Making a Point Read Online Free Page A
Author: David Crystal
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six hundred winters · and sixty-four after the lordâs incarnation · ( in Latin ) eclipse of the sun · that is sun eclipse
Lines from the Old English version of Bedeâs Historia Ecclesiastica , III, Bodleian Library, Tanner MS 10, 54r. The handwriting is Anglo-Saxon minuscule .
This extract illustrates several features of the emerging punctuation system.
The first line is written in decorated coloured capitals, showing that itâs a new section of the text; the first letter is much larger than the others, and in this text ingeniously drawn in the shape of a person climbing a pole.
The first three words are separated by a middle dot, but so is the first syllable of geworden ; however, thereâs no dot or space before the word ymb .
In the next line, the first phrase is separated from the rest of the line by a middle dot, with its three words spaced; we might expect the âsixty-fourâ to have a dot after it as well, but instead we get a wider space.
In the third line, middle dots separate the phrases, with the constituent words spaced.
Abbreviations are being used: there are two instances of, the Tironian symbol for âandâ â so called because it was part of a system of shorthand used in ancient Rome, supposedly invented by Tiro, a freedman of Cicero â and an example of an omitted word-ending (the er of after ) shown by a mark over the t .
The scribe could not fit the Old English word for âeclipseâ ( asprungennis ) into the line, so he simply continues it on the next line; there is no hyphen or other indication that a word is being split in this way.
We might expect âlordâ (i.e. Jesus Christ), to have a capital letter, but there are no initial capitals used for proper names.
This mixture of conventions is typical of manuscripts of the time.
As one reads through the manuscripts of Old English â less than a thousand in all â the differences in the use ofpunctuation are striking. Apart from spaces and dots, other marks are used to show word identity. Some writers make the opening letter of a word larger; some the closing letter â an early move in the direction of capitalization, especially for proper names. If a word didnât fit at the end of a line, its incomplete state would be shown in various ways. Some scribes simply crammed the remaining syllables into the space above the line. Some shortened the word, marking the abbreviation with a stroke above the last letter. Some introduced a J -like mark looking like a large comma: itâs called a diastole (pronounced die-ass-toe-lee), a convention taken over from ancient Greek. A letter might have a stroke extended to suggest a continuation: these âsuspended ligaturesâ were often picked up on the next line, where the first letter showed a continuation stroke. (This practice of âdouble hyphenationâ lasted a long time. Weâll see it again in Jane Austen, p. 100.) Gradually a special linking mark became usual, though its character varied. It might be a single horizontal mark at the end of a line (like the modern hyphen), or a double horizontal (=), or an acute accent (´), or a semi-circle below the line. The variation wouldnât be sorted out until the arrival of printing.
There are clear indications of a more sophisticated system emerging. Influenced by the practices of Irish monks, some Anglo-Saxon scribes began to use multiple marks to show pauses â the more marks, the longer the pause and the more âfinalâ the intonation. Two dots, one on top of the other (like a modern colon), would show a moderate pause in the middle of a sentence. A cluster of three dots (â often called a trigon ) would show a major pause at the end. An oblique line could mark a pause, as could a double oblique. In some writers it was the position of the dots in relation to the preceding letter that showed pausal distinctions: a system of two or threedots â
six hundred winters · and sixty-four after the lordâs incarnation · ( in Latin ) eclipse of the sun · that is sun eclipse
Lines from the Old English version of Bedeâs Historia Ecclesiastica , III, Bodleian Library, Tanner MS 10, 54r. The handwriting is Anglo-Saxon minuscule .
This extract illustrates several features of the emerging punctuation system.
The first line is written in decorated coloured capitals, showing that itâs a new section of the text; the first letter is much larger than the others, and in this text ingeniously drawn in the shape of a person climbing a pole.
The first three words are separated by a middle dot, but so is the first syllable of geworden ; however, thereâs no dot or space before the word ymb .
In the next line, the first phrase is separated from the rest of the line by a middle dot, with its three words spaced; we might expect the âsixty-fourâ to have a dot after it as well, but instead we get a wider space.
In the third line, middle dots separate the phrases, with the constituent words spaced.
Abbreviations are being used: there are two instances of, the Tironian symbol for âandâ â so called because it was part of a system of shorthand used in ancient Rome, supposedly invented by Tiro, a freedman of Cicero â and an example of an omitted word-ending (the er of after ) shown by a mark over the t .
The scribe could not fit the Old English word for âeclipseâ ( asprungennis ) into the line, so he simply continues it on the next line; there is no hyphen or other indication that a word is being split in this way.
We might expect âlordâ (i.e. Jesus Christ), to have a capital letter, but there are no initial capitals used for proper names.
This mixture of conventions is typical of manuscripts of the time.
As one reads through the manuscripts of Old English â less than a thousand in all â the differences in the use ofpunctuation are striking. Apart from spaces and dots, other marks are used to show word identity. Some writers make the opening letter of a word larger; some the closing letter â an early move in the direction of capitalization, especially for proper names. If a word didnât fit at the end of a line, its incomplete state would be shown in various ways. Some scribes simply crammed the remaining syllables into the space above the line. Some shortened the word, marking the abbreviation with a stroke above the last letter. Some introduced a J -like mark looking like a large comma: itâs called a diastole (pronounced die-ass-toe-lee), a convention taken over from ancient Greek. A letter might have a stroke extended to suggest a continuation: these âsuspended ligaturesâ were often picked up on the next line, where the first letter showed a continuation stroke. (This practice of âdouble hyphenationâ lasted a long time. Weâll see it again in Jane Austen, p. 100.) Gradually a special linking mark became usual, though its character varied. It might be a single horizontal mark at the end of a line (like the modern hyphen), or a double horizontal (=), or an acute accent (´), or a semi-circle below the line. The variation wouldnât be sorted out until the arrival of printing.
There are clear indications of a more sophisticated system emerging. Influenced by the practices of Irish monks, some Anglo-Saxon scribes began to use multiple marks to show pauses â the more marks, the longer the pause and the more âfinalâ the intonation. Two dots, one on top of the other (like a modern colon), would show a moderate pause in the middle of a sentence. A cluster of three dots (â often called a trigon ) would show a major pause at the end. An oblique line could mark a pause, as could a double oblique. In some writers it was the position of the dots in relation to the preceding letter that showed pausal distinctions: a system of two or threedots â
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