Also, one more thing... and this is the reason it takes me hours to blog about each glyph... and is one of the most important keys to understanding medieval Latin and possibly also the VMS glyph-shapes...
Latin scribal conventions are like lego blocks. You can take them apart AND COMBINE THEM IN DIFFERENT WAYS and it's completely legitimate to do so. A scribe could write the same word six different ways and be understood by other scribes.
For example, the 9 shape is most commonly used for "con-/com-" when it is at the beginnings of words, but you could also use the less common reverse-c shape (a completely different shape) instead, and every scribe would understand it.
Or, you could use the -is abbreviation (loop with descender) to mean -is, but if you used it to mean -rem, -tem, or -em, every scribe would understand it.
To understand the Lego-aspect of the scribal conventions, look at the "-is" shape on the right-hand side of EVA-k and the "-is" shape on the right-hand side of EVA-m. In Latin, the part on the right is a very common and flexible scribal convention—it can be added to any letter. Usually it means -is but if you substituted it for -rem, every scribe would understand it. Think about this when evaluating the shapes of the regular glyphs and the gallows characters.
Similarly, as some of the scribes from Nuremberg did in their medical recipes, you can FLIP the scribal "-is" shape from vertical to horizontal and it will still be understood by other scribes. You can also write the abbreviation for -ur/-tur (it looks like the number 2 and sometimes like r-with-a-tail) at many different angles and it will still be understood. So the shapes are flexible in choice, in position, and sometimes also in orientation.
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The VMS glyphs follow scribal conventions in terms of shape and position, but if they ALSO follow scribal conventions in terms of which parts can be combined, then some of the VMS glyphs are ligatures (they represent more than one character).
Latin scribal conventions are like lego blocks. You can take them apart AND COMBINE THEM IN DIFFERENT WAYS and it's completely legitimate to do so. A scribe could write the same word six different ways and be understood by other scribes.
For example, the 9 shape is most commonly used for "con-/com-" when it is at the beginnings of words, but you could also use the less common reverse-c shape (a completely different shape) instead, and every scribe would understand it.
Or, you could use the -is abbreviation (loop with descender) to mean -is, but if you used it to mean -rem, -tem, or -em, every scribe would understand it.
To understand the Lego-aspect of the scribal conventions, look at the "-is" shape on the right-hand side of EVA-k and the "-is" shape on the right-hand side of EVA-m. In Latin, the part on the right is a very common and flexible scribal convention—it can be added to any letter. Usually it means -is but if you substituted it for -rem, every scribe would understand it. Think about this when evaluating the shapes of the regular glyphs and the gallows characters.
Similarly, as some of the scribes from Nuremberg did in their medical recipes, you can FLIP the scribal "-is" shape from vertical to horizontal and it will still be understood by other scribes. You can also write the abbreviation for -ur/-tur (it looks like the number 2 and sometimes like r-with-a-tail) at many different angles and it will still be understood. So the shapes are flexible in choice, in position, and sometimes also in orientation.
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The VMS glyphs follow scribal conventions in terms of shape and position, but if they ALSO follow scribal conventions in terms of which parts can be combined, then some of the VMS glyphs are ligatures (they represent more than one character).