Re: Why did Boustrophedon Disappear?

On 2009-03-30 R A Brown wrote:
> I'm told that right-handed people write Arabic in columns
>  down the page which, when the page is turned 90 degrees
>  clockwise gives the standard left-to-right cursive
> script. I don't know how true that is.
>
That's certainly how I used to write LTR with a
fountain pen with my left hand: turn the paper
so that the writing isn't smudged and the
thicks and thins come out in the right place.

My cerebral palsy makes me quasi-ambidextrous: my
right hand and arm are stronger and I write faster
with them, but my fine motor ability on the right
side is crap.  The left hand & arm OTOH are thin
and weak, but I have better fine motor ability on
that side, so I tend to use the two hands for
different tasks.  I used to practice drawing and
calligraphy with both hands, but do cursive
handwriting and shcrthand with my right hand. My
theory is that I'm basically left-handed like my
mother, but that the lack of strength in the left
arm and the fact that it was the right hand and
arm which the physiotherapists trained made me
ambidextrous -- or rather ambi- sinistrous, also
in the respect that I'm rather clumsy with both
hands compared to non-CP people. Now both hands
have become rather shaky, though that may be only
a result of malpractice.

/BP 8^)>
--
Benct Philip Jonsson -- melroch atte melroch dotte se
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  "C'est en vain que nos Josués littéraires crient
  à la langue de s'arrêter; les langues ni le soleil
  ne s'arrêtent plus. Le jour où elles se *fixent*,
  c'est qu'elles meurent."           (Victor Hugo)