Abbreviatur (palaeography)

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Fol. 34r of the Book of Kells with XPI (= Christi) h (= autem) generatio . The use of the Greek letters Chi and Rho is standard in medieval Latin texts.

As abbreviation ( lat. Abbreviare "abbreviate") refers to characters , as abbreviation for syllables or entire words are. It is a technical term from palaeography , which is mainly used in medieval manuscripts , but also in early prints, especially in Latin .

variants

Suspension refers to the omission of letters at the end of a word, which can be replaced by a period, overline and the like. Often only the first letter ( initial ) is retained, the rest is shortened. Examples:

  • Anno Domini → AD
  • debet → deb.
  • et cetera → etc.

Contraction refers to the omission of letters in the middle part, which can be replaced by overlines. Examples:

  • Jesus Christ → ihs xps
  • omnipotens → om ps

By using the noun sacra , Greek and Latin letters are mixed up. In the first example, h , x and p come from the uncials Grec oncial h.png (η, ê ), Grec oncial x.png(χ, ch ) and Grec oncial r.png(ρ, r ).

Ligatures do not belong to the abbreviations, as no letter is omitted in ligatures, the letters are only written connected. In longer periods of time, ligatures can develop in such a way that characters are saved in the result. Examples of this are the character & and the letter ß . Even in such cases, however, there are no abbreviations.

Emergence

15th century Latin manuscript with abbreviations

Even ancient manuscripts use the principles of suspension and contraction, which are continued in medieval texts.

In antiquity, suspensions were initially used in epigraphs , but increasingly also in legal texts. In order to counteract the difficult legibility, the use of these so-called notae iuris was banned in 535 , but in some cases continued into the Middle Ages.

Older hypotheses about the nomina sacra explain the origin of the contractions . Ludwig Traube traced it back directly to the Hebrew tetragram JHWH for Yahweh . The abbreviations meant for people, properties or objects (Jesus, Christ, deus, dominus, spiritus etc.) that are considered sacred have been increasing since the 2nd century AD, especially in Judeo-Christian texts. Medieval reception is a matter of course, especially when it comes to Christian texts. Words for profane objects and personal names were also increasingly shortened according to the same principles as noun sacra. More recent research opinions therefore deny that the noun sacra alone explains the principle of contraction.

Functions

The repayment character has evolved from a small d developed an abbreviation for the Latin deleatur ( "this is to pay off")

Abbreviations serve primarily to save time and space when writing. In addition, they can fulfill other functions , such as the seal or the monogram (quotations from Jürgen Römer, 1997):

  • "To design texts more clearly and thereby make them easier to read"
  • "To achieve and maintain certain layout ideas"
  • "Showing reverence, awe and diplomatic courtesy"
  • "To artificially disguise texts"
  • "As decorative elements"
  • Signal for professionalism in correspondence

Systematization attempts

It is true that widespread conventions can be named and z. B. Adriano Cappelli , whose representation from 1899 is still in use, tries to grasp “[t] the brachygraphic system of the Middle Ages”. Many abbreviations were created individually by scribes. It is therefore not always possible to uniquely resolve the abbreviations.

Cappelli's systematization suggests a division into six types:

  1. by means of abbreviations with their own meaning
  2. through abbreviations with variable meaning
  3. by canceling
  4. by contraction
  5. by conventional signs
  6. by overwritten letters

Leo Santifaller suggested a different classification in a presentation of "Abbreviations in the oldest papal documents (788-1002)". First he differentiates according to the characters used:

  1. Special abbreviations

Finally, he lists the abbreviation types:

  1. checkmark
  2. Nomina sacra
  3. Notae iuris : c for cum, ee for esse, qd for quod etc.
  4. Point
  5. Line
  6. Suspension and contraction
  7. Connection of dot and tick

See also

literature

  • Adriano Cappelli (Ed.): Lexicon abbreviaturarum . Dictionary of Latin and Italian abbreviations as they are used in documents and manuscripts, especially from the Middle Ages, represented in over 14,000 woodcut characters. 2nd, improved edition, Leipzig 1928 ( Lexicon Abbreviaturarum in the Internet Archive ). 6th edition Milan: Hoepli 1961, reprint a. a. 2006. (Still used standard reference work)
  • Alphonse Chassant: Dictionnaire des abbreviations latines et françaises du moyen-âge , 5th A. Paris 1884, facsimiles
  • Paul Arnold Grun: Key to old and new abbreviations , dictionary of Latin and German abbreviations of the late Middle Ages and modern times; with historical and systematic introduction for archive users, students, homeland and family researchers, etc. a., 1966, reprint Limburg / Lahn: Starke 2002.
  • Pascal Ladner : Abbreviations . In: Lexicon of the Middle Ages (LexMA). Volume 1, Artemis & Winkler, Munich / Zurich 1980, ISBN 3-7608-8901-8 , Sp. 41-43.
  • Edward Latham: A dictionary of abbreviations, contractions and abbreviative Signs , New York 1916
  • Cesare Paoli : Le abbreviature nella paleografia latina nel Medioevo. Saggio metodico pratico , Florence 1891 / Abbreviations in the Latin script of the Middle Ages , A methodical-practical attempt, Innsbruck 1892, reprint Gerstenberg, Hildesheim 1971.
  • Auguste Pelzer : Abréviations latines médiévales: Supplément au 'Dizionario di abbreviature latine ed italiane de Adriano Cappelli. 2nd edition, Leuven and Paris 1966 (in the Center de Wulf-Mansion series. Recherches de philosophie ancioenne et médiévale ).
  • Olaf Pluta : Abbreviationes, Version 2.1, CD-ROM 2002.
  • Jürgen Römer: History of the cuts . Abbreviations in German-language texts from the Middle Ages and the early modern period, Göppinger Arbeit zur Germanistik 645, Göppingen 1997.
  • Ludwig Traube: Doctrine and History of Abbreviations. In the S. (Ed. Paul Lehmann, Franz Boll): Lectures and treatises 1: On palaeography and handwriting, Munich 1909, 129–156.
  • Johann L. Walther: Lexicon diplomaticum. Abbreviationes syllabarum et vocum in diplomatibus et codicibus , Göttingen 1745–1747, reprinted by Olms, Hildesheim 2006, ISBN 978-3-487-04574-0 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Gabriele Landwehr and Peter Dinzelbacher : Abbreviatur. In: Peter Dinzelbacher (Hrsg.): Special dictionary of medieval studies (= Kröner's pocket edition . Volume 477). Kröner, Stuttgart 1992, ISBN 3-520-47701-7 , p. 1.
  2. ↑ Cf. AH Paap: Nomina Sacra in the Greek Papyri of the first five centuries AD , the Sources and Some Deductions, Papyrologica Lugduno Batava 8, Brill, Leiden 1959. On the above, also Pascal Ladner: Abbreviations . In: Lexicon of the Middle Ages (LexMA). Volume 1, Artemis & Winkler, Munich / Zurich 1980, ISBN 3-7608-8901-8 , Sp. 41-43.
  3. ↑ Jürgen Römer: History of the abbreviations, abbreviations in German-language texts from the Middle Ages and the early modern period, Göppinger works on German studies, Göppingen 1997.
  4. ↑ a b Cappelli: Lexicon abbreviaturarum, 2nd A., p. Ix

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