Cursive (also known asjoined-up writing[1][2]) is any style ofpenmanship in which characters are written joined in a flowing manner, generally for the purpose of making writing faster, in contrast toblock letters. It varies in functionality and modern-day usage across languages and regions; being used both publicly in artistic and formal documents as well as in private communication. Formal cursive is generally joined, but casual cursive is a combination of joins and pen lifts. The writing style can be further divided as "looped", "italic", or "connected".
The cursive method is used with many alphabets due to infrequent pen lifting which allows increased writing speed. However, more elaborate or ornamental calligraphic styles of writing can be slower to reproduce. In some alphabets, many or all letters in a word are connected, sometimes making a word one single complex stroke.
Cursive is a style of penmanship in which the symbols of the language are written in aconjoined, or flowing, manner, generally for the purpose of making writing faster. This writing style is distinct from "print-script" usingblock letters, in which the letters of a word are unconnected. Not all cursivecopybooks join all letters; formal cursive is generally joined, but casual cursive is a combination of joins and pen lifts. In theArabic,Syriac,Latin, andCyrillic scripts, many or all letters in a word are connected (while others must not), sometimes making a word one single complex stroke. InHebrew cursive andRoman cursive, the letters are not connected. InMaharashtra, there was a cursive alphabet, known as the'Modi' script, used to write theMarathi language.
Ligature is writing the letters of words with lines connecting the letters so that one does not have to pick up the pen or pencil between letters. Commonly some of the letters are written in a looped manner to facilitate the connections. In common printed Greek texts, the modern small letter fonts are called "cursive" (as opposed touncial) though the letters do not connect.
Inlooped cursive penmanship, someascenders anddescenders have loops which allows for the letters to link. This is generally what people refer to when they say "cursive" in the context of English.[3] The letters in this style have their own unique characteristics. For example the lowercaset is taller, while the lowercasev andw are rounder. Also, the lowercasex links out at the baseline.[4]
Cursive italic penmanship—derived fromchancery cursive—uses non-looped joins, and not all letters are joined. In italic cursive, there are no joins from g, j, q, or y, and a few other joins are discouraged.[5][failed verification] Italic penmanship became popular in the 15th-century Italian Renaissance. The term "italic" as it relates to handwriting is not to be confused withitalic typed letters. Many, but not all, letters in the handwriting of the Renaissance were joined, as most are today in cursive italic.
The origins of the cursive method are associated with the practical advantages of writing speed and infrequent pen-lifting to accommodate the limitations of thequill. Quills are fragile, easily broken, and will spatter unless used properly. They also run out of ink faster than most contemporary writing utensils. Steeldip pens followed quills; they were sturdier, but still had some limitations. The individuality of the provenance of a document (seeSignature) was a factor also, as opposed to machinefont.[6] Cursive was also favoured because the writing tool was rarely taken off the paper.The termcursive derives fromMiddle Frenchcursif fromMedieval Latincursivus, which literally means 'running'. This term in turn derives fromLatincurrere ('to run, hasten').[7] Although by the 2010s, the use of cursive appeared to be on the decline, as of 2019[update] it seemed to be coming back into use.[8]
In the Bengali cursive script[9](also known in Bengali as "professional writing"[citation needed]) the letters are more likely to be more curvy in appearance than in standard Bengali handwriting. Also, the horizontal supporting bar on each letter (matra) runs continuously through the entire word, unlike in standard handwriting. This cursive handwriting often used by literature experts differs in appearance from thestandard Bengali alphabet as it is free hand writing, where sometimes the alphabets are complex and appear different from the standard handwriting.[citation needed]
Cursive forms ofChinese characters are used in calligraphy; "running script" is thesemi-cursive form and "rough script" (mistakenly called "grass script" due to literal misinterpretation) is the cursive. The running aspect of this script has more to do with the formation and connectedness of strokeswithin an individual character than with connections between characters as in Western connected cursive. The latter are rare inhanzi and in the derived Japanesekanji characters which are usually well separated by the writer.
Cursive writing was used in English before theNorman Conquest.Anglo-Saxon charters typically include a boundary clause written inOld English in a cursive script. A cursive handwriting style—secretary hand—was widely used for both personal correspondence and official documents in England from early in the 16th century.
Cursive handwriting developed into something approximating its current form from the 17th century, but its use was neither uniform, nor standardized either in England itself or elsewhere in theBritish Empire. In the English colonies of the early 17th century, most of the letters are clearly separated in the handwriting ofWilliam Bradford, though a few were joined as in a cursive hand. In England itself, Edward Cocker had begun to introduce a version of the Frenchronde style, which was then further developed and popularized throughout theBritish Empire in the 17th and 18th centuries asround hand by John Ayers and William Banson.[11]
Today there is no standardisedteaching script stipulated in the variousnational curriculums for schools in the United Kingdom, only that one font style needs to be used consistently throughout the school.[12] In both the cursive and the continuous cursive writing styles, letters are created through joining lines and curve shapes in a particular way. Once pupils have learnt how to clearly form single letters, they are taught how single letters can be joined to form a flowing script.[13]
Characteristics of cursive and continuous cursive scripts:[14]
| Cursive | Continuous cursive | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting point for letters | Variable | Always on the writing line |
| Finishing point for letters | Always on the writing line (except foro, r, v andw, which have a top exit stroke) | |
| Single letter formation | Letters taught with exit strokes only | Letters taught with entry and exit strokes |
Whether cursive or continuous cursive is to be favoured remains a subject of debate. While many schools in the United Kingdom are opting to teach continuous cursive throughout the year groups, often starting inReception, critics have argued that conjoined writing styles leave many children struggling with the high level of gross and fine motor coordination required.[15]
![[icon]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aWiki_letter_w_cropped.svg) | This sectionneeds expansion with: an appropriate integration of Spencerian, Palmer Method, Zaner-Bloser, and D'Nealian methods in the United States as they evolved. You can help byadding to it.(March 2025) |
In the American colonies, on the eve of their independence from theKingdom of Great Britain, it is notable thatThomas Jefferson joined most, but not all the letters when drafting theUnited States Declaration of Independence. However, a few days later,Timothy Matlack professionally re-wrote the presentation copy of the Declaration in a fully joined, cursive hand. Eighty-seven years later, in the middle of the 19th century,Abraham Lincoln drafted theGettysburg Address in a cursive hand that would not look out of place today.
Not all such cursive, then or now, joined all of the letters within a word.
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In both the British Empire and the United States in the 18th and 19th centuries, before the typewriter, professionals used cursive for their correspondence. This was called a "fair hand", meaning it looked good, and firms trained all their clerks to write in exactly the same script.
Although women's handwriting had noticeably different particulars from men's[further explanation needed], the general forms were not prone to rapid change. In the mid-19th century, most children were taught the contemporary cursive; in the United States, this usually occurred in second or third grade (around ages seven to nine). Few simplifications appeared as the middle of the 20th century approached.[citation needed]
After the 1960s, a movement originally begun byPaul Standard in the 1930s to replace looped cursive with cursive italic penmanship resurfaced. It was motivated by the claim that cursive instruction was more difficult than it needed to be; that conventional (looped) cursive was unnecessary, and it was easier to write in cursive italic. Because of this, various new forms of cursive italic appeared, includingGetty-Dubay Italic, andBarchowsky Fluent Handwriting. In the 21st century, some of the surviving cursive writing styles areSpencerian,Palmer Method,Zaner-Bloser, andD'Nealian script.[16]
Numerous factors have impacted the declining use of English cursive in the United States. Largely, they have been technologically based, but in the 2000s cultural changes (such as diminished instruction of educators how to teach it) have also contributed to its marginalization. However, by the second decade of the 2000s “back to basics“ movements have emerged advocating for its preservation.
The declining emphasis on using cursive began in the 20th century, first from the introduction of the typewriter and its widespread adoption by the 1920s. The post-World War II proliferation of the inexpensiveballpoint pen added convenience to writing by hand and eliminated the flourishes liquid ink and flexible metal tips had allowed. In the digital era, the introduction of technologies such as the word processor and personal computer in the 1980s and smartphone in the 2000s have increasingly displaced all forms of handwriting, most significantly cursive.[17][18]
Cursive has also been in decline throughout the 21st century because it is no longer perceived as necessary.[19][20] The Fairfax Education Association, the largest teachers' union in Fairfax County, Virginia, has called cursive a "dying art".
On the 2006SAT, an American university matriculation exam, only 15 percent of the students wrote their essay answers in cursive.[21] However, students might be discouraged from using cursive on standardized tests because they will receive lower marks if their answers are hard to read, and some graders may have difficulties reading cursive.[22] Nevertheless, in 2007, a survey of 200 teachers of first through third grades in all 50 American states, 90 percent of respondents said their schools required the teaching of cursive.[23] In spite of this mandate, a nationwide survey in 2008 found elementary school teachers lacking formal training in teaching handwriting; only 12 percent reported having taken a course in how to teach it.[24]
In 2012, the American states ofIndiana andHawaii announced that their schools would no longer be required to teach cursive (but will still be permitted to), and instead will be required to teach "keyboard proficiency". NationwideCommon Core State Standards (which do not include instruction in cursive) were proposed in 2009 and had been adopted by 44 states as of July 2011—all of which have debated whether to augment them with cursive.[25][26]
Despite the decline in the day-to-day use of cursive, it is being reintroduced to the curriculum of some schools in the United States.California passed cursive handwriting legislation in 2023, adding to a wave of state legislation between 2013 and 2023 that requires the incorporation of cursive handwriting into elementary education.[27][28][29] Other states such asIdaho,Kansas,Massachusetts,North Carolina,South Carolina,New Jersey, andTennessee had already mandated cursive in schools as a part of the Back to Basics program designed to maintain the integrity of cursive handwriting.[30] Cursive instruction is required by grade 5 in Illinois, starting with the 2018–2019 school year.[31]
Some[who?] argue that cursive is not worth teaching in schools and "in the 1960s cursive was implemented because of preference and not an educational basis; Hawaii and Indiana have replaced cursive instruction with 'keyboard proficiency' and 44 other states are currently weighing similar measures."[32]
Many historical documents, such as the United States Constitution, are written in cursive. Some argue the inability to read cursive therefore precludes one from being able to fully appreciate such documents in their original format.[33]
Maria Montessori argued that writing with straight lines is more difficult than writing with curved lines and children would benefit from learning cursive first.[34]
Students withdyslexia, who have difficulty learning to read because their brains have difficulty associating sounds and letter combinations efficiently, have found that cursive can help them with the decoding process because it integrates hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills, and other brain and memory functions.[35] However, students withdysgraphia may be badly served, or even substantially hindered, by demands for cursive.[36]
Up to the 19th century,Kurrent (also known asGerman cursive) was used in German-language longhand. Kurrent was not used exclusively, but rather in parallel to modern cursive (which is the same as English cursive). Writers used both cursive styles: location, contents and context of the text determined which style to use. A successor ofKurrent,Sütterlin, was widely used in the period 1911–1941 until the Nazi Party banned it and its printed equivalentFraktur. German speakers brought up withSütterlin continued to use it well into the post-war period.
Today, three different styles of cursive writing are taught in German schools, theLateinische Ausgangsschrift [de] (introduced in 1953), theSchulausgangsschrift [de] (1968), and theVereinfachte Ausgangsschrift (1969).[37] The German National Primary Schoolteachers' Union has proposed replacing all three withGrundschrift, a simplified form of non-cursive handwriting adopted byHamburg schools.[38]
TheGreek alphabet has had several cursive forms in the course of its development. In antiquity, a cursive form of handwriting was used in writing onpapyrus. It employed slanted and partly connected letter forms as well as manyligatures. Some features of this handwriting were later adopted into Greek minuscule, the dominant form of handwriting in the medieval and early modern era. In the 19th and 20th centuries, an entirely new form of cursive Greek, more similar to contemporary Western European cursive scripts, was developed.
Modi is a cursive script used to writeMarathi that is thought to be derived from theDevanagari script.[39] It was used alongside Devanagari until the 20th century as a shorthand script for quick writing in business and administration. Due to the promotion of theBalbodh variant of Devanagari as the standard writing system for Marathi, Modi largely fell out of use by the mid-20th century. Since then there have been attempts to revive this script.[40]
A distinctive feature of this script is that the head stroke is written before the letters, in order to produce a "ruled page" for writing in lines. It has several characteristics that facilitate writing so that moving from one character to the next minimises lifting the pen from the paper for dipping in ink. Some characters are "broken" versions of their Devanagari counterparts. Many characters are more circular in shape. The long 'ī' (ई) and short 'u' (उ) are used in place of the short 'i' (इ) and long 'ū' (ऊ) respectively.[39]
Roman cursive is a form of handwriting (or ascript) used inancient Rome and to some extent into theMiddle Ages. It is customarily divided into old (or ancient) cursive, and new cursive. Old Roman cursive, also calledmajuscule cursive and capitalis cursive, was the everyday form of handwriting used for writing letters, by merchants writing business accounts, by schoolchildren learning theLatin alphabet, and even byemperors issuing commands. New Roman, also calledminuscule cursive or later cursive, developed from old cursive. It was used from approximately the 3rd century to the 7th century, and uses letter forms that are more recognizable to modern eyes; "a", "b", "d", and "e" have taken a more familiar shape, and the other letters are proportionate to each other rather than varying wildly in size and placement on a line.
TheRussian CursiveCyrillic alphabet is used (instead ofthe block letters) when handwriting the modernRussian language. While several letters resemble Latin counterparts, many of them represent different sounds. Most handwritten Russian, especially personal letters and schoolwork, uses the cursive Russian (Cyrillic) alphabet although use of block letters in private writing has been rising.[citation needed] Most children in Russian schools are taught in the first grade how to write using this Russian script.
Types ofhandwritten Europeanscripts | ||
|---|---|---|
| Ancient and medieval |  | |
| Modern | ||
| Teaching scripts | ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
