Regional handwriting variation


Although people in many parts of the world share common alphabets and numeral systems, styles of handwritten letterforms vary between individuals, and sometimes also vary systematically between regions.

Arabic numerals

The handwritten numerals used in Western countries have two common forms:
Aside from these two main forms, other regional variations abound.
The numeral 0 — Some writers put a diagonal slash through the numeral 0, a practice that was used on some early, low-resolution computer terminals which displayed a slashed "zero" glyph to distinguish it from the capital letter O. This practice conflicts with the use of the letter "Ø" in the Danish and Norwegian languages, and the empty set character "∅" used in set theory. Forms that avoid confusion with Danish include:
Confusion between the numeral 0 and the letter O can be resolved by using a script letter O, and leaving the numeral 0 without embellishments; this was a common practice before use of the slashed zero became the norm.
The numeral 1 — This numeral is sometimes written with a serif at the top extending downward and to the left. People in some parts of Europe extend this stroke nearly the whole distance to the baseline. It is sometimes written with horizontal serifs at the base; without them it can resemble the shape of the numeral 7, which has a near-vertical stroke without a crossbar, and a shorter horizontal top stroke. This numeral is often written as a plain vertical line without an ear at the top; this form is easily confused with a capital I and with a lower-case L.
The numeral 2 — In the U.S., Germany and Austria, a curly version used to be taught and is still used by many in handwriting. This two can be confused with a capital script Q, or the letter Z. It appears as ɚ.
The numeral 3 — This numeral is sometimes written with a flat top, similar to the character Ʒ. This form is sometimes used to prevent people from fraudulently changing a three into an eight. It is often written with a combination of two reversed or turned small letter "c"-like curves, similar to the Cyrillic character З or a reversed or turned Latin letter epsilon, without the flat top.
The numeral 4 — Some people leave the top "open" — all the lines are either vertical or horizontal, as in a seven-segment display. This makes it easier to distinguish from the numeral 9. Whether the horizontal bar terminates at or crosses the right vertical bar is insignificant in the West, but to be distinguished from certain Chinese characters it must cross.
The numeral 5 — In Taiwan, the left vertical bar is extended upwards as a long stem. If this is slanted, the overall figure may more closely resemble an uppercase Y. If casually written it can be confused with the letter S.
The numeral 6 — Can be confused with a letter capital G, or the lowercase b, or the nine if inverted. In situations where the number 6 may appear at various angles, it can be underlined or followed by a full stop to indicate the proper viewing angle to disambiguate between 6 and 9; a 9 may or may not appear with similar underlining or full stop. It can also be written with a straight line rather than a curly line on top, appearing as b.
The numeral 7 — The traditional form found in copperplate penmanship begins with a serif at the upper left and has a wavy horizontal stroke. In East Asian countries, this numeral is commonly written with such a serif, but no swash and no crossbar through the middle. It is usually written with just two strokes, the top horizontal and the vertical. A short horizontal bar is sometimes used to cross the vertical in the middle, to distinguish the seven from a numeral one, especially in cultures that write 1 with a very long upstroke. This form is used commonly throughout continental Europe, parts of the United States and frequently in Australia. In Taiwan two horizontal bars are sometimes used, although an extra-long serif is the feature which most clearly distinguishes 7 from 1. When the cross is added in the center it can cause confusion with a script capital F.
The numeral 9 — In parts of Europe, this numeral is written with the vertical ending in a hook at the bottom. This version resembles how the lowercase g is commonly written. Elsewhere the usual shape is to draw the vertical straight to the baseline. A nine may or may not appear with underlining or full stop in order to avoid confusion with 6. In China, southern Taiwan, and South Korea, the nine is sometimes written with the loop to the right of the stick, resembling a capital P.

The Latin writing system

The lowercase letter a — This letter is often handwritten as the single storey "ɑ" instead of the double storey "a" found in many fonts.
The lowercase letter g — In Polish, this letter is often rendered with a straight descender without a hook or loop. This effectively means that a handwritten g looks much like a q in other writing traditions. The letter q, which is only used in foreign words and is extremely rare, is then disambiguated from g by adding a serif extending to the right from the bottom tip of the descender.
The lowercase letter p — The French way of writing this character has a half-way ascender as the vertical extension of the descender, which also does not complete the bowl at the bottom. In early Finnish writing, the curve to the bottom was omitted, thus the resulting letter resembled a 'n' with a descender.
The lowercase letter q — In block letters, some Europeans like to cross the descender to prevent confusion with the numeral 9, which also can be written with a straight stem. In North America the descender often ends with a hook curving up to the right. In Polish, the lowercase q is disambiguated from g by a serif extending from the bottom tip of the descender to the right.
The lowercase letter s — See long s.
The lowercase letter t — In block letters, t is often written with straight mark without the hook bottom. In modern cursive, the descender often ends with a hook to the right.
The lowercase letters u and v — These letters have a common origin and were once written according to the location in the word rather than the sound. The v came first; the u originally had a loop extending to the left and was only used to start words. All other locations for either u or v were written with the latter. In Germany, Austria and Switzerland, lowercase u is often written with a horizontal stroke or swish over it, to distinguish it from n.
The uppercase letter I — This letter is often written with one stroke on the top of the letter and one on the bottom. This distinguishes it from the lowercase letter l, and the numeral 1, which is often written as a straight line without the ear.
The uppercase letter J — In Germany, this letter is often written with a long stroke to the left at the top. This is to distinguish it from the capital letter "I".
The uppercase letter S — In Japan, this letter is often written with a single serif added to the end of the stroke.
The uppercase letter Z — This letter is usually written with three strokes. In parts of Europe such as Italy, Germany and Spain, it is commonly written with a short horizontal crossbar added through the middle. This version is sometimes preferred in mathematics to help distinguish it from the numeral 2. In Polish, the character Ƶ is used as an allographic variant of the letter Ż. In Japan it is often written with a short diagonal crossbar through the middle. In France, it is often written with a loop at the bottom.
The lowercase letter z — In the cursive style used in most Australian states this letter is written as an ezh.

and script

German Kurrent and its modernized 20th century school version Sütterlin, the form of handwriting taught in schools and generally used in Germany and Austria until it was banned by the Nazis in 1941, was very different from that used in other European countries. However, it was generally only used for German words. Any foreign words included in the text would usually be written in the "normal" script, which was called the lateinische Schrift in German.

Slant

The slant of a sample of writing is a reflection of the copybook that is taught.
CopybookSlantWhen usedWhere used
Handwriting without Tears901976-presentUSA
Carolingian909th CenturyEurope
Humanistic Hand9015th CenturyEurope
Zaner-Bloser?1904USA
D'Nealian851978USA
Getty-Dubay851976USA
Palmer Method851884USA
Barchowsky801997Western Australia
Copperplate5517th CenturyEurope
SmithHand552000USA
Spanish Copybook551650Central Spain
Spencerian Script521886USA