16. Apparatus for recognizing a static handwritten word of cursive script, comprising; means for reading said word and forming a bit map of pixels representing said word; means for skeletonizing said word within said bit map; means for segmenting said skeletonized word into one or more primitives, said skeletonized word including a plurality of feature points and said primitives each comprising a continuous segment of said skeletonized word extending between an original feature point and a terminal feature point; means for forming a sequence representing the order in which said primitives were written by ordering said primitives in succession beginning at the left side of said word; and means for classifying said word by comparing said primitives and said sequence with each of a plurality of stored primitives and their associated sequences for known words, wherein said means for forming a sequence comprises: means for locating a primitive which is left-most in said word, examining said left-most primitive for the presence of one or more of said end points and designating said left-most primitive as a first primitive if it contains one or more of said end points; means for examining a primitive connected with said left-most primitive for the presence of an end point if said left-most primitive does not contain one or more of said end points, and for designating said connected primitive as said first primitive if it contains an end point and designating said left-most primitive as said first primitive if said connected primitive does not contain an end point; and means for ordinally designating as subsequent primitives each of said primitives which are connected with said first primitive and with said subsequent primitive.
16. Apparatus for recognizing a static handwritten word of cursive script, comprising; means for reading said word and forming a bit map of pixels representing said word; means for skeletonizing said word within said bit map; means for segmenting said skeletonized word into one or more primitives, said skeletonized word including a plurality of feature points and said primitives each comprising a continuous segment of said skeletonized word extending between an original feature point and a terminal feature point; means for forming a sequence representing the order in which said primitives were written by ordering said primitives in succession beginning at the left side of said word; and means for classifying said word by comparing said primitives and said sequence with each of a plurality of stored primitives and their associated sequences for known words, wherein said means for forming a sequence comprises: means for locating a primitive which is left-most in said word, examining said left-most primitive for the presence of one or more of said end points and designating said left-most primitive as a first primitive if it contains one or more of said end points; means for examining a primitive connected with said left-most primitive for the presence of an end point if said left-most primitive does not contain one or more of said end points, and for designating said connected primitive as said first primitive if it contains an end point and designating said left-most primitive as said first primitive if said connected primitive does not contain an end point; and means for ordinally designating as subsequent primitives each of said primitives which are connected with said first primitive and with said subsequent primitive. 30. The apparatus according to claim 16 wherein the handwritten word of cursive script comprises two or more connected characters and one or more of said primitives extends between two of the characters.