Jillwilcox at 13:43, August 28, 2012

2012-08-28T13:43:39Z

Jillwilcox at 13:42, August 28, 2012

2012-08-28T13:42:58Z

New page

"Introduction to Palaeography"

When reading old documents the first thing you will notice is that it is written in a different script. Letters are often formed differently and even if they are formed in the same way they may look different because of the slant of the hand. Below is a link of an alphabet that forms the letter in a similar way to the documents we will be looking at.

[http://paleo.anglo-norman.org/bbhands.html]

At the bottom of this webpage there are examples of other hands you may come across during transcribing. You may want to print out a copy to look at when you are working.

==Things you may have noticed==

Differences in spelling
• Use of y for i, for example myne = mine.
• Interchangeable i and j. Iohn = John. Maiestie = Majesty.
• Interchangeable u and v, such as euer = ever. vnto = unto
• Long 's'. Don't get long s and f mixed up. The 'f' will have a cross stroke, even if it's hardly noticeable, and the context will make it clear whether it is a long 's' or an 'f'. Writers would often use both long and short 's', sometimes even in the same word.
• Use of a single consonant where you would find two in modern English, such as al - all.
• Use of two consonants where you would find one in modern English, such as allways - always.
• Minims. A minim is a single downstroke of the pen. An 'i' is therefore one minim, an 'n' or 'u' is made up of two minims, and a 'm' three. In modern handwriting, where each letter is individually formed and the 'i's are dotted, these letters do not cause any problems of comprehension. But in old handwriting, particularly in cursive hands , where the writer was writing very quickly and possibly not forming the joining strokes, they can be very hard to tell apart.

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	When reading old documents the first thing you will notice is that it is written in a different script. Letters are often formed differently and even if they are formed in the same way they may look different because of the slant of the hand. Below is a link of an alphabet that forms the letter in a similar way to the documents we will be looking at.		When reading old documents the first thing you will notice is that it is written in a different script. Letters are often formed differently and even if they are formed in the same way they may look different because of the slant of the hand. Below is a link of an alphabet that forms the letter in a similar way to the documents we will be looking at.

Introduction to Palaeography - Revision history

Jillwilcox at 13:43, August 28, 2012

Jillwilcox at 13:42, August 28, 2012