David Moreno Olalla
A GENTLE INTRODUCTION
TO PALAEOGRAPHY & SCRIPTS
Técnicas e Instrumentos para
el Estudio Diacrónico de la
Lengua Inglesa
Palaeographical Jargon (i)
• Script & Hand
A script is an ideal style of handwriting, a model, possessing a
number of features in the execution of letterforms that allows to tell
it apart from similar systems of handwriting (contemporary or not).
Although different scripts were recognized already in medieval
times, the names that we normally refer them by are modern.
A hand is how a particular script is shaped by a particular writer,
which is generally called scribe. A professional scribe will normally
be able to write in a number of different scripts, so one and the
same person may use different hands. When several hands are found
in the same text, they are usually referred by capital letters: Hand A,
B, C… If the same scribe is thought to have used more than one
script in the task, then we talk about Hand A1, A2, A3, etc.
Palaeographical Jargon (ii)
• Graphs & Doodles
A graph is any symbol written on a writing support that
possesses some linguistic meaning, i.e not only letters but also
numbers, abbreviations or punctuation marks. A doodle is a
symbol lacking that linguistic meaning: drawings, pen trials, etc.
• Strokes
A stroke is any mark made by the pen, in any direction on the
support, to draw a graph without lifting the pen. Some strokes
can be purely ornamental, or otiose.
• Ductus
Most letters may be drawn in a number of ways. The ductus is
the number of strokes that a scribe used for the writing of a
single graph, their order and direction.
Palaeographical Jargon (iii)
• Majuscules & Minuscules
Discounting diacritic marks, graphs in Latin scripts can be
accommodated within either two or four parallel horizontal lines,
called lines of ruling. Those confined within two lines of ruling are
bilinear scripts or majuscules, while those that need four lines of
ruling are quadrilinear scripts or minuscules. They are sometimes
referred as uppercase and lowercase letters, but these are
typographic, rather than palaeographic, designations.
Palaeographical Jargon (iv)
• Linear, Supralinear & Infralinear Graphs
Graphs drawn inside headline and baseline (i.e. the two central lines of
ruling in a minuscule script) are linear: for instance, ‹a›, ‹n›, ‹o›, ‹v›, or
‹x› in most contemporary scripts… Supralinear letters display one or
more strokes (called ascenders) well above the headline, while infralinear
ones display strokes (called descenders) well below the base line. So ‹b›
and ‹l› are supralinear while ‹g› or ‹p› are infralinear. A graph displaying
both ascenders and descenders is a double-length letter, as is ‹þ› or
many handwritten forms of ‹f›.
Palaeographical Jargon (v)
• Letter Anatomy (I): Straight Strokes
A minim is a vertical stroke from headline to baseline, as in ‹i›, ‹u›, or
‹m›. Those pointing up, as in ‹u›, are called arms, while those pointing
down, as in ‹n› are legs. ‹v› and ‹w› are also said to have arms. These
limbs can be further referred as left, right or (in the case of ‹m› and ‹w›)
as middle leg/arm/limb. The equivalent of the minim in majuscule
scripts is the column (hence ‹H› has a right and a left column).
Horizontal strokes are called cross-strokes if they intersect a vertical
one, as in ‹t› (also ‹ð›), but head-strokes if drawn on it, as in ‹T›. The
cross-stroke of ‹f› is called tongue. A crossbar is a horizontal stroke
joining two strokes, as in ‹H› or ‹A›. The horizontal stroke in ‹L› is its
foot. A minim may also have a small horizontal-ish stroke attached near
the headline, as in ‹r›. This is the shoulder, although the name is also
used to refer to the curved part joining the minims of ‹m› or ‹h›. That of
‹g› is called the ear.
Palaeographical Jargon (vii)
• Letter Anatomy (II): Curved Strokes
Any round graph is composed by a number of arcs: ‹c› may display one,
while ‹o›, ‹O›, or ‹Q› is usually composed by two or more. The little
descender of ‹Q› is its tail, although this also refers to the descender of
‹g›. Typographers refer to the main stroke of ‹s›, ‹S› as its spine.
A lobe/bowl/compartment is the round stroke of a letter having also a
vertical stroke, as in ‹a› or ‹b›. The enclosed space is called counter or
compartment. A letter can be double-lobed or two-compartment, as in
‹B›. The lobe of ‹e› is the eye. The vertical stroke is these graphs is not
called minim, but stem in linear graphs (‹a›, ‹t›) and shaft in double-
length ones (‹þ›). If the vertical part is a descender or an ascender, these
are the back , backbone or shank (‹d›, ‹p›).
Descenders and ascenders may also display round-ish parts, called loops,
as in ‹g› and many handwritten versions of ‹b›, ‹f›, etc.
Palaeographical Jargon (viii)
• Letter Anatomy (III): Serifs & Flourishes
Otiose strokes, i.e. those that are added just for ornament, can appear in
many ways. A possible division is the following:
Serifs are fine cross-strokes at the end and top of the minims/column.
They can be horizontal, as in ‹I›, or vertical, as the ones on the head-
stroke of ‹T› or the limbs of ‹E›.
Flourishes are curved or wavy strokes at the beginning or end of
straight stroke. In typography they are sometimes called swashes,
particularly when they function as fancy, larger versions of the serifs.
Curlicues are peculiar flourishes shaped like a corkscrew, while
pendants are long, hair-thin vertical lines placed on the extremity of
some final letters in the medieval period.
Spurs and horns are horizontal or slanted strokes in arcs, as in some
medieval forms of ‹e› or in the Shakespearean ‹a›.
New Graphs (i): English letters
• ‹þ›/‹Þ› (thorn). It means the same sounds as
PDE ‹th› in OE and ME MSS. The crossed
version (‹›) means “that”.
• ‹ð›/‹Ð› (edh). The same as above. There is no
phonetic difference between the two.
• ‹ƿ›/‹Ƿ› (wynn). It means the same sounds as
PDE ‹w›. This is NOT a ‹p›!!!
• ‹ȝ›/‹Ȝ› (yogh). It may mean either /x/ or /j/
in ME MSS.
New Graphs (ii): Latin letters
• ‹æ› (ash). It is a peculiar monophthong in OE and
early ME. In medieval Latin MSS it usually stands
for Classical Latin ‹ae›.
• ‹ę› (e caudata). A representation of the Classical
Latin diphthong ‹ae› in medieval MSS.
• ‹⁊› (Tironian sign). It means “and” in OE and early
ME MSS.
• ‹ł› (vel-sign). It means “or” in Latin and OE MSS.
• ‹&› (ampersand). It also means “and”, but is more
frequent in Latin than in English MSS.
New Graphs (iii): Other signs
• ‹¶› (paragraphus). It is used to indicated the
beginning of a new section. They were frequently
painted in a different colour.
• ‹)____(› (brackets). In medieval MSS these enclosed
any important word in a sentence (lemmas). They
were frequently painted in a different colour,
usually red, as were the lemmas.
• ‹^› (caret). This indicates that one or more graphs
are missing in the body of text. The missing
fragment is copied above, or else in the margins.
• ‹☛› (manus, manipulus). It serves to call the
reader’s attention to a passage in the MS.
New Graphs (iv): Punctuation
• ‹/› (virgula). It usually marks a major pause.
It can be repeated several times for emphasis.
• ‹.› (punctus). It usually marks a minor pause,
similar to a comma or a semicolon. It also
indicates the beginning and end of Roman
numbers.
• ‹› (punctus elevatus). Again a minor pause,
similar to a semicolon.
• ‹› (punctus interrogativus). The medieval
version of the question mark.
Uncial Script
Et perseuerauit captiuitas annis lxxv usque
ad secundum annum Darii filii Hystaspis
qui Persis Assyriis et Aegypto regnauit. sub
quo Aggaeus et Zacharias et unus ex duo
decim qui uocatur Angelus prophetaue
runt. sacerdotioque functus est Iesus, Io
sedec. haec supradictus uir
Quod autem lxx annus desolationis Tem
pli altero anno Darii fuerit expletus, do
mesticus testis est Zacharias propheta
secundo anno Darii dicens: Domine o
mnipotens, quousque non misereberis
Hierusalem et ciuitatibus Iuda quas des
pexisti iste lxx. annus
Half-uncial Script
genuit. genuisse autem Deum filios numquam
cum proprietatis significatione cognoscimus
Non enim ait filios meos generaui et exaltaui
sed hoc tantum filios generaui et exaltaui
nisi forte in eo quod ait filius primogenitus
meus Israhel quisquam hoc quod primogenitus
meus dixit ad detrahendam filio proprieta
Insular Half-uncial Script
Orantes autem nolite multum lo
qui sicut ethnici putant enim quia
in multi loquio suo exaudiantur noli
te ergo adsimilari eris. Scit enim pa
ter uester qui duobis opus sit ante-
quam petitas ab eo sic ergo uos orabitis
tur nomen tuum
Pater noster qui in caelis sanctifice
adueniat regnum tuum fiat uo
luntas t^e^a sicut in caelo quod in terr^a^
Anglo-Saxon Minuscule Script
Nis min sele swige ne ic sylfa hlud ymb unc
dryhten scop siþ æt somne Ic eom swiftre þonne he þra
gum strengra he þreohtigra. Hwilum ic me reste he
sceal yrnan forð ic him in wunige a þenden ic lifge
gif wit unc gedælað me bið deað witod.
Wiht cwom gongan þær weras sæton monige on mæð
le mode snottre hæfde an eage and earan twa . and II.
fet .xii. hund heafda. hryc and wombe and honda twa
Carolingian Minuscule Script
Si non licet uobis romani imperii antistites in aperto &
edito, in ipso fere uertice ciuitatis praesidentibus ad
iudicandum palam dispicere & coram examinare quid
sit liquido in causa Christianorum. si ad hanc solam
speciem auctoritas vestra
Nihil de causa sua deprecatur. quia nec de conditione
miratur; Scit se peregrinam in terris agere. inter
extraneos facile inimicos inuenire, ceterum genus.
sedem. spem. gratiam. dignitatem in caelis habere·
Unum gestit interdum. ne ignorata damnetur· Quid hic
deperit legibus in suo regno dominantibus. si audiatur
an hoc magis gloriabi[tur]
Gothic Scripts: Generalities
• Sometimes called “black letter” in the British Isles, Gothic script
begun as a more angular version of the Carolingian script due to the
quill being cut in a different angle. This allowed a characteristic
combination of thick strokes (broad strokes) and thin ones (hairlines).
• Gothic script became very popular and in time suffered particular
developments in many European areas, which helps locate many
Gothic hands within broad-ish regions within the Continent.
• Hierarchy of scripts: Gothic script was graded into qualities depending
on the execution of the letters, from the careful and compressed
formata, which needed many strokes, to the quickly-written and
generally more splayed cursiva, drawn using less strokes. Subtypes of
these were developed depending on the place and time of composition,
and even the scribe’s fancy. Several grades of the script can be found
on the same page.
• Formata versions of this script are also called Text or Textura, i.e.
“woven” (script) when applied to book hand, in opposition to the
documentary hands in writs or deeds.
