this post was submitted on 28 Mar 2024
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xkcd

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https://xkcd.com/2912

Alt text:

๐“˜ ๐“ฝ๐“ฑ๐“ฒ๐“ท๐“ด ๐“ฌ๐“ช๐“น๐“ฒ๐“ฝ๐“ช๐“ต ๐“› ๐“ฒ๐“ผ ๐“น๐“ป๐“ธ๐“ซ๐“ช๐“ซ๐“ต๐”‚ ๐“ฝ๐“ฑ๐“ฎ ๐“ถ๐“ธ๐“ผ๐“ฝ ๐“ฏ๐“พ๐“ท ๐“ฝ๐“ธ ๐”€๐“ป๐“ฒ๐“ฝ๐“ฎ, ๐“ฝ๐“ฑ๐“ธ๐“พ๐“ฐ๐“ฑ ๐“ต๐“ธ๐”€๐“ฎ๐“ป๐“ฌ๐“ช๐“ผ๐“ฎ ๐“บ ๐“ฒ๐“ผ ๐“ช๐“ต๐“ผ๐“ธ ๐“ช ๐“ผ๐“ฝ๐“ป๐“ธ๐“ท๐“ฐ ๐“ฌ๐“ธ๐“ท๐“ฝ๐“ฎ๐“ท๐“ญ๐“ฎ๐“ป.

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[โ€“] [email protected] 7 points 8 months ago (3 children)

Looking at this, while there is some overlap, it's very apparent that US cursive is not the same as Swedish cursive. E.g. lower case x starting from the top? O_O

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago (1 children)

That's interesting I've just realized that when I write x I start at the bottom left if I'm writing it normal but in the top left if doing cursive.

Huh.

[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

We were taught to start all capital letters at the top and all lowercase letters (as they need to be connected) in the bottom left (or just left for some like v, that don't really have a bottom left).

Particularly for x, they said we might as well learn to start x from bottom left when printing as well, because then it'll be consistent with the cursive, but I find that when given the choice, I'm more naturally drawn to go top left to bottom right and then top right to bottom left, so that's what I do when not writing cursive.

Edit: See my other comment for the cursive we were taught.

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

Idk about "very" apparent, though.

I'm Finnish and we have much the same alphabet, and our cursive is derived from the same as the Swedish one, which is Neo-Gothic cursive, which does do the X from top down, as do we Finns.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b6/D%27Nealian_Cursive.svg/300px-D%27Nealian_Cursive.svg.png

I did check the Swedish one and it is weird you do it differently.

[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

But how do you you even write it when starting top left? Do you just write it as a backslash and then go back and add the second stroke once the word is finished? Or do you do some convoluted thing where you go in every direction while perfectly retracing your old strokes, to draw the whole thing in one go?

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Same as with dotting i's or crossing t's, really.

I often found that pictures speak louder than words, and it's pictured in my earlier link.

[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

Okay. And yeah, now that you mention it, I see that there are some tiny symbols there. ๐Ÿ˜… It's funny how every time I hear about cursive writing online it always sounds as if it's one single thing that's the same everywhere, but it isn't. Oh, and also in our cursive, we don't go back to cross t's, because that's part of the character from the beginning.

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I think you're looking at the uppercase x. The lowercase x is just below that and the stroke starts at the bottom left.

[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

No, I'm looking at the lowercase one. I don't understand why it comes in at bottom left but goes to top left before starting the letter.

[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

When you have a letter that finishes at the bottom (like n in the word manx), the x starts at the bottom left and then rises to form the first downward stroke just like in the printed x. If you have a letter that finishes at the top like o, the x stroke doesn't start at the bottom. See the sample below in the word fox

[โ€“] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago

Yes, I gathered. I was just wondering what the reason is for starting the x at the top, when it's easier, imo, to do as we do and start at the bottom.