UNSHIP. 



LESSONS IN PENMANSHIP. XXX I V. 



MODERN 



;, 'ing our LcHaons in PenmunHhip to a conclusion in th<< 

 present number, we toko the opportunity to give a specimen of 

 tho handwriting in use among the modern Greeks. As many 

 of our readers are doubtless aware, the alphabet of the modern 

 Greek language is 

 identical with that 

 of the ancient 

 tongue ; but as the 

 latter alphabet can 

 only bo written slow- 

 ly, owing to tho pe- 

 culiar formation of 

 many of the letters, 

 the modern Greeks 

 have adopted in 

 their handwriting 

 several of tho forms 

 of letters used in 

 tho current Italian 

 hand, and have 

 slightly modified the 

 printed shapes of 

 the others. Thus 

 we find that tho 

 capital letters A, 

 B,E,I,K,M,N, 

 O, and T, as well 

 as the small letters 

 E, b, O, and 8 (final), 

 are identical in form 

 with those in use by 

 us. The reader will 

 also perceive that 

 the sign for the capi- 

 tal letter Eta is the 

 same as that for our 



English H , as in tho printed characters, whilst that for tho 

 capital letter Rho is identical with that for P. Upsilon, both 

 capital and small, is formed in the same manner as our F. 

 Small i differs from our letter i only in having no dot. The 

 other letters are all modifications of the ancient forms, which 

 the student can easily acquire for himself by carefully imitating 

 the copy we have given. It will be observed that, from the 



but their use is gradually dying out, as iuutily.written 



Greek is quite difficult enough to read without an admixture of 



almost arbitrary abbreviations. 



The numerals in general use are the Arabic; the Greek and 

 Roman numerals being only occasionally used for dates, or to 



off / 



AM the modern Greek is essentially an sfftntnsfH 



care most be Ukea 

 to place the aoeeate 

 over the proper syl- 

 lables in each word. 

 This is extremely 



/7 v /4 '* ft ' necessary, a* the po- 



-. /<? Ott0O*si ntion of the accent 

 7 is frequently the 



' only means of dis- 



tinguishing small 

 Eta (n) from Kappa 

 (), the forms for 

 which are both the 

 same in writing, 

 though there is a 



SPECIMEN OP A LETTER IN MODERW GREEK 



::.:.. ;.. -.:.-. : f ..-:.i<. 



The forms used for 

 the accent* in writ- 

 ing are identical 

 with those in the 

 printed books vix., 

 three accent* 

 ), the two breath- 

 ). the toto 

 ubcripfwrn ( . ), and 

 ihediairesift O- To 

 those who are ac- 

 quainted with the 

 Modern Greek pro- 

 nunciation no diffi- 

 culty will exist, as 



the sound of the voice alone is sufficient to indicate the place 

 where the accent ought to fall. We can only refer those who have 

 not this knowledge to the rules for the accentuation of ryift 

 Greek, which obtain equally in the modern Greek grammar. 



One word of warning to the student write distinctly rather 

 than rapidly. It is difficult enough to decipher the handwriting 

 of many who write the ordinary Italian hand indifferently, but 



% 



(T^^^^^g^^ 3P>j<S: 



THE MODERN OKBEK WRITTEN ALPHABET : CAPITALS AND SHALL LETTERS. PROPER NAMES IN MODERN ORXES. WK1T1JIO. 



configuration of many of tho letters, the joining together of 

 every letter in a word, as is done in the Italian current hand, is 

 quite impossible. Tho rules for the breaks thus occurring can 

 only be acquired by practice, as they are quite arbitrary, each 

 writer joining his letters as best suits the peculiar stylo of his 

 own handwriting. 



We give the three principal abbreviations viz., or, ot/, icoi. 

 Many others are to be found in the correspondence of old men, 



51 X.E 



it is infinitely more troublesome to understand modern Greek 

 when written hastily and illegibly. 



We have thought it necessary to introduce the accompany- 

 ing specimens of Modern Greek Handwriting for the benefit of 

 such of our readers who may be in Greek mercantile houses in 

 this country, or engaged in mercantile transactions with Greek 

 firms abroad. We would recommend those, however, who are 

 not likely to require a knowledge of Greek handwriting for 



