Book contents
- The Cambridge Handbook of Historical Orthography
- cambridge handbooks in language and linguistics
- The Cambridge Handbook of Historical Orthography
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- Abbreviations
- Part I Introduction
- Part II Structures and Theories
- Part III Organization and Development
- 8 Comparative Historical Perspectives
- 9 Systems and Idiosyncrasies
- 10 Multilayeredness and Multiaspectuality
- 11 Adapting Alphabetic Writing Systems
- 12 Variation and Change
- 13 What Is Spelling Standardization?
- Part IV Empirical Approaches
- Part V Explanatory Discussions
- Bibliography
- Name Index
- Subject Index
10 - Multilayeredness and Multiaspectuality
from Part III - Organization and Development
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 September 2023
- The Cambridge Handbook of Historical Orthography
- cambridge handbooks in language and linguistics
- The Cambridge Handbook of Historical Orthography
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- Abbreviations
- Part I Introduction
- Part II Structures and Theories
- Part III Organization and Development
- 8 Comparative Historical Perspectives
- 9 Systems and Idiosyncrasies
- 10 Multilayeredness and Multiaspectuality
- 11 Adapting Alphabetic Writing Systems
- 12 Variation and Change
- 13 What Is Spelling Standardization?
- Part IV Empirical Approaches
- Part V Explanatory Discussions
- Bibliography
- Name Index
- Subject Index
Summary
This chapter focuses on abbreviations, elements that were almost a byword for a written document from the Antiquity through the Middle Ages right until the early modern period: notwithstanding the language, text type and genre, script type, purpose and audience, these ideographic elements were nearly always to be found in a written document. For the medieval litteratus, abbreviations embodied the inextricable link between logos and imago; for the contemporary reader, they may well have a familiar feel of the multimodality we have grown accustomed to that informs digital textuality. The author outlines the origins, typology and visuality of Latin abbreviations used in medieval and early modern Europe, adding a postscript on the transition from script to print, which ultimately spelled the end of such ideograms in the modern era. This chapter, however, should not be read as a note on ‘the days of yore’ in the history of orthography in the Latin West: abbreviations do have a longue durée in Latin-based textuality and remain a feature of modern writing, if sometimes in a different guise.
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- Chapter
- Information
- The Cambridge Handbook of Historical Orthography , pp. 204 - 223Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2023