In Maharashtra, there was a version of cursive called 'Modi' to write Marathi language. 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. Looped cursive as taught in Britain in the mid-20th century In common printed Greek texts, the modern small letter fonts are called 'cursive' (as opposed to uncial) though the letters do not connect. In looped cursive penmanship, some ascenders and descenders have loops which provide for joins. This is generally what people refer to when they say 'cursive'. Italic Ĭursive italic penmanship-derived from chancery cursive-uses non-looped joins or no joins. In italic cursive, there are no joins from g, j, q, or y, and a few other joins are discouraged. 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 typed letters. Many, but not all, letters in the handwriting of the Renaissance were joined, as most are today in cursive italic. The origins of the cursive method are associated with 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 pens 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.

Ĭursive was also favored because the writing tool was rarely taken off the paper. The term cursive derives from Middle French cursif from Medieval Latin cursivus, which literally means running.

This term in turn derives from Latin currere ('to run, hasten'). Although the use of cursive appeared to be on the decline, it now seems to be coming back into use. William Shakespeare's will, written in secretary hand Ĭursive writing was used in English before the Norman conquest.

Cursive fonts in word