There's a second set of consonants that use the same symbols listed above, but written with a heavier line. We'll start with D, which is basically an overweight T. That is, a T, written with a heavier line.

Pitman generally gives similar shapes to similar sounds. That's nice. It means that if you've written something sloppily, you'll probably still be able to make sense of it.

In this case, the sound of D is similar to the sound of T. In fact, the only difference between the two is that D is a voiced sound, and T is unvoiced. (Try saying Tuh-tuh-tuh-tuh, then Duh-duh-duh-duh.)

The same principle applies to a slew of other letters.

The symbol for B is a fat P...

The symbol for G is a heavy C...

J is a voiced Ch...

V is a voiced F...

and Z is a voiced S.

There's also this pair - Sh, which, when voiced becomes Zh. If you're not sure what Zh is, it's the sound you get at the beginning of French words like "Jules", or in the middle of English words like "usual".

M and N are both voiced sounds, but there's no unvoiced version (try it - you'll just get a sniffing sound through your nose), so they're both written with a light line.

The N symbol with a heavy line stands for the NG sound. .

That's all the consonants... for now. What we're missing is some alternate ways to write consonants like R and H, and a whole slew of symbols for double consonants like "pr". But the consonants we've covered so far are enough cover all the actual consonant sounds. The rest are just variations in how you write them.

Next... Vowels