Quote:I guess we all agree that the lower part of Sh is the same as ch? And that the only difference is the 'plume', 'hat', topstroke, whatever you want to call it?
There may be outsiders somewhere, but for the most occurrences I think that's the case. Importantly, it is generally e plus h (not c plus e), and the EVA transcription reflects that.
Quote:I think that when writing Sh the scribe wrote ch first and added the topstroke last. Would others agree?
Same here, I think that is what is the general practice. The manner in which the apostrophe is put down, oftentimes carelessly crossing the horisontal bar, indicates that.
Quote:If so, how long after the ch was the topstroke written? Can we show that it was written immediately after or that (at least in some cases) other glyphs were written between the ch and the addition of the topstroke? Would the lightness/darkness of the topstroke provide evidence?
I think this is impossible to tell from what we know. Provided it's written after the ch is put down, the lightness of the stroke may be the same whether it's put down immediately or later (say, in a single pass for the whole folio). Some particular instances may provide the clue, but they are yet to be found (Wladimir?!...)