Breviograph

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

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)
gollark: Do you mean "capital" in the sense of "human-made things you use to produce things"?
gollark: Have you tried 8values?
gollark: But they have inequality basically builtin so bee them.
gollark: There are proof of stake ones without that.
gollark: I consider current cryptocurrencies kind of apious, although it seems like the existing financial transaction system is awful and barely holds together, soooo...

See also

References
  1. Tannenbaum, Samuel A. The Handwriting of the Renaissance (1931), New York: Columbia UP, 125-134.
  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
  • Elaine E. Whitaker, "Lacunae and the id est Brevigraph in Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Bodley 283," Manuscripta 36, no. 3 (1992), 191-99.
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