View source for Cursive

{{Short description|Style of penmanship}}
{{For multi|the Chinese cursive handwriting in calligraphy|Cursive script (East Asia)|the style of typeface|Italic type|the rock band|Cursive (band)}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2023}}
[[File:Spencerian example.jpg|thumb|Example of classic American business cursive handwriting known as [[Spencerian script]], from 1884]]

'''Cursive''' (also known as '''joined-up writing'''<ref>{{cite news |title=Do we need to teach children joined-up handwriting? |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-41927258 |access-date=28 March 2024 |work=BBC News |date=11 November 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Russell |first1=Helen |title=Signing off: Finnish schools phase out handwriting classes |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/31/finnish-schools-phase-out-handwriting-classes-keyboard-skills-finland |access-date=28 March 2024 |work=The Guardian |date=31 July 2015}}</ref>) is any style of [[penmanship]] in which characters are written joined in a flowing manner, generally for the purpose of making writing faster, in contrast to [[block 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 script|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.

== History ==
Cursive is a style of penmanship in which the symbols of the language are written in a [[wikt:conjoin|conjoined]], or flowing, manner, generally for the purpose of making writing faster. This writing style is distinct from "print-script" using [[block letters]], in which the letters of a word are unconnected. Not all cursive [[copybook (education)|copybooks]] join all letters; formal cursive is generally joined, but casual cursive is a combination of joins and pen lifts. In the [[Arabic alphabet|Arabic]], [[Syriac alphabet|Syriac]], [[Latin script|Latin]], and [[Cyrillic (script)|Cyrillic]] scripts, many or all letters in a word are connected (while others must not), sometimes making a word one single complex stroke. In [[cursive Hebrew|Hebrew cursive]] and [[Roman cursive]], the letters are not connected. In [[Maharashtra]], there was a cursive alphabet, known as the [[Modi alphabet|'Modi']] script, used to write the [[Marathi language]].

=== Subclasses ===
==== Ligature ====
{{Main|Ligature (writing)}}

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 to [[uncial]]) though the letters do not connect.

==== Looped ====
[[File:Looped cursive sample.jpg|thumb|alt=The first verse of "Good King Wenceslas" in cursive|Looped cursive, as taught in Britain in the mid-20th century]]

In ''looped cursive'' penmanship, some [[ascender (typography)|ascenders]] and [[descender]]s 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.<ref>{{Cite web |title=What is Cursive Writing? - Definition, History & Types |url=https://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-cursive-writing-definition-history-types.html |access-date=17 March 2022 |website=study.com}}</ref> The letters in this style have their own unique characteristics. For example the lowercase ''t'' is taller, while the lowercase ''v'' and ''w'' are rounder. Also, the lowercase ''x'' links out at the baseline.<ref>{{Cite web |date=n.d. |title=Writing & Rhetoric: Read-Loop Compare (sample) |url=https://www.exodusbooks.com/Samples/CEP/readloop_compare.pdf |access-date=2024-12-16 |website=Classical Academic Press}}</ref>

==== Italic ====
{{Main|Italic script}}

''Cursive italic'' penmanship—derived from [[chancery 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.<ref name="WSJ">{{cite news |url= https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704631504575531932754922518 |title=How Handwriting Boosts the Brain |first=Gwendolyn |last=Bounds |work=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |date=5 October 2010 |publisher=[[Dow Jones & Company|Dow Jones]] |location=[[New York, NY|New York]] |issn=0099-9660 |access-date=30 August 2011}}</ref>{{failed verification|date=March 2015}} Italic penmanship became popular in the 15th-century Italian Renaissance. The term "italic" as it relates to handwriting is not to be confused with [[italic type]]d letters. Many, but not all, letters in the handwriting of the Renaissance were joined, as most are today in cursive italic.

== Origin ==
The origins of the cursive method are associated with the practical advantages of writing speed and infrequent pen-lifting to accommodate the limitations of the [[quill]]. Quills are fragile, easily broken, and will spatter unless used properly. They also run out of ink faster than most contemporary writing utensils. Steel [[dip pen]]s followed quills; they were sturdier, but still had some limitations. The individuality of the provenance of a document (see [[Signature]]) was a factor also, as opposed to machine [[font]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Jean |first=Georges |author-link=Georges Jean |year=1997 |title=[[Writing: The Story of Alphabets and Scripts]] |series='[[Découvertes Gallimard|New Horizons]]' series |location=London |publisher=Thames and Hudson Ltd }}</ref> Cursive was also favoured because the writing tool was rarely taken off the paper.
The term ''cursive'' derives from [[Middle French]] {{lang|frm|cursif}} from [[Medieval Latin]] {{lang|la|cursivus}}, which literally means 'running'. This term in turn derives from [[Latin]] {{lang|la|currere}} ('to run, hasten').<ref>{{cite web |last=Harper |first=Douglas |title=cursive |url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=cursive |work=Online Etymology Dictionary |access-date=29 October 2011 }}</ref> Although by the 2010s, the use of cursive appeared to be on the decline, {{As of|2019|lc=y}} it seemed to be coming back into use.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Rueb |first1=Emily S. |title=Cursive Seemed to Go the Way of Quills and Parchment. Now It's Coming Back. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/13/education/cursive-writing.html |access-date=1 September 2019 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=13 April 2019}}</ref>

==Bengali==
[[File:Bangla cursive.jpeg|left|thumb|upright|Half of the [[National Anthem of Bangladesh]], written in cursive [[Bengali language|Bengali]]]]

In the Bengali cursive script<ref>{{cite conference |last1=Adak |first1=Chandranath |last2=Chaudhuri |first2=Bidyut B. |last3=Blumenstein |first3=Michael |title=Offline Cursive Bengalese Word Recognition Using CNNs with a Recurrent Model |chapter=Offline Cursive Bengali Word Recognition Using CNNS with a Recurrent Model |doi=10.1109/ICFHR.2016.0086 |conference=15th International Conference on Frontiers in Handwriting Recognition (ICFHR) |pages=429–434 |location=Shenzhen, China |date=23–26 October 2016 |isbn=978-1-5090-0981-7 }}</ref>
the letters are more likely to be more curvy in appearance than in standard Bengali handwriting.

== Chinese ==
{{main|Cursive script (East Asia)}}

Cursive forms of [[Chinese written language|Chinese characters]] are used in calligraphy; "running script" is the [[Semi-cursive script|semi-cursive]] form and "[[cursive script (East Asia)|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 strokes ''within'' an individual character than with connections between characters as in Western connected cursive. The latter are rare in [[hanzi]] and in the derived Japanese [[kanji]] characters which are usually well separated by the writer.

<gallery>
File:Semi-cursive style Calligraphy of Chinese poem by Mo Ruzhong.jpg|Semi-cursive style Calligraphy of Chinese poem by Mo Ruzheng
File:CMOC Treasures of Ancient China exhibit - classical poem in cursive script.jpg|Classical poem in cursive script at Treasures of Ancient China exhibit
File:Cursive characters dragon.jpg|Eight cursive characters for dragon
File:Calligraphy of Cursive and Semi-cursive styleby Dong Qichang.jpg|Calligraphy of both cursive and semi-cursive by [[Dong Qichang]]
File:Quatrain on Heavenly Mountain.jpg|Four columns in cursive script [[quatrain]] poem, Quatrain on Heavenly Mountain. Attributed to [[Emperor Gaozong of Song]], the tenth Chinese Emperor of the [[Song dynasty]]
File:ZhiYong1000charcter.jpg|One page of the album "Thousand Character classic in formal and Cursive script" attributed to Zhi Yong
</gallery>

== English ==
[[File:letter.posted.in.1894.arp.jpg|thumb|upright|An English letter from 1894, written in ''Continuous Cursive'']]
[[File:Shakespeare-Testament.jpg|thumb|[[William Shakespeare]]'s will, written in [[secretary hand]]<ref>''Cardenio, Or, the Second Maiden's Tragedy'', pp. 131–3: By William Shakespeare, [[Charles Hamilton (handwriting expert)|Charles Hamilton]], John Fletcher (Glenbridge Publishing Ltd., 1994) {{ISBN|0-944435-24-6}}</ref>]]

Cursive writing was used in English before the [[Norman Conquest]]. [[Anglo-Saxon charters]] typically include a boundary clause written in [[Old 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 the [[British Empire]]. In the English colonies of the early 17th century, most of the letters are clearly separated in the handwriting of [[William Bradford (1590-1657)|William Bradford]], though a few were joined as in a cursive hand. In England itself, Edward Cocker had begun to introduce a version of the French ''[[Ronde script (calligraphy)|ronde]]''<!-- sic --> style, which was then further developed and popularized throughout the [[British Empire]] in the 17th and 18th centuries as [[round hand]] by John Ayers and William Banson.<ref>{{cite book| last=Whalley|first=Joyce Irene| title=The Art of Calligraphy, Western Europe & America | year=1980| publisher=Bloomsbury| location=London| isbn=978-0-906223-64-2| page=400}}</ref>

=== Cursive writing in the United Kingdom ===
Today there is no standardised [[teaching script]] stipulated in the various [[national curriculum]]s for schools in the United Kingdom, only that one font style needs to be used consistently throughout the school.<ref name="SchoolReady"> Be School Ready – What Letter Font is Your Child’s School Teaching? ([https://teachhandwriting.blog/2019/08/29/be-school-ready-what-letter-font-is-your-childs-school-teaching/ online]), 29 August 2019, access date 30 March 2022 </ref> 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.<ref name="threehandwritingstages"> Teach handwriting: The three handwriting stages ([https://teachhandwriting.co.uk/three-stages-handwriting.html online]), access date 30 March 2022</ref> 

Characteristics of cursive and continuous cursive scripts:<ref name="Difference">What's The Difference between Cursive and Continuous Cursive Handwriting Fonts? ([https://teachhandwriting.blog/2017/11/09/whats-the-difference-between-cursive-and-continuous-cursive-handwriting-fonts/ online]), 9 November 2017, access date 30 March 2022</ref>
{|class="wikitable"
! 
! Cursive
! Continuous cursive
|-
! Starting point for letters
| Variable 
| Always on the writing line
|-
! Finishing point for letters
|colspan="2"| Always on the writing line (except for ''o, r, v'' and ''w'', 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 in [[Reception (school)|Reception]], critics have argued that conjoined writing styles leave many children struggling with the high level of gross and fine motor coordination required.<ref>Angela Webb: 'Continuous Cursive: Cure or Curse?', [[National Handwriting Association]] ([https://nha-handwriting.org.uk/handwriting/articles/continuous-cursive-cure-or-curse/ online]), access date 30 March 2022</ref>

=== Cursive writing in North America ===
{{expand section |an appropriate integration of Spencerian, Palmer Method, Zaner-Bloser, and D'Nealian methods in the United States as they evolved|date=March 2025}}

==== Development in the 18th and 19th centuries ==== 
In the American colonies, on the eve of their independence from the [[Kingdom of Great Britain]], it is notable that [[Thomas Jefferson]] joined most, but not all the letters when drafting the [[United 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 the [[Gettysburg 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.

[[File:HandwritingOfOneJohnJay(NotTheFamousOne).jpg|thumb|right|Cursive handwriting from the 19th-century US]]

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{{explain|date=December 2023}}, 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|date=December 2009}}

After the 1960s, a movement originally begun by [[Paul 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, including [[Getty-Dubay Italic]], and [[Barchowsky Fluent Handwriting]]. In the 21st century, some of the surviving cursive writing styles are [[Spencerian Method|Spencerian]], [[Palmer Method]], [[Zaner-Bloser Method|Zaner-Bloser]], and [[D'Nealian Method|D'Nealian]] script.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/from-punishing-to-pleasurable-how-cursive-writing-is-looping-back-into-our-hearts/2018/08/31/aa180b9c-aa06-11e8-a8d7-0f63ab8b1370_story.html| title=From punishing to pleasurable, how cursive writing is looping back into our hearts|newspaper=The Washington Post| first=Karen|last=Heller|date=2 September 2018|access-date=8 September 2018}}</ref>

==== Decline of English cursive in the United States ====
[[File:Cursive.png|alt=|thumb|[[D'Nealian|D'Nealian script]], a cursive alphabet, shown in [[lower case]] and [[upper case]]]]
{{see also|Cursive handwriting instruction in the United States}}

Numerous factors have affected 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 inexpensive [[ballpoint 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.<ref>{{Cite news |title = How The Ballpoint Pen Killed Cursive |url = https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/08/ballpoint-pens-object-lesson-history-handwriting/402205/ |work = The Atlantic |date = 28 August 2015 |first = Josh |last = Giesbrecht |access-date = 30 October 2015}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |title = The Decline of Handwriting |last = Enstrom |first = E. A. |year = 1965 |journal = The Elementary School Journal |volume = 66 |issue = 1 |pages = 22–27 |doi = 10.1086/460256|s2cid = 144897364 }}</ref>

Cursive has also been in decline throughout the 21st century because it is no longer perceived as necessary.<ref name="Shapiro">{{Cite news |last=Shapiro |first=T. Rees |date=4 April 2013 |title=Cursive handwriting is disappearing from public schools |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/cursive-handwriting-disappearing-from-public-schools/2013/04/04/215862e0-7d23-11e2-a044-676856536b40_story.html |access-date=30 October 2015 |issn=0190-8286}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Braiker |first=Brian |date=25 January 2011 |title=Tossing the Script: The End of the Line for Cursive? |work=ABC News |url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/end-cursive/story?id=12749517 |access-date=30 October 2015}}</ref> The Fairfax Education Association, the largest teachers' union in Fairfax County, Virginia, has called cursive a "dying art".

On the 2006 [[SAT]], an American university matriculation exam, only 15 percent of the students wrote their essay answers in cursive.<ref name="washpost">{{cite news |title=The Handwriting Is on the Wall |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=11 October 2006 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/10/AR2006101001475_2.html}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/aug/22/exam-markers-complain-about-students-blue-ink-scribbles |title=Poor handwriting 'may hinder students' chances of exam success' |first=Richard |last=Adams |date=21 August 2016 |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=14 November 2018}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite news |title=Schools debate: Is cursive writing worth teaching? |newspaper= [[USA Today]] |date=23 January 2009 |url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2009-01-23-cursive-handwriting_N.htm}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Graham|first1=Steve|last2=Harris |first2=Karen R. |last3=Mason |first3=Linda |last4=Fink-Chorzempa |first4=Barbara |last5=Moran |first5=Susan |last6=Saddler |first6=Bruce |title=How do primary grade teachers teach handwriting? A national survey |journal=Reading and Writing |year=2008 |volume=21|issue=1–2|pages=49–69|doi=10.1007/s11145-007-9064-z|publisher=Springer Netherlands|location=New York|s2cid=143793778|issn=0922-4777}}</ref>

In 2012, the American states of [[Indiana]] and [[Hawaii]] 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". Nationwide [[Common 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.<ref name="Time Newsfeed">{{cite magazine |url= https://newsfeed.time.com/2011/07/06/typing-beats-scribbling-indiana-schools-can-stop-teaching-cursive/?iid=nfmostpopular |title=Typing Beats Scribbling: Indiana Schools Can Stop Teaching Cursive |first=Kayla |last=Webley |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=6 July 2011|access-date=30 August 2011}}</ref><ref>[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/01/hawaii-no-longer-requires_n_915402.html "Hawaii No Longer Requires Teaching Cursive In Schools"]. Education. ''The Huffington Post''. 1 August 2011.</ref>

==== <span class="anchor" id="Conservation efforts and cognitive benefits"></span> Conservation efforts and effects on the learning disabled ====

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.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Blume |first=Howard |date=2024-01-08 |title=Learning cursive in school, long scorned as obsolete, is now the law in California |url=https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-01-08/topsy-curvy-cursive-writing-returns-to-the-list-of-priorities-in-california-schools |access-date=2024-01-09 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>Heubeck, E. (2023, November 16). ''More States Require Schools to Teach Cursive Writing. Why?'' Education Week. Retrieved November 24, 2023, from https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/more-states-require-schools-to-teach-cursive-writing-why/2023/11 </ref><ref>''Bill Text: CA AB446 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Chaptered''. (n.d.). LegiScan. Retrieved November 24, 2023, from https://legiscan.com/CA/text/AB446/id/2845873 </ref> Other states such as [[Idaho]], [[Kansas]], [[Massachusetts]], [[North Carolina]], [[South Carolina]], [[New Jersey]], and [[Tennessee]] had already mandated cursive in schools as a part of the Back to Basics program designed to maintain the integrity of cursive handwriting.<ref>{{Cite news|title = Is cursive handwriting slowly dying out in America?|url = https://www.pbs.org/newshour/education/long-held-tradition-cursive-handwriting-slowly-dying-america|work = PBS NewsHour|access-date = 30 October 2015}}</ref> Cursive instruction is required by grade 5 in Illinois, starting with the 2018–2019 school year.<ref>{{Cite web|title = An act concerning education|url = http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/publicacts/fulltext.asp?Name=100-0548|website = ILGA.gov|access-date = 30 August 2018}}</ref> 

Some{{who|date=December 2015}} 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."<ref>{{Cite journal |title = Is Cursive Handwriting Going Extinct? |url = http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/is-cursive-handwriting-going-extinct-734564/ |journal= Smithsonian |access-date = 30 October 2015 |first=Angela |last=Serratore |date=6 March 2013}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{Cite magazine|title = Five Reasons Kids Should Still Learn Cursive Writing|url = https://time.com/2820780/five-reasons-kids-should-still-learn-cursive-writing/|magazine = Time |access-date = 30 October 2015|first = Katy|last = Steinmetz |date=4 June 2014 }}</ref> 

[[Maria Montessori]] argued that writing with straight lines is more difficult than writing with curved lines and children would benefit from learning cursive first.<ref>Montessori, M. (1964). ''The Montessori method'' (A. E. George, trans.; first Schocken paperback edition.). Schocken Books.</ref>

Students with [[dyslexia]], 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.<ref>{{Cite news |title = How cursive can help students with dyslexia connect the dots |url = https://www.pbs.org/newshour/education/connecting-dots-role-cursive-dyslexia-therapy |work = PBS NewsHour |date=6 May 2014 |access-date = 30 October 2015}}</ref> However, students with [[dysgraphia]] may be badly served, or even substantially hindered, by demands for cursive.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Myths and Fact&nbsp;... Dysgraphia|url = https://www.nursingcenter.com/journalarticle?Article_ID=789157|website = Nursing |access-date = 8 October 2018}}</ref>

== German ==
{{multiple image
 | width  = 150
 | image1 = Deutsche Kurrentschrift.svg
 | alt1   = Alphabet sample of German "Kurrentschrift"
 | image2 = Vereinfachte Ausgangsschrift.png
 | alt2   = Alphabet sample of German "Vereinfachte Ausgangsschrift"
 | footer = {{lang|de|[[Kurrent]]}} (left, pre-19th century) and {{lang|de|[[Vereinfachte Ausgangsschrift]]}} (right, from 1969)
}}

Up to the 19th century, {{lang|de|[[Kurrent]]}} (also known as ''German 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 of {{lang|de|Kurrent}}, {{lang|de|[[Sütterlin]]}}, was widely used in the period 1911–1941 until the Nazi Party banned it and its printed equivalent {{lang|de|[[Fraktur]]}}. German speakers brought up with {{lang|de|Sütterlin}} continued to use it well into the post-war period.

Today, three different styles of cursive writing are taught in German schools, the {{ill|Lateinische Ausgangsschrift|de|Lateinische Ausgangsschrift|vertical-align=sup}} (introduced in 1953), the {{ill|Schulausgangsschrift|de|Schulausgangsschrift|vertical-align=sup}} (1968), and the {{lang|de|[[Vereinfachte Ausgangsschrift]]}} (1969).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://grundschrift-schreibschrift.de|title=Grundschrift-Schreibschrift|work=grundschrift-schreibschrift.de}}</ref> The German National Primary Schoolteachers' Union has proposed replacing all three with {{lang|de|[[Grundschrift]]}}, a simplified form of non-cursive handwriting adopted by [[Hamburg]] schools.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/jun/29/germany-teachers-handwriting-schools-schreibschrift |title=German teachers campaign to simplify handwriting in schools |first=Helen |last=Pidd |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=29 June 2011}}</ref>

== Greek ==
{{Main|History of the Greek alphabet|Greek minuscule}}
[[File:Greek manuscript cursive 6th century.png|thumb|right|Greek cursive script, 6th century CE]]

The [[Greek alphabet]] has had several cursive forms in the course of its development. In antiquity, a cursive form of handwriting was used in writing on [[papyrus]]. It employed slanted and partly connected letter forms as well as many [[Typographic ligature|ligatures]]. 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.

== Marathi ==
{{Main|Modi script}}
[[File:Dnyaneshwari_Verse_In_Modi_Script.png|thumb|right|A verse from the ''[[Dnyaneshwari]]'' in the Modi script]]

Modi is a cursive script used to write [[Marathi Language|Marathi]] that is thought to be derived from the [[Devanagari]] script.<ref name="modi">{{cite web |url=https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2011/11212r2-n4034-modi.pdf |title=N4034: Proposal to Encode the Modi Script in ISO/IEC 10646 |first=Anshuman |last=Pandey |publisher=ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2/WG2 |date=5 November 2011}}</ref> 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 the [[Balbodh]] 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.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/Band-of-researchers-enthusiasts-strive-to-keep-Modi-script-alive/articleshow/30761335.cms |title=Band of researchers, enthusiasts strive to keep Modi script alive |date=21 February 2014 |website=[[The Times of India]] |url-status=live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141210021102/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/Band-of-researchers-enthusiasts-strive-to-keep-Modi-script-alive/articleshow/30761335.cms |archive-date=10 December 2014}}</ref>

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.<ref name="modi" />

== Roman ==
{{Main|Roman cursive}}
[[File:Hocgracili.jpg|thumb|right|Example of old Roman cursive]]

''Roman cursive'' is a form of handwriting (or a [[script (styles of handwriting)|script]]) used in [[ancient Rome]] and to some extent into the [[Middle Ages]]. It is customarily divided into old (or ancient) cursive, and new cursive. Old Roman cursive, also called [[majuscule]] cursive and capitalis cursive, was the everyday form of handwriting used for writing letters, by merchants writing business accounts, by schoolchildren learning the [[Latin alphabet]], and even by [[Roman emperor|emperors]] issuing commands. New Roman, also called [[minuscule 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.
{{Clear}}

== Russian ==
{{Main|Russian cursive}}
[[File:Russian Cursive Cyrillic.svg|thumb|right|The standard modern Russian Cyrillic cursive alphabet with uppercase and lowercase letters, used in school education]]

The ''Russian Cursive [[Cyrillic]]'' alphabet is used (instead of [[Russian alphabet|the block letters]]) when handwriting the modern [[Russian 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|date=September 2020}} Most children in Russian schools are taught in the first grade how to write using this Russian script.

== Examples ==
<gallery>
File:Greek Handwriting-aaa3.png|Table of 19th-century Greek cursive letter forms
File:Carta-caminha.png|[[Letter of Pero Vaz de Caminha|Letter to Manuel I of Portugal by Pero Vaz de Caminha]] reporting the discovery of [[Brazil]] (1 May 1500)
File:Lessing Kleist-Brief.jpg|A letter from [[Gotthold Ephraim Lessing|Lessing]] to [[Ewald Christian von Kleist|Kleist]], written in [[Kurrent]] (14 March 1758)
File:United States Declaration of Independence.jpg|[[United States Declaration of Independence]] (4 July 1776)
File:Bold running hand script exemplar by Joseph Carstairs published 1820.jpg|Bold running hand exemplar by English chirographer [[Joseph carstairs|Joseph Carstairs]] (1820)
File:Spencerian example.jpg|Example of classic American business handwriting known as [[Spencerian script]] (1884)
</gallery>

== See also ==
{{portal|Writing}}
{{div col|colwidth=25em}}
*[[Asemic writing]]
*[[Bastarda]]
*[[Blackletter]]
*[[Book hand]]
*[[Calligraphy]]
*[[Chancery hand]]
*[[Court hand]]
*[[Cursive script (East Asia)]] (Grass script)
*[[D'Nealian Method]]
*[[Emphasis (typography)]]
*[[Hand (writing style)]]
*[[Handwriting]]
*[[Hieratic]] and [[Cursive hieroglyphs]]
*[[History of writing]]
*[[Italic script]]
*[[Library hand]]
*[[Palaeography]]
*[[Palmer Method]]
*[[Paper]]
*[[Pen]]
*[[Ronde script (calligraphy)]]
*[[Rotunda (script)]]
*[[Round hand]]
*[[Secretary hand]]
*[[Shorthand]]
*[[Spencerian Method]]
*[[Sütterlin]] and [[Kurrent]] – German cursive
*[[Zaner-Bloser Method]]
{{div col end}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20130331132116/http://hans.presto.tripod.com/penman/ The Golden Age of American Penmanship], including scans of the January 1932 issue of [[Austin Norman Palmer]]'s ''American Penman''
*[http://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/teachers/teachingresources/discipline/english/Pages/handwriting.aspx Normal and Bold Victorian Modern Cursive electronic fonts for downloading]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20090726042948/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1912419,00.html Mourning the Death of Handwriting], a ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine article on the demise of cursive handwriting
*[https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/09/04/opinion/20090908_opart.html Op-Art: The Write Stuff], a ''New York Times'' article on the advantages of italic hand over both full cursive and block printing
*[https://www.italic-handwriting.org/exemplars The Society for Italic Handwriting], supporters of teaching a simplified cursive hand
*[https://mashable.com/archive/technology-and-cursive Has Technology Killed Cursive Handwriting?]—[[Mashable]], 11 June 2013
*[http://www.cursivelogic.com/why-cursive/ Why Cursive Still Matters in Education]
*[https://parentology.com/is-cursive-writing-coming-back-it-looks-like-it/ Cursive Coming Back in the US Schools]
*[https://cdm16884.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16884coll103/id/398 Hausam's practical writing course. 1917] State Library of Kansas' KGI Online Library
*Twinkl. ''Cursive Handwriting''. Twinkl, n.d., https://www.twinkl.com/teaching-wiki/cursive-handwriting. Accessed 16 Dec. 2024.

{{European calligraphy}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Calligraphy]]
[[Category:Penmanship]]
[[Category:Western calligraphy]]
[[Category:Writing]]