uncial
The uncial or uncial script ( lat. Uncialis ) is a capitals font , which probably originated from the older Roman cursive . The uncial was written on parchment with a reed pen .
Development and dissemination
The uncial originated in the 4th century and was used up to the 6th century for books ( codices ) and beyond as a markup font. The name Unziale has Mabillon introduced in the 17th century by a well-bond division at Jerome has misunderstood in this about the "duty-large" (lat. Uncia , twelfth feet, 1 inch ) letter complains.
Over 300 manuscripts of the New Testament have been preserved in Greek uncial script. For example, the Greek manuscripts Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus are completely preserved .
Detection and classification
The rounded, sans serif letters and some ascenders and descenders are characteristic . However, these are not yet very pronounced. In contrast to the Capitalis , the Uncial is primarily a book font . There are basically three forms of uncials:
- Greek uncials (4th to 15th centuries)
- Latin uncials (4th to 8th centuries)
- Gothic Uncials (4th century: writing to reproduce the East Germanic Gothic language ).
See also
literature
- Bernhard Bischoff : Paleography of Roman antiquity and the Western Middle Ages (= Basics of German Studies , Vol. 24). 2nd revised edition. Erich-Schmidt-Verlag, Berlin 1986, ISBN 3-503-02253-8 , pp. 91-107.
- Károly Földes-Papp: From rock art to alphabet. The history of writing from its earliest preliminary stages to modern Latin script. Chr. Belser Verlag, Stuttgart 1966 (also: Gondrom, Bayreuth 1975. ISBN 3-8112-0007-0 ).
- Elias Avery Lowe : English Uncial. Clarendon Press, Oxford 1960.
- Jan-Olof Tjäder: The origin of the uncial script. In: Basler Zeitschrift für Geschichte und Altertumskunde , ISSN 0067-4540 , vol. 74 (1974), issue 1, pp. 9-40 ( digitized version )
Individual evidence
- ^ Jean Mabillon, De re diplomatica , 2nd ed. Paris 1709, Liber i., Caput xi., P. 47 online . Other interpretations of the term "uncial": Website Digivatlib and University of Zurich: Adfontes .
