Home - Office of M. Scott Reynolds
Deseret Alphabet Translator
Deseret Alphabet Catalog | Catalog of liturature written in the Deseret Alphabet
The Deseret Alphabet came about on January 19, 1854 when the Board of Regents of the University of Deseret, now the University of Utah, announced that they had adopted a new phonetic alphabet. The new alphabet consisted of 38 to 40 characters and was developed mostly by George D. Watt. George D. Watt was on a committe called by President Brigham Young, second President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as part of a project to help simplify spelling in the English Language.
Four books were published in the late 1860s using the Deseret Alphabet, Deseret First and Second Book Readers, the Book of Nephi Part 1 (1st Nephi through the Words of Mormon), and then the entire Book of Mormon. Various articles were also published in the Deseret News using the alphabet during that time. Even a gold coin (Image courtesy of Heritage Auctions ) minted in Utah in 1860, included some lettering in the Deseret Alphabet.
Despite being heavily published by the Deseret News and promoted by President Brigham Young, the Deseret Alphabet never gained wide acceptance. Soon after Brigham Young's death in 1877, resources and funding of the project came to an end.
Home - Office of M. Scott Reynolds
Deseret Alphabet Translator
Deseret Alphabet Catalog | Catalog of liturature written in the Deseret Alphabet