Cursive Lowercase "r"

[Mr Ink]

As a matter of curiosity, how do you write your cursive lowercase (minuscule) letter "r"?

 

Multiple answers are possible because I am aware that some individuals use more than one form of the letter "r", depending on its position in a given word.

 

http://i1353.photobucket.com/albums/q668/torpiano/LowercaseR_zpsdbe32581.jpg

Edited January 6, 2013 by Mr Ink

[The Good Captain]

Usually, more like Image 1 but sometimes it will be anywhere between 1 and 2. I'd only print or use 3 when writing a capital letter.

[pmhudepo]

I voted for option/image 2 because that's what I use most often. However, option 1 occasionally sneaks in, particularly at the end of a word.

[wyldphyre]

I went with option 1 because it's fairly close to what I do (see below).

 

As for the second character in the OP's image, I'd love to be able to talk to the person/people who decided to write a cursive lowercase 'r' that way in the first place. Not trying to to offend anyone, but every time I see someone write an 'r' like that I cringe and can't help but think they need to be shown what an 'r' actually looks like .

 

 

[gawain3]

This is the r the nuns taught me oh so many years ago. I've tried others, but this one will not go away.

[Mr Ink]

Although only a few people have voted so far, I find the comments that have been posted very interesting. Thank you all.

 

I had been taught in primary school (run by Catholic nuns, if that matters) to write my lowercase "r" as in image 2, but I was never happy with the results of my efforts. Eventually, at a very young age, I decided to change to the "r" depicted in image 1. It somehow felt "better" to write it that way, and I persist to this day. Without meaning any disrespect to anyone, I could never understand how the letter-form in image 2 could represent the letter "r", because it did not resemble the printed form of that letter (at least to my eye).

 

I was reading somewhere on the Internet that a more recent fashion, in many parts of the USA as well as France and a few other European countries, is to capitalize the letter (i.e. as R) throughout the text. I was rather surprised by this and was wondering why such a change would have developed.

Edited January 6, 2013 by Mr Ink

[mirosc]

Without meaning any disrespect to anyone, I could never understand how the letter-form in image 2 could represent the letter "r", because it did not resemble the printed form of that letter (at least to my eye).

It does, if you know the origin of this letterform.

It's quite old, going back more than 1800 years and is derived from a OR-ligature. You can compare it to the OE-ligature: Œ, like in the french oeuvre, or the AE-ligature like in Æthelstan. The upright stem of the R is left out and so the rest of the R looked a bit like the number 2. Later the angle between the upper round curve and the diagonal line is rounded for faster writing. In former times OR was elongated and got a vertical stroke to show some abbreviations so that the result looked a bit like the number 4.

This version of the R was only used in ligatures, but in modern times they were looking for a fast cursive and re-introduced this letterform and gave it a completely unhistorical upstroke, so that they could use it in their writings. So this "r" is in reality a "R" from the end of a word and it's missing its vertical stem.

Palaeographically speaking this "r" (your number 2) is utter nonsense, but it's serving a purpose nonetheless.

[peterpen53]

In school I was taught the lowercase r as in sample 2, but when I adopted italic I moved to sample 1. And I always lift my pen after an r so no ligature. Number 3 only serves as a capital letter although I usually add a bit of a flourish.

And no offense, but I think I could never write an r like gawain3 does.

[Mickey]

Without meaning any disrespect to anyone, I could never understand how the letter-form in image 2 could represent the letter "r", because it did not resemble the printed form of that letter (at least to my eye).

It does, if you know the origin of this letterform.

It's quite old, going back more than 1800 years and is derived from a OR-ligature. You can compare it to the OE-ligature: Œ, like in the french oeuvre, or the AE-ligature like in Æthelstan. The upright stem of the R is left out and so the rest of the R looked a bit like the number 2. Later the angle between the upper round curve and the diagonal line is rounded for faster writing. In former times OR was elongated and got a vertical stroke to show some abbreviations so that the result looked a bit like the number 4.

This version of the R was only used in ligatures, but in modern times they were looking for a fast cursive and re-introduced this letterform and gave it a completely unhistorical upstroke, so that they could use it in their writings. So this "r" is in reality a "R" from the end of a word and it's missing its vertical stem.

Palaeographically speaking this "r" (your number 2) is utter nonsense, but it's serving a purpose nonetheless.

 

Interesting information, as is usual from you, and, as is not usual, it stimulated a little thought on my part. I throw out this hair-brained theory for your consideration. I have no paleographic evidence to offer in support of it, only my own experience and observation.

 

As I was (originally) taught to write the cursive r (many, many, many years ago) the sequence of strokes was an upstroke, a very tight anti-clockwise loop (upper left corner), a short, slightly slanted, curved horizontal, and, then the finishing down-stroke. Observe that if you gradually open up the tight loop (upper left corner), the resulting figure increasing resembles a Roman majuscule R, the lead in stroke replacing the original vertical-stroke and the last two strokes substituting for the diagonal leg.)

 

I don't know if this notion has any historical validity, but it does make a certain geometric / kinesthetic sense. (Whenever my cursive r starts to becomes suspect, I make it a point to remember the loop and the letter form quickly improves.)

[ethernautrix]

#2, but I love answer #5.

[Achim]

1 - it's nearly the same as the one of gawain3 (if I try to write neatly, that is).

[JonSzanto]

What is this cursive you speak of?

[mirosc]

Interesting information, as is usual from you, and, as is not usual, it stimulated a little thought on my part. I throw out this hair-brained theory for your consideration. I have no paleographic evidence to offer in support of it, only my own experience and observation.

 

As I was (originally) taught to write the cursive r (many, many, many years ago) the sequence of strokes was an upstroke, a very tight anti-clockwise loop (upper left corner), a short, slightly slanted, curved horizontal, and, then the finishing down-stroke. Observe that if you gradually open up the tight loop (upper left corner), the resulting figure increasing resembles a Roman majuscule R, the lead in stroke replacing the original vertical-stroke and the last two strokes substituting for the diagonal leg.)

 

I don't know if this notion has any historical validity, but it does make a certain geometric / kinesthetic sense. (Whenever my cursive r starts to becomes suspect, I make it a point to remember the loop and the letter form quickly improves.)

 

Thank you for your praise.

I'm writing the "r" also with a loop (if I am writing it that way, usually I write it like it figure 1). But this is not for historical reasons (we don't see the strokes made this way in the manuscripts - there's no upstroke, but the O is separated from the rest of the word and in a later stage it's just a "4" starting with a hook on the left), but for practical. When writing fast the "r" without a loop easily looks like a "n" something similar, but with the loop (which is rather the pen returning on a slightly different path than an actual perfect loop; in my opinion) the letterform becomes more pronounced and more legible - just like you have observed.

[jbb]

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8220/8354912678_245e8f1178_b.jpg

[glinn]

It's probably just me but I love that Gawain3 used 'wire' as an example of a cursive 'r' when the letter form looks exactly like how I form a cursive 'n' thus the word reads 'wine'.

 

Gary

[mboschm]

Nº 2 when writing cursive (90% of the time). If I fancy some italic, then it's nº 1, but that's something I don't often do.

[HDoug]

I learned #2, then changed handwriting to italic and it became #1, but minuscule r has a number of variants that I'm currently very fascinated with. So thanks for this post/poll!

 

Here is a manuscript from the 15th century that has a number of variants. The middle line has three variants if I read correctly (having no knowledge of Italian):

 

Comel nostro sperar torna fallacie

 

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8353/8354065809_323646fffa_b.jpg

 

Then theres another variant that looks like a "z" and finally one that looks like a 2. I've seen them in manuscript but can't find a quick image other than in type:

 

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8186/8355155356_5ee94446e9_m.jpg

 

When i find some good examples, I'll post, but please feel free (everyone) to beat me to it!

 

Doug

[Susan3141]

Like many people, I was taught #2, but ever since reading Getty/Dubay I've been trying to do #1 (sounds like potty talk). . My rs are never consistent, though, or pretty. Jbb's writing above is lovely. I wish I could make rs like that, but they always look like ns.

[Draless]

Heres mine

 

 

[mboschm]

I guess I may post a sample as well.

Mine is a catalan tong-twister, designed to teach kids pronounce the rolled "r" (and to give a hard time to those who can not): it goes "Un carro carregat de rocs corria per la carretera de Roses fent catacric-catacroc, i el carreter, carregat de ràbia, li corria al darrere" (meaning: a carriage full of rocks ran on Roses -A town- road, making cracking noises and the muleteer, full of rage, ran behind").

 

 

http://i1148.photobucket.com/albums/o565/mboschm/DSC_0289.jpg