Bernese Ogham sign overview
The Berner Ogham overview is an early medieval seven-line manuscript entry in Ogham script in Codex 207, Corpus Grammaticorum Latinorum, folium 1b recto (formerly Codex Bernensis 207, fol. 257r). The manuscript is kept in the Burgerbibliothek Bern , Switzerland . The Ogham entry is dated to the late 8th to early 9th centuries AD.
The manuscript was probably made in Fleury, Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire , Loiret department , France . The Ogham entry was probably made by an Irish scribe.
inscription
At the beginning of the manuscript page is a seven-line Ogham text and a twelve-line Latin text.
Latin text
Another writer inserted a Latin grammatical text between the lines and partly directly on the Ogham characters (overrides in 1st line) , which consists of twelve lines and has no relation to the Ogham characters. The Latin text deals with the 4th and 5th declination through questions and answers . The previous page no longer exists. She must have dealt with the 3rd declination. The 1st line reads “plus. Quas priscian (us) bene c (om) memorat. Quarta declinatio. "The 2nd line begins with" Que est agnitio quarte declinationis? "The 11th line ends with" Quinta declinatio q (uo) t litt (er) as termi ". In the 12th line there is only the syllable "na". The text breaks off in the middle of the word "termina (...)".
Ogham text
In the 1st line the Ogham characters are arranged in the order of the Latin alphabet. Some characters that cannot be identified with certainty due to overwriting with Latin letters and characters that are no longer visible can therefore be easily supplemented with a high degree of probability.
The character NG is placed after F in the 1st line and is therefore used for G as in the following syllable overview. In contrast to the Latin alphabet, the Ogham series does not have a character for K. The writer has probably not filled in the gap because he also uses the character for Q for K in the subsequent syllable table. The letter P is represented by a character in Y-form, which is otherwise not used for P in this form. The scribe added the transmissions via the four double sounds at the end of the line, the forfeda. They have different sound sequences than in the conventional tradition, although there are quite different rare transmission variants in other applications. The character transferred in the handwriting as well as in the Book of Ballymote with "ach" is in other texts above the trunk line and has four horizontal lines in it. With the last character Derolez leaves the transmission open, but also considers Z to be possible and finally transmits it like McManus with Z in the syllable overview.
A syllable overview follows in lines two to seven. The syllables it contains are all formed according to the same pattern. All concurrent sounds of the Latin alphabet are systematically represented as syllables in alphabetical order together with all Latin vowels - also in alphabetical order. All syllables are still legible.
Specialty
The Bernese Ogham overview from around 800 AD is the oldest Ogham entry in medieval manuscripts. This inscription is about 350 years older than the second oldest Ogham manuscript entry, the Vatican Ogham character series . The oldest Irish Ogham entries do not date until the 14th century.
literature
- René Derolez : Ogam, "Egyptian", "African" and "Gothic" alphabets. Some remarks in connection with Codex Bernensis 207. In: Scriptorium. 5/1, 1951, pp. 3-19.
- Katherine Forsyth : An ogham-inscribed slab from St Ninian's Isle, found in 1876. In: Rachel C. Barrowman: The Chapel and Burial Ground on St Ninian's Isle, Shetland. Excavations past and present. Society for Medieval Archeology Monographs 32, Abingdon / Oxfordshire (England) 2011.
- Demian McManus: A Guide to Ogam. In: Maynooth Monographs. 4, Maynooth 1991.
- John-Paul Patton: The Poet's Ogam. A Living Magical Tradition. Belfast 2010.
Web links
- Page with Bernese Ogham characters overview (Codex Bernensis 207) on the website of the Bern Burger Library
- Manuscript page 257r in Codex Bernensis 207
- Exact description and content of Codex Bernensis 207
- Carlotta S. Barbieri: Non-Latin Alphabet Sets in Insular Manuscripts
References and comments
- ^ Website of the Burgerbibliothek Bern ; McManus, p. 135; Forsyth, p. 19
- ^ Website of the Bern Burger Library
- ↑ Forsyth , p. 19
- ↑ Burgerbibliothek Bern, Cod. 207 ; see under “2. Different alphabets ”; also McManus, p. 135
- ↑ Derolez , p. 3
- ↑ Derolez, p. 7
- ↑ Derolez, p. 8; McManus, p. 135
- ↑ Forsyth, p. 19
- ↑ Forfeda are additional characters that were formed after the 20 original Ogham characters
- ↑ Derolez, p. 8 f .; McManus, p. 135
- ↑ Derolez, p. 7 f .; McManus, p. 135
- ↑ McManus, p. 135; Patton, p. 82
- ↑ McManus, p. 135