The Origin of [sh]

[-JKP-]

Wladimir, those are good examples.

I have some too, but not enough free time to gather them up and post them, and your collection is good—it illustrates the various forms...

In #1, the first is like EVA-s, in #5, the second one is like EVA-s, and in #2, #6, etc. it is attached to the foot. That's exactly what I was trying to describe in Post #10. Thank you for posting them.


Some more details about this (I keep trying to blog about this and can't find enough time to do  it properly, so here's the quicky version)...

Notice how the apostrophe looks like EVA-l in pics 12, 13, and 14?

The EVA-l shape served two purposes in the late 14th century and the 15th century...

• It stood for the number 4 (it superseded the Roman numeral IV) and it represented the "er/re/ir/ri/r" apostrophe (whichever one fits the word).
  
• If it was a number it was usually written in-line with the text. If it was superscripted it was usually an apostrophe.
  

This is IMPORTANT because this particular macron shape is an older form that had mostly disappeared by the 15th century. When it is drawn like EVA-l it is the early form of the "squiggle" (the apostrophe that looks like smoke). By the 15th century, most scribes were drawing this particular apostrophe like a smoke shape (or lightening bolt) instead of like EVA-l, and most scribes used it to mean er/re/ir/re or just plain r.

Here's a diagram with a few examples I was able to grab quickly (I have many more):




Some scribes didn't make a big distinction between differently-shaped macrons, they all look like "caps" (quick and messy) but those who were methodical usually used the straight macron for "n" or "m" and the EVA-l or "squiggle" macron for er/re/ir/ri/r. In other words, they did use a specific shape more often in one situation than another.