I wrote my son letters whilst he was on tour in Afghanistan. After the second letter he told me to please print as he couldn't read cursive. I was crushed...
It seems to me that it shouldn't be too hard to figure out cursive even if you never learned it. Most of the letters aren't all that different that the printed ones, unless you writing in capital Gs and Qs. But I'm kind of happy that my old fart friends and I will be able to write in a language the younger generation won't understand. We'll just write in complete, non-abbreviated, sentences in cursive. Woot.
Yeah, my daughters mock both my text-ing speed and my insistence on reasonably close grammar and spellin'. I thought with a little effort he could read it, but then my cursive has been compared to Sanskrit written by a left handed Bengali-speaking-German.
there's a big difference between teaching "cursive" and "penmanship." Cursive is a naturally flowing script that would seem to be a natural extension of writing large bodies of work; penmanship is the refined and standardized version of that. If I'm writing anything over 3 letters the pen (mostly) stays on the paper in at least a hybrid print/cursive style; as is probably the case with the vast majority of people. And with apologies to the poster who's son served in AFG, but how is anyone with a high school diploma lacking the mental capacity to be able to read cursive, whether or not they were ever officially "taught" it? The language is the same; just a slight stylistic difference no more varying that of most Word Doc fonts. I venture to predict none of us on here was ever taught ye Olde English, but I'm guessing we could all stumble through it; and that's nearly a different language at this point.
My son did say he can read it but has no idea how to write it after I made this post. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk
did you tell him the pen just stays on the paper? I get not being able to instinctively pen proper "s"s and such, but the general concept is pretty simple. I'm not trying to be insulting. I just can't understand how people can't understand...you understand me?
You think you can read Old English? So, what's it say? Technically, this is a modern rendition of Old English as Old English was written in ruins. Unless you are an archaeologist specializing in this period, I doubt you can read real Old English. This what the above says- LO, praise of the prowess of people-kings of spear-armed Danes, in days long sped, we have heard, and what honor the athelings won! Oft Scyld the Scefing from squadroned foes, from many a tribe, the mead-bench tore, awing the earls. Since erst he lay friendless, a foundling, fate repaid him: for he waxed under welkin, in wealth he throve, till before him the folk, both far and near, who house by the whale-path, heard his mandate, gave him gifts: from beowulf. Granted, there is more going on here than cursive to print. Also, I did mention the problem could have been my extremely poor penmanship (i.e., sanskrit...).
Here is what Old English 'originally' looked like: We've come a long way. Cursive will or is already being replaced by newer permutations of our language. Actually, from an anthropological perspective, it interesting to see the evolution of language happening before our very eyes. The third row, 6th rune is 'God'.
I was actually going to ask what you do for a living, since it would have to be focused around some aspect of literature, communications, or perhaps archaeology. You're a carpenter according to your profile. I was way off :D What drives your interest in the study of language and the written word? You seem pretty knowledgeable. I mean, as far as I know, Old English hasn't been taught locally here in...well...a LONG time.
long story short, my major in college was forensics anthropology with a minor in classical philosophy (non-language related due to science as major). Had 3 kids and turned out I was married to the Great W***e of Babylon who bailed. I had to do something so...here I am as a carpenter. Like the job but at times it is not particularly challenging. Then again, I had to review my calculus to derive an equation from the Fourier Transformation that would facilitate me in creating a particularly challenging geometrical shape. Anyway, anthropology is my real love, after fly fishing, et al.. Yeah, there are fewer than half a dozen runic poems, and I believe these are only in pieces. Beowulf in its original format was middle english. And no, I cannot read it without going almost letter by letter with lotsa academic assistance from journals... Anyway, forensic anthropology has more to do with the application of the cultural and biological context of a (usually) deceased individual for judicial purposes. Ever watch Bones? Sorta like that without the drama.
Hmmm, interesting point. I think the difference between a 'font' and 'cursive' is a letter can change its shape based on the letters before/after. As an example, the 'wi' connection (as in 'with') and the 'gi' (as in 'legislative'). A look at the Declaration of Independence shows the 'i' in 'wi' starts at about the 1/3 mark whereas the 'i' in 'gi' starts at the bottom. Still, I think the defacto result is cursive could be viewed as a font. I wonder what Mrs. Straussberger, my 3rd grade teacher, would say if I asked her if cursive was a font? Probably would have got another 3 strokes with the paddle. I got lotsa paddles...
Read/identify the modern character equivalent- yes. Pronounce it - mostly. Translate it, no. I guess I was oversimplifying in my original statement. I was referring to "Olde English" as in what most of us think of when we think of as the writing style on English tavern signs, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Shakespeare, etc.
