bouma shape
n.— «Nor have the palaeographers and codicologists ever noted one of the most important lexical consequences of the adoption of minuscule, as opposed to majuscule, as a book script is that it contributed, in conjunction with word separation, to giving each word a distinct image, which modern psychologists call the “Bouma shape,” peculiar to Western writing and a significant aid to silent visual processing.» —“Space Between Words: The Origins of Silent Reading” by M. Michele Mulchahey Canadian Journ. of History Aug. 1, 2001. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
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