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Initial Teaching Alphabet

The Initial Teaching Alphabet (or I.T.A. or i.t.a.) was a variant of the Latin alphabet developed by Sir James Pitman (the grandson of Sir Isaac Pitman, inventor of a system of shorthand) in the early 1960s.

Inventive spelling

Sir James Pitman (the grandson of Sir Isaac) in the early 1960s developed the Initial Teaching Alphabet

James Pitman

Pitman was the son of Ernest Pitman and grandson of Sir Isaac Pitman, who developed the most widely used system of shorthand, known now as Pitman Shorthand.

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His major work on this topic is Alphabets and Reading: The Initial Teaching Alphabet (1965).

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He was Pro-Chancellor of the University of Bath 1972–81 and ensured that the Pitman papers would reside with the University.

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He wrote several books on the teaching of English and is best known as the inventor of the Initial Teaching Alphabet.

see also