Contractions in early Latin minuscule MSS

^ CONTRACTIONS IN EARLY LATIN
MINUSCULE MSS.

BY

'. m7lin

* 1 1
Professor of Humanity in the University of St. Andrews.

W. M. LINDSAY, M.A.,

OXFORD :
Jam^a fark^r antr ©0.

27 BROAD STREET; AND 3I BEDFORD STREET, STRAND, LONDON.

igo8.

CONTRACTIONS IN EARLY LATIN
MINUSCULE MSS.

A LARGE number of the leading MSS. of the Latin Classics
belong to the tenth and eleventh centuries. Perhaps the most
fertile source of error in them is the unfamiliarity of the writers with
the contractions used in the Irish « or pre-Carolingian script of the
originals which they transcribed. If an editor tries to ascertain
what contractions were used in these early minuscule MSS., he finds
himself at a loss. Books like Chassant's ' Dictionnaire des AbreVia-
tions ' mix up together contractions of all dates and of all kinds
of script. Walther's ' Lexicon Diplomaticum ' is inaccessible to most
students, and even it is inadequate, being based on materials drawn
from a single library ^ Wolfenbiittel. The following details may
therefore be of interest and of practical use. They are .taken from
notes, made as accurately as the time (often limited) at my disposal
allowed, of the contractions found in about three hundred MSS.
of the eighth and ninth centuries. They can hardly be free from
errors, for I had no printed texts beside me. Still they will serve
to give a fair notion of what contractions would be found in
(i) an Irish, (2) a pre-Carolingian (or early Carolingian) Conti-
nental « archetype, and will enable an editor, who has ascertained
the nationality of the scribe, to re-construct in imagination the
whole series of contractions which would be found in the arche-
type's pages. They will also help to check the licence of con-
jectural emendation. It is at last coming to be generally recognised

» The correct term is Insular, for English MSS. are included and Welsh too.
But I prefer to keep the usual word.

b A library unfortunately unrepresented in my notes. For information re-
garding MSS. of Vienna, Montpellier and Cambrai I am indebted to Mr. Win-
stedt. Dr. Mercati gave me some supplementary details of the contractions
in Milan C 301 and Turin F IV i (5).

c It seemed impracticable to distinguish Merovingian, Lombard (Italian) and
Visigothic (Spanish) contractions. But a few details, especially of Visigothic
peculiarities, are mentioned, as occasion allows. More will be found in Traube's
* Nomina Sacra.'

2 Contractions in Early Latin Minuscule MSS.

that emendations, if they are to be convincing, must conform to the
requirements of Palaeography and start from a knowledge of the
mediaeval transmission of the text. They must not call into
existence, for the sake of the argument, contractions which could
not possibly be found in a MS. of the time and the place at which
the hypothetical archetype was written.

Part I. Introductory.

I. Pre-minuscule Contractions.

If we take a general view of the course of Latin Contractions
previous to the introduction of minuscule script, we see that it tends
from less to more precise expression of words. The earliest stage
is the use merely of the initial letter of a word, e.g. d for ' deus,'
p *populus,' r 'Romanus.' The next is the use of the initial letter
of each syllable of the word, e.g. cs * consul.' In the Christian
period comes a new fashion, copied, as Traube has shewn, from the
Greek theological writings, the addition of the final letter, e.g. ds
' deus,' scs 'sanctus,' do 'deo,' sco ' sancto.' These three stages are
all on the same road, the road towards greater precision. The use
of the initial letter alone is very vague, for d may represent * deus '
or * dominus ' or ' donum ' or * dedit,' etc. ; c may stand for ' consul '
or ' causa ' <^ or ' crimen ' or other words. When the initials of the
syllables are used, e.g. ^(on)5(ul), there is greater precision, but the
case of the Noun is left vague; for cs may represent equally 'consul,'
' consulis,' * consul!,' * consulem,' etc. Roughly speaking % even
in the minuscule period the less precise contractions are the earlier,
the more precise the later ; e.g. dx (with syllable-initials) is earlier
than dix * dixit.' To this last type, where the word is written in full,
with the exception of the final portion, the name usually given
is 'contraction^ by suspension,' since the writing of the word is,

^ Cf. Traube, * Nomina Sacra,' p. 253, who shews that ca * causa ' is not current
in minuscule script till the 13th century. (In the half-uncial Vat. Reg. 886
I noted CIS 'causis.') Hence the Codex Turnebi of Plautus cannot well have
had ca at Poen. 906. (Cf. my * Codex Turnebi,' p. 5 n.)

e Traube, in his * Nomina Sacra,' has shewn that in Spain from the earliest
times a type of contraction was in fashion, which he calls the ' Hebraistic ' type,
i.e. with omission of the vowels, e.g. dmns * dominus,' qnm * quoniam,' etc.

' Traube would restrict the term ' contraction ' to abbreviations like qm or
qnm ' quoniam,' ds ' deus,' etc. I use it as the equivalent of * abbreviation.*

Contractions in Early Latin Mi?iuscule MSS. 3

so to speak, suspended at a certain point. The scribe writes dix,
then holds his pen and leaves the last two letters to be supplied.

2. Evidence regarding archetype furnished by Con-
tractions.

Old and new contractions often stand side by side in a MS.
This sometimes is merely the result of the scribe's familiarity with
both. But it is often due to the carefulness of a scribe who, being
ignorant of the meaning of the contraction offered by the original,
reproduced the symbol in his transcript. Thus in the Berne Horace
(on p. 10), -P-RUS", the old contraction of 'populus Romanus,*
is faithfully s copied by the scribe from his original. But that its
meaning was not understood is evident from the suprascript con-
jectural emendation vel puhlicus. We often get evidence of the date
and script of an original from clues like this. An Irish original may
be inferred from a scribe's mistaken interpretation of peculiarly
Irish symbols, e.g. for 'enim,' 'autem,' *eius,' etc.; a Visigothic,
from the substitution of pro for per in a transcript, since the Caro-
lingian sign for ' pro ' plays the part of * per ' in Visigothic script.
Other instances of the kind will be mentioned in the second and
third Parts of this paper.

3. Repeated Words, Formulas, etc. As a rule, we may
venture to ascribe the older type of contraction to the original MS.,
the later to the writer of the transcript himself. But there is one
case in which contractions of the most ancient type are found in
quite late MSS., and are sometimes patently the coinage of the
transcriber. I mean the case of words which frequently recur
in a paragraph, or even whole formulas which are so often repeated
that the scribe naturally spares himself the trouble of writing them
on each occasion in full. Since there was no possibility of mis-
reading these contractions, scribes allowed themselves the fullest
licence. Thus in Ecclesiastical Canons the reiterated phrase 'fratres
carissimi ' appears as ff kk or as ff kmi (or kr or an)^ etc. ; in
a Grammatical treatise words like * pluralis,' ' genitivus,* ' genus,'
* modus,' ' femininus,' etc., are not written in full, after their third
or fourth occurrence in a paragraph, but take any shortened ex-
pression that the fancy of the copyist suggests. The standard
Dictionaries of Latin Contractions are full of abbreviations of this
kind, but they are excluded from my lists ; for they would not

g The original may have had P-R'"^, the us being the addition of a corrector,

B 2

4 Contractions in Early Latin Minuscule MSS.

be found in an ordinary context, and, where they appear, they would
not be likely to cause errors of transcription. Thus in a medicinal
MS. of St. Gall (759) the word dolor is repeated again and again,
and appears in forms like dim ' dolorem,' dolm ' dolorem,' dols
* dolores.' These contractions I omit. They are peculiar to tech-
nical ^ writings and play little or no part in the chief concern of this
investigation, the corruptions in the MSS. of the Latin Classics.

4. Nomina Sacra. Contractions of religious words (* nomina
sacra'), like ds 'deus,' dns * dominus,' scs * sanctus,' sps * spiritus,'
were so familiar to monastic scribes and so unchanged by time
or place that the briefest mention* of some of them will suffice
for our purpose. (A contraction-stroke would stand over the letters,
or over one of them, in the MSS.)

angelus

angls (with cross-

cross -barred /),

barred /).

etc.

apostolus

ap (e.g. London,

misericordia

mia, misdia, msda,

Cotton Tib.

etc. (seePartllL,

A xiv), apos, apis

§ 2 S.V.).

(withcross-barred

omnipotens

omp, omps, omnip,

/), aps (in the

etc.

eighth century

propheta

prof (with ' pro '

Paris manuscript.

expressed usually

2843A), etc.

by the symbol;

episcopus

eps, episc, epcs, etc.

see Parts IL,IIL,

epistula

epla, epsl (both

S.V.).

with cross-barred

saeculum

scl (with cross-

/), epis, etc.

barred /), sclm,

gloria

gla, gloa (both with

slm, etc.

5. Notae Juris. More attention is due to the other kind of
pre-minuscule Contraction, the Notae Juris, i.e. the abbreviations
used in legal books and documents (e.g. P.R. * populus Romanus,'
C.R. 'civis Romanus,' ACC 'accepta' or *accusatio,' E.G. 'bona

^ So are the contractions of Proper Names, like del ' David,' gg ' Gregorius.'
These also I omit.

i A full account will be found in Traube's posthumous work ' Nomina Sacra '
( = Quellen und Untersuchungen zur lateinischen Philologie des Mittelalters,
vol. II.), Munich, 1907. Traube's investigation has thrown a new light on
the whole history of Latin Abbreviations and must be read by all students of
l^alaeography.

Contractions in Early Latin Minuscnle MSS.

S

gratia,' DCT * decretum '), for they are the main source from which
the earliest minuscule contractions come. There is every pro-
bability that some of them, which do not appear (or have not been
noted) in extant minuscule MSS., did appear in minuscule MSS.
which have been lost or in the originals from which extant MSS.
have been transcribed. Unfortunately there is no comprehensive
account of these Notae Juris. To the three large collections which
have been published, (i) Mommsen's 'Notae Probi,'etc., in vol. IV.
of Keil's Grammatici Latini, (2) Studemund's apograph of the
Verona Gaius (Leipzig, 1874), (3) Mommsen's apograph of the
Vatican Codex 5766 (Berlin, i860), a number of additions have
to be made, partly from newly-discovered fragments from Egypt
and elsewhere, but especially from the rich treasure-house of a
Vatican MS. of the Codex Tl^eodosianusJ (Reg. 886).

Excluding mere technical abbreviations, Hke DM ' dolus malus,'
which would not be likely to occur in a MS. of a Latin Classic,
I offer, as a supplement of my lists in Parts IL and IIL, the follow-
ing list of some Notae Juris, which may have played a part in
the transmission of our classical texts (a contraction-stroke may
usually be supposed to have stood over the symbol in MSS.) :

adu * adversus '

nga ' negotia '

qam 'quemadmodum

bn and be ' bene '

otet ' oportet '

qr ' quare '

cc * circum '

offo ' officio '

qu ' quaravis '

ctr ' ceterum '

ol 'olim'

0

dd 'deinde'

prea and pra ' prae-

qm ' quominus '

i

dn * damnum '

terea '

r '-rint'

dq * denique '

pep * principe '

St * satis'

dt *dumtaxat'

pm * plus minus '

i

s 'sint'

exmo * existimo '

^u (i) *provincia,'

qb * sihi '

gm * germanus '

(2)'prout'(both

sl ' scilicet *

i * intra '

inVat.Reg.886)

m

sqd ' siquidem '

md ' mandatum '

q ' quern '

t and tr ' trans '

mxm * maximum '

qa * quia ' (Vat. Reg.

tb Uibi'

n * nam ' ^^ * nee '

886 ; cf. the

tm 'terminus'

m

Rainer frag-

udl and ul 'videlicet'

n ' nummum '

ment ^)

ut 'utrum'

J Those in the text are described in Mommsen's edition (Berlin, 1905). But
the greater number are in the marginalia (cf. Winstedt in Classical Philology i,
399). ^ See Part II. § 2, s.v. 'namque.'

1 See also Traube, 'Nomina Sacra,' p. 263. A transcriber might misread
both this and the following symbol as ' quam.'

Contractions in Early Latin Minuscule MSS.

Part II. Irish Script.
List of the MSS. most often cited :—

Berne (363) Horace, Servius on Virgil, etc. (Fleury), saec.
ix ex.
(photographic facsimile published by Sijthoff, Leyden,
1897).
Bobbio MS. of Latin Grammarians, etc. (Bobbio), saec.
vii ex.

Part of this MS. is at Vienna (lat. 16), part at Naples
(IV A 8 ; usually called ' the Naples Charisius ').
Cambridge (Univ. Libr.) (Kk V 16) Bede, c. 737 a.d. (Echter-
nach ?).

(from the library of Bishop Moore. The corrector who has
expanded the obsolete contractions is ascribed to the
loth cent.).

(Ff IV 42) Juvencus, saec. ix. (by a
Welsh scribe).
Carlsruhe (Reich. 132) Priscian (Reichenau), first half of
saec. ix.

(Reich. 167) Bede (Reichenau), between 836 and

848 (cf. Bannister in Journ. Theol. Stud. 5, 51.)
(Reich. 195) Augustine (Reichenau), saec. ix. init.
Dublin (Trin. Coll.) Book of Mulling, traditionally ascribed to
St. Moling, saec. vii ex., but now generally dated at least a
century later.

Book of Armagh. The date "807" is not
quite certain.
Florence (Laur.) (Ashburnham 60) Ambrose on the Pauline
Epistles, saec. ix.

(The corrector who has expanded the unfamiliar con-
tractions belonged, I think, to the nth cent.)
Leyden (67) Priscian (Abbey of Egmond in North Holland),

838 A.D.

London (Brit. Mus.) (Cotton Tib. A xiv) Bede, saec. viii (see
Plummer's edition of Bede, Introd. p. xci) or ix init.
(Cotton Tib. C ii) Bede, saec. viii.
Milan (Ambr.) (C 301 inf.) Commentary on the Psalms,
(Bobbio), saec. ix.

(from the same original as the fragmentary

Turin F IV i [5]).
(L 85 sup.) Columella, saec. ix init.

Cotitractiojis in Early Latin Minuscule MSS. 7

Munich (3731) Gregory, saec. viii.

(6297) Gregory, (Freising), saec. viii-ix.

(6298) Augustine, (Freising), saec. vii-viii.
Naples (see ' Bobbio ').

Oxford (Bodl.) (Auct. F IV 32), from Glastonbury. The first
part (scarcely referred to in this Section) contains Eutychius,
written by a Breton scribe in Caroline minuscules of saec.
ix-x, but with Irish contractions predominating ; the second
part, the Liber Commonei, is by a Welsh scribe of 817-835 ;
the third part, Ovid Ars Amatoria, by a later Welsh scribe.
A photograph of a page of the Ovid will be found in Ellis,
* XII Facsimiles from Latin MSS. in the Bodleian Library,'
Oxford, 1885. Plate I.

(Laud. Lat. 92) Deuteronomy, &c., (Wiirzburg),
831-841.
Rome (Vat.) (Pal. 68) Commentary on the Psalms, saec. ix.
(Pal. 202) Augustine, saec. ix-x.
(Pal. 259) Gregory, saec. vii-viii.
St. Gall (48) Gospels, saec. ix.

(904) Priscian, (some Irish monastery), saec. ix.
Turin (see * Milan ').
Vienna (see ' Bobbio ').
Wiirzburg (M th. f. 12) St. Paul's Epistles, saec. viii-ix.

2. List of Contractions : —

(Those which are current also in early Continental script are
printed in italics. Unless otherwise stated, it is always to be
understood that a stroke is .drawn above the letters forming
the contraction in the MSS.)
anima aia. Used also in * a///;;/«dverto,' * exa«/;//atus,' etc.
annus. The contractions belong, as a rule, to the type mentioned
in Part I, § 3.

But atm (with contraction- stroke over the second «),
'annos'*" is frequent (e.g. Oxford Laud. Lat. 92, etc.).

»" This contraction by * suspension ' can on occasion denote other cases of the
Noun, e.g. ann (and an) 'annorum' in London, Cotton Vesp. B vi, of 811 — 814.
But why editors of Plautus interpret ann of the Naples Charisius (in the citation
of Plant. Bacch. fr. i or 15) as 'annis' rather than 'annos' is hard to see.
I am told it denotes ' annos ' in Vienna 16, the other part of the same MS*

S Contractions in Early Latin Minuscule MSS.

ante an. Liable to confusion with (i) the Interrogative Particle
* an,' which in Irish MSS. often has the apex^, (2) a contraction
of 'annus.'

apud ap. This is also a contraction of ' apostolus ' (see Part I, § 4).
In Florence Ashb. 60 on fol. 13 v. apos eos is corrected
apud eos. The original had probably this contraction of ' apud '
or some variety ° of it.

atque. I am told that the symbol aq is found in Milan C 301.

aut a. Easily confused with a (Preposition or Interjection, with
the apex). In Florence Ashb. 60, where it is generally joined
with the following word, e.g. minas aterrores (fol. 20 v.), it is
expanded by the later corrector. (Similarly in the Cambridge
Juvencus on fol. 13 v.) The variants in the MSS. of Horace
C. I, 19, II aut versis animosum equis (auersis, uersis, et
uersis) have been referred, but not convincingly, to this con-
traction).

autem. The characteristic Irish symbol is h-, readily mistaken,
especially for the contraction of Mioc,' by Carolingian
copyists p.

A rival symbol in Irish MSS. is at (with the initial letter of
each syllable). Both symbols often appear in the same MS.
(e.g. in the Book of Mulling).

The Continental contraction au (see Part III, § 2) appears,
along with the h-sign, in the Bobbio MS. of Latin Gram-
marians. On the other hand, the Irish h-sign appears in some
Continental MSS., usually (presumably always) through Irish
influence, e.g. in the Milan Josephus and Milan L 99 sup.
(both from Bobbio Library), in Vat. Pal. 187 (from Lorsch
Library), etc., etc.

bene, b with cross-stroke, traversing the shaft of the letter. Not

^ The acute accent, used, especially in Irish script, to mark a long vowel,
especially of monosyllables and of endings like -Is. It is often hardly to be
distinguished from the suprascript line which denotes a contraction.

° In the ninth century Milan I 6 sup. 2 ap' (without contraction-stroke) is the
invariabfe form of this symbol. This at once suggests * apos ' (see below,
* post *).

P To the examples given by Traube in the Neues Archiv d. Geschichtskunde
26, p. 240, add *enim' corr. 'autem' on fol. 184 v. of Geneva 21, and on fol.
8 V. of Bale F. Ill 15 k; vero corr. autem on p. 317 of St. Gall. 126. The
symbol i& often expanded by the corrector in Florence Ashb. 60.

Contractions in Early Latin Minuscule MSS. 9

always discriminated i (by a dot following or by a dot preceding
and a dot following) from the syllabic symbol of 'ber' (see
§3'er').

caput cap (with contraction-stroke over the /), e.g. in St. Gall
Priscian (like ap 'apud') (see Part III, § 2).

civitas ciui, e.g. in Oxford Auct. F IV 32 (Ovid Ars Amatoria, by a
Welsh scribe); 'civitatis' in the 9th century Leyden 67 D,
which uses Irish contractions; 'civitatem' in the Berne Horace,
etc. This contraction by suspension perhaps belongs rather to
the type described in Part I, § 3.

contra. To express this word, a modification of 3, the syllabic
symbol of 'con' (see § 3) was used. In the earliest Irish
MSS. a cross-stroke'^ was drawn through the 'con '-sign, 3*
But the similarity of this contraction to that of 'eius' (see
below) was too inconvenient*, and a new modification came
into fashion, the doubling of the 'con '-sign 33 (often with
a stroke above), which is the usual Irish abbreviation of
'contra.' Another* is the conjunction of the 'con '-sign (or
of the ' cum '-sign ; see below) with the syllabic symbol for
' tra ' (see § 3 ' ra '). The first two syllables of ' contrarius '
are usually expressed by one or other of these contractions, and
even of ' controversia ' (e.g. in the Berne Horace). The later
variety, 3 joined with a connecting-stroke to C, so as to
resemble a capital H, belongs, I think, to a period later than
that with which we are concerned (e.g., ^contrahitur^ on p. 9 of
St. Gall 759).

cuius cs (cf. hs ' huius '). In religious formulas (Part I, § 3) this
can stand for ' castigo ' (e.g. Munich 6330).

cum c. Since the same sign was used for the syllables 'cer' § 3
' er '), ' ere ' (§ 3 ' er '), -' cit ' (§ 3 * it '), confusion must have
sometimes been caused. In the Naples Charisius the signs for
* cum ' and ' cer ' (' ere ') are discriminated, ' cum ' being " c' or

q In the true Irish form of script the stroke of ' ber ' is to the right of the shaft
of the d, while that of * bene ' traverses the shaft.

' This modification was laken from the Notae Juris, the contractions found
from very early times in legal documents (see Keil, Gramm. Lat. IV, p. 289).

8 The common original of Milan C 301 and Turin F IV i (5) had this con-
traction of 'contra.' In the Milan transcript it is at first repeatedly miscopied
as ' eius.' It is found also in Montpellier 69, etc.

t It is also found among the Notae Juris, e.g. in Vat. Reg. 886i

'* It is c' also in the Notae Juris, e.g. in Vat. Reg. 886<

10 Contractions in Early Latin Minuscule MSS.

c^, while c (with stroke above) denotes * cer ' (e.g. ' eerie ') or
* ere ' (e.g. ' cata^<h>^^sis '). The second syllable of ' circum '
often shews the ' cum '-symbol. This is no doubt why in
Florence Ashb. 60 circisus is so often miswritten for circumcisus.

dico. This common Verb (like * habeo ' ; see below) is in its
various Persons and Tenses frequently contracted. The most
ancient type of contraction, the use of the initial letter merely,
is, we may say, confined to formulas (see Part I, § 3), where
we have d (or D), with a cross-stroke ''j for ' dixit' ('dicit,' etc.),
answered by r (or R), with a cross-stroke, for ' respondit *
(-'det,' etc.). In ordinary texts the contraction-process has
advanced one stage towards precision in the earliest minuscule
MSS., while further stages are reached in course of time.
The early contractions are : dt ' dicit ' ^ (expanded by the
late corrector of Florence Ashb. 60 to die ' dicit ') ; dr '' dici-
tur ' ' ; dnt ' dicunt ' (expanded, as an unfamiliar symbol, by the
Florence corrector) ; dnr 'dicuntur' (expanded by the Florence
corrector ; it is occasionally a contraction of ' denarii,' e.g.
Vat. Reg. 338) ; dms * dicimus ' (also dcms^ e.g. in the St. Gall
Priscian) ; dx * dixit ' (expanded by the Florence corrector),
sometimes ' dixi ' (e.g. in the St. Gall Gospels) ; dxnt * dixerunt '
(also, I think, dxrt) ; dre ' dicere ' ; dret ' diceret ' ; dcs ^ di-
cens ' ; dens ' dicentes ' ; dem ' dictum ' (e.g. Book of Armagh ;
while the Book of Mulling uses die, with contraction-stroke
over the <:, which to a Carolingian transcriber would mean
' dicit '). The last sign is later used for * dicendum,' e.g. in
the glosses subsequently added to a loth century Breton (?)
MS. at Oxford (Laud. Lat. 26). I have not noted dcs ' dietus,*
except in a later Irish MS. (of saec. xi - xii) in the Vatican
Library (Pal. 65). For ' diximus ' I have noted dxm (in the
St. Gall Priscian), dxm : (with colon-symbol of * us ') and dixs
(in the Naples Charisius).

dum d with cross-stroke (e.g. Milan C 301) is properly the symbol
of the final syllable '-dum ' (see § 3).

^ I have noted in Paris 10861 dd 'dixerunt,' expanded by a corrector on
fol. 92 r. Hence the dederunt and dicunt of Gramm. Lat. 4,576, 1. 19.

y I have noted dct in Bale F III 15 g (from Fulda library).

2 Along with dr, the later dicr is used in Munich 6297. In the 9th century
Leyden 67 D, which uses Irish contractions, dr denotes ' dicuntur ' as well
as • dicitur.'

Contractions in Early Latin Minuscule MSS, 1 1

eius 9. This Irish symbol was a great puzzle to Carolingian
transcribers, and the omission of * eius ' in a sentence or the
substitution of another word in its place often entitles us
to infer an Irish archetype. It is expanded by the later
correctors of the Moore Bede at Cambridge (fol. i v.) and
of the Florence Ashb. 60. The word is often written with
an ' us '-sign (see § 3 * us ') appended to the letters ei (often
ligatured) even in the earliest MSS. When a suprascript
contraction-stroke takes the place of the * us '-sign, el (e.g.
Milan L 85 sup.) is easily confused with *enim.'

enim f+. This Irish symbol was likewise a great source of error
in Carolingian transcriptions and provides us with a good clue
to an Irish archetype. I noted on fol. 94 v. of Geneva 21,
from Murbach Library, autem corrected to enim, which probably
means that the transcriber had confused this symbol in his
original with the ' autem ' symbol (see above s.v. ' autem ').
It is expanded, as an unfamiliar symbol, by the corrector of
Florence Ashb. 60.

epistula (see Part I, § 4).

ergo. The oldest contraction (one of the Notae Juris) eg is found
in few surviving MSS. (London, Harl. 2965 ; Florence,
S. Marc. 611), but may have left traces of itself in the common
confusion* of ' ego ' and ' ergo.'

In the uncial Garland of Howth (Dublin, Trin. Coll. A iv 6)
and in Montpellier 69 we find the symbol er, which to a
Carolingian transcriber would suggest 'erunt' (cf. Part III,
§ 3 'unt'). But in most Irish MSS. the symbol used is

o i

g (cf. g ' igitur '). On the possibility of confusing this symbol
with the syllable 'gro,' see Part III, § 3.
est. Of the two contractions used, the first is more Irish than
Continental : (i) a horizontal line with a dot (or comma) above
and a dot (or comma) below, the latter being sometimes
omitted. In course of time the comma above came to be
joined to the line, so as to give the symbol the appearance ^
of the Arabic numeral 2 (e.g. in the Leyden Priscian). The

a In Munich 3731 c^o is corrected to er^-o more than once (e.g. fol. 74 v., 81 r.) ;
similarly on fol. 8 v. of Florence Ashb. 60.

^ In Milan L 99 sup. I noted the very similar appearance occasionally of
the syllable * tur ' in the Verb-ending -* atur.'

ti Contractions in Early Latin Minuscule MSS.

line is as often wavy as straight. One scribe of the St. Gall
Priscian, who omits the dot below, writes the line like a
hyphen, e.g. pot^* * potest,' idw' ' id est.' This form of the
symbol would easily be omitted by a transcriber, for it looks
like a mere punctuation-sign.

(2) e (one of the Notae Juris, e.g. in Vat. Reg. 886). Also ee
' esse,' eet ' esset,' etc. (see Part II, § 2). I have noted in
Oxford Laud. Lat. 92 (on fol. 9 r.) quaesitae ' quaesita est,'
which might be mis-copied ' quaesitae.' This is a common
corruption in Latin MSS.
(On ' id est,' see below.)

et. The Irish symbol, adopted (like the Irish ' est '-sign) in course
of time by Continental scribes, resembles the Arabic nu-
meral 7.

etiam. The oldest contraction et (one of the Notae Juris, e.g. in
Vat. Reg. 886) is rare in extant MSS. It is found in the
Cambridge Bede, where it is often expanded by the later
corrector. The usual contraction eti is slightly more precise
and less liable to confusion with the Copula ' et.' When the
vowel i in the Irish fashion makes a tailed appendage to
the cross-bar of /, this contraction may easily be misread as eq
* equae ' (see below, ' qui ').

facio. This verb is not so commonly contracted as * dico ' and
*habeo.' Besides the common yar * id^cit,' fee ' fecit' (both with
contraction-stroke over the c)^ I have noted fca ' facta ' (Dublin,
Trin. Coll. A IV 20).

filius. fls 'filius,' flos, 'filios.' The fi ' filios,' '-um,' etc. of the
Book of Mulling and the Stowe Missal belongs rather to the
type of contraction mentioned in Part I, § 3.

forma fma (with contraction-stroke above the/), which I have noted
in Oxford Auct. F IV 32 (Ovid, Ars Amatoria, by a Welsh
scribe), belongs, I think, to a period later than that with which
we are concerned.

frater ^ fr * frater,' fris * fratris,' fri * fratri,' frs * fratres,' etc. The
old f * frater,' ff * fratres' (e.g. London, Cotton Tib. A xiv;
Cambridge Bede), ffb 'fratribus' (corrected to fribus 'fratribus'
on fol. 93' of the London MS.) belong to the type mentioned
in Part I, § 3.

e Fuller details in Traube, * Nomina Sacra,' p. 256*

Contractions in Early Latin Minuscule MSS. 13

genus (see Part I, § 3).

gloria (see Part I, § 4).

Graecus (see § 3 ' er ').

gratia. Although the Continental contractions (see Part III, § 2)
are found (cf. grm * gratiam ' in the Berne Horace), still the
usual Irish mode of writing this word is with the * ra '-symbol
(see § 3) in the first syllable.

grex (see § 3 ' er ').

habeo. This Verb appears as frequently as * dico ' (see above)
in contracted form : ht ' habet ' ^ ; hr ' habetur ' ; hnt ' habent ' ;
hre * habere ' « ; hret ' haberet ' ; hns ' habens ' (e.g. Book of
Mulling, Leyden Priscian) ; hto 'habeto ' (e.g. Berne Horace).

hie. The various parts of the Pronoun shew these forms in Irish
MSS. : h (with suprascript horizontal line above the shoulder
of the letter) * haec ' ; h (with dot either following ^ or placed
above the shoulder of the letter, but with no suprascript line)
' hoc ' ; hs * huius ' » (cf. cs * cuius ') ; he * hunc ' (cf. nc

* nunc '), also (usually in the Naples Charisius) h with supra-

c

script c (cf. n 'nunc '). In the Book of Mulling, Milan C 301,
etc., he often denotes ' hanc ' as well as ' hunc' A more
precise expression of 'hunc' is hnc (e.g. Turin, F IV i [7],
of saec. ix).

On 'huiusmodi,' see below. I have noted cross-barred h

* huius ' in the Naples Charisius.

homo ho (also h with suprascript o and without contraction-stroke).
Similarly hois ' hominis,' hoi * homini,' hoes ' homines '^ houm
and hoium (e.g. in the Cambridge Juvencus), hoibus (-bj)

* hominibus,' etc. (For fuller details, see Traube, ' Nomina
Sacra,' p. 257.)

huiusmodi hm. This rare contraction occurs in Milan C 301, and

^ Also het, the et being often in ligature (as in our symbol for *etc.'). In
Oxford Auct. F IV 32, I noted ht and het in the same line on fol. 23 r.

« Also expressed by means of the syllabic symbol for * ber * ; see § 3 * er. '

' In Florence Ashb. 60 this type was unfamiliar to the later corrector. He
either expands the contraction or puts the dot above. In the St. Gall Priscian
an apostrophe sometimes appears, instead of the dot.

g Also expressed by hui' (with the syllabic symbol for 'us', see § 3) or huis
(with the suprascript expression of ii ; e.g. in the Book of Mulling). In the
latter form it resembles the contraction of ' hominis ' (see below).

^ In the glosses in the WUrzburg Pauline Epistles, hoies.

14 Contractions in Early Latin Minuscule MSS.

probably comes from its original, for the scribe has miscopied ^
* hominum ' for ' huiusmodi.'

idem. The proper Irish contraction is id (without contraction-
stroke), followed by the syllabic symbol for ' em ' (see § 3).
But the Continental form id (with cross-stroke traversing the
shaft of the d) is common. (See Part III, § 2 on the use of
this sign for ' id est '.)

id est. The full symbol is i (often with a dot on the right, some-
times on the left as well) followed by one or other of the signs
for ' est ' (see above). But the ' est '-sign is often discarded, so
that we have merely 'i' with contraction-stroke above (e.g.
London, Cotton Vesp. B vi, of 811-814 a.d. ; the Cambridge
Juvencus) or without it (e.g. in the Berne Horace sometimes).
The omission of the contraction-stroke would prevent confusion
of the symbol with the Preposition ' in.'

igitur. The earlier Irish contraction'^ is ig' (without contraction-
stroke) (e.g. Book of Mulling, St. Gall Priscian, Carlsruhe

i o

Augustine). But the rival symbol g (cf. g * ergo ') superseded
it (e.g. Book of Armagh, Leyden Priscian, Berne Horace).

i

In later minuscule g can denote the syllable *gui,' e.g. 'san-
guinis^ in the glosses of Oxford Laud. Lat. 26. (For fuller
details see Traube, 'Nomina Sacra,' p. 258.)

inde (see 'unde,' below).

inter I with cross-stroke (usually oblique). Like all contractions
in which a cross-stroke is used, this is liable to misinterpreta-
tion, since the deletion of a letter was often expressed by
drawing a stroke through it. The omission of the word ' inter *
in a transcript points to this form of contraction in the
original ^

Fuller expressions of the Preposition are (i) it, with the
stroke-symbol of n above the /, and the stroke-symbol of er
(see § 3) above the A (2) int, with merely the stroke- symbol of

i The Nota Juris huim * huiusmodi ' is given on p. 278 of Keil's Gramm. Lat. ,
vol. IV.

^ A variation of ig of the Notae Juris. This I have found in London, Cotton
Tib. A xiv, in Vatican Pal. 68 and on fol. 87 r. of the Leyden Priscian.

1 Also perhaps the substitution of * in ' for ' inter.' I have noted in that part
of the Vatican MS. Pal. 829, which is written in Insular script, the correction of
in on fol. iii r. to inter.

Contractions in Early Latin Minusaile MSS. 15

er above the /. These are common to Continental and Irish
script.

With the help of one or other of these contractions of * inter '
are written words like ' interest,' ' interim,' ' interea.' * Interest,*
when written with the first, and ' id est ' (see above) are liable
to be confused. ' Interdum,' when expressed by obliterated /
and obliterated d (see above on * dum '), might easily be omitted
by a transcriber. The contraction of * interpretatur,' with the

* inter ' symbol and the ' prae ' symbol (see below) (e.g. in
the Cambridge Juvencus) belongs rather to the type mentioned
in Part I, § 3.

iterum. The expression itr (with stroke above / and above r\
which sometimes occurs (e.g. in the Book of Mulling) is not
quite correct, for it should represent ' i-ter-rum.'

iuxta. I have noted the rare contraction iux in the Cambridge
Bede. On fol. 3 v. it is expanded by the later corrector.

(legitur legr and loquitur loqr perhaps both belong properly to
Part I, § 3.)

magis. I am told that the Nota Juris mg (see Keil's Gramm. Lat.
IV, p. 279, mg 'magis,' 'magnus') is found on fol. 4 of Milan
C3or.

mater mr (e.g. on p. 386 of the Berne Horace).

meus ms. Similarly mm ' meum,' a symbol which is used for

* modum ' in the Bobbio MS. of the Latin Grammarians (see
below), and for 'memor' in the formula memor nostri esse
dignare^ domitie papa (e.g. Oxford Laud. Lat. 104, in Caroline
minuscule script of saec. ix-x).

mihi m (without contraction-stroke) (like t ' tibi '). The form taken
by the suprascript / often resembles the apostrophe used as
syllabic symbol of 'us' (see § 3), so that 'mihi' might
occasionally be misread as ' mus.'

misericordia (see Part I, § 4).

o

modo m (without contraction-stroke) or fno. Hence ttn mo ' tantum

o o

modo,' q m ' quomodo,' etc.
modus. The noun is seldom contracted, except in its technical
sense of the Mood of a Verb (see Part I, § 3). I have noted
mds (with cross-stroke through the d) ' modus ' and mm (with
suprascript contraction-stroke) ' modum ' in the Bobbio MS. of
the Latin Grammarians (see above on ' meus ').

1 6 Contractions in Early Latin Minuscule MSS.

mons mon ' montem ' (e.g. Book of Armagh). Uncommon.

namque nq; (with contraction-stroke above the n) is rare "^ (e.g.
Milan C 301). The liability of confusion between the symbols
for 'namque/ 'neque' (see below), ' numquam ' (see below)
seems to have brought about the early disuse of the first two and
indeed of all three.

neque nq (e.g. Milan C 301). Very rare.

nihil nl. The contraction-stroke either traverses the upper shaft of
the / (as in the Book of Mulling, the Carlsruhe Priscian, the St.
Gall Priscian, the Cambridge Juvencus, the Berne Horace,
Milan C 301, etc.) or, in more characteristically Irish fashion, is
drawn to the right of it. Since this modification of / also
denotes ' vel ' (see below), transcribers would sometimes make

1
mistakes. We find n (without contraction-stroke) occasionally,

e.g. in the Bobbio MS. of the Latin Grammarians (according to
Keil's note in Gramm. Lat. IV, p. 207, 1. 6) and normally in
Florence Ashb. 60, where the later corrector expands it to nil
and nichil and thus prevents the possibility of its being mistaken

i

for n ' nisi ' (see below).

i

nisi n (without contraction-stroke). The ancient type of contraction
by syllable-initials, ns, appears on fol. 5 r. of Milan C 301. In
the Bobbio MS. of the Latin Grammarians we find nsi (with
contraction-stroke above the n; cf. qsi 'quasi,' below).

nobis (see also ' vobis '). The more ancient symbol nb (e.g. in the
Berne Horace) and the more precise nob (both with cross-
stroke through the upper shaft of b ; see § 3 'is ') are found in
Irish, as in Continental MSS. We may infer that the former
stood in the original of Oxford Laud. Lat. 92, for it appears on
fol. II r., while throughout the MS. the other symbol is in use.
' Nobis ' and ' nominibus ' are confused in Milan C 301.

nomen no (expanded by a corrector on fol. 6 r. of the Cambridge

™ It comes from the Notae Juris, in which n with suprascript-stroke can de-
note ' nam ' as well as ' non ' (see Keil's Gramm. Lat. IV, p. 297). In a Vatican
MS. (Reg. 81 ; in Caroline minuscules) of the Hisperica Famina N, with oblique
stroke traversing its last limb, occurs for 'nam.' It has evidently been trans-
mitted from the original and was not understood by the scribe. Underneath
it, on one of its occurrences, is written RQ (i.e. 'require'). I am indebted
for this information to Mr. Jenkinson, who kindly sent me photographs of some
pages of the MS.

Contractions in Early Latin Minitsatle MSS, 1 7

Juvencus, in which this symbol denotes ' nostro '). Similarly
nois 'nominis,' noe (and noie) 'nomine,' noa (and noia ?)
' nomina,' noum (and noium) ' nominum,' noib ; ' nominibus,'
noare ' nominare,' etc. On the later no ' non,' see below.

The symbol nn ' nomen ' occurs in the Bobbio MS. of the
Latin Grammarians (along with these contractions of the oblique
cases ; also nomb and nomib ' nominibus,' with cross-stroke
through the d), also in the Moore Bede at Cambridge. A
fuller expression is by, means of the syllabic sign for ' en '
(see § 3) nom (with stroke above the w), e.g. Rome, Pal. 68.
This became the common symbol in Carolingian and later
minuscule,
non n or M In that part of an early Tours MS (c. 800 a.d.) in the
British Museum (Egerton 2831) whicli is written in Insular

o

script we find n ; in a Paris MS. (17 71) we find n with
apostrophe above (properly ' num ' ; see § 3 ' um ') as well as
the form which became common later, no.

(noster, vester. Since the Irish and the Continental usage are
much the same, the account of the symbols is reserved for
Part III, § 2.)

numerus. I have noted the contraction by suspension num 'numer-
us ' in the Oxford Liber Commonei. Of the various cases the
most frequently contracted is the Abl. nuo ' nuniero '". I have
also noted nuis 'numeris,' nus 'numerus,' num Miumerum,'
as well as the Verb nuas ' numeras ' and the Adj. innua
' innumera.'

numquam. A rare combination of .the * non '-symbol with the
' quam '-symbol nq (sic) is found, e.g., in the Milan MS., C 301

inf. (probably taken from the original **).

c

nunc nc (cf. tc 'tunc ') (also n ?).

omnis. The older type of contraction <?;;/ (for various cases ; see
Part III, § 2) is sometimes found, e.g. for ' omnes ' in the
Vatican MS., Pal. 237 (the part in Insular script), for ' omnem '
in the Naples Charisius, for ' omnia ' in Oxford, Auct. F IV 32
(the Ars Amatoria of Ovid by a Welsh scribe). More usual is
oa ' omnia ' (e.g. Book of Armagh, Carlsruhe Augustine, etc.) ;

^ In the Notae Juris this symbol represents 'nunc vero' (Keil, Gramm.
Lat. IV, p. 297).
o The Nota Juris is very similar (see Keil's Gramm. T.at. IV, p. 279).

C

1 8 Coniractio7is in Early Latin Mifiuscuie MSS.

also oia (e.g. in the Dublin MS., Trin. Coll. A IV 20) ; oe
'omne,' oi 'omni,' oes ' omnes ' (e.g. in the Vatican MS., Pal.
68). Similarly oio 'omnino'i'. Also the more precise type
oms, properly ' omnes,' while omis represents ' omnis ' (e.g.
Milan L 85 sup.), although this distinction is not always
observed (see Part III, § 2) ; oma ' omnia ' \ ojnbi or omb (with
the contraction-stroke traversing the shaft of the b) ' omnibus.'

pater pr (e.g. the Carlsruhe Augustine, the Berne Horace), but
usually/«/(cf. p. 27).

per [T (also used as syllabic symbol for 'per'). This sign' is
pecuHarly Irish and is expanded, as unfamiliar, by the later
corrector in Florence Ashb. 60. The Continental symbol p
(with cross- stroke traversing the lower shaft of the letter)
was however not unknown to Irish scribes. One scribe of
the St. Gall Priscian uses it persistently (cf. Oxford, Bodl. 319;
London, Harl. 7653 ; the Leyden Priscian ; the Berne Horace ;
the St. Gall Gospels; the Cambridge Bede; Turin F IV i (5);
Milan L 85 sup.). I have noted both symbols in London,
Harl. 2965 ; in the Cambridge Juvencus ; in Florence S. Marc.
611 ; in the Vatican MS., Pal. 202. In Vat. Pal. 68 the first
symbol often exhibits the / in the ' pro '-form ^ (see below ; cf.
chap. Ill, § 2, ' per ').

With subscript / attached to the hook of the first symbol,
it is often difificult to distinguish ' peri ' from the symbol p3
*pus' (see § 3 *us ').

populus pis (with cross-stroke through the /) (e.g. in the Berne
Horace) ; pli ' populi ' (e.g. Oxford, Auct. F IV 32, on fol. 25 r.
by the Welsh scribe of 817— 835 ; the St. Gall Gospels), etc. ;
•even platur 'populatur' (on p. 118 of the Berne Horace).
More precise symbols are ppls * (e.g. Oxford, Laud. Lat. 92),
and pops (e.g. the Wiirzburg Pauline Epistles). In the Cam-
bridge Bede the later corrector has expanded pops * populus '

P I have noted this symbol hi Vat. Pal. 830 of 1072 a.d.

q At the beginning of a paragraph this is expressed (e.g. in the Naples
Charisius) by a capital O with the letters ma inside and a contraction-stroke
above.

r Nearly the same sign denotes 'prae' in the early Carolingian script of
Cologne 106.

8 Similarly in a Turin fragment, F IV i (7), where however the 'er'-mark
attached to the/ is not the usual hook, but the apostrophe.

t The Visigoth ic symbol, according to Traube, ' Nomina Sacra,' p. 261.

Cotiiractions in Early Latin Mimisaik MSS, 19

and popo ' populo ' to the more familiar popls, poplo (both with
cross-stroke through the /).

(On the technical symbol P, e.g. P.J?. ' populus Romanus,'
see Part I, § 3-)

o

post p (without contraction-^stroke) (e.g. Book of Armagh ; Wiirz-

burg Pauline Epistles; Carlsruhe Augustine; Vienna 16;

Milan C 301 inf.; Munich 6298; Rome, Vat. Pal. 61). This

symbol is expanded by the later corrector in Florence Ashb. 60.

t

p (without contraction-stroke) (e.g. the Leyden Priscian ;

the Berne Horace ; the Cambridge Juvencus and Book of
Cerne ; London, Cotton Tib. A XIV).

Both contractions are often found in the same MS. (e.g. the
St. Gall Priscian ^ ; the Cambridge Bede ; the Carlsruhe Bede ;
the Book of Mulling). The Continental symbol /' (without
contraction-stroke), really the syllabic symbol for * pus * or

o t

' pos ' (see § 3 ' us '), occurs, along with p and p in the Cam-
bridge Bede ; while in Milan L 85 sup. we have the fuller form
p't as well as p' and also another contraction pt. This last,
which dangerously resembles the contraction of * praeter ' (see
below), I have also noted in a Vatican MS. (Reg. 1209), in
a MS. from Fulda Library, Bale F III 156 (on fol. 10) and in
Florence S. Marc. 611 ; and we may conjecture its existence in
the archetype of any MS. in which •" praeter ' is substituted
for * post.'

*■ Postquam ' is written with one or other of these symbols
followed by the ' quam ' symbol (see below, ' qui ').

prae /. ' Praeter ' is written with this sign, followed by the sign
for * ter ' (see below)//.

pro -p (as in Continental script).

proprius. While the last syllable is written either in full or with
a syllabic ' us '-sign (see § 3 ' us '), the first two syllables are
written in two ways, (1) in precise form, as two syllables, with

i

the * pro '-sign (see above) followed by the ' pri '-sign p (see
§ 3 'ra,' and cf. Part III, § 2 'proprius'), (2) in curtailed

o
^ In this MS. p also represents ' primo.' The danger of this confusion would
t o

favour the use of p. On p * pro,' see Part III, s.v.

C 2

20 . Contractions in Early Latin Miftiiscule MSS.

form; as if one syllable, with / written above the 'pro '-sign.
(Similarly with the various cases ^ propriwm^'' '•propria,^ etc., and
with Derivatives like '- propritX.^.%^). The suprascript / often
takes the form of a mere curve,
propter, (i) pp, with the contraction-stroke either" drawn above
each / (or one of them) (e.g. Book of Mulling; Leyden
Priscian, etc.), or traversing the lower shaft of the letters
(e.g. Book of MuHing; Milan C 301 ; the 9th century London,
Cotton Tib. A XV). This is the normal Irish symbol.

(2) in more precise form >' ppr (e.g. in the 8th century London,
Cotton Tib. C II ; along with pp, which a corrector has
expanded on fol. 112 r.).

(3) J^ I have noted this only in the Carlsruhe Priscian.

It is hard to say which of these three is to be ascribed to the
original of a MS. in which ' proprius ' (-um, etc.) is substituted
for ' propter.' Perhaps the third, for it is the least familiar and
differs from the curtailed symbol for ' propri- ' (see above) only
in the direction of the curve above the * pro '-sign (cf. Part III,
§ 2). In the Berne Horace occasionally (e.g. p. 357) precisely
this form of symbol is erroneously used for 'proprium.'

quae (see ' qui ').

quaesumus qs (e.g. in the 8th cent. London MS., Cotton Tib.
A XIV). In the Stowe Missal I noted qsu, qus, qms (cf.
Part I, § 3).

quaero. The usual contraction is merely by the substitution of
a ' que '-symbol or a * quae '-symbol for the first syllable.
Special abbreviations, like qr 'quaeritur' (in the Berne Horace;
but qrt 'quaeritur' in the Carlsruhe Bede) or ' quaerit ' (in
the Naples Charisius), belong to the type mentioned in
Part I, § 3.

quam, quamquam (see ' qui ').

^ In Munich 6298 not merely are both these varieties used, but also pp with-
out any contraction-stroke. In Bale F III 15 d (from Fulda) the ' pro '-sign
followed by p is used.

y Varieties are (i) the 'pro '-sign followed by pr, e.g. in the text of the
WUrzburg Pauline Epistles (M. th. fol. 12), (2) prop, (3) pp followed by the
'ter'-sign (see below). The last I noted in Oxford, Laud. Lat. 92 and in the
Book of Mulling, so written that it would read * pr-ae-p-ter ' and might be mis-
copied 'praeter.' The last two occur, along with pp, in the loth century
Florence MS., S. Marc. 611.

Contractions in Early Latin Minuscule MSS. 2 1

quando qn (confusible ''■ with qm * quoniam ') and the more precise
qno (confusible with qmo ' quomodo ') are the usual con-
tractions. But we find also * qdo (with the contraction-stroke
traversing the shaft of the d) (in the loth century Breton [?]
MS. at Oxford, Laud. Lat. 26) ; also, and more frequently,
the more precise form qnd (with contraction-stroke sometimes
as in qdo, sometimes drawn above the n ; confusible with qmd
' quomodo ') (e.g. in the Cambridge Bede ; in Rome Pal. 68 ;
in Munich 6298 ; occasionally in the Florence MS., Ashb. 60,
which however usually has qno, a symbol for which in its
earlier occurrences the later corrector wrongly substitutes qm
' quoniam ').

quare qre (e.g. in the Cambridge Bede and in Florence Ashb. 60 ;
in both MSS. it is expanded by the later corrector).

quasi. The older type qs (e.g. Milan C 301 ; Leyden Voss. Q. 69 ;
expanded by the later corrector on fol. 9 r. of the Cambridge
Bede) was identical with the contraction of ' quaesumus ' (see
above). The more precise qsi is the prevalent form.

que q. or </, or q ; (the dot and comma are often united q3) or q :
(all without contraction-stroke). This sign often plays the part
of the syllable 'quae' in words like ' qu(a)ero,' but in this
function is normally differentiated^ by three dots arranged
in triangular fashion q :• ' quae ' (see below). With addition
of ?;/, we find (in Milan C 301) q;m * quern ' (see below).
In Munich 6298, a MS. which (like many of its kind) exhibits
confusion of e and i in spellings Hke ' cremen,' ' contenetur '
' gaudiat,' the ' que '-symbol plays the part of 'qui,' e.g. q-b ;
and q:b ; ' quibus,' q.a * quia.'

qui, quis. The various cases of the Pronoun and the various
derivative Conjunctions are thus expressed : —
(i) by suprascript vowel (without contraction-stroke) :

q 'qui,' whence qd 'quid,' qb-, or qb' 'quibus,' qppe 'quippe,'etc.

2 In the Notae Juris qn denoted 'quoniam,' as well as 'quando.' See Keil's
Gramm. Lat. IV, p. 298.

^ Since this symbol, lacking the 0, denotes 'quod' (see below), the sub-
stitution of ' quod ' for ' quando ' in a MS. may point to its presence in the
original.

^ In the Paris MS. (1771) qs, 'que' becomes 'quae' when a contraction-
stroke is added above. In the Stowe Missal this is found for ' quem.'

22 Contractions in Early Latin Minuscule MSS.

o o o

q ' quo,' whence qs ' quos,' qr (with contraction-stroke over
or alongside of the /*) ' quorum,' etc.

a a a

q * qua,' whence qs * quas,' qr (with stroke over or alongside

a

of the r) 'quarum,' qnt \ ' quantus,' etc.
(2) with contraction-stroke of various form :

3. ' qui ' (the cross-stroke is also horizontal) ; followed by s
' quis ' ; followed by d ' quid ' ^. This, the usual sign in
Carolingian minuscule script, I have noted occasionally in
Munich 6298, the Naples Charisius, Rome Pal. 202 (fol.
17 v.). But in Irish its normal function is ' quia ' (see below).
It can also play the part of ' quam,' e.g. in the 8th century
London MS., Cotton Tib. A XIV, and (along with the usual
symbol ; see below) in the Leyden Priscian '^ and the first
part of Oxford, Auct. F IV 32 (where it also denotes ' quae '
occasionally).
In the Carlsruhe Augustine q with horizontal cross-stroke de-
notes ' quam ' (also the usual ' quam '-symbol ; see below),
q with oblique cross-stroke 'quia.'
q (with contraction-stroke above) ' quae.' This, the Continental
symbol (used in the Naples Charisius), superseded the Irish
symbol q:- (without contraction-stroke) in time. A wavy
contraction-stroke (for?;/) discriminates the symbol of 'quern '
(e.g. in the Berne Horace; the Stowe Missal).
R; ' quod ' (expanded by the later corrector of the Cambridge Bede
on fol. 26 r.). Also the contraction, normal in Caroline
minuscule script, qd (with contraction-stroke traversing the
shaft of the d), which occurs early, e.g. in the minuscule portion
(fol. 116) of the Book of Durrow (Dublin, Trin. Coll. A. 4. 5) ;
see Part III, § 2. In Munich 6298 we find both these con-
tractions, along with the * quid '-contraction (see above); in
some MSS., e.g. Munich 3731, London, Cotton Tib. A xv, qd
(with contraction- stroke over the q and not intersecting the
shaft of the d) ; similarly, along with the usual arrangement

c Sometimes also ' quod,' e.g. in Munich 6298.

d Did it stand in the original of Munich 6298? In this MS., which usually
shews qa (with contraction-stroke above) for * quam, ' this symbol is expanded to
' quam ' by the corrector on fol. 34 r.

Contractions in j^arly Latin Minuscule MSS. 23

of the stroke, in London, Reg. 2 A xx ; London, Cotton
Tib. C ii.
3^ 'quam' (when doubled, 'quamquam'), the normal Carolingian
symbol (see Part III, § 2 ' qui '). The occasional use of the
Continental ' qui '-symbol for ' quam ' has already been men-
tioned. In the Carlsruhe Bede I have noted q :• (without
contraction-stroke), properly ' quae,' as used for * quam.'
Similarly q with contraction-stroke above, properly * quae,'
can represent * quam ' (e.g. in the Vatican MS., Pal. 68, with
a different form of contraction- stroke from that of q *quae')
in the Compounds * tamquam,' ' postquam,' ' numquam.'

qb (with contraction-stroke traversing the shaft of the b')
'quibus ' (e.g. Milan C 301).
(3) Other types. The u of these words is often suprascript, being
occasionally ligatured with a following / into a sinuous line
like S.

In Leyden Voss. Q 69 (Continental) q (without contraction-
stroke) followed by this sinuous symbol denotes 'quis.* In
Milan C 301 inf. we find qs 'quis' (on fol. 5 r. in the phrase
' nisi quis ').
' Quem ' is not so often contracted as the other cases. To the
expressions of this word that have been already mentioned may
be added qm in Paris io86i (fol. 42 r. Jesus Christus in quem
credidisti). This usually denotes * quoniam.' In Munich 6298
I have noted qe 'quem.'

(On 'cuius,' see above, s. v.)

The numerous divergences from normal usage which have
been mentioned (and the number might be increased*') throw
?ome light on the frequent confusion in MSS. of these Pro-
nominal Cases and Conjunctions. A reference to Part III, § 2
will shew that the same bewildering variety prevailed in Con-
tinental script ; although it is possible that fuller investigation
may bring order into chaos, by assigning this or that divergent
form to this or that monastery-scriptorium.

These contractions are often expanded by later correctors or
replaced by the current symbols, e.g. the peculiarly Irish q :•
(without contraction-stroke), * quae ' in Florence Ashb. 60,
and on fol. 25 V. of the Cambridge Bede.

« A Leyden MS. (67 D), which shews the Irish contractions, uses q with
oblique cross-bar (properly ' quia ') in the functions of (i) 'quod,' (2) * quam.'

24 Contractions in Early Latin Minuscule MSS.

quia g^ (expanded ^ by the later corrector of Florence Ashb. 60).
This is identical with the Continental 'qui '-symbol (often
having, like it, the cross-stroke horizontal and not oblique).
Hence thel frequent confusion of ' quia ' and ' qui ' in MSS.

quidem. Two early symbols (cf. the Notae Juris of Keil's Gramra.
Lat. IV pp. 280, 298) dangerous to transcribers, are found in
the Milan MS., C. 301: (i) The ' quod '-symbol qd (with
contraction-stroke traversing the shaft of the d). The sub-
stitution of ' quod ' for ' quidem ' in a MS. points to the use of
this contraction in the original.
(2) o^. This symbol might easily be mistaken for an obliterated

word and omitted by a transcriber.

A safer symbol is qd- (the ' qui '-symbol followed by the
syllabic symbol for ' dem ' ; see § 3 ' em ').
quippe qp (e.g. in Milan C 301) and the more precise qpe (e.g. in
the Leyden Priscian).

(See also above, ' qui '.)

o o

quomodo qmo (confusible with qno 'quando'), and qtn (without
contraction-stroke ; cf. above, *,qui ' and ' modo '). Both occur
sometimes in the same MS. (e.g. in the Book of MuUing).
Another contraction, shewing the ancient type, by syllabic
initials, is qmd^ which is found (along with qmo) in Milan
C 301, and is confusible with qnd 'quando.' In Florence,
S. Marc, iii, we find the more precise qmdo 'quomodo'
and qndo ' quando.'

quoniam <^;;^ (confusible s with qn * quando') and, in more precise
form, qnni (e.g. in the St. Gall Priscian, where it also represents
'quantum'). Occasional varieties are (i) qtim., e.g. in the
Cambridge Book of Cerne (on fol. 36 r.) and in the half-uncial
Cologne MS. (213), (2) quo, e.g. in this Cologne MS. (along
with qum) ; in Munich 6297 and Wiirzburg M. th. fol. 69
(along with qm). These last two are liable to be misread '^ as
' quom.' So is the more precise quom, found (along with qm
and quo) in Milan L 85 sup., of saec. ix init.

f Also in London, Reg. 2 A xx (on fol. 20 v.) ; in the Leyden Priscian.
B On the occasional use of this symbol for ' quern,' see above,
h In the Usher Gospels (Dublin, Trin. Coll. A 4. 15, "about a.d. 600")
I noted on fol. 133 r. qttom corrected into quoniain.

Contractions in Early Latin Afintisade MSS. 25

quoque qq. This unfamiliar sign is often expanded by correctors,
e.g. in Florence Ashb. 60; in the Cambridge Bede (fbl. 25 v.) ;
in Oxford, Laud. Lat. 92 (fol. 49 r.). In Oxford Auct. F IV 32
(Ovid Ars Amatoria, by a Welsh scribe) I noted the similarity^
of qq 'quoque' and qq: 'quaeque.' This similarity is absent
when (as often in the Berne Horace) the contraction-stroke
traverses the lower shafts of the letters.

quot qt. Very common. (As a Nota Juris, * quantum,' ' quoties.')

regnum reg (e.g. in book of Mulling). Not common.

reliqua (in the formula ' et reHqua,' like our ' etc.') rl (with con-
traction-stroke to the right of the upper shaft of the /). In
Florence Ashb. 60 the contraction-stroke traverses the / and et
(in ligature) rl is not unlike est.

The oldest type of contraction, the single initial letter r
(e.g. in the Berne Horace) is less usual (cf. Part I, § 3).

saeculum (see Part I, § 4).

scribo scrip 'scriptum' (e.g. Book of Armagh). Uncommon. (See
also ' suprascriptus '.)

secundum (Prep.) X (cross-barred i). Like all contractions with
cross-strokes, this was liable to be omitted by a transcriber.
Besides, its unfamiliarity '^ produced many errors in copying.
Thus in an uncial eighth century MS. of Brussels (9850-2)
I noted sed corrected to secundwn. It is also worth mention-
ing that in the Carlsruhe Bede the letfeer K has often the
appearance of this symbol, often of si.

The Adj. ' secundus,' -a, -um, -i, -0, etc., generally adds a
termination' to this sign, although the sign itself sometimes
plays this part (e.g. both uses appear in the Carlsruhe Bede).
Occasional forms of the contraction are sec (in the Cambridge
Bede, which also has scm, the normal contraction of ' sanctum ' ;
in the half-uncial Vienna 1224) and secun (in the Bobbio MS.
of the Latin Grammarians).

i The symbol qq with a contraction-stroke over each q denotes * quaequae ' ;
with a cross-stroke (properly oblique) through the shaft of each q * quamquam '
(see above, 'qui ').

^ The later corrector of Florence Ashb. 60 substitutes for it the contractions
scd and scdm.

' In the Leyden Priscian I noted on fol. 2 r. a corrector's addition of the letters
da to the symbol, in order to denote 'secunda.' In the Berne Horace the
symbol followed by m is often used to denote the Preposition.

26 Contractions in Early Latin Mifiuscide A/SS,

sed s. To a Carolingian transcriber this would mean ' sunt ' (see
Part III, § 2). In the Bobbio MS. of the Latin Grammarians
s* (without contraction-stroke above) represents 'sed,' s (with
contraction-stroke above) ' sunt ' or the syllable ' ser ' (see § 3
*er*). In Florence Ashb. 60 we find "s- (without contraction-
stroke), for which the later corrector substitutes the symbol
current at his own time.

sequitur sei^r (like loqr 'loquitur '). I noted se^t in the 9th century
Leyden 67 D, which uses Irish contractions,
i t

sicut s. Also s (e.g. in the Berne Horace). In a Bale MS. (F III,

15 d), from the library of Fulda, we find st, which is also used
in the same MS. in its ordinary sense of * sunt ' (see below).
In a Vatican MS. (Pal. 202) I noted sc (on fol. 36 r.), the
ancient "* type of contraction. When a mere contraction-stroke
is substituted for suprascript u we get the nearly full expression
sict (e.g. in Vat. Pal. 259).

significat (see Part III, § 3).

sine sn (like su *sive ').

sive su. A Carolingian transcriber would naturally interpret this
(the Nota Juris ; see Keil's Gramm. Lat. IV, p. 280) as the
Verb *sum.'

I am told that in Milan C 301 inf. another symbol is also
found, almost identical with the ' secundum '-symbol (a cross-
barred s; see above). In Vat. Pal. 68 I have noted s (with
contraction-stroke above) *seu.'

spatium. I have noted spa * spatia' in the Oxford Liber Commonei.

sunt st The second syllable of * possunt ' is often expressed by this
symbol. In the Naples Charisius both st and s (the normal
Continental contraction) are used.

super sr (often confusible with fr 'frater'). The last syllable is
often expressed by the * per '-sign (see above).

supra. I have noted ^ sup in Milan L 85 sup. (on fol. 60 v.). The
usual expression is with the ' pra '-sign (see § 3 ' ra ') for the last
syllable.

™ It is one of the * Notae Juris,' given on p. 300 of vol. IV. of Keil's Gram-
matici Latini.

n Did it stand in the original of the ninth century Paris 9530 (in Caroline
minuscules) in which, on fol. 17 r., sup (with contraction -stroke over the /)

a
is corrected into sup * supra ' ?

Contractions in Early Latin Minuscule MSS. 27

suprascriptus ss. (Also for ' suis ' ; see below). More precise are
case-forms like ssi, ssti, sspti 'suprascripti.'

suus. I have noted ss 'suis' in the 9th century Oxford MS., Laud.
Lat. 92, as well as in later MSS. (e.g. Oxford, Laud. Lat. 26 ;
the Dublin Trinity College Hymns, etc.).

tamen tn (while tm denotes ° ' tantum '). A fuller expression is tarn,
with contraction-stroke (see § 3 ' en ') over the m (e.g. in the
Book of Mulling). In the Cambridge Bede (on fol. 14 r.) and
in Florence Ashb. 60 the later corrector expands the un-
familiar symbol tn.

tamquam. Rarely tq (e.g. in the Cambridge Bede. expanded by the
later corrector on fol. 35 r.) ; taq (with contraction -stroke over
the q) in Vat. Pal. 68. Usually the 'quam '-symbol is utilized.

tantum /;;/ (expanded p by the later corrector in Florence Ashb. 60),
whence tmmo ' tantummodo ' (sec above, ' modo '). The older
type of contraction, with the initial letter of each syllable, tt,
appears in the Bobbio MS. of Latin Grammarians and in the
Cambridge Bede (where it is often expanded by the later
corrector). One scribe of the Leyden Priscian uses the more
precise tnm. The Welsh scribe of Ovid Ars Amatoria in
Oxford, Auct. F IV 32 uses tno for 'tanto.' (See also Traube,
' Nomina Sacra,' p. 265, who adds ttm 'tantum '.)

tcmpus. The various cases of this word are sometimes expressed
by contraction, especially the Abl. Sing., e.g. temp ' tempore '
(in the Naples Charisius ; in Oxford, Laud. Lat. 92, etc.). (See
also Part III, § 2.)

ter / (often a syllabic symbol, e g. in ' pa/^r,' ' ma/^r,' ' /^;'/ius,' etc.)
The old type of contraction (.found in the Notae Juris, e.g. in
Vat. Reg. 886), with the contraction-stroke traversing the /, I
have noted in the Anglo-Saxon script of an early Tours MS.
(c. 800 A.D.) in the British Museum (Egerton 2831). Occa-
sionally an apostrophe over the / is substituted for the
contraction- stroke (e.g. on fol. 69 r. of the Leyden Priscian) ;
but this symbol normally denotes ' tus ' or * tur ' (see § 3 ' ur ').

o
o In the Leyden Priscian one scribe observes this distinction (e.g. tmm ' tan-
tummodo ' fol. 199 v.), but another uses tm * tamen,' as well as tn ' tamen ' (but

o
tnm 'tantum,' e.g. tnmm 'tantummodo, fol. 71 v.). The confusion of ' tamen'
and ' tantum ' would be inevitable in a transcript of this MS.

P Does it ever express 'tantam'? On fol. 79 r. of Vat. Reg. 1209 it is so
expanded by the corrector.

28 Cofitractions in Early Latm Minuscule MSS.

i i

tibi / (without contraction-stroke). (Cf. m ' mihi '.)
trans ts (sometimes resembling ds 'deus'). Also the more precise
trs (e.g. in the Carlsruhe Priscian).

c

tunc tc (also t ?).

a

tuus. I have noted t ' tua ' on fol. 20 r. of the Carlsruhe Augustine.

This might be miscopied as ' tra' (see Part III, § 3 'ra').
vel. The older symbol 'i u (one of the Notae Juris) is occasionally

found (e.g. in Florence Ashb. 60, expanded by the later

corrector), but survived longest in the contraction of * velut '

(see below). The usual symbol is / (with cross- stroke),
velut uu (liable to be misread ^ as ' unum '). Also expressed

by the substitution of either of the ' vel '-symbols (see above)

for the first syllable,
ver u. This is commonly a syllabic contraction, e.g. ' verhmw '

(see § 3 for the use of this symbol for the syllables 'ver'

and * ven ').

o

vero u (without contraction-stroke ; often with the V-shape of u)

and uo (see § 3 ' er ').
vester (see ' noster ').

videlicet. Sometimes uid (e.g. in the Cambridge Bede ^).
unde un (cf. an ' ante '). This contraction might be misread

as ' unum.'

I have not noted in 'inde,' except in a passage in the

Carlsruhe Augustine, where un ' unde ' has been corrected into

' inde ' by erasing the first part of the u.
ut. The Nota Juris u (e.g. in Vat. Reg, 886) survives in the

contraction of ' velut ' (see above). But a symbol, which seems

really to be a ligature of the letters u and /, sometimes

approximates to this, e.g. in the Oxford, Auct. F IV 32

(Ovid Ars Amatoria, by a Welsh scribe) u (with the V-shape
of the letter u\ and similarly in the Cambridge Juvencus (with
dot instead of apostrophe^,
vobis (see also ' nobis ') ub (with cross-stroke through the shaft of
the b) is the earlier type (e.g. in the 8th century London MS.,

1 It also denotes ' ver ' (see below) and ' ven ' (see § 3).

r In the religious formula (see Part I, § 3) Christies qui vivit et regnat in seciila
seculorum. amen, the word * vivit ' is denoted by this contraction. A monastic
scribe might therefore possibly substitute * vivit ' for ' velut.'

s Along with uide (expanded on fol. 81 r.) and uidel (expanded on fol. 83 v.).

Contractions in Early Latin Minuscule MSS. 29

Harl. 2965). On the more usual and more precise nob (with
the syllabic 'is '-symbol), see § 3 'is.'

3. List of Syllabic Symbols (including the most frequent
' suspensions ' of final syllables).

con 3 (cf. § 2 ' contra ').

-e, -em. The final syllable ' ne ' is often expressed by n- (e.g.
'nomi;/^,' 'margiw^') in the Leyden Priscian. The same symbol
can express -nem (e.g. ' discretion^/// ' in fol. 80 of Leyden Voss.
Q. 2). Similarly d- for the final syllable ' dem ' is a favourite

i

Irish usage, e.g. qd- * quidem ' (cf. Part III, § 3).

en. The symbol, a suprascript stroke, is not common, except in
' vi\en ' (e.g. ' praes^/zti ' in the Naples Charisius and the Berne
Horace; ' g^/ztem ' in the Dublin MS., Trin. Coll. A IV 20)
(cf. Part III, § 3). .

er. The same symbol denotes ' er.' It is commonest in ' t^r ' (see
§ 2, S.V.), ' ber ' (e.g. ' habere,' ' lib^r '), ' ver ' (e.g. uo ' vero ').
I have noted in the Naples Charisius ' ser ' (e.g. ' s^^-vandum ')
and 'cer' (e.g. 'c^rte') (cf. Part III, § 3, on the Continental
usage of this sign). The peculiarly Irish symbol for ' per ' has
been already mentioned (§ 2, s.v.). Irish, too, is the use of the
' er-' symbol for ^ re,' especially in the word ' gr^cus ' (Graecus).
I have noted in the Naples Charisius ' catacr^sis * (-chr-), in
fol. 80 of Leyden Voss. Q. 2 ' nigr^dinem ' (by a Welsh scribe).

-is. Final ' bis ' is denoted by a cross-stroke through the shaft, e.g.
' urb/V,' ' vob/j,' ' nob/V,' ' dab/j- ' (which might be miscopied as
' dabit '). (On the similar Continental usage, see Part III, § 3.)

-it. This ending of the third Person Singular of Verbs is often
expressed by a stroke over the preceding letter, e.g. ' fac/7,'
* fee//.' (On the similar Continental usage, see Part III, § 3.)

ra (etc.). Much the same practice is followed in Irish as in Con-
tinental script (see Part III, § 3), but the substitution of two
dots (or two commas) for suprascript a is characteristic of Irish,
e.g. ' sup/-^,' ' contort!,' ' gratia..' These two dots might easily
be mistaken by a transcriber for ' puncta delentia.'

-runt rt (with contraction-stroke above), and similarly bt ' bunt,'
etc. ; while -rum is expressed by r (with contraction-stroke
above or alongside). This became the normal Irish usage*, but

*• ' Erunt * written in this way often resembles ' est ' (e.g. on fol. 34 r. of
Florence S. Marc. 611). In the Berne Horace (e.g:. p. 26) we find an expres-
sion of ' berunt ' by cross-barred d followed by t with suprascript contraction-
stroke.

so Contractio?is in Early Latin Mimiscule MSS.

is not quite established, especially in the older MSS. Thus an
8th century London MS. (Cotton Tib. C II) has anglrm ' ange-
lorum,' apostlrm ' apostolorum,' etc. ; a Vatican MS., Pal. 68,
uses r- (sic) both for * runt ' and for ' rum.* (On the Continental
treatment of these two final syllables, see Part III, § 3.)

ul is expressed, as in Continental script (see Part III, § 3) by /with
a cross-stroke, e.g. *mz//tus,' 'pop/z/us' (cf § 2, s. v.), 'sec/^/um,'
'nw/lam.'

-um is treated much as in Continental script (see Part III, § 3).
Thus d with cross-stroke represents ' -dum,' e.g. ' dandww '
(cf. § 2, ' dum '), and c with suprascript stroke (or apostrophe)
* cum ' (cf. § 2 ' cum ') (e.g. ' \ocum,^ ' cilicum ' in the Book of
Mulling).

On 'rum,' see above.

ur is denoted (as in early Continental script ; see Part III, § 3) in
earlier MSS. by the apostrophe, e.g. fig'a * figura ' ; in later by
the 2-symbol. In London, Cotton Tib. A XIV the older
symbol is corrected to the later more than once. For ' tur ' we
often find a cross-stroke (usually vertical) intersecting the upper
and lower branch of the /, e.g. in Oxford, Laud. 92, Milan L 85
sup.. Vat. Pal. 68, Vat. Reg. 1209, Paris 1771, and (with
a slight variety of form) in the Cambridge Bede, Leyden Voss.
F 4, and Florence S. Marc. 611.

us is specially denoted by the colon or the semi-colon or (with dot
and comma joined together) 3, e.g. aug3tas ' augustas.' Also
by the apostrophe-sign. What is said of this syllable in Con-
tinental script (Part III, § 3) applies, in the main, to its Irish
use also.

Part III. Continental Script.

I. List of the MSS. most often cited:—

Berlin (Phillipp. 17 16) Praedicationes, saec. viii-ix.

Berne (611) Varia, saec. viii-ix, in Merovingian script (with

many of the Irish contractions).
Brussels (loi 27-41) Canones, (^Ghent), saec. viii.
(8780-93) Canones, (Stavelot), saec. viii.
Carlsruhe (Reich. 191) Varia, (Reichenau), saec. viii-ix.
(Reich. 248) Glossae, (Reichenau), saec. viii-ix.
(Reich. 253) Jerome, (Reichenau), saec. viii.

Contractions in Early Lathi Minuscule MSS. 31

Leyden (Voss. Q 69) Glossary, etc., (St. Gall), saec. viii-ix.

(Voss. F 3) Ausonius, Paulinus, etc. (Lyons), saec. ix>

in Visigothic script.
(Voss. F 26) Glossaries, (Abbey of S. Bavo, Ghent),

saec. viii-ix.
(67 F) Glossaries, saec. viii-ix.

London (Brit. Mus.).

(Add. 31,031) Gregory, (Bavaria), saec. viii, in Mero-
vingian script.
(Cotton, Ner. A II) Theological Tracts, (France),
saec. viii. ex.
Lucca (490) Eusebii Chronica, saec. viii, in Lombard script.

Milan (Ambr.) (B 31 sup.) Isidore de Differentiis, (Bobbio),

before 840 a.d., in semi-Lombardic script.
(C 105 inf.) Hegesippus, (Bobbio), c. 700 a.d., in pre-

Lombardic script.
(D 268 inf.) Ambrose, etc., (Bobbio), saec. vii-viii, in

pre-Lombardic script.
(L 99 sup.) Isidore, (Bobbio), saec. viii, in pre-Lombardic

script.

Munich (1086) Vita S. Bonifatii, (Freising), saec. viii-ix.
(6228) Jerome, (Freising), saec. viii.
(6243) Canones, (Freising), saec. viii.
(6330) Doctrinae Patrum, (Freising), saec. viii-ix.
(14437) Augustine, (Frankfort), 823 a.d. ("scriptus
autem per Ellennardum et Dignum, Hildoino ortho-
grafiam praestante. Scriptus est autem diebus septem
et in octavo correctus").
Oxford (Bodl.) (Lat. Th. d. 3) Jerome's Commentary on O.T.,-

C. 780 A.D.

Paris (3836) Canones, (Corbie), saec. viii.
(106 1 2) Gregory, saec. viii.
(13386) Peregrinus, saec. viii.
Rome (Vat.) (Pal. 187) Galen, (Lorsch), saec. viii (the minus-
cule part).
(Pal. 216) Augustine, saec. viii-ix.
(Vat. 5763) Isidore's Etymologies, (Bobbio), saec. vii-viii,
in pre-Lombardic script.

32 Contractions in Early Latin Minuscule MSS.

St. Gall (70) St. Paul's Epistles, (St. Gall), saec. viii.

(194) Caesarius, etc.

(238) Liber Proprietatis Sermonum, etc. (St. Gall),
saec. viii.
Verona (89) Orationale Mozarabicum, in Visigothic script.

2. List of Contractions : —

(Those which are found also in later Continental script are
printed in italics. Unless otherwise stated, it is always to
be understood that a stroke is drawn above the letters forming
the contraction in the MSS.)

adeo ado (with contraction-stroke over the 0 or traversing the shaft
of the d) (cf. ido 'ideo'), e.g. in the Visigothic Leyden
Voss. F 3.

anima aia (see Part II, § 2).

annus (see Part II, § 2). I have noted an * annos ' in the eighth
century Paris 13348, an and ann 'annos' in Brussels 8780 —
93, an ' annus,' etc. (in repetitions) in Leyden Seal. 28, ann
'annos' in Cologne 91, annr ' annorum ' in Berne 611 (cf.
Part I, § 3).

apud. Rarely ap (the Irish contraction; see Part II, § 3), e.g.
Rome, Pal. lat. 216. More precise and commoner is apd (with
cross-stroke through the shaft of the d), e.g. Leyden Voss. F 58.

aut. Sometimes a (the Irish "^ contraction ; see Part II, § 2),
e.g. Brussels 10127 — 41, Leyden Voss. F 26. There is
danger of confusion with the Preposition a (cf. Part II, § 2).
Thus in Milan L 99 sup. I noted on p. 35 the Prep, with
the apex (i.e. the acute accent sign put over a long vowel)
in the sentence a codicibus legmn abolendis written exactly in the
form of this contraction).

autem. A detailed historical account of the contractions of this
word will be found, in an article by Traube in the Neues
Archiv d. Geschichtskunde, vol. xxvi, pp. 232 sqq. He says
that the contraction aut originated in Italy, whence it passed
into France, and dominated Continental script from the tenth
century onwards. The rival symbol au also originated in Italy,
later than the other, and passed from Italy into Germany (and
Switzerland). Characteristic of Visigothic script is the symbol
aum. ^

u It is (like ap * apud ') one of the Notae Juris, e.g. in Vat. Reg. 886.

Contractions in Early Latin Minuscule MSS. 33

caput cap (with contraction-stroke over the />). In vol. XXVII
of the Neues Archiv d. Geschichtskunde, pp. 270 sqq., Traube
gives an account of the contractions of this word which were
used to indicate a new paragraph, (i) K, (2) 'c*, (3) kpt
(a Spanish form), etc., and shews how they often intruded into
the text or were misinterpreted by scribes (e.g. et appears
for the K-symbol in some MSS. of Martianus Capella).

cum c, also c with apostrophe above (and with no contraction-
stroke). In an eighth century MS. of Brussels (10127-41)
we find this differentiation : (i) c with apostrophe above,
' cum,' (2) c with contraction-stroke above, 'con-,' (3) co with
contraction-stroke over the o, ' com- ' (and * con-' ?). In
Munich 14437 'nobiscum' appears as nobc, with cross-stroke
through the d, but with no stroke over the c. The corrector
expands this symbol on its first appearance on fol. 32 v., but
leaves it unaltered in its other occurrences.

dico. What was said of the Irish contractions (Part II, § 2) applies,
in the main, to the Continental. Thus dr * dicitur,' dt ' dicit,'
dx * dixit,' shew the earlier type ; dicr, die (with stroke over
the c), dix (with stroke over the .r) the later (e.g. in Munich
14437 <^x on fol. 61 r., but usually dix 'dixit,' so that dx
apparently comes from the original). In the Leyden Glos-
sary (Voss. Q 69) we find side by side for * dicitur,' dr,
dir, dicr, etc. (cf. Part I, § 3) ; while * dicunt ' is expressed
by the earlier type of contraction dnt, as well as by the more
precise dint. For ' dicuntur ' the earlier symbol is dnr. Of
the same type is drt, * dixerunt ' (which I have noted in
a ninth century London MS. (Add. 11,880) on fol. 131 v.), and
dxms 'diximus' in Vienna 957. In the Caroline minuscule
part of an Oxford MS. (Auct. F IV 32) * dicit ' is expressed by
dit. For ' dicens ' the earlier type of contraction is dcs (e.g.
in Munich 1044), the later* is dies (e.g. in Brussels 8216-8,
with diets 'dicentes'; Carlsruhe Reich. 191; London Harl.
3063; St. Gall 185, while dns represents ' dominus ') ; but
there is an early contraction of the Participle by ' suspension '
die, which I have noted in the uncial part of an eighth century
MS. of Brussels (9850-2 ; perhaps from St. Vaast's, Arras),

^ I have noted dicns ' dicens ' in Berne 376 : diet ' dicit ' on fol. 73 r. of a
MS. from Reichenau Library, Carlsruhe Reich. 248.

D

34 Contract ions in Early Latin Minuscule MSS.

and which also occurs (probably taken from the original y) in
a ninth century minuscule MS. of Brussels (9403). I have
not noted in Continental script the Irish symbols dms (dcms)
'dicimus,' dxnt 'dixerunt,' dre ' dicere,' dcm ' dictum,' etc.

dum (see§ 3 'urn').

eius. The word had no special symbol, as it had in Irish script, but
was usually written with the help of the syllabic * us '-sign
(see § 3). In a Vatican MS. (Pal. 216) I noted d (which
might easily be misread ' enim '), as well as ci' (without con-
traction-stroke).

enim. The Irish H-like symbol is not properly Continental, but
I have noted a variation, the symbol preceded by the vowel e
(without contraction - stroke) in an eighth century MS. of
Brussels (10127-41). In the Milan Hegesippus en is used.
The old symbol (one of the Notae Juris) fjj is found ' in an
eighth century Vienna MS. (957).

epistula (see Part I, § 4).

est e (also ee * esse,' eet ' esset,' etc.) or -f- (cf. Part II, § 2).
In Oxford, Lat. Th. d. 3 (in which ae is used for e in all kinds
of words, e.g. ' laegis,' 'fuaeris,' * vidaetae,' etc.) I have noted
ae ' est ' (e.g. on fol. 115 v.).

et. The Irish 7-like symbol early found its way into Continental
usage (e.g. in Vat. 6018, on fol. 52 r. ; in the ninth century
Vat. Reg. 342 ; in the Visigothic Verona 89).

facit, fecit (see § 3 ' it ').

frater (same as in Irish ; see Part II, § 2). Also fra (e.g. Lucca
490). In Munich 14437 frm 'fratrem' has been altered (on
fol* 53 V.) into frem by the corrector, presumably to obviate
the danger of 'fratrum^ being understood. In formulas (cf.
Part I, § 3) fr can denote 'feria' (e.g. Leyden, Seal. 28;.
(For fuller details, see Traube, 'Nomina Sacra,' p. 256.)

gens. The contraction of this word is not very common. I have
noted gs 'gentis,' gtm ' gentem ' in Oxford, Lat. Th. d. 3.
(On the syllabic ' en '-symbol, see § 3.)

y The scribe himself has expanded the contraction on fol. 37 v. In the uncial
MS. a corrector has sometimes expanded the contraction (to 'dicentes' as well
as to 'dicens'). It would of course suggest ' dicit ' to a transcriber; and the
substitution o{ dicit for dicens in a MS. points to the use of this rare contraction
in the original.

2 This is exactly the Irish way of writing * In ' at the beginning of a para-
graph.

Contractions in Early Latin Minuscule MSS, 35

genus (see Part I, § 3) ; gns in Visigothic.

gloria (see Part I, § 4).

Graecus. grci ' Graeci ' is Visigothic.

gratia gra, whence gram ' gratiam,' etc.

habeo /// ' habet ' (cf. Part II, § 2) and hnt ' habent ' (ibid.), the
Irish contractions, are not unknown (e.g. Cologne 210, St. Gall
249). The ancient style of contraction by means of the initial
letter of each syllable, I have noted only in an eighth century
Paris MS. (2843 ^^ which shews not merely hb (on fol. 46 r),
but also the usual hab (with cross-stroke through the b) (see
§ 3 'it'). In Munich 14437 of 823 a.d., hnt 'habent' is
changed by the contemporary corrector (on fol. 20 v.) into
hant ' habent.'

hoc. The Irish symbol h (without contraction-stroke) with dot,
or apostrophe, above the shoulder of the letter, is not
unknown (e.g. Carlsruhe Reich. 99, Munich 14252). In
Munich 14437 this symbol (but with dot to the side, not
above the shoulder of the //) has been expanded (on fol. 58 v.)
by the corrector. Much rarer are the Irish symbols he ' hunc '
(e.g. Vienna 903), h 'haec' (e.g. London Add. ii,88o\ In
Brussels 10127-41 I have noted ' huius ' expressed by the
symbol used in the Notae Juris, hul (along with the usual
hui' without contraction-stroke ; see § 3 ' us ') ; the Irish hs
only in St. Gall 225.

homo. The contraction by ' suspension ' hom represents ' hominem *
(e.g. in Oxford, Lat. Th. d. 3, beside homi ' homini '),
' homines ' (e.g. Munich 6330 ; Carlsruhe Reich. 99, on
fol. 45 r.). (Cf. om * omnis,' ' omnes,' 'omnem,' etc., below.)
The Irish contractions (see Part II, § 2) are also used; ho,
e.g. London, Add. 18,332 (from Carinthia), Munich 6330 ;

o

h (without contraction-stroke), e.g. Rome, Vat. Reg. 221.

ideo ido (sic) I have noted in Berne 263 (on fol. 67 r ).

id est. For the symbol ide (with contraction-stroke over the e.
or traversing the shaft of the d\ which also represents ' idem ' %
we find in some early minuscule MSS. id (with contraction-
stroke traversing the shaft ; e.g. in Leyden 67 F, Carlsruhe
Reich. 99) or merely -i- (without contraction-stroke; e.g. in

a Hence the constant confusion of the words idem and id est in MSS. In
Vat. Pal. 237 I noted on fol. 25 v. idem corrected to id est,

D 2

36 Contractions in Early Lati?i Minuscule MSS.

Carlsruhe Reich. 99, sometimes accompanied by the ' est '
symbol -!- ) (cf. Part II, 5^ 2 ' id est '). The Visigothic symbol
is idt (also idst). On id ' idem ' see below, p. 48.

imperator impr (e.g. Vat. Pal. 834; Munich 14540; London Add.
11,880).

inde (see § 3 ' e ', ' em ').

item it (with the contraction-stroke over the /) (e.g. in Cologne 210,
Berne 611, St. Gall. 189, Vat. Pal. 493). The same symbol
seems to stand for ' iterum ' in Paris 2843 A in the formula
' iterum dicit ' (cf. Part I, § 3).

magis mag (with the contraction-stroke over the ^ ; cf. § 3 ' is '),
e.g. in the ninth century Leyden 67 E.

mater (see ' ter ').

meus ms (a symbol which I have noted for ' mensis ' in Leyden
67 D ; cf. Part I, § 3). Also 7mn ' meum ' (see Part II, § 2).

mihi m (without contraction-stroke). The ancient use of the
syllable-initials mh (with contraction-stroke traversing the shaft
of the h) I noted in Berlin, Phill. 50 of the end of saec. viii
(on fol. II r.).

misericordia (see Part I, § 4). I have noted the contraction by
' suspension ' mis in London, Harl. 3063 (expanded by a con-
temporary corrector) ; also mam ' misericordiam ' in London,
Cotton Ner. A II; and mae * misericordiae ' in St. Gall 227.
But these three varieties rather belong to the type described in
Part I, § 3. Traube ('Nomina Sacra,' p. 250) says that ma
' misericordia ' was affected by the Verona scribes in the Caro-
lingian period.

modo (as in Irish ; see Part II, § 2).

nisi n (without contraction-stroke).

nobis (see Part II, § 2 ; and below, ' vobis ').

nomen. The Irish symbol no {nois, ?ioi^ ?ioe, noa^ etc.) denotes in
early Continental script ' nostro ' or ' non.' I have noted no
* nomen ' in the Leyden Glossary (Voss. Q 69), evidently taken
from the original ; for in the transcript it appears only once. The
normal symbol in this and in all Continental MSS. is nam (with
contraction-stroke over the ;;/ ; cf. § 3 ' en '). In St. Gall 907
I noted (on p. 317) nm (the Nota Juris), while * nostrum ' was
expressed by nrm. In London, Add. 30,852 (in ninth century
Visigothic script) I noted on fol. 99 r. nne ' nomine,' which

Contraciiotis in Early Latin Minuscule MSS. 37

might easily be miscopied as * nonne ' ; in the ninth century
Visigothic Leyden Voss. F 3 the typical Visigothic symbols
nmn ' nomen,' nme * nomine,' nma ' nomina.' (See also Traube,
' Nomina Sacra,' p. 260.)

non n and no. The more precise form is found early, e.g. in the
eighth century Brussels MS. (8780-93). I have noted it also
in a London MS. (Add. 18,332) on fol. 167 r., and in a Vatican
MS. (5845) in Lombard script.

noster, vester. A detailed historical account of the contractions of
these Possessives has been given by Traube in his * Perrona
Scottorum ' (Munich, 1900) and repeated in his posthumous
work, 'Nomina Sacra,' pp. 204 — 237. From it I take these
particulars. The most ancient type of contraction, with the
initial letter merely, n 'noster, -tra, -trum,' etc., u 'vester, -tra,
-trum,' etc., was productive of mistakes, since n also denoted
' non ' '\ u also ' vel.' In the sixth century the final letter was
added for the sake of precision, ni ' nostri,' no ' nostro,' na
' nostra,' nos ' nostros,' etc. This, too, led to errors of tran-
scription, for no also denoted ' nomen ' (and later ' non '), na
also ' nam,' nos resembled n6s, i.e. 'nos ' with apex, and so on.
The practice of superscribing the final letter, found in some

i

early juristic MSS. (e.g. the majuscule Verona Gaius) n ' nostri,'

o ^ i

n 'nostro,' etc., was not more fortunate'^, since, e.g., n also

o

denoted ' nisi,' u also ' vero.' In the eighth century a more
precise symbol came in, nri ' nostri,' nro ' nostro,' etc., and
became predominant in Continental script. But variations
were not lacking. Most notable is the type which is character-
istic of Visigothic script, nsr 'noster,' nsi 'nostri,' etc. (found
in Spain as early as the sixth century ; also nstri, nsri). Other
occasional variations are nt ' noster ' (in France and Germany \
confused with ' inter '), nrt ' noster ' (in France and Italy), nora
' nostra,' etc. (in Spain). A full list of these variations will be
found in Traube's book, and on p. 519 (N.S. p. 226) examples
of the miscopying of na ' nostra ' as nam^ of uo ' vero ' as uro

^ For examples of scribes' substitutions of *non' for 'noster,' see Traube,
P.S. p. 501, N.S. p. 209.

^ From corruptions in some of the chief MSS. of Caesar's Bellum Gallicum,
which are clearly due to this form of the contraction of ' noster,' Traube infers
that the original source of these MSS. was a sixth century Codex.

3^ Contractions in Early Latin Minuscule MSS.

' vestro,' of ui ' vestri ' as vim, and (most curious of all) of um
' vir magnificus ' as urm ' vestrum.'
numquam (see ' qui ').

c

nunc (i) n (without contraction-stroke) (e.g. in Paris 13386; Milan
L. 99 sup. ; Leyden Voss. F 26, etc.). In later minuscule this
can denote * nee,' e.g. in the glosses of Oxford Laud. Lat. 26.
(2) nc (e.g. Brussels 8780-93, etc.).

omnis (i) The earliest contraction is om for all cases (cf. hom
* homo,' above), especially 'omnis,' 'omnes.' Here are some
statistics from my notes : om ' omnis,' ' omnes ' in Leyden
Voss. Q69, Munich 6330; 'omnes' Nom. and Ace. PI. in Vat.
Pal. 834, from Lorsch Library ; ' omnes ' Ace. PI. in Leyden
67 F; ' omnes,' ' omnis,' ' omnem ' in Carlsruhe Reich. 222;
'omnes' in Geneva 21 (from Murbach Library), Cologne 91,
Carlsruhe Reich. 221, Berne 376 (also oms), Munich 6243,
Carlsruhe Reich. 99, and in Bale frag. IIL 13-15; 'omnes,'
'omnis' (but oi 'omni') in Cologne 210; 'omnes,' 'omnis,'
' omnibus ' (but also oms ' omnes,' oma ' omnia ') in Leyden Seal.
28 ; 'omnes ' Ace. PI. (but oms Nom. Sing, on fol. lo v.) in Berlin,
Phill. 1716 ; 'omnes' (also oms) in Carlsruhe Reich. 191 ; om
and oms in the same passage on fol. 77 v. of Munich 14770 ; in
Vat. Reg. 713 on fol. 59 r. om is expanded by the corrector to
' omnibus ' ; " omne ' in Oxford, Lat. Th. d. 3, on fol. 115 v. ;
'omnes' (on fol. 131 v.) and 'omnia' in Troyes 657. It is
a feature of early St. Gall script (eg. St. Gall 109 om 'omnis,'
'omnes,' St. Gall 225 om 'omnes,' 'omnis,' 'omne,' St. Gall
876 om 'omnes,' St. Gall 126 om ' omnes ' on p. 71, p. 118,
etc., St. Gall 914 om 'omnes,' St. Gall 125 om 'omnes,'
' omnis,' St. Gall 194 om 'omnes/ and on p. 2 om expanded
to omnis ^ St. Gall 193 om ' omnis,' along with oms ' omnes').
We may infer its presence in the original of St. Gall 185, in
which om is expanded by the corrector to ' omnis ' on p. 19, to
'omnem ' on p. 20, to ' omnibus ' on p. 27, to ' omne ' on. p. 32,
to ' omnis ' on p. 33 and p. 90, to ' omni ' on p. 57, but is left
untouched on p. 119 om (i.e. ' omnes ') nodos.

(2) with the final letter, oms. In early minuscule the Nom.
Sing, and Nom. (Ace.) Plural are not discriminated '', whereas

d Editors should not attach much weight to the spelling of the Ace. Plur.
in the case of this word in an ordinary minuscule MS. The original probably
offered oms or (if quite early minuscule) om or else os.

Contractions in Early Latin Minuscule MSS. 39

later ® oms means ' omnes,' and not ' omnis,' which is written
omis. While oma * omnia ' is common, omm is a rare contrac-
tion, denoting ' omnem ' (in Oxford, Lat. Th. d. 3) or ' omnium '
(in Munich 14437, on fol. 49 v.). For 'omnibus ' we have omb
(with cross-barred h, representing the final syllable ' bus ' ; see
§ 3 ' "s ').

(3) without the ///. os ' omnes ' is early *', e.g. (along with
oms) in the Lucca Eusebius ; in Cologne 210 (with om 'omnes,'
'omnis') oium 'omnium,' oi 'omni' (the Irish type of contrac-
tion ; see Part II, § 2).

(4) with ;««, the most precise contraction. I have noted
omns 'omnes' in Cologne 75, in Paris 10612, and (along with
omis * omnis ') in London, Add. 18,332; omn (Ace Plur.)
expanded by the corrector to * omnes ' on fol. 34 r. of Paris
13386 ; omn ' omnes,' ' omne ' (cf. § 3 '-e,' ' -em ') in Brussels
1 01 27-41 ; omn 'omne ' in Vat. 6018, and Vat. Barberini XIV
52 (on fol. 97 r). (See also Traube, * Nomina Sacra,' p. 260.)

pater (see ' ter ' ; also Traube, ' Nomina Sacra,' p. 261).

per p (with cross-stroke through the lower shaft). In Visigothic
script the ' pro '-symbol (in various forms) plays this part
(e.g. in the ninth century London 30,852, along with the
Carolingian symbol), so that the substitution of ' pro ' for * per '
suggests a Visigothic original.

populus. I noted ppls (Visigothic) in Munich 6228, London Add.
30,852, pplo 'populo' in London Add. 11,880 (from Bavaria?),
pplm ' populum ' in Oxford, Lat. Th. d. 3 (c. 780 a.d.) ;
popls (Lombard) in Florence, Laur. Ixvi. 40, poplm * popu-
lum' in London Add. 18,332 (from Carinthia) ; all with cross-
stroke intersecting the /.

post p \ or p3 or p' (all without contraction-stroke), really the symbols
of 'pus' or ' pos.' (In MSS. under Irish influence, like Milan
I 6 sup. 2, Leyden 67 D, p' is a symbol of 'per' and often

i

closely resembles p 'pri'). Occasionally (see above, p. 19)
pt (e.g. Carlsruhe Reich. 85), which would suggest * praeter '
to a transcriber.

e In Oxford, Laud. Lat. 22 oms * omnis' on fol. 13 r. has received a suprascript
I from the corrector.

' The substitution of * hos ' for ' omnes ' point to this contraction in the
original. The noun ' os,' if marked, as commonly, with the apex, would be
confusible with this symbol, which I have also noted for * ostendit ' (in repetitions ;
cf. Part I, § 3) on p. 77 of St. Gall 125. *

40 Cofitracitons in Early Latin Minuscule MSS.

prae p. Later, e.g. in Florence, S. Crucis XVII dextr. 8, the

a

Dunstan Regula Benedicti at Cambridge, etc. ; p (without con-
traction-stroke) denotes (i) ' prae,' (2) * pra ' (cf. § 3 ' ra '). In
Bale F III 15 k. I noted a combination of the two symbols,
p with contraction -stroke above it and with a (by a later hand ?)
above the contraction-stroke,
praeter (as in Irish ; see Part II, § 2 ' prae ').

o

pro rp. In Leyden Voss. F 26 p (without contraction stroke)
(e.g. '/r^fundis,' '/^i^cella') ; also in Vat. Pal. 187, from Lorsch

o i

Library (e.g. in ' proxsX' '//-^vocat,' '^/-^hibet'; also ppus

* proprius ').

proprius. i)p denotes ' propriam,' 'propriarum,' etc. in Milan B 31.

A more precise expression (e.g. Milan L 99 sup. ' proprium ')
adds to this the letter r. On the normal combination of the
' pro '-sign with the ' pri '-sign, see § 3 ' ra,' and cf. above, ' pro ' ;
for the confusion oi proprius and propter^ see below).
propter. The oldest symbol (a Nota Juris) is pp, with cross-stroke
traversing the lower shafts, or drawn over the top of the letters
(or of one 8 letter). More precise and commoner is ppt (e.g. in
Paris 13386; in the ninth century Brussels 9403; in Leyden
67 E, of the same century; and, along with pp, in St. Gall 109
and Munich 6330, e.g. fol. 9 v.). When the ' pro '-symbol (see
above) was substituted for the first / (e.g. Leyden Seal. 28),
the only remnant of contraction was the syllabic contraction

* er ' (see §3). Along with this extremely precise expression
of the word occurs in Lucca 490 a curious reduction, the ' pro '-
symbol followed by tr (with contraction-stroke above), of which
a more correct^ variety is the ' pro '-symbol followed by t (with
contraction-stroke above) (e.g. Leyden Voss. 106). The variety
prop (sic) in Leyden Seal. 28 may be the scribe's copy of the
pp (with lower cross stroke, as on fol. 55 r.) of his (Irish?)
original, for the very precise expression mentioned above is the

« In Munich 14437 pp with stroke over the second / is normal, while on
fol. 22 r. pp with stroke traversing the lower shafts is expanded by the corrector.
The inference is that the latter form stood in the original.

ii Still this really should read *pro-ter.' It is one of the Notae Juris (see
Keil * Gramm. Lat. IV, p. 326). Does this throw any light on the misspelling
'proptervus' for ' protervus,' over which philologists have wasted so much time
and thought ?

Contractions i?i Early Latin Minuscule MSS. 41

normal form in this MS. That curious curtailment cited (p. 20)
from the Carlsruhe Priscian (also used in the Carlsruhe Bede),
the ' pro '-sign along with contraction-sign, I have noted in the
ninth century Berne 263 (on fol. 10 r). Here the contraction -
sign has the form of an apostrophe, so that the resemblance be-
tween it and the curtailed contraction of ^ propri-us' (see p. 19)
is very close indeed. In Voss. Q 69 propter is often wrongly sub-
stituted for proprium. Glogger, in his monograph on this MS.
(Augsburg, 1 901), ascribes to its original the use of pp (properly
the symbol of ' propter ') as symbol of ' proprium ' (in repeti-
tions). This pp ' proprium ' occurs, he says, now and then in
the MS. The Visigothic symbols for 'propter' are ppr
and pptr.

quae (see ' qui ').

quaesumus qs (e.g. Cologne 43 ; Cologne 138).

quam, quamquam (see ' qui ').

quando. Sometimes ' qn (while qm denoted ' quoniam'), e.g. St. Gall
249 ' 2^\quatido' More precise are qnd and qno. The original
of Munich 14437 had apparently qn (the usual Irish symbol ;
see Part II, § 2), for this symbol is expanded on fol. 63 r.
by the corrector, while the normal form in the MS. is qnd.
In Milan L 99 sup. the rare form qo appears on fol. 6 r.
( = Isidore Etymol. i, 4, 8). * Quando' is not nearly so often
contracted as ' quoniam ' in Continental minuscules.

quasi. Sometimes the Irish symbols appear, qs (which also'' de-
notes 'quaesumus' and *quis') and more frequently the more
precise qsi (expanded as unfamiliar by the corrector on fol.
22 r. of Munich 14437 of 823 ad.)

que is expressed (as in Irish) by q (without contraction-stroke)
followed by a dot or a comma or a semicolon or a colon. But
in the earliest minuscule MSS. there is a rival symbol, q with
a stroke (usually wavy) intersecting (usually obliquely) the shaft
of the letter (see p. 43). This rival symbol in its various forms
is confusible with the symbols for ' quod,' * quam,' and * qui '
respectively (also ' quia ' \ cf. Part II, § 2), and is sometimes

i In the Notae Juris qa denoted ' quoniam,' and Traube says (' Nomina Sacra,'
p. 263) that this is the prevalent use of the symbol qn in Carolingian MSS.
Certainly the confusion of * quando ' and * quoniam ' would often present itself
to a transcriber.

^ In Cologne 74, of saec. viii-ix, qs is often expanded by a corrector.

42 Contractions in Early Latin Minus cute MSS.

discriminated from them by the addition of a dot ^ (usually
at the upper end of the cross-stroke). I give from my notes
some statistics of this cross-stroked symbol : —

It is a feature of early St. Gall MSS. (in which 'quern' is
expressed by this sign with contraction-stroke above), (e.g. the
Kero Glossary). We may infer its existence in the original
of St. Gall 70, for in the earlier part of this MS. 'que' is
denoted by this symbol, later only by q; etc., excepting ' xxsgue^'
which the scribe perhaps mistook for ' usquam.' Similarly
in St. Gall 194 this symbol appears in the earlier pages, q:
in the rest. In Berne 263 (also Leyden Voss. 63 ; 67 E) both q;
and this symbol are used, the latter being expanded sometimes
to ' quae,' sometimes (rightly) to * quia.' It is used in the pre-
Lombardic script of Vat. 5763, of Milan D 268 inf., and
(along with q; and q.) of Milan C 105 inf. ; in Verona IV, LV,
LXII (6) ; in the seventh (?) century London Add. 11,878 in
Merovingian script; in the eighth century Paris 13348. In the
Merovingian script of Berne 611 this symbol (with horizontal
wavy cross-stroke) denotes ' quam ' as well as ' que ' ; in Ley-
den 67 F, Brussels 8780-93 it denotes both ' quae ' (cf. Munich

e

14540) and 'que.' Another expression q (e.g. 'que,' ' obse-
quenCiO^^ ' quern ') appears occasionally in Milan L 99 sup. (see
below, * qui ').
qui, quis (cf. Part II, § 2). The system of superscribing the vowel
(with suppression of ti, and with no contraction-stroke) is often

i a o e

followed : q * qui,' q ' qua,' q ' quo,' and occasionally qm

i i

'quern' (e.g. Milan L 99 sup.). Similarly qs 'quis,' qbus

a

(often with syllabic ' us '-symbol ; see § 3) ' quibus,' qs ' quas,'

o i o

qs * quos,' qd * quid,' qd ' quod ' (e.g. Milan L 99 sup.,

^ Apparently a combination of the symbol q. with the rival symbol. In the
eighth century Merovingian Turin D V 3, the colon appears instead of the dot ;
i.e. the symbol q: is combined with the other. Both of these combination-forms
are used in the eighth century Paris 3836, written at Corbie. The former I have
noted in London, Cotton Ner. All; in Paris 2483 A ; in Paris 12598 ; in
London, Harl. 3063 ; in Brussels 9403 ; in Vat. Pal. 493 (from Lorsch) ; in
Leyden 114 (from Rheims), etc. The latter, in the eighth century Paris 8921
(in Visigothic script); in Montpellier 69; in the Paris Glossarium Ansileubi
(11589) ; in Brussels 9850-2, etc.

Contractions in Early Latin Minuscule MSS. 43

a

Leyden Voss. F 26), qm ' quam ' (e.g. Milan L 99 sup.),

o a

qr, qr (both with contraction-stroke above the r ; see § 3 ' um ')
'quorum/ ' quarum.' Also Derivative Words like qa 'quia,'

i

qn ' quin.' Had this simple system been exclusively followed,
a great deal of confusion would have been avoided. But
a wide variety in the expression of these Cases and Derivatives
is seen in early Continental minuscule. I give the more normal
symbols first : —

Q; This (which denotes ' quod ' in Irish script and in
the Notae Juris, e.g in Vat. Reg. 886) denotes 'que'
(or by misspelling 'quae') in early Continental script,
while ' quod ' is denoted '" by qd (with contraction-
stroke traversing the shaft of the d).
CL 'quam' (often expanded in Vat. Pal. 829).

^ ' qui ' (cf. p. 23) is a feature of early St. Gall and

Bobbio MSS. (e.g. St. Gall 185; 228; Milan C 105

inf.; D 268 inf. ; L 99 sup. ; Vat. 5763), also Berne

611. The normal symbol is Q (followed by d^ ' quid,'

followed by x, ' quis,' etc.).

^ ' quae.'

I append from my notes some statistics of variations : —

In Cologne 210 this normal 'qui '-symbol is also used ° for

* quae,' the * quae '-symbol for 'quis' (also ° in Cologne 91),

while both ' qui ' and ' quod ' (e.g. * quodsx ') are denoted by q:

(also used in its normal function of ' que,' ' qu<a)>e.') In

Munich 6330 the ' quae '-symbol denotes 'quam,' both alone

and in compounds like ' wumquam,'' ^ ameqtiam.' In Vat. Pal.

829 the normal 'qui '-symbol is expanded more than once as

' quod.'

The identity in Mediaeval spelling of the vowel c and the
diphthong ae accounts for the use of the ' que '-symbols for

™ The Irish contraction appears in Carlsruhe Reich. 112 (along with qd)
Cologne 210, Milan I i sup., C 105 inf., Vat. 6018, etc.

n Similarly in the Lucca Eusebius, in which a later corrector has often
expanded the unusual symbol. The other * qui '-symbol denotes * que ' in the
Visigothic MSS., Leyden Voss. F 3, Verona 89, etc.

o Cf. * siguis' in Munich 41 15 ; Munich 6243 ; Munich 6244 (along with siqs) ;
Paris 2843 A ; Vat. Reg. 338 ; Vat. Reg. 446 ; Vat. Barberini XIV 52.

44 Contractions h? Early Latin Mimisaik MSS.

'quae,' and vice-versa (e.g. in the Visigothic Leyden Voss.
F 3 q with suprascript contraction-stroke denotes 'que' and,
when followed by w, 'quem'). In Troyes 657 (cf. Mont-
pellier 84) the same differentiation is found as in Irish script
(see Part II, § 2) ; a dot is added to the right of q; to make
the symbol for 'quae' (expanded on fol. 94 r.). And mis-
spellings like * debetorem,' * defficele,' ' concipiret,' ' accipemus,'
'periunt,' 'fulgit' in the London MS., Add. 31,031 (and in
others of its kind) may account for its use of q: not merely
as 'que' but as 'qui' e.g. q:b: 'quibus,' q:a 'quia.' The q
with crook-form of contraction-stroke is properly a ' que '-
symbol (see above) ; and it may be in this function that it
is used to denote ' qui ' in this London MS. (e.g. ' quihw^^
' quiz.') and in others (e.g. Troyes 657 ; Vat. 6018 on fol. 108 r.;
St. Gall 2, of the year 761, ' Xoqui^). It is used for ' quam ' in
Paris 13386.

For ' quis ' we have qs (the symbol of ' quaesumus ' and of
' quasi;' see above) in Berlin, Phill. 160 (on fol. 94 V.) (cf siqs
'siquis' in Munich 6244, aliqs 'aliquis' in Munich 14437, on
fol. 63 r., expanded by the corrector ; aliqs ' aliquis ' in Berne
263 (Codex Theodosianus), on fol. 124 v.) Instead of 'quod'
qd sometimes denotes 'quid' (e.g. qmcquid on fol. 95 r.
of Paris 13386). In St. Gall 194 'quod' and 'quid' are
differentiated, qid and qod (each with cross-barred d). The
variety qud (with cross-barred d) I have noted in Carlsruhe
Reich. 253 (on fol. 46 r.), St. Gall 126, Vat. 6018. Some-
times the contraction-stroke of qd stands over the q and
does not intersect the shaft of the d, e.g. in Berlin Phill.
1 71 6 (usually), St. Gall 193, Vat. Reg. 713.

quia q followed by a symbol like the Arabic numeral 2. This
expression of ' quia ' (taken from the Notae Juris) is sometimes
expanded by the corrector in Munich 14437, where it has the
form of q followed by cursive (final) /. (See also Traube,
' Nomina Sacra,' p. 263).

quomodo (i) qmo or, with more precision, qmdo (both, e.g., in
Munich 14437),
(2) qmd (e.g. in Munich 6330; Carlsruhe Reich. 191;
Berlin, Phill. 17 16).
A combination of the * quo '-symbol and the ' modo '-symbol

is often found q m.

Contractions in Early Latin Minuscule MSS. 45

quoniam. The older contraction is qm (butP qn 'quando'), which
was superseded by the more precise qft7n (found even in early
MSS. like Milan D 268 inf., Vat. 5763). Both occur in the
half-uncial Verona 53, in the eighth century Paris 106 12, etc.
A rival to qtun is quo (while qno denotes 'quando,' qmo 'quo-
modo ') (e.g. in Oxford, Laud. Misc. 120, from Wiirzburg, of date
842 — 855, both quo and qnm are used; similarly in Munich
6243 ; while in Paris 12239-41, a MS. from Corbie Library, all
three, qm, qnm and quo, are found). I have noted qum in
Cologne 213 (along with quo), occasionally in Carlsruhe Reich.
222 and London, Cotton Cal. A XV. All these expressions
are liable to confusion with the Conjunction * quom ' (' quum ').
In the ninth century Paris 9530 I noted on fol. 28 v. quam
corrected to quojiiarn.

quoque qq witli the contraction-stroke either written above (e.g. in
Munich 6228; Leyden Seal. 28; Geneva 21, from Murbach
Library), or traversing the shafts of the letters (e.g. in Milan
L 99 sup.). In Munich 1086 I noted a variety qq; (with

o
wavy stroke over the second q). These were replaced by qq;

(without contraction-stroke), a contraction which appears early
(e.g. in the Milan Hegesippus oi c. 700 a.d.).

quot Traube ('Nomina Sacra,' p. 264) says that the Irish symbol
qt appears in Italian (' Beneventan') MSS. as early as the
9th century. I have noted it in Leyden Seal. 28 (in repetitions),
Milan I i sup. (from Bobbio).

regnum reg (with stroke over the^) I noted in Leyden Seal. 28, etc.

reliquus. In the phrase ' et reliqua ' (like our ' etc.') the word
appears as rl (with cross-stroke through the /), more pre-
cisely as rel (e.g. in Carlsruhe Reich. 112). I have noted
rlquos (with cross-barred /) in Carlsruhe Reich. 248.

saeculum (see Part I, § 4).

secundus (Adj.), secundum (Prep.). The older type of contraction
is scd for all cases of the Adjective and for the Preposition
(e.g. St. Gall 911). Greater precision was given by writing the
first syllable in full seed (e.g. Cologne 91). The Leyden
Glossary (Voss. Q 69) shews two older symbols for ' secundum,'
SCD and sec, side by side with two later, scdtn and secdm.

P On the use of qn fur 'quoniam,' as well as for 'quando,' see above, s.v.
' quando. '

46 Cofitractions in Early Latin Mifiuscule MSS.

A symbol confusible with 'sed,' viz. sed, I have noted in
Cologne 74 and elsewhere; in Leyden Seal. 28 sedu (with
cross-barred d) on fol. 109 r.

sed. Besides the normal s; we find in early minuscule MSS.
a dot or a comma taking the place of the semicolon. Some-
times (e.g. in Brussels 10127-41 ; Geneva 50, on fol, 57 v.)
this comma looks like an /; so that a transcriber might mis-
copy ' si ' instead of ' sed.' In the Merovingian Montpellier 69
I am told that one of the Notae Juris for ' sed ' is found,
viz. s with horizontal cross-stroke through the body of the
letter (like the syllabic-symbol 'ser' of § 3, p. 49). This
would be liable to omission by a transcriber.

sequitur seqr and (less commonly) seqt (cf. Part II, § 2).

sicut sic (with contraction-stroke^ over the c). This might easily
be mistaken^ for sic, i.e. the word 'sic' with the apex. More
precise is sicf (e.g. Vat. 3317). The Visigothic symbol (one of
the Notae Juris) is set. (See Traube, ' Nomina Sacra,' p. 265.)

significat signf (the Nota Juris, found, e.g., in Vat. Reg. 886) and

' the more precise signft. Both appear in Munich 14437 ^^^

are expanded by the corrector (on fol. 66 r. and v.). I have

noted also sigf (in Carlsruhe Reich. 248) and many other

variations where the word is often repeated (cf. Part I, § 3).

sive (seu) s. This contraction appears in a number of Glossary
MSS., e.g. Leyden 67 E, St. Gall 907, Vat. 6018, Carlsruhe
Reich. 248, Munich 6228. Usually it denotes the Verb 'sunt '
(see below; also 'scilicet'?). I have noted siu in Berne 611
(on fol. 108 V. aurum sive argentum) (cf. § 3 ' -e, -em ').

sunt s (whence poss 'possunt', with contraction-stroke over the
second s). This is often wrongly transcribed, when not separ-
ated ^ from the preceding word. Thus quis (with contraction-
stroke over the s) ' qui sunt ' looks like ' quis ' ; datis * dati
sunt ' like ' datis,' etc. More precise, and yet of early occur-

^ In Vat. Pal. 216 (e.s:. fol. 66 r.) an apostrophe is substituted for the con-
traction-stroke.

r In the half-uncial Milan C 26 sup. I noted on fol. 5 v. a correction of sic
to siatL

* Careful scribes avoided this absorption of single letter abbreviations by
putting a dot before and after, e.g. libera'n* (with contraction-stroke over //)
'liberam non ' in London Add. 31,031. The apex is often used with the same
purpose, especially in Irish script, e.g. acampo 'a campo,' auris *a vestris,* ado
'adeo.'

Contractions hi Early Latin Minuscule MSS, 47

rence, is st (cf. Part II, § 2), e.g. in Carlsruhe Reich. 253 of
saec. vii — viii ; in the 8th century MSS., Munich 6243, Berne
611 (Merovingian), St. Gall 2 (c. 761 a.d.), Brussels 10 127-41
(along with s) ; in the 8th — 9th century Munich 14422 (along
with s), etc.

suprascriptus (see Part II, § 2).

tamen tn, replaced in course of time by the more precise tarn
(with contraction-stroke over the ;;/ ; cf. § 3 ' en.') The ancient
type of contraction, with the initial letter of each syllable, tm,
I have noted in Vat. 3281. This normally denotes ' tantum '
(see below and cf. Paoli-Lohmeyer ' Abkiirzungen,' p. 8 ;/.).
Tmn is Visigothic.

tantum tm (expanded as unfamiliar by the corrector of Munich
14437 on fol. 57 r.). More precise is tnm (eg. in the eighth
century Vienna 957).

tempus tempr ' tempore.' I have also noted tpr ' tempore ' in
Carlsruhe Reich. 248, and tpre in a page (fol. 134 v, written
in Caroline minuscules) of Turin D V 3. (For fuller details,
see Traube, 'Nomina Sacra,' p. 266.)

ter (as in Irish ; cf. Part II, § 2). Often in 'ma/<r-'-,' ' pa/fr,' etc.

tibi / (without contraction-stroke).

turn. The same eighth century Brussels MS. (10127-41) as was

cited for c * cum ' shews t for * turn.'

c

tunc /(e.g. Troyes 657, Munich 14437, Milan L, 99 sup.).
tc (e.g. Vat. 3281).

vel u occurs in some old MSS. (e.g. Brussels 10127-41 : Berne 611,
on fol. 10 r. ; Leyden Voss. F 26; Munich 6228; 14252);
oftener 1 (with contraction-stroke traversing the shaft of the
letter), occasionally -l- (without contraction-stroke). But the
normal symbol came to be ul (with cross-barred /), while u^
if used for anything except ' urn,' e.g. ubra ' umbra,' denoted
' ver,' e.g. uba ' verba,' uo ' vcro,' or, if final, '-vit ' (cf. § 3).

ver (see § 3 ' er').

o

vero u (without contraction-stroke) and no (with contraction-stroke
properly above the u, but often over the whole symbol). A
copyist might misread ' vestro ' (see below) or 'uno.' I have
noted ua 'vera' on fol. 2>(i r. of Munich 6330. (See also
Traube, * Nomina Sacra,' p, 266.)

48 Contractions in Early Latin Minuscule MSS.

vester (see * noster ').

videlicet (see Part II. § 2).

unde (see § 3 ' e,' * em ').

unus. We may perhaps infer the use of -V. 'una' in the original
of the ninth century Brussels 9403 ; for on fol. 70 v. this con-
traction, opposite which stands in the margin the contraction
rq ' require,' has been expanded by the corrector.

o

vobis (as in Part II, § 2). I have noted ub (with cross-barred b) in
Carlsruhe Reich. 222, of saec. viii ex.

3. List of Syllabic Symbols (including the most frequent

* suspensions' of final syllables).

con. Usually ^(cf. p. 33). Also 3 (the Irish symbol ; see Part II,
§ 3). Often with a dot inside the curve. In Berne 611 an
older form of the symbol appears, like the Nota Juris depicted
in Keil's Gramm. Lat. IV p. 278 or the Arabic numeral 2.

-e, -em. A horizontal (sometimes slightly curved upwards) stroke
over the initial consonant of the final syllable appears in con-
tractions like it 'item' (see §'2, s.v.) uirtut 'virtute' (in the
ninth century Leyden 67 E, on fol. 44 v.), ueritat ' veritate' in
the ninth century London Add. 18, 332 (from Carinthia), and in
the same London MS. sanguin ' sanguinem,' deuersion ' dever-
sionem/ I have noted the same treatment of ' -ne ' and '-nem '
in the eighth century. Brussels 10127-41. In the case of '-de,*
' -dem,' the contraction-stroke traverses the shaft of the d, e.g.
id 'idem' (see § 2), ind 'inde' and iind ' unde' in the eighth
century Carlsruhe Reich. 99 (the latter also in Munich 14252,
of saec. viii-ix ; London Add. 11, 880 of saec. ix, from
Bavaria?). The confusion of final e and em must have been
a constant danger to transcribers of these symbols.

en was expressed by a horizontal stroke above the preceding letter.
In later minuscule almost the only surviving example is m ' men,'
e.g. * tawm,' ' women^ ' menhxmx^ (-mbr-). But in early minus-
cule we find often u ' ven,' e.g. 'zw/turum' in Oxford, Lat.
Th. d. 3 (on fol. 113 v.) and the like. (On '^^«tem,' see
above, § 2).

er. The horizontal stroke that represents this syllable is in the
Notae Juris usually drawn through the body of the preceding
letter, e.g. ^ 'ter' (e.g. in the 5th century Bodleian legal
fragment from Fayoum, Class, lat. g i [P] ; in Vat. Reg. 886,

Contractions in Early Latin Minuscule MSS. 49

&c.), ;f *ser,* etc. The inconvenience of this practice was
that these symbols could not be distinguished from obliterated
/, obliterated s, etc. The stroke came therefore to be drawn
above, instead of through the letter, the older practice being
retained only with b ' ber ' (stroke through upper shaft), p * per '
(stroke through lower shaft). Thus t (with stroke* above)
denotes 'ter' (see § 2, s.v.); c (with stroke above) 'cer,' e.g.
' sa^r^rdos ' in Oxford, Lat. Th. d. 3 ; u (with stroke above)
* ver,' e.g. -uit -* verit ' in Verbs ".

-is. A cross-stroke through the shaft of d, d, I expresses the final
syllables -' bis ' (very frequent ; e.g. ' nodis ' ' voMs,' ' urdis,'
'ver^w'), -'dis' (e.g. in the ninth century Leyden'67 E ' merce-
^/V on fol. 39 r., Mapi^/V,' Ace. Plur. on fol. 35 r., and even
the initial syllable of '^/Vcretor' on fol. 18 v.), >'lis' (e.g. in
the same Leyden MS. 'stere//j' on fol. 35 r. ; ' ido//V' on fol.
no v. of the ninth century London Add. 18, 332).

-it. The ending of the Verb is commonly indicated, even in later
minuscule, by a suprascript horizontal stroke over the preceding
consonant, e.g. die ' dicit,' nou ' novit,' dix * dixit,' adsum
'adsumit,' colleg 'collegit' (with stroke over the c, the Vj the x^
the nij the ^ respectively). When the consonant is d (or d),
the stroke traverses the shaft, e.g. ascend * ascendit ' (with cross-
barred ^ (I), bib ' bibit ' (with cross-barred d ; e.g. Carlsruhe
Reich. 248). The ending -' et ' is similarly expressed in deb
' debet,' hab * habet,' etc. I have noted tim ' timet ' in Oxford,
Lat. Th. d. 3, on fol. 113 r.

*• The stroke, like the ordinary contraction-stroke or the m-symbol, often
takes in early Carolingian minuscule, in Lombard script, etc., a vertical (or
nearly vertical) hooked form, e.g. in Leyden 67 P' ' sempit<'mus.' The same MS.
has this suprascript * er '-symbol with p, e.g. ' pt'rspecia (? ' prae- ') ' on fol. 131 r.
In Leyden 114 (saec. ix, from Rheims) we find, along with the ordinary expres-
sion of * ter,' also t with suprascript apostrophe (e.g. ' muliebri/<rr' on fol. 44 v.),
which also has in this MS. its usual denotations of (i) -'tur,' (2) -'tus' (see
below). Contrariwise the normal * ter '-symbol appears sometimes for 'tur,
6-g- igit (with horizontal stroke over the /) * igitur ' on fol. 1 1 v. of Munich
14470, of saec. viii-ix ; in the Lombard Vienna 903 j in the Lombard Vat.
5845 ; on fol. 32 r. of Vat. 6018, etc. In the 9th century Brussels 9403
I noted the correction of t with suprascript stroke to t with suprascript apos-
trophe, as symbol of ' tur.'

^ Hence the frequent substitution of -'vit' (Perf. Ind.) for -'verit' (Perf.
Subj. or Fut. Perf. Ind.) ; also of ' fait ' for ' fuerit.'

» A cross-barred d may also denote -' dus,' -' dum ' (see below).

£

50 Contractions in Early Latin Minuscule MSS.

ra, ri, ro. All these (especially ra, ri) are expressed by writing the

a i

vowel over a preceding /, etc., e.g. sup ' supra,' pus ' prius.'

e

Also t ' tre,' etc., etc., in the Notae Juris of Vat. Reg. 886.

-rum, -runt (see below).

ul. The symbol is a cross-barred /, e.g. 'sec^^/um,' 'v«/t' (e.g. in
Munich 14770 ; on the contraction for ' vel,' see above, § 2).

um. To denote ' um ' (or ' us ' ; see below) a stroke was drawn
through the final limb of the letter preceding this syllable,
e.g. "^ -* rum,' l^ -' lum ' (e.g. in Oxford, Lat. Th. d. 3 and
the eighth century Paris 2843 A), when the letter was ^,
through the shaft >'. The final limb (or rather tail) of minuscule
letters like m, n, r, was extended in order to facilitate this
intersection, e.g. ^ -' num ' in Leyden Voss. 63 ; in Vat. Pal.
216 expanded on fol. ^S r. by a corrector). I have noted also
^ -' turn ' ^ (e.g. ' iustum ' and ' peccsitum ' in Verona 89 ;
^scriptum' on fol. 30 v. of Milan D 268 inf.; cf. Leyden Voss.
F 3), ^ -*cum' (e.g. 'locum' in Vat. 5763). In Leyden
67 F and other MSS. this symbol for 'rum' might easily be
misread as the letters ixy while in Vat. 5763 the letters *st'
often closely resemble it.

Sometimes the apostrophe, which usually denotes -* us,' has

this function, e.g. c * cum ' (see § 2), t * turn ' (see § 2), r -' rum '

(e.g. incbant ' incumbant ' and qr ' quorum ' in Brussels 10127-
41, in which *us' and 'um' are denoted equally by (i) the
apostrophe, (2) the intersection-stroke).

Often a suprascript stroke, properly the * suspension ' symbol
is used, e.g. c (with horizontal stroke above) 'cum' (see § 2),
r (with the same) -' rum,' and even n (with the same ; usually
'non,' see § 2) 'num' in 'wz/wquam' (on fol, 19 r. of Munich
6330)-

y In the earliest minuscule the shaft of d has a lower projection and the
*um '-stroke traverses this lower part; e.g. in the early Lombard MSS., Milan
C 105 inf., Milan L 99 sup., Milan D 268 inf. ; also in the Merovingian MS.,
Turin D V 3. But in Paris 3836, etc., although d has this early form, the
cross-stroke traverses the upper shaft.

z More or less the same symbol denotes ' tur ' in London Harl. 3063 ; in the
Paris Glossarium Ansileubi (11529), in the Merovingian Montpellier 69; in
Cambrai 693, etc.

Contractions in Early Latin Minuscule MSS. 51

-unt. To indicate the final syllable -'runt,' the same symbol is
generally used in early Continental minuscule script as that
used to indicate final -' rum ' (see above). Thus in Milan C
105 inf. both - ' rum ' and -* runt ' are expressed by intersected r

(cf. Vat. 3317, etc.); in Leyden 67 F r denotes -*runt' (e.g.
' profe/-//;// ' on fol. 114 v.) ; in the same MS. r with suprascript
horizontal stroke (cf. s with similar stroke * sunt ') has the same
denotation (e.g. ' proiecen/«/ ' on fol. 125 v.). But in Oxford
Lat. Th. d. 3 I have noted a curious differentiation, R with one
intersecting stroke -*rum,' R with two intersecting strokes
-'runt.' In Brussels 10127-41 r with apostrophe and r with
intersecting stroke are both used for -' rum,' r with suprascript
stroke for -' runt.' In Berne 611 the contraction-stroke above
the r differs in form for * rum ' and for ' runt.'

In some MSS. however the Irish * expression of -* runt ' (see
Part II, § 3) is used, viz. rt (with suprascript stroke), like Irish
(also Continental; cf. § 2) st 'sunt.' This expression of -'runt'
I have noted in Munich 14437, along with the usual r (with
suprascript stroke) ; in the ninth century London, Harl. 3063,
etc. Similarly bt -'bunt' in Carlsruhe Reich. 253, Berne 611,
Munich 14437, Carlsruhe Reich. 248 ; deprehendt ' deprehen-
dunt' in the eighth century Brussels 10 12 7-41.
ur, us. In some early minuscule MSS. we find 'u,' ' ur,' 'us 'all
denoted by the same suprascript symbol. Thus in a Carlsruhe
MS. of the 8th — 9th cent. (Reich. 191) -' tus ' is either t's or t'
(cf. Berlin, Phill. 1716), -'tur' is either t'r or t*. Similarly in
a Munich MS. (6330) of the same date -'tur' is sometimes t'r,
sometimes t', -'tus' is t'. In St. Gall 109 -'us' and -'ur' are
expressed by the same symbol ^ ; similarly in Oxford, Bodl.
849, of 818 A.D., and in Munich 12632 (see below). The
practice came to be to use the apostrophe-symbol'' for 'us,'
e.g. ei' ' eius,' hui' ' huius,' n' ' nus,' m' ' mus,' r' * rus,' e' ' eus,'

a Taken from the Notae Juris.

b What then is the strength of the testimony of later MSS. for poscimus
ugainst posctmur in Horace, C. I 32, i ?

« In the Visigothic London MS., Egerton 1934, the apostrophe is accom-
panied by a dot. In Leyden Voss. F 26 the * us '-symbol has the form of the
mark for a short vowel, e.g. nv^ 'nus,' tw * tus,' cw * cus,' iv^ *ius,' mw 'mus,'
d\j *dus,' l\j * lus,' pw ' pus.'

5 2 Contractions in Early Latin Minuscule MSS.

but a modification ^ of this, a symbol like the Arabic numeral
2, for 'ur.' (Both are found in Brussels io£27-4i, while in
Munich 14437, of 823 a.d., the contemporary corrector often
alters the old into the new symbol.)

Instead of the apostrophe we sometimes find in early MSS.
a symbol with S-shape, e.g. ' beatz/j-,' ' fili?/j,' which might be
misread ^ ' fills.'

The colon and semi-colon (or 3) are also, as in Irish
(Part II, § 3), common symbols of 'us.' In Paris 10756,
(in Merovingian script) we may ascribe to Merovingian ^ ortho-
graphy (like cognusco^ etc.) the use of n ; not merely for ' nus '
but for ' nos ' (e.g. the Pronoun 'nos,' the Ace. Plur. * annos,'
or the like). The use of p followed by an ' us '-symbol (p' or p ;
or p3 etc.) properly 'pus,' e.g. 'tem///j,' ^corpus,' then ' pos,'
e.g. '/i?jsunt,' '/^jsessio,' as the contraction of ' post ' was very
wide-spread, and is of very early origin s.

Still earlier than the colon and semi-colon are (i) the dot

i

(e.g. in Brussels 1012,7-41 qb. ' quibus,') (2) the comma.

Another and a very ancient way of expressing 'us' was by
drawing a line obliquely (from right to left) down through the

^ Another differentiation I have noted in the eighth century Munich 4582,
where ^ with apostrophe over the right-hand limb of the letter is 'tus,' directly
over the centre of the letter ' tur.' In Munich 12632, of saec. viii-ix, I noted
(along with the normal t with suprascript apostrophe) a rare expression of ' tur ' by

r

t (without contraction-stroke), whi^ch reminds one of the Nota Juris for ' tis '

s
(found in Vat. Reg. 886) t.

e In Munich 6228 the ending of a word like eius (e.g. on fol. 2 r.) is indistin-
guishable from the ending of a word like sermonis (e.g. on fol. 4 v.). Is this
the explanation of the spelling huis for htiitts in some MSS. of Plautus, which
is often cited as testimony for the monosyllabic pronunciation and scansion
of the word in his plays? (See also Part II, § 2 'hie'). In Vat. 6018 'tus'
is expressed by t followed by this S-symbol ; *tur' by / with suprascript apos-
trophe, but occasionally by / with suprascript stroke (the usual symbol for * ter ; '
see above, ' er ').

' In the eighth century Paris 13348 I have noted sacerd (with cross-stroke
through the lower projection of the shaft of the d) 'sacerdos.' (Sec below.)
In the ninth century Leyden 114 I have noted n with suprascript apostrophe ex-
pressing *nos' in the Ace. Plur. 'Roma^^j' on fol. 160 r. It offers spellings
like 'agnusco,' * consubrina.'

8 P' (i) *pos,' (2) 'post' is one of the Notae Juris (e.g. Vat. Reg. 886,
'/<)jsunt,' *post,^ ^ posti{w;va\^).

Contractions in Early Latin Minuscule AfSS. S3

body of the preceding consonant. This survives in a Bodleian
MS. of c. 780 A.D. (Lat Th. d. 3), where we have the same

sign for * mus ' as in the Notae Juris of Vat. Reg. 886, viz. 7^
(on fol. 163 V. it is written quite like the letters nx). This was
liable to be mistaken for an obliterated m ; so the stroke
came to be drawn through the final Hmb (or tail) of the letter,

e.g. .§ -'bus* in Milan C 105 inf., Vat. 5763, the tail being
lengthened for the purpose, as in the symbols for *num,'
' rum ' ^ already mentioned (see above). When written without

lifting the pen, ' lus,' ' mus,' ' nus ' take the shape of ^ '"^
T^ (e.g. all three in Oxford, Lat. Th. d. 3 ; the ' mus '-symbol,
along with m', in the ninth century London Add. 18, 332 ; in
the Lombard MS., Vat. Barberini XIV 52 this ' lus '-symbol,
so frequent^ in ' in/wjtris,' denotes -Mis' in 'simiZ/V on
fol. loi v.). In an eighth century London MS. (Cotton

Ner. A II) I noted ^ ' eius ' (not infrequent, e.g. the Lombard
Vat. 5845, Munich 337, Carlsruhe Reich. 57) altered by
a corrector to the more familiar contraction-form with the
apostrophe. (In late transcripts it is miscopied as the Rela-
tive 'qui.') Similarly I (cross-barred) denotes Mus,' e.g.
'iustsi,' in Leyden Voss. F 3. For -'dus' (as for -'dum';
see above) the stroke traverses the shaft of the d (in the earlier
MSS. the lower projection of the shaft, e.g. ' permutan////j '
in Milan L 99 sup.) so that -'dus' and -' dum ' are indis-
tinguishable »« (e.g. in Carlsruhe Reich. 248, Munich 6330).
Similarly cross-barred / can represent ' lus ' (e.g. ' diaholus '
*baio/«j' in Carlsruhe Reich. 248, along with 'crudeZ/V,' etc. ;
see above) and cross-barred b * bus ' (more often * bis,' and
still more often ' ber ' ; see above). The functions ' bus ' and
*bis' are sometimes discriminated, e.g. by the addition of
a colon for 'bus' in London, Harl. 3063 Paris 3836 (in the

^ How uncertain therefore is the reading daturus for daturtim in Plaut. Asin.
634 ! The minuscule archetype may have had datur^ with this variation of r,
which may represent either daturus or daturum.

i The suspensions inl (e.g. Vat. 5845, Berne 263), il (e.g. Carlsruhe Reich. 85),
etc., *illustris,' are confusible with ' il/ww.'

^ A contemporary corrector of a ninth century MS. from Carinthia (London
Add. 18, 332) has expanded cross-barred d on fol. 58 v. to dus. We may infer
the use of this symbol for ' dus ' in the original of the MS.

54 Contractions in Early Latin Minuscule MSS.

earlier script of Corbie), etc. • by the appendage of a ' cedilla '
for ' bis * (without cross-stroke) in the Visigothic Leyden Voss.
F 3. It should be added that the ' Merovingian ' form of
the letter b (something like B, with the upper half of each
half-circle left incomplete) might often be mistaken for a
cross-barred b and miscopied ' bis ' or ' bus ' or * ber ' (or, by
an Irish scribe, *bene'; see Part II, § 2 s.v.). In Montpellier
69, I am told, ' bus ' is sometimes discriminated from this form
of the simple letter b by the addition of a dot below and
above the branch of the b.

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