26. Alphabetical and Numerical Aids

The first section of this book presented a simplified method for memorization. We shall now deal with figures and with a permanent filing system.

Figures, if pictured as articles in a scene of life, can be more easily retained. If you will study the accompanying chart, you will find that the consonants represent figures. The vowels are always silent so far as figures are concerned. The code itself is based on phonetic spelling and pronuncia­tion. In order to become adept at memorizing numerals, you should study this table.

The letters t and d, which have almost the same sound, were chosen to represent the figure 1 because they have only one downward stroke, and with either a crossbar or a loop can be converted to the figure 1. The letter n equals number 2, because of its two downward strokes, and the letter m equals number 3, because its three downward strokes touch a line at three places. The letter r equals number 4, because r is the fourth letter in the word four and the dominant sound. Number five is represented by capital letter L, which is the Roman numeral for 50 and 5 is the initial unit of this number. A / turned backwards looks like the number 6 and therefore represents it; the sounds of /, soft g or ch, and sh equal six also. The number 7 is represented by the letter k, since there are seven days in the weeK, and this can be pic­tured with the K outstanding. F or V equals 8. Picture a figure skater making a Figure 8 on the ice and you have the clue to this number. Number 9 is represented by the letter P, which looks like a 9 backwards; B, which sounds so much like P also equals 9. For number 0 you think of zero, so z equals 0; the s and soft c also equal 0.

Now that you have studied this table, it would be well for you to practice a few words. The word at, for instance, equals the figure 1. The word hat equals the figure 1. The word hate equals the figure 1.

1= t or d One downward stroke; add a crossbar or a loop and you have t or d.

2=  n    Two downward strokes covered by a loop.

3=  m   Three downward strokes covered by connecting loops.

4=  r    The fourth letter of the word four is r, and this is also the dominant sound.

5=  L   L is the Roman numeral for number 50 and 5 is the first unit of this number.

6=  J    6 looks like a J backwards. The sounds "ch," "sh," and "soft g" are like the sound of J, and so 6 can represent these too.

7= K    There are 7 days in the weeK. The sounds of the "hard g," "hard ch" and "ng" can also be shown by the number 7.

8=F or V         Picture in your magic eye a Figure Skater gliding across the ice and making a Figure 8 and you'll always remember this. V is said the same way as F by the mouth, only the voice is added.

9=P or B         9 looks like a P backwards, or a B without the lower loop backwards.

0=  Z    Z as in zero, of course, because zero is 0. 0 can also stand for S and C, because the SCore at the start of every  game is 0-0.

In or an equals the figure 2.

Home equals the figure 3.

Oar equals the figure 4.

Hill is the figure 5.

Age, shoe or itch equals the figure 6.

Cow or ache equals the figure 7.

Egg also equals 7.

Hive or hoof equals 8.

Hub equals 9.

Boy is also 9.

And zoo equals zero.

These are examples of how the phonetic sounds fit into the numeric system. In order to get a double number, 17 for instance, d would equal 1 and g equal 7. The word dog would therefore be 17. For the figure 99, the word would be pipe or baby or pope or hubbub.

When you have three numbers, you want a word like church, which would be 646; gourd, which would be 741; or chained, which would be 621. For a complete vocabulary, I suggest the following code words and the numbers that should represent them. You may vary these in order to fit them into your own "magic eye." They may be used indefi­nitely as a permanent filing system. They represent all num­bers between 1 and 100. After you have learned these com­pletely and thoroughly, you will be able to visualize imme­diately the number tied in with the object. If you wanted to do the magazine trick, for example, you could take Page 1 and put it with the first item, Page 2 with the second item, and so on.

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