er?

Hi.

If I’m writing er at the end of a word, like bigger, smaller, stranger, should I write r or the small circle.  Or a reversed small circle after straight lines?  These all strike me as equally legible, but is only one strictly correct?  Cheers,
Jonathan.

(by jonnycello for everyone) 


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  1. In Anniversary and Pre-Anniversary it is done three ways:   1.  Joined "r" after words ending in curves and the following brief forms: "writer", "lighter", "smaller",  "greater" 2.  Reversed circle after straight lines ("larger", "later", "stranger") 3.  Disjoined "r" after brief forms not ending in straight line consonant (except the brief forms listed in 1.)

  2. To be more specific about point 3., you disjoin if the word doesn't end in a curve or straight line, or if the joining is odd.  If it ends in a vowel, you could join the r.  So you disjoin the final "r" in "worker" (joining is odd), join it in "brighter" (ends in vowel), and disjoin it in "looker" (if joined it would read "lure").

  3. Yes, "odd" meaning unnatural or strange.  Try to join the "r" in these brief form derivatives:   1.  giver 2.  publisher 3.  sender 4.  nearer 5.  thinker 6.  keeper   Those words look best when the "r" is disjoined, because you can immediately tell that each one came from the brief forms for "give", "publish", "send", "near", "think", and "keep", respectively.

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