Editing Regional handwriting variation (section)

==The Latin writing system==
'''The lowercase letter a''': This letter is often handwritten as the single-storey "ɑ" (a circle and a vertical line adjacent to the right of the circle) instead of the double-storey "a" found in many fonts. (See: [[A#Typographic variants]])

'''The lowercase letter g''': In Polish, this letter is often rendered with a straight descender without a hook or loop. This effectively means that a handwritten g looks much like a q in other writing traditions. The letter q, which is only used in foreign words and is extremely rare, is then disambiguated from g by adding a serif (often undulated) extending to the right from the bottom tip of the descender.

'''The lowercase letter p''': The French way of writing this character has a half-way ascender as the vertical extension of the descender, which also does not complete the bowl at the bottom. In early Finnish writing, the curve to the bottom was omitted, thus the resulting letter resembled an ''n'' with a descender (like ꞃ).

'''The lowercase letter q''': In block letters, some Europeans like to cross the descender to prevent confusion with the numeral ''9'', which also can be written with a straight stem. In North America the descender often ends with a hook curving up to the right ([[File:Rhv m q1.png]]). In Polish, the lowercase q is disambiguated from ''g'' by a serif extending from the bottom tip of the descender to the right.

'''The lowercase letter s''': See [[long s]].

'''The lowercase letters u and v''': These letters have a common origin and were once written according to the location in the word rather than the sound. The '''v''' came first;  the '''u''' originally had a loop extending to the left and was only used to start words. All other locations for either '''u''' or '''v''' were written with the latter. In Germany (especially southern Germany), Austria and Switzerland, lowercase '''u''' is often written with a horizontal stroke or swish over it (''ŭ'', ''ū'', ''ũ''), to distinguish it from '''n'''.{{Dubious |reason= Since the horizontal line/swish is commonly used as an umlaut in handwriting (see immediately following link), this usage is either obsolete, or possibly was never widespread.|date=July 2024}} (cf. [[German orthography#handwritten umlauts]])

'''The uppercase letter I''': This letter is often written with one stroke on the top of the letter and one on the bottom. This distinguishes it from the lowercase letter l, and the numeral 1, which is often written as a straight line without the ear.

'''The uppercase letter J''': In Germany, this letter is often written with a long stroke to the left at the top. This is to distinguish it from the capital letter "I".

'''The uppercase letter S''': In Japan, this letter is often written with a single [[serif]] added to the end of the stroke.

'''The uppercase letter Z''': This letter is usually written with three strokes. In parts of Europe such as Italy, Germany and Spain, it is commonly written with a short horizontal crossbar added through the middle.  This version is sometimes preferred in mathematics to help distinguish it from the numeral ''2''.  In [[Polish language|Polish]], the character [[Ƶ]] is used as an [[Allograph (handwriting)|allographic]] variant of the letter [[Ż]].  In Japan it is often written with a short diagonal crossbar through the middle ([[File:Rhv z1.png]]).<ref>[http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/psn/printer.cfm?id=1230 Medical Errors from Misreading Letters and Numbers].</ref> In France, it is often written with a loop at the bottom.

'''The lowercase letter z''': In the cursive style used in the United States and most Australian states (excluding South Australia), this letter is written as an [[ezh]] (ʒ).<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.education.vic.gov.au:443/school/teachers/teachingresources/discipline/english/Pages/handwriting.aspx |title=Handwriting fonts |publisher=Education and Training, State Government of Victoria, Australia |language=en|access-date=2019-10-01}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.australianschoolfonts.com.au/resources/ |title=Download Free Handwriting Resources |publisher=Australian School Fonts |access-date=2019-10-01}}</ref>
The parts of Europe that add a crossbar to the uppercase {{angbr|Z}} may also use it the lowercase version.