Letter Nomenclature, Continued
Component
parts
Each component part of typefaces or letters has a name. The combination of
component parts determine letter characteristics and decoration.
Part
Description
Arm
A horizontal stroke extending from the stem
Ascender
The stem of a lower case letter that extends above
the waistline
Bowl or Loop
An enclosed round or oval stroke
Counter
Fully or partially enclosed white (negative) space
Crossbar
A horizontal stroke connecting two stems
Descender
The stem of a lower case letter that drops below the
baseline
Kern
A cursive connecting stroke
Ear
Small strokes attached to the counter of a lowercase
letter or stem
Serif
An ornamental stroke terminating letter forms
Stem
The main vertical stroke
Tail
A cross stroke
Continued on next page
5-11
