These are all different characters, right?

171

u/wynntari Starter of "vowels are glottal trills" Dec 23 '22

Chinese: NOOOOOO you can't change the order of the strokes! Now your character is 100% unrecognisable even though it looks just like the computer version!

75

u/PlatinumAltaria [!WARNING!] The following statement is a joke. Dec 23 '22

I don’t think anyone can actually tell; it’s just “the proper way of writing”. It’s like how English speakers would find it weird to put the alphabet in a different order, even though it’s basically random.

47

u/VeritasFallens Dec 23 '22

Or if you decided to write only the letter m from right to left

38

u/DTux5249 Dec 23 '22

Or if you draw the cross bar on a capital A first, before drawing the sides

15

u/Figbud Dec 24 '22

ok but that seems cool

9

u/DTux5249 Dec 24 '22

eh, it comes out looking weird tho; either the cross bar is too long/short or the sides are crooked

10

u/dharma_curious Dec 24 '22

Fun fact, that's the best way to write the the circle A symbol used by anarchists if you want that spikey graffiti look. If you just draw the a and try to make the cross bar long on purpose, it looks too intentional. But if you do the cross bar first, it looks all random and anarchist-y.

9

u/Figbud Dec 24 '22

that's why it's cool though :)

20

u/Picdoor Dec 23 '22

I've gotten multiple teachers unreasonably upset because that genuinely is how I write.

1

u/KoirMaster Jan 07 '23

You deserve the worst, you monster

22

u/billt_estates *C.ŋˤr > ∅ Dec 23 '22

In print this is not as big of a deal because, but it becomes quite obvious in cursive handwriting or any handwriting where strokes start to connect (and there is an expectation that they connect a certain way because stroke order is always adhered to). In running scripts stroke order can definitely affect character recognizability, the same as if you were writing an English word in cursive, but started at the last letter and back-tracked to the others in some random order.

10

u/NekoMikuri Dec 24 '22

It's actually very obvious in handwriting, because Chinese strokes are so complex and long. When someone writes, they usually almost just connect the strokes together without lifting the pencil much, so those familiar with the order can tell based on how it connects

5

u/Koelakanth Dec 24 '22

I think there could be some order to it, somewhere. Like how the vowels go A E I O U which coincidentally goes from lowest vowel to highest vowel, front then back. But that's most likely entirely random

2

u/PlatinumAltaria [!WARNING!] The following statement is a joke. Dec 24 '22

The alphabet we use has been rearranged several times from the original order. Any pattern that might've existed is gone.

29

u/PisuCat Dec 23 '22

I do four, how sinister of me.

17

u/AbleCancel hi Dec 23 '22

haha it's sinister because your stroke moves towards the left

12

u/PisuCat Dec 23 '22

I mean it is also because I'm left handed, but sure.

4

u/Great-Marketing5100 Dec 23 '22

Left-handed people ftw.

2

u/shuubil Dec 24 '22

left-handed fam 💪💪 was looking for this comment

0

u/saltoo666 اردو نمبر 1 🇩🇿🇩🇿🎉🎉 Dec 23 '22

Anarchist three indeed

45

u/Just-Barely-Alive Long live Wæjlbomol ! 🟩🟨🟦 Dec 23 '22

I use two pencils and draw the lines simultaneously.

15

u/[deleted] Dec 23 '22

But which pencil crosses the midpoint first?

29

u/pm174 Dec 23 '22

one of them warps into another plane just in time and they magically cross at the same time

42

u/annawest_feng Dec 23 '22

I do one. That is how I write 十, and that is how stroke orders work.

32

u/Milch_und_Paprika Dec 23 '22

No, + should be order three, otherwise how will we distinguish it from 十?

29

u/annawest_feng Dec 23 '22

Good: 10 + 10

Also Good: 十加十

Disgusting: 十 + 十

21

u/Milch_und_Paprika Dec 23 '22

十 + 十 looks like my reaction to reading it. Utter exasperation

2

u/prst- Dec 25 '22

十 + 十 = #

1

u/annawest_feng Dec 25 '22

We already have 卄

1

u/prst- Dec 25 '22

That's just a fancy way to write <H> and it only has one horizontal line.

14

u/wynntari Starter of "vowels are glottal trills" Dec 23 '22

Why are there so many threes?

16

u/arto2d Dec 23 '22 edited Dec 23 '22

maybe something about how we write in the latin script, left to right and downwards.

but i dunno, when i tried making an alphabet of my own i noticed it was easier to write everything in the 3 pattern, but i thought thats just me

7

u/wynntari Starter of "vowels are glottal trills" Dec 23 '22

I don't know how anything other than One would be easier

2

u/Milch_und_Paprika Dec 23 '22

I don’t see how one is any more intuitive than three, which follows typical Latin stroke order: vertical lines, then horizontal bars. The others are abominations though. (Also 3 looks more aesthetic in cursive, but that’s just like my opinion man)

5

u/[deleted] Dec 24 '22

[deleted]

3

u/Milch_und_Paprika Dec 24 '22

Dang I guess I’ll let him have this, since his bday is coming up.

1

u/arto2d Dec 24 '22

i do it weirdly, my "+" is 1, but my letters are 3. if i do "+" as 3 it tends to become too tall, like a christian cross

2

u/Mmneck Dec 24 '22

t

5

u/kittykittyekatkat Dec 23 '22

Absolutely confounded that there are other ways than 1. I feel so mainstream

11

u/jayxxroe22 Dec 23 '22

3, but without picking up the pencil so that it looks like a fucked up d

2

u/sxooterkid Dec 24 '22

same

4

u/DTux5249 Dec 23 '22 edited Dec 24 '22

I do one or three; it depends. Mostly because I often do one line (horizontal), then finish the rest of the equation before doing the final down strokes; it's particularly useful when I haven't worked out how to factor something yet.

1

u/Muhaimin55 Dec 24 '22

Bro yeah exactly! I do the same I just right a minus before the teacher dictates the question whne he does, if it's a plus I add the vertical stroke and if it's a minus I leave it as it is

5

u/marktwainbrain Dec 23 '22

I used to do three, but since starting to learn Chinese, I now do one.

3

u/gkom1917 Dec 23 '22

One, of course.

2

u/5ucur U+130B8 Dec 23 '22

Three gang

1

u/_Gandalf_the_Black_ tole sint uualha spahe sint peigria Dec 23 '22

None of these fits cuneiform, so I'm going to have to sit this one out.

But four.

1

u/Terpomo11 Dec 24 '22

I use one but I'm not entirely sure if it's what I used before I learned Chinese characters.

1

u/Thatannoyingturtle Dec 24 '22

Two half squares gang

1

u/nenialaloup ]n̞en̯iɑlˌɑl̯̞oupˈ[ Dec 24 '22

Cooper Black 🤮

1

u/drion4 Dec 24 '22

Number 7 better be bilingual at least.

1

u/Nevochkam1 Dec 24 '22

1

Now who is the cursed person to draw it 7?

1

u/[deleted] Dec 24 '22

It depends what language I’ve been writing in. English I do 1, Mandarin 3, anything right to left is a secret option not listed where I do a down stroke then the across stroke from right to left.

1

u/KiMnuL Dec 24 '22

Two and four I guess

Semantics These are all different characters, right?

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