Backtrack-Free Cursive

(mmapped.blog)

28 points | by dmit 2 hours ago

5 comments

  • golem14 2 minutes ago
    You may want to look into Sütterlin script. It's a bit harder to learn than standard cursive, but it's very pretty, and a level-0 encryption since few people can read it nowadays.
  • kqr 19 minutes ago
    For anyone interested in optimising this further, orthographic (letter-based) cursive shorthand systems are the answer. I personally only know part of the Melin system[1], but there are variants designed for English as the primary language too. (Melin is of course perfectly usable with English also.)

    The flow of a cursive shorthand system is unmatched by anything else. I highly recommend learning enougnh to experience it.

    (The drawback with more phonetic systems like Gregg is that one has to learn entirely new ways of spelling words. But normal English spelling is so complicated that tradeoff can be worth it for heavy usage. Orthographic systems often also contain phonetic components, but they tend to be optional extensions that improve efficiency, rather than required like with purely phonetic systems.)

    [1]: http://melinsstenografi.nu/image/sti-ukast.png

  • shakow 56 minutes ago
    > Only й and э require two strokes

    Wouldn't the ф as well?

    > [for the x], I draw two mirrored c’s

    Isn't that what everyone is doing, or are we Frenchmen the exception?

    For reference if the author reads this, we write the latin x exactly like the cyrillic х, i.e. reverse c, bottom-left to top-right diagonal, normal c.

    • phoronixrly 52 minutes ago
      > Wouldn't the ф as well?

      Not if you write it as qo for lower case and oJo for capital.

      • shakow 40 minutes ago
        Oh nice, I was taught to write it first a “barless small-case f”, then an “infinite” in the middle.
  • voidUpdate 1 hour ago
    You only need 1 backtrack if you do the dots and crosses after you've written the word
    • rahimnathwani 22 minutes ago
      Right, but multiply that by half the total number of words, and it's a lot.
  • turtleyacht 1 hour ago
    Usually writing small, in all-caps, except code: in lowercase, and the "t" and "i" retain their lower curve. Cursive is difficult; easy to write, but (later) hard to read.

    Can see how penmanship there would be appreciated.