Grocer's ₹

Ray LarabieRay Larabie Posts: 1,376
edited August 2015 in Technique and Theory
Since the Indian rupee symbol was introduced 5 years ago, has a casual style of writing it developed? After the euro symbol was introduced, it didn't take long for grocers to write it like a C with a single stroke. Has anyone seen handwritten rupee symbols in the wild? Are people drawing two separate strokes, including the top stroke without lifting the pen, not bothering with the top stroke at all, or something else?

Comments

  • John HudsonJohn Hudson Posts: 2,955
    My guess, based on typical ductus for writing Devanagari letters — in which the head line stroke is written last —, is that most people will write the R-like part, and then the two horizontal strokes.
  • James PuckettJames Puckett Posts: 1,969
    What about majority of Indians who don't know how to write Devanagari?
  • John HudsonJohn Hudson Posts: 2,955
    A good question, but I think the same observation would true for writers of any of the northern scripts with head line, and it seems to me the most logical ductus in any case. It might be interesting to see if Gujurati writers omit the head line, since the origin of Gujurati script is in a hastily written mercantile form of Devanagari.
  • Kent LewKent Lew Posts: 905
    I would certainly expect Gujarati writers to eventually (if not already) drop the headline, since the ra in Gujarati has no headline anyway.

    And I wouldn’t be surprised if some handwritten forms come to include a knot at the turn, depending upon the regional Indic language and personal handwriting style.


  • kupferskupfers Posts: 259
    I think all the European grocers settled on a C with two strokes pretty soon after. 
  • Dan ReynoldsDan Reynolds Posts: 172
    edited August 2015
    I agree with Indra. I have only ever seen either a C with two strokes, an E (definitely not a C with one stroke), or “Euro” written out. And I have lived in Europe since before the Euro was introduced. Also, as Indra told me today, I take too much vacation. So I have totally done my € research in all the various euro-using countries!

    Type designers certainly do like to simplify the two strokes in € to a single stroke. Way more than actual users of the euro currency like to. But I have a difficult time imagining non-type-designer Indians doing that for the Rupee. The two horizontal strokes in € are not like the two strokes in the Rupee at all. Rather, the lower stroke is more like vertical stroke in the $, while the top stroke is more like “part of the S-shape itself” (in the dollar).

    James, less than half of all Indians speak Hindi as their first language, but more that half speak a language that is written with a script that features a “headline.” And almost all Indians are exposed to Hindi in one way or another, be it in school, or just in the visual landscape of the country. Hindi is important, even if it is not one’s first language. (Also, the current Indian government seems to be very pro-Hindi, at least by what one can read in India’s English-language dailies.)
  • Ray LarabieRay Larabie Posts: 1,376
    Thanks for the ₹ insights, everyone. If you spot an interesting ₹, please snap a photo and post it here.
  • Erin McLaughlinErin McLaughlin Posts: 45
    edited August 2015
    Awesome, Rob!! Thank you! Now release the other 15,993 photos! ;)
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