Jump to content

Breviograph

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A breviograph or brevigraph (from Latin: brevis, 'short', and Greek grapho, 'to write') is a type of scribal abbreviation in the form of an easily written symbol, character, flourish or stroke, based on a modified letter form to take the place of a common letter combination, especially those occurring at the beginning or end of a word. Breviographs were used frequently by stenographers, law clerks and scriveners, and they were also found in early printed books and tracts.[1] Their use declined after the 17th century.

Examples

[edit]

Examples of breviographs:[2][3][4]

  • & — et (e.g. &c = etc)
  • ⋅i⋅ — id est
  • ꝑ — per-, pre-, or par- (e.g. ꝑson = person)
  • ß — ser-, sur-, or sir- (e.g. ßuaunt = seruaunt = servant)
  • X — Christ- (e.g. Xian = Christian)

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. Tannenbaum, Samuel A. (1930). The Handwriting of the Renaissance. Introduction by Ashley H. Thorndike. New York: Columbia University Press. pp. 125–134. LCCN 30031806. OCLC 16731297. Retrieved 2026-08-09.
  2. Zurcher, Andrew. "Basic Conventions for Transcription". English Handwriting 1500-1700: An Online Course. University of Cambridge. Retrieved 2018-03-04.
  3. Reed, Melania Sánchez (2011). "Transcribing Mediaeval Science for Electronic Editions". In García Ruano, Javier (ed.). Current Trends in Anglophone Studies. Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca. p. 134. ISBN 9788478001576.
  4. "Alphabet Abbreviations" (PDF). Practical Paleography. Folger Shakespeare Library.

Sources

[edit]