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.
Read more about this topic: Handedness
Famous quotes containing the words handwriting and, handwriting, written and/or language:
“Poets don’t draw. They unravel their handwriting and then tie it up again, but differently.”
—Jean Cocteau (1889–1963)
“Poets don’t draw. They unravel their handwriting and then tie it up again, but differently.”
—Jean Cocteau (1889–1963)
“Mr. Wiggam, I want you to change the policy of The Clarion. I want you to write a story I should have written myself long ago. I want you to tell the people of San Francisco that no city can exist without law and order. Write a story about that flag, write about what verifies and brings a promise of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. There are some people in this town who don’t seem to know that. Let The Clarion tell them.”
—Ben Hecht (1893–1964)
“Syntax and vocabulary are overwhelming constraints—the rules that run us. Language is using us to talk—we think we’re using the language, but language is doing the thinking, we’re its slavish agents.”
—Harry Mathews (b. 1930)