Handedness - Handwriting and Written Language

Handwriting and Written Language

Because writing when moving one's hand away from its side of the body can cause smudging if the outward side of the hand is allowed to drag across the writing, it is considered easier to write ABC... and other left-to-right-scripts with the right hand than with the left. Left-handed people who use Arabic, Persian, Urdu, Hebrew or any other right-to-left script do not have the same difficulties with writing. The right-to-left nature of these scripts prevents left-handers from running their hand on the ink as happens with left-to-right languages.

Left-to-right alphabets can be written smudge-free and in proper "forward slant" with the left-hand if the paper is turned 1/4 turn clockwise (90 degrees to the right), and the left-hand is drawn toward the body on forward strokes, and left to right on upward strokes (as expressed in directionality of the text). It is also possible to do calligraphy in this posture with the left-hand, but using right-handed pens. Otherwise, left-handed pens are required in order to get the thick-to-thin stroke shapes correct for most styles, and the left-handed calligrapher is very likely to smudge the text. Left-handed pens are not generally easy to find, and strokes may have to be done backwards from traditional right-handed calligraphic work rules to avoid nib jamming and splatter. Left-handed people have an advantage in learning 19th-century copperplate hands, which control line-width by pressure on the point.