When I say the Latin character set, I don't explicitly mean the Latin language. I mean Latin characters used to write Latin, French, Czech, Italian, German, English, Scandinavian, Spanish, and other languages. They use many of the same ligatures and abbreviations.
Their concept of the "alphabet" was completely different from ours. Medieval scribes all learned alternate ending shapes (terminal characters), they all learned two shapes for "r", they all learned ligatures and abbreviations. Most of them learned the terminal "connected-tail" macron (the same shape as n u and b in the VMS).
The VMS glyphs are not all letters, some of them are symbols. Ligatures, abbreviations and possibly also numbers. I've said all along they were ligatures and abbreviations (including post #312).
k is a very common abbreviation, as well. In Latin, Italian, French, German, and English, it stands for "Item". It is also a common ligature (French for "Il").
ch is a very common ligature in numerous languages. It is context-dependent. It can mean cr, cc, tt, tc, ct, rc, er, et, ec, ci, etc. They use the same shape, combined together, but you can always tell what it is by the letters that precede and follow it. The word echlesiastiea (and its abbreviation) is often written with this ligature.
The d shape represents both d and s in certain scripts. The d is not always a perfect figure-8, but there is one that exists in certain regions. The use of figure-8 for "s" is more limited but also exists. I have a number of examples.
The l shape is a specialized macron, an abbreviation symbol like an apostrophe, but it was being replaced with simpler macrons by the 15th century.
The l, d and 9 shapes were used as abbreviation symbols, but they can also be numbers. They were used both ways.
g and m are common in Latin texts. They are primarily used at the ends of words, as in the VMS, and at the ends of paragraphs or lines, as in the VMS.
The y abbreviation is so common in Latin, they sometimes include it at the end of the alphabet in pen tests. In fact, it is also at the bottom of the alphabet on VMS You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. , after the letter z. This character comes in two versions, straight tail and curly tail. They mean the same thing. In languages that use Latin scribal conventions, the y abbreviation was primarily used at the ends of words, sometimes at the beginnings of words, rarely in the middle.
All of the above are part of Latin scribal conventions. All of them are common. The one that is not common is x, but it's not common in the VMS either. It shows up occasionally in Latin astronomical texts, but is easier to find in Coptic Greek (and sometimes Old Russian) texts.
Their concept of the "alphabet" was completely different from ours. Medieval scribes all learned alternate ending shapes (terminal characters), they all learned two shapes for "r", they all learned ligatures and abbreviations. Most of them learned the terminal "connected-tail" macron (the same shape as n u and b in the VMS).
The VMS glyphs are not all letters, some of them are symbols. Ligatures, abbreviations and possibly also numbers. I've said all along they were ligatures and abbreviations (including post #312).
k is a very common abbreviation, as well. In Latin, Italian, French, German, and English, it stands for "Item". It is also a common ligature (French for "Il").
ch is a very common ligature in numerous languages. It is context-dependent. It can mean cr, cc, tt, tc, ct, rc, er, et, ec, ci, etc. They use the same shape, combined together, but you can always tell what it is by the letters that precede and follow it. The word echlesiastiea (and its abbreviation) is often written with this ligature.
The d shape represents both d and s in certain scripts. The d is not always a perfect figure-8, but there is one that exists in certain regions. The use of figure-8 for "s" is more limited but also exists. I have a number of examples.
The l shape is a specialized macron, an abbreviation symbol like an apostrophe, but it was being replaced with simpler macrons by the 15th century.
The l, d and 9 shapes were used as abbreviation symbols, but they can also be numbers. They were used both ways.
g and m are common in Latin texts. They are primarily used at the ends of words, as in the VMS, and at the ends of paragraphs or lines, as in the VMS.
The y abbreviation is so common in Latin, they sometimes include it at the end of the alphabet in pen tests. In fact, it is also at the bottom of the alphabet on VMS You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. , after the letter z. This character comes in two versions, straight tail and curly tail. They mean the same thing. In languages that use Latin scribal conventions, the y abbreviation was primarily used at the ends of words, sometimes at the beginnings of words, rarely in the middle.
All of the above are part of Latin scribal conventions. All of them are common. The one that is not common is x, but it's not common in the VMS either. It shows up occasionally in Latin astronomical texts, but is easier to find in Coptic Greek (and sometimes Old Russian) texts.