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In most hiragana the horizonal stokes are drawn first, but も is an exception.
Is there any reason for this?
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2012-01-02T14:22:43.627
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question
stroke-order irregularities-exceptions
Why is the stroke order of も peculiar?
To quote [Toritoribe](https://www.jref.com/forum/threads/stroke-order-
of-%E3%82%82-doesnt-follow-the-rules.46305/) from JapaneseReference (JRef.com)
forums:

> も was made from the 草書体[そうしょたい] of the kanji 毛[モウ, け]. So, the stroke order
> of も was also from the the stroke order of 毛. Incidentally, the stroke order
> is different in 楷書体[かいしょたい]. (The link of the wiktionary page doesn't work
> due to garbled characters. Please search 毛 on Wiktionary. The page has the
> flash of the stroke order.)

And then, on why `も` and `モ` have different stroke orders, and the origins of
`ね`, `わ`, and `れ`:

> モ was made from 毛 in 楷書体 unlike も. That's why those two kanas have different
> stroke orders.
>
> ね, わ, れ are from the 草書体 of 祢, 和, 礼 respectively
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2012-01-02T17:37:59.340
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answer
I think silvermaple's answer is right, but to add a little bit:

  * The katakana `モ` was derived from the 楷書体 (block writing) [`毛`](http://www.winttk.com/kakijun/2/20230.htm). **The initial short stroke was dropped** , ending up with two horizontal strokes, and then the vertical stroke.
  * The hiragana `も` was derived from the 草書体 (script) `毛`, in which, for the sake of writing speed, **the vertical stroke was conflated with and became part of the initial short stroke** , ending up with the initial long stroke and then the two horizontal strokes.
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2012-01-03T20:54:55.997
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answer