Abbreviations, Lapidary

LAPIDARY ABBREVIATIONS - 1) Bolsena, Inscription on the reliquary of St. Christina: i(c) r(e)g(ui)es(cit) c(or)p(us) b(e)at(ae) X(ristinae) m(ar(yris). 2) Inscription of Vibius Fimus of the year 290, at Calliato: Vibiu(s) Fimus r(eddi) VII ha(lendas) sep(tembres) Di(o)c(letiano) IIII et Max(imiano) co(n)s(ulibus). 3) Coin of the emperor Constantius II: d(ominus) n(oster) Constantius p(us) f(elix) Aug(ustus). - felix temp(orum) reparatio. - Tr(everi)s. 4) Dolia stamp: Χ(ριατὸς) Ν(ιγαὴλ) Γ(αβριήλ) Ι(τ). Καπ(ων). Χρ(ιστς). 5) Epitaph of Pope Gaius: Γαίου ἐπιση(απου). Κατ(εκτῶ) πρὸ ΓΚαλ(ανδῶν) μαίων (d. in 296). 6) Inscription of a donor in a floor mosaic: Urs(u)s v(ir) s(anctus) cum com(uge) s(u)a Ursina pro (v)oto s(us)c(epi)o fecer(u)nt hec. 7. Last line of the Damasian epitaph for Proiecta: vixit ann(os) XVI m(enses) IX dies XXV, dep(asita) III ha(lendas) ian(uarias) Fl(avio) Merobaude et Fl(avio) Saturnin(o) cons(ulibus).

(drawn by Enc. Cott.)
PALEOGRAPHIC GREEK ABBREVIATIONS - Table I: Reproduction of the most common abbreviation signs used in Greek paleography, and of the corresponding forms in full transcription. For some of them (nos. 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 9, 11, 15, 19, 24, 25, 27, 28, 29, 30, 32) a few examples are also given that appear most frequently in the manuscripts.

(dis. Enc. Cott.)
PALEOGRAPHIC ABBREVIATIONS CRECHE - Table II: Characteristic examples of abbreviations by suspension or truncation. Reproduction of some monograms, typical of paleographic usage. Examples of abbreviations indicating plurals. - Table III: Reproduction of some of the more frequent or more characteristic symbols.

1) q. = que (more rarely quae)

quib. = quibus nob. = nobis id. = idem (or also idus)

scriptim. = scripsimus

·n. = enim

·f. = scilicet

·e. = est

·c. = caput

ḥ = hoc

ṷ = ut

2) n̄ = non s̄ = est an̄ = anno (anni)

nat̄ = natus lib = liber pon̄ = pontifices qm̄ = quoniam nr̄ = noster tpe = tempore aia = anima ee = esse eni = enim cu = cum codicioe = condicione iperiu = imperium nom̄ = nomen mse = mense tam̄ = tamen propt = propter dix = dixit aum = autem dicit = dicitur lib = liber t = vel nob = nobis pp = propter notu = notum n̄is = nostris ao = actio

3) p' = post c' = cum e' = eius s' = sed t' = tur

δ' = dem (dum)

4) atq: = atque neq: = neque q:d = quid quib: = quibus ufq: = usque quod: = quodque m̄f: = mensis omnib: = omnibus q̄nq: = quinque habz = habet lz = licet naz = nam oz = oportet q̄lqz = quisque caz = causam

5) d = die d̄ = dixi

α = autem k = legitur oe = omnis fiatt = frater tutf = tutis inl = inluster er = erit et = etiam dioc = diocesis eor = eorum scor = sanctorum

6) tra = terra bvi = brevi ctici = clerici cdt = credunl ubv = verbum fuit = fuerit funt = fuerunt

7) dict = dicuntur ag = agitur nuat = numeratur ceto = cetero gf = generis cr'e = currere

8) 7 = et

7 = etiam deb7 = debet l7 = licet z = cum (con-)

z̄ = contra z̄t̄ = continentia circ = circum

ʔ = -us tit̄ = titulus legim = legimus p' = post h' = huius

T A B L E II

h̄ = hoc ū = unde ū = vero m̄ = mihi ḡ = ergo q̄dam = quodammodo sigctm = signaculum incrit = incurrit q̄cz = quicumque

T A B L E III

p = per p̄ = prae (pre)

p̄ = pro q = qui q̄ = que (quae)

q = quod qz = quia q̄ = quantum q̄ = quam q̄ = quem

T A B L E IV

ɔ = eius

H = enim h̄ = autem

ɔɔ = contra

= = esse ÷ = est

·i = id est

(dis. Enc. Catt.)
PALEOGRAPHIC LATIN ABBREVIATIONS - Table I: Examples of Latin paleographic abbreviations classified according to the abbreviative sign. (1. dot; 2. horizontal line; 3. apostrophe; 4. colon or semicolon; 5. oblique line; 6 and 7. wavy line; 8. tachygraphic signs). - Table II: Characteristic abbreviations with a superscript small letter. - Table III: Compendia of "p" and "q". - Table IV: Irish signs in use on the continent.

two dots + reach this line (this sign, however, was formerly used to indicate the syllable τα); therefore it is expressed simply by the two dots:

3) The abbreviation of αις is the doubling of that of ες, of identical pronunciation.

8) The abbreviation of γάρ is the combination of a γ with an inverted ρ.

12) The abbreviation sign of ειν is at first the same as that of ην or ιν (which is distinguished only by having two small dots above it), two phonetically corresponding syllables; then, by way of distinction, the sign is found doubled or with the addition of a diagonal stroke; and finally indicated only by two diagonal strokes from right to left.

13) The abbreviation sign of εις is also the doubling of that of ης or ις (which, as in ιν, has two dots by way of distinction).

15) The sign η is the cursive form of π.

16) The normal abbreviation of ες is Ϙ, but often two dots are found added to it which tachygraphically indicated the τ in the endings -τες; so that the sign Ϙ has remained at the end, as the simple Ϙ, to indicate only ες.

17) A single diagonal stroke or one between two dots meant δστι; δστιν was indicated by the abbreviation of ιν variously deformed. The abbreviation of the plural ειοι is a doubling of that of the singular.

24) An oblique line from left to right is the abbreviation of ον; two of equal length or with the second shorter indicate the same ending with the grave accent.

27) The sign ζ is a monogram resulting from the union of the two vowels.

30) A simple α is frequently found as an abbreviation of προ- or πρωτο-, occasionally with another meaning.

TABELLA II

We give separately a few other examples of a. using the suspension system.

Some words were indicated by adding to the initial letter the most important of those omitted; or by inverting the order of the letters; or with a monogram (combination of the first two letters of a word). The plural was occasionally indicated by doubling the last letter expressed or by variously repeating the a.

TABELLA III

In papyri and manuscripts there are found, moreover, not only a., but also symbols, that is, signs that replace an entire word. We report some of the many used.

Mario Burzachecki

III. LATIN PALEOGRAPHIC ABBREVIATIONS

In the Roman age and up to the 4th and 5th centuries, codices of literary or historical content had very few abbreviations, derived, as is well known, from epigraphic usage.

One encounters the endings -bus and -que, indicated respectively by B. and Q., and the final -m expressed by a small line placed high after a vowel or above it; indeed, at first the abbreviated final -m is found at the end of a line, and only with the 6th century does its use extend also to words within lines. However, in codices of scientific content, such as legal works, in which technical terms well known to the reader recur very frequently, the abbreviations were much more numerous, constituting a complex system (notae iuris); likewise in Christian texts, from the 4th-5th century onward, certain words of sacred meaning are regularly found abbreviated (nomina sacra),

(Lat. Vatican Library)
LATIN PALEOGRAPHIC ABBREVIATIONS. - Legal abbreviations in a 14th-century Bolognese manuscript. Vatican Library: Cod. Vat. lat. 1456, fol. 13'. Novella Johannis Andreae super Decretalibus.

TRANSCRIPTION: un(de) si queratu(r) q(ua)r(e) res ahena usu capit(ur), dic ne d(omi)nia ver(um) | sint i(n) ince(r)to. ff. [= Digestum] de usu cap(ione) l(ex) I. Si q(ue)ratu(r) q(ua)r(e) t(r)e(n)nio, dic q(uod) | ita placuit p(r)incipi, ut l(ex) « No(n) o(mn)iu(m) », sic e(n)(m) poterat plus | min(us)ve statuere. Osti(ensis). In glo(sa) ult(ima) ibi « Nemo » dicit Osti(ensis) q(uod) lex ista intelligit(ur) cum ip(s)e imp(erato)r non r(espo)udit | s(ed) ei(us) p(ro)ceres, s(ecundum) Accur(sium), ibi in I glo(sa). (Con)vor(dant) B(eruardus) et Phy(lippus) h(ic) (et) Vin(entius). | (Et) ibi « No(n) plures », d(e) q(u)o dic ut i(ufra), de cog(na-tione) sp(irit)u(all), c(apitulo) ult(imo) i(n) p(r)in(cipio) l(ibri) VI. C u m o r d i n e m. C(assa) Cyst(er)cienses p(er) r(escri)ptu(m), | quo n(on) fit m(en)tio de ordi(n)e sua, (con) veniri n(on) possu(n)t. | Divisio(n)e no(n) eget sp(ect)oliter et sing(u)(l)urite)r. N(on) e(n)(m) loquitu(r) | de indulto iur(is) co(mmun)is, v(e)l c(um) p(er) p(r)ivil(eg)iu(m) (con) cedit(ur) id q(uod) de iure | co(m)petebat s(ecundu)m Vin- c(entium). « Indulist » a(u) litt(er)e de iure co(mmun)i imp- | etrant(ur) (contro) Cyst(er)cienses sup(er) hiis sup(er) q(ui)b(us) s(un)t p(r)ivil(eg)iati, (et) t(un)c | sufficit q(uod) fiat mentio de ordine. A(u) t(m)petra « n » tu(r) litt(er)e v(e)l | indulgentie (contro) p(r)ivill(eg)iu(m) q(uod) h(abe)ut (et) t(un)c de p(r)ivil(eg)io m(en)tio | f(er)i d(eb)et; i(ufra) de re iudic(ata) « I(n)t(er) mo(n)asteriu(m) » (et) no(to) s(upra) c(aput) I (Com)po(stellanus). Ide(m) Osti(ensis).

whereas in documents abbreviations are generally limited to a few technical terms (e.g.: heredes, successores, actum, subscripti). However, examples of abbreviated nomina sacra are already found in Christian papyri of the 2nd and 3rd centuries (v. BEATTY CHESTER; NOMINA SACRA).

Once the use of notae iuris ceased on the European continent following the repeated prohibitions of the senate and the emperor against employing them in books to be presented in trials, the Roman abbreviative system continued to develop in a particular way in the Irish schools, where new forms were coined, some of which, beginning in the 8th century, spread through the rest of Europe in manuscripts of every kind. From then on abbreviations become ever more numerous, reaching their maximum frequency in the Gothic script of the 14th century, and particularly in legal, theological, philosophical and medical texts.

The study of abbreviations therefore has a twofold purpose: practical, for reading ancient texts accurately, and scientific, as an important element for the criticism of the manuscript through the observation of the typical local forms of certain specific writing centers and of their diffusion. Often, through the study of abbreviated forms (and of the systematic errors that derive from their false interpretation), one succeeds in determining also the time and place of writing of the archetype that served for the copy of a given manuscript.

Despite local varieties, Roman and medieval abbreviations also follow fixed rules according to two great systems: truncation and contraction; and to indicate the abbreviation there are signs of general or particular meaning. Thus, to read an abbreviated word precisely one must consider successively two elements: the letters expressed and the abbreviative sign.

The oldest abbreviative signs consisted of the point and the line, which had a generic value, but little by little, with the adoption of others derived from tachygraphic writings, a complex of signs was reached that can be classified as follows:

1) the point, usually placed at mid-height after a letter, is the typical sign of truncation, though of limited use. In some sigla of Irish formation there are letters between two points; the superscript point is rare (v. table I, no. 1);

2) the horizontal line, marked above one or more letters, sometimes indicates a truncation (e.g.: un = unde), but more often a contraction (e.g.: oc = omne); placed over a vowel it indicates the absence of an -m (-n). It is widely used in union with consonants (above them or cutting through the ascending or descending stem) to indicate particular syllabic truncations. In chancery scripts the line becomes curved and forms a knot (v. table I, no. 2);

3) the apostrophe, derived from the point and marked high after a letter, occurs especially in the notae iuris; it is rare in the Middle Ages (v. table I, no. 3);

4) the two points or the semicolon or a derived sign resembling a 3 indicate a generic truncation (v. table I, no. 4);

5) the oblique line cutting through a consonant also indicates a generic truncation. Often the line is joined to the consonant with a cursive nexus, especially in -rum (v. table I, no. 5);

6) a wavy line crossing a letter, or a small wavy line (vertical or horizontal) placed above a letter indicates the absence of an -r- in the syllable (v. table I, no. 6);

7) a small wavy line ending in a hook or a sign similar to a 2, placed above a letter, indicate the absence of -ur -er -tur (v. table I, no. 7);

8) the tachygraphic signs of et, cum (con), -us (v. table I, no. 8).

Often one also used to place, in place of the abbreviative sign, a small superscript letter, expressing the last element of the word or of the abbreviated syllable (v. table II).

The letters p and q give rise to particular, very common abbreviations (v. table III).

Noteworthy are the Irish signs that passed into common use (v. table IV).

Giulio Battelli