Thread: Handwritten Russian

You learn cursive because it is faster to write than printing.

arabic handwriting isn't that hard to read because it looks more or less like the way it's printed(it's printed as if it's in "cursive", that is all the letters are joined together).

russian handwriting was kind of hard for me to read. A ukrainian friend sent me letters and i had the same problems with lots of wavy lines everywhere. It didn't help that the little cusp you make before you write м, л, я, etc. was as tall as the и and ш in her handwriting

Is putting lines under ш and м a common thing in russian handwriting?

I hope so! It is the only way I can separate ш from щ and м from т.

I have noticed that some people use the little lines, some people don't, and most people do it part of the time and inconsistently.

Originally Posted by Rahul

A little off topic but in algebra do Russians use x and y or do they use something else?

Originally Posted by ekalin

Since he asked, let me extend the question: what about function symbols, such as "sin", "cos", "lim", etc.?

We use it. In general we use latin and greek alphabets in algebra.
x - "Iks", y - "Igrek", sin - "sInus", cos - "cOsinus", lim - "predEl" or "limIt".

X and Y aren't Latin anyway, I thought. Didn't the Arabs invent algebra and the corresponding symbols (which just happen to look like X and Y)?

no... X is a greek letter... would it be alright still to print... i mean people would still understand it right?

i always print russian, i don't want to learn cursive, yet. and i am always understood.

Writing Russian in cursive(скорописный) is the correct form for personal letters or notes. Only children (in Russia) print and only while they are learning to write. My friends and professors allways tell stories of the countless hours they labored over penmanship in school. Russians take pride in their hand writing skills and are always complementary when they see well written russian in cursive.

i guess i can expect alot fo kncuckle sandwiches then, because i have the worst handwriting in the world.

you should definately learn cursive asap. I have never even used the Russian print system, well one day actually. My teacher taught us cursive the first day when we learned the alphabet. So we had both at the same time. Its definately a lot easier to write.

Originally Posted by mike

X and Y aren't Latin anyway, I thought. Didn't the Arabs invent algebra and the corresponding symbols (which just happen to look like X and Y)?

X and Y to represent unknowns are a relatively recent invention. Until a couple of centuries ago, algebra was basically written out (like "take a number, add 2 to it and multiply by 3" to mean 3*(x+2)). So it cannot be an arabic invention. But you made me wonder where did the use of x and y came from...

The word algebra itself is Arabic, however it seems that one form or another was around since the times of ancient Egypt and Babylon (both of whom I am not sure count as Arabs or not, despite their modern descendants being so). To quote from algebra.com's History of Algebra: "An important development in algebra in the 16th century was the introduction of symbols for the unknown and for algebraic powers and operations." This does not seem to support your claim that symbols are only two centuries old, as it looks more like five. Unless by "couple" you weren't being literal.

Originally Posted by mike

Unless by "couple" you weren't being literal.

Exactly. You should know better than me that "a couple of something" means "a few something", and generally not "two of this something".

Cursive is invented for fast writing... English had it not long ago. I tried to write that way in school in 1860... But wait a copule of decades, and everyone will forget handwriting, including Russians