Breviograph

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

Examples

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

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

See also

References

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

Sources


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