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In typography and handwriting, a superior letter is a lower-case letter placed above the baseline and made smaller than an ordinary script. The style has traditionally been distinct from superscript.[how?] Formerly quite common in abbreviations, the original purpose was to make handwritten abbreviations clearly distinct from normal words. These could also be used to make the important words on signs larger. In technical terms, the superior letter can also be called the superscripted minuscule letter. In modern usage, with word processors and text entry interfaces, superscript and superior letters are produced in the same way and look identical. Their distinction would refer to their usage and not to their form.
With the advent of printing, pieces of type were cast to enable them to appear in print. These are still commonly used in French, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish, though their appearance in English has diminished. Not every letter in the alphabet has a piece of type cast for it as a superior letter. In the book Thinking in Type, by Alex W. White, it is stated that there are only twelve superior letters used in French and Spanish: a, b, d, e, i, l, m, n, o, r, s, and t.[1] However, a few other superior letters are also used those languages, for example in English, h is also sometimes rendered as a superior letter, or in French, superior g is used in some abbreviations (See below).