Handwriting

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I don't understand why the D'Nealian Cursive I looks nothing like an I. Ok, the G, Q and Z look weird too but at least you can see some resemblance with the Latin original letter. But the I? Are the American cursive letters some 18th century leftovers like the US measurement system?

Wilpeter · Accepted Answer

Based on the images available online of the D’Nealian Cursive, it differs from the New American Cursive.  The capital letters “I” and “F” are different.  What is your point?  For my lifetime, I have used the D'Nealian Cursive - although I had never before heard its name - and quite like it.  Because it has been practiced for so many years, it is much like grammar--it becomes accepted for what it is.  Handwritten documents of births and deaths would be unreadable if we decide to make our teaching match printed letters.

Anonymous · Answer

My point is: understanding. The US cursive capital I does not look like an I at all. I am looking for an explanation for that phenomenon. All Latin cursive fonts outside the US are perfectly capable writing and I that looks like an I.

Wilpeter · Answer

The Constitution of the United States was written in Cursive, yet there's a bill in USA that, if passed, will stop cursive handwriting in favour of printing I suppose.  I grew up with it in England, and I can't imagine we elders will change.  It is one of the problems of the faster pace of living brought about with the computer age.  The New American Cursive writing may very well become out of fashion, but historians will have to know it--in much the same way as they must know Latin.

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