The important factors involved in the development of a phonetic typewriter are as follows. The particular form in which the words are typed. The means for analyzing the sounds of speech. The identification of the analyzed sounds. The encoding, coding, and decoding of the sounds for the operation of the actuating mechanism. The design of the mechanism for actuating the typewriter. A study has been made of these problems. As a result of this study a simplified model of a phonetic typewriter has been developed incorporating all of these aspects. This model serves to illustrate the principles involved and provides means for further study towards a complete system.