M, the German Kurrent letter m
M is the 13th letter of the German alphabet, representing a voiced bilabial nasal /m/, occurring in all word positions and grammatical affixes. In German Kurrent handwriting, it has a distinct historical ductus taught across German-speaking Europe until 1941.
In words
Mutter · mother
Easy to confuse with
Looks like n (Kurrent n)
The m has three downstrokes and the n two. A straight bar above either one doubles it (mm, nn) and is not a stroke of the letter.
History
The letter M occupies the 13th position in the German alphabet. Phonetically, it represents a voiced bilabial nasal /m/, occurring in all word positions and grammatical affixes.
Lowercase m in Kurrent consists of three pointed vertical downstrokes joined at the bottom by sharp angles, resembling three teeth of a saw. Because m has three downstrokes and n has two, rapid writing could blur the count; scribes often wrote a horizontal macron over n to represent a doubled mm or nn. Capital M is an impressive letter with three tall arched lobes, the first usually larger and curving outwards.
The letter m is prominent in maternal and civil records: 'Mutter' (mother), 'Monat' (month), 'Magd' (maidservant), and 'Mann' (husband). Mastering the stroke count of m is a primary skill in German manuscript analysis.
A straight bar written over an m or an n is a doubling stroke: it tells the reader to read the consonant twice, so a barred m stands for mm.[1] M is the fourteenth most frequent letter in German text, at about 2.5%.[2]
Sources
- [1] Deutsche Kurrentschrift — Wikipedia (German) — the bar over m or n doubles the consonant (accessed 2026-10-14)
- [2] M — Wikipedia (German) — 14th most frequent, 2.53% (accessed 2026-10-14)