TERMINOLOGIES RELATED TO HANDWRTING IDENTIFICATION AND

EXAMINATIONS

1. Alignment – is the relation of parts of the whole of writing or line of individual letters in
words to the baseline. It is the alignment of words. The relative alignment of letters.
2. Angular forms – sharp, straight strokes that are made by stopping the pen and changing
direction before continuing.
3. Arcade forms – forms that look like arches rounded on the top and open at the bottom.
4. Characteristics – any property or mark which distinguishes and in document examination
commonly called to as the identifying details.
5. Collation – side by side comparison; collation as used in this text means the critical
comparison on side by side examination.
6. Comparison – the act of setting two or more items side by side to weigh their identifying
qualities; it refers not only a visual but also the mental act in which the element of one item
are related to the counterparts of the other.
7. Disguised writing – a writer may deliberately try alter his usual writing habits in hopes of
hiding is identity. The results, regardless of their effectiveness are termed disguised writing.
8. Downstroke – the movement of the pen toward the writer.
9. Form – the writer’s chosen writing style, the way writing looks, whether it is copybook,
elaborated, simplified or printed.
10. Garland forms – a cuplike connected from that is open at the top and rounded on the
bottom.
11. Gestalt – the German word that means complete or whole. A good gestalt needs nothing
added or taken away to make it look right. Also a school of handwriting analysis that looks
at handwriting as a whole picture.
12. Graphoanalysis – the study of handwriting based on two fundamental strokes, the curve
and the straight strkes.
13. Graphometry - analysis by comparison and measurement
14. Graphology – the art of determining character disposition and attitude of a person from the
study of handwriting. It is also means the scientific study and analysis of handwriting,
especially with reference to forgeries and questioned documents.
15. Hand lettering – any disconnected style of writing in which each letter is written separately;
also called hand printing.
16. Letter space – the amount of space left between letters.
17. Line direction - movement of the baseline, may slant up, down, or straight across the page.
18. Line quality – the overall character of the ink lines from the beginning to the ending
strokes. There are two classes: good line quality and poor line quality. The visible records
in the written stroke of the basic movements and manner of holding the writing instrument
is characterized by the term line quality. It is derived from combination of factors including
writing skill, speed rhythm, freedom of movements, shading and pen positions.
19. Line space – the amount of space left between lines
20. Manuscript writing – disconnected form of script or semi-script writing. This type of writing
is taught in young children in elementary schools as the first step in learning to write.
21. Margins – the amount of space left around the writing on all four sides.
22. Microscopic examination – any study or examination which is made with the microscope
and other to discover minute details.
23. Movement – it is an important element in handwriting. It embraces all the factors which are
related to the motion of the writing instrument skill, speed freedom, hesitation, rhythm,
emphasis, tremors and the like. The manner in which the writing instrument is move that is
by the finger, hand, forearm or whole arm.
24. Natural writing – any specimen of writing executed normally without any attempt to control
or alter its identifying habits and usual quality or executions.
25. Natural variation – these are normal or usual deviations found between repeated specimens
of any individual handwriting.
26. Pen emphasis – the act of intermittently forcing the pen against the paper surface. When
the pen point has flexibility, this emphasis produces shading; the act of intermittently
forcing the pen against the paper with increase pressure.
27. Pen hold – the place where the writer grasps the barrel of the pen and the angle at which
he holds it.
28. Pen position – the relationship between the pen point and the paper.
29. Pen pressure – the average force with which the pen contracts the paper. Pen pressure as
opposed to pen emphasis deals with usual of average force involved in the writing rather
than the period increases.
30. Printscript – a creative combination of printing and cursive writing
31. Proportion and ratio – the relation between the tall and the short letter is referred as to the
ratio of writing.
32. Quality – a distinct or peculiar character. Also, quality is used in describing handwriting to
refer to any identifying factor that is related to the writing movement itself.
33. Rhythm – the element of the writing movement which is marked by regular or periodic
recurrences. It may be classed as smooth, intermittent, or jerky in its quality; the flourishing
succession of motion which are recorded in a written record. Periodically, alternation of
movement.
34. Shading – is the widening of the ink strokes due to the added pressure on a flexible pen
point or to the use of stub pen.
35. Significant writing habit – any characteristics of handwriting that is sufficiently uncommon
and well-fixed to serve as a fundamental point in the identification.
36. Simplification – eliminating extra or superfluous strokes from the copybook model.
37. Size – may refer to the overall size of the writing or the proportions between zones
38. Skill – in any set there are relative degrees or ability or skill and specimen of handwriting
usually contains evidence of the writer’s proficiency; degree, ability, or skill of a writer.
39. Slope/slant – the angle or inclination of the axis of the letters relative to the baseline. There
are three classes: a. slant to the left b. slant to the right c. vertical slant
40. Speed of writing – the personal pace at which the writer’s pen moves across the paper.
41. Speed (Speedy) writing – not everyone writes at the same rate so that consideration of the
speed of writing may be significant identifying element. Writing speed cannot be measured
precisely from the finished handwriting but can be interpreted in broad terms of slow,
moderate, or rapid.
42. System (writing) – the combination of the basic design of letters and the writing movement
as taught in the school make up the writing system. Writing through use diverges from the
system, but generally retains some influence of the basic training.
43. Tension – the degree of force exerted on the pen compared to the degree of relaxation.
44. Thread form – an indefinite connective form that looks flat and wavy.
45. Variability – the degree to which the writing varies from the copybook model.
46. Variation – the act or process of changing.
47. Word space – the amount of space left between words.
48. Writing condition – both circumstances under which the writing was prepared and the
factors influencing the writer’s ability to write at the time of execution. It includes the
writers position, the paper support and backing, and the writing instrument; writing ability
may be modified by the conditions of the writer’s health, nervous state, or degree of
intoxication.
49. Wrong handed writing – any writing executed with the opposite hand that normally used. It
is one means of disguise. Thus, the writing of a right handed person which has been
executed with his left hand accounts for the common terminology for this class of disguise
as left-hand writing.
50. Writing impulse – the result of the pen touching down on the paper and moving across the
page, until it is raised from the paper.

TERMINOLOGIES CONCERNING STROKE CHARACTERISTICS

1. Arc – a curved formed inside the top curve of loop as in small letters h, m, n and p.
2. Arch – any arcade form in the body of a letter to found in small letters which contain
arches.
3. Ascender – is the top portion of a letter or upper loop.
4. – may be actually on a ruler paper, it might be imaginary alignment of writing; is the ruled
or imaginary line upon which the writing rests.
5. Beaded – preliminary embellished initial stroke which usually occurs in capital letters.
6. Beard – is the rudimentary initial up stroke of a letter
7. Blunt – the beginning and ending stroke of a letter without hesitation
8. Body – the main portion of the letter, minus the initial strokes, terminal stroke and the
diacritic, of any. Ex: the oval of the letter O is the body, minus the downward stroke and
the loop.
9. Bowl – a fully rounded oval or circular form on a letter complete into O.
10. Buckle/Buckleknot – a loop made as a flourished which is added to the letters, as in small
letter k&b, or in capital letters A, K, P: the horizontal end loop stroke are often used to
complete a letter.
11. Cacography – a bad writing
12. Calligraphy – the art of beautiful writing
13. Descender – opposite of ascender, the lower portion of a letter
14. Diacritic – t crossing and dots of the letter “i” and “j”. the matters of the Indian script are
also known as diacritic signs; an element added to complete a certain letter, either a cross
bar or a dot.
15. Ending/terminate stroke of toe – the end stroke of a letter
16. Eye/Eyelet/Eyeloop – a small loop or curved formed inside the letters. This may occur
inside the oval of the letters a, d, o; the small loop form by stroke that extend in divergent
direction as in small letters.
17. Foot – lower part which rest on the base line. The small letter m has three feet, and the
small letter n has two feet.
18. Habits – any repeated elements or details, which serve to individualize writing.
19. Hesitation – the term applied to the irregular thickening of the ink which is found when
writing slows down or stop while the pen take a stock of the position.
20. Hiatus or pen jump – a gap between continuous strokes without lifting the pen. Such as
occurrence usually occurs due to speed; may be regarded also as a special form of pen lift
distinguish in a ball gasps in that of perceptible gaps and appear in the writing.
21. Hook – it is a minute curve or an ankle which often occurs at the end of the terminal
strokes. It also sometimes occurs at the beginning of an initial stroke. The terminal curve of
a, d, m, p, u, is the hook. In small letter w the initial curve is the hook; the minute
involuntary talon like formation found at the commencement of an initial up stroke of the
end terminal stroke.
22. Hump – upper portion of its letter m,n,h,k – the rounded outside of the top of the bend
stroke or curve in small letter.
23. Knob – the extra deposit ink in the initial and terminal stroke due to the slow withdrawal of
the pen from the paper
24. Ligature/Connection – the stroke which connects two strokes of letter; characterized by
connected stroke between letters.
25. Long letter- those letters with both upper and lower loops
26. Loop – an oblong curve such as found on the small letters f, g, l. and letter stroke of f has
two. A loop may be blind or open. A blind loop is usually the result of the ink having filled
the open space.
27. Majuscule – a capital letter
28. Minuscule – a small letter
29. Movement impulses – this refer to the continuity of stroke, forged writing is usually
produced by disconnected and broken movements and more motion or movement
impulses than genuine writing.