five. Brigham young wanted all letters to match sounds, to make reading and writing easier for immigrants. In 1860 holiness to the lord was inscribed in the deseret alphabet on deseret gold pieces. You can browse the whole deseret alphabet book of mormon, 1869 edition, on the internet archive. A history of mormon catechisms religious studies center. The inclusion of the deseret alphabet spellings in this onomasticon is provided as an aid to the pronunciation of these words at the time the book of mormon was printed using the deseret alphabet. A group of leaders called the board of regents created it. A printed page showing the deseret alphabet, around 1850. But authors beesley and elzinga have now traced the manuscripts origin to the missionaries of 185960 and decoded its hopienglish vocabulary written in the shortlived deseret alphabet. The book of mormon printed in the deseret alphabet.
The mormon alphabet experiment newyork historical society. The book of mormon 2015 deseret alphabet edition book. We carry a variety of book of mormon books, from 1830 heritage editions to journals and study guides. This is a very comprehensive study of the history of the deseret alphabet. See the largest lds book of mormon scripture reference selection with titles from lds authors ed j. The word deseret comes from the book of mormon, where it is mentioned in ether 2. A complete guide to reading and writing the deseret alphabet. The church history library and the internet archive recently made available a complete scanned copy of the 1869 deseret alphabet edition of the book of mormon here. Deseret alphabet classics the deseret alphabet classics series provides deseret alphabet editions of some of the great works of english literature and lds theology. An 1860 englishhopi vocabulary written in the deseret. The idea probably came to him as early as 1845 when he attended some phonographic classes given by george d. The resulting book offers a fascinating mix of linguistics, mormon history. In 1869, deseret university published tenthousand copies of each of two textbooks, deseret first book and deseret second book.