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A History Of The Deseret Alphabet, Larry Ray Wintersteen

Theses and Dissertations

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints during the years 1852-1877, introduced to its membership a form of rhetoric (writing system) called the deseret alphabet (phonetic alphabet). This experiment was intended to alleviate the problem of non-communication which was created by the great influx of foreign speaking Saints into the great Salt Lake Valley.
The alphabet was developed and encouraged by the Prophet Brigham Young and a few followers. Much to their dismay the members of the Church did not have the same vision of its workability as did its promoters.
This new alphabet appears not to have met …