Regarding the tails on gallows characters...
If you look at folio 85r (this might not be the best example, but it's one I knew I could grab quickly), you will notice that p with a loop on the tail is primarily at the beginnings of paragraphs and p without the loop (with a straight tail) is primarily on the glyphs positioned within paragraphs.
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I've been looking into this for a number of years, which includes gathering statistics and looking at manuscripts with similar patterns.
My opinion, so far, is that the gallows at the beginning of paragraphs, in particular the p shapes, function more similarly to a pilcrow (paragraph marker/capitulum) than like a letter. I'm not explicitly saying they are pilcrows, but that their patterns of use are more pilcrow-like than letter-like. This is not only based on position, but on the composition of the glyphs that directly follow.
The benched gallows usually appears within tokens, but can also appear at the beginning. You can see examples here:
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I am not certain about the function of the ones within paragraphs (which generally have straight tails, but not always). They are usually placed within tokens, rather than at the beginning.
In medieval manuscripts it was common to include capitulum/pilcrow symbols within the text to mark sections or phrases, but not within words. I've collected many manuscript examples of these patterns and there are quite a number of placement styles.
So, there are a number of possibilities. IF the curl in the cross-stroke is meaningful, we might be dealing with two different kinds of glyphs—there are indications in the text that they might be different—but I am very doubtful that the p with the loop in the cross-stroke at the beginnings of paragraphs is a letter. The one without the curl might be (BUT the fact that it is within tokens is not sufficient evidence that it is a letter, because the VMS spaces might not be word breaks. No one has proved that they are).
I'll post more about this later today if I have time (busy work week).
If you look at folio 85r (this might not be the best example, but it's one I knew I could grab quickly), you will notice that p with a loop on the tail is primarily at the beginnings of paragraphs and p without the loop (with a straight tail) is primarily on the glyphs positioned within paragraphs.
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
I've been looking into this for a number of years, which includes gathering statistics and looking at manuscripts with similar patterns.
My opinion, so far, is that the gallows at the beginning of paragraphs, in particular the p shapes, function more similarly to a pilcrow (paragraph marker/capitulum) than like a letter. I'm not explicitly saying they are pilcrows, but that their patterns of use are more pilcrow-like than letter-like. This is not only based on position, but on the composition of the glyphs that directly follow.
The benched gallows usually appears within tokens, but can also appear at the beginning. You can see examples here:
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
I am not certain about the function of the ones within paragraphs (which generally have straight tails, but not always). They are usually placed within tokens, rather than at the beginning.
In medieval manuscripts it was common to include capitulum/pilcrow symbols within the text to mark sections or phrases, but not within words. I've collected many manuscript examples of these patterns and there are quite a number of placement styles.
So, there are a number of possibilities. IF the curl in the cross-stroke is meaningful, we might be dealing with two different kinds of glyphs—there are indications in the text that they might be different—but I am very doubtful that the p with the loop in the cross-stroke at the beginnings of paragraphs is a letter. The one without the curl might be (BUT the fact that it is within tokens is not sufficient evidence that it is a letter, because the VMS spaces might not be word breaks. No one has proved that they are).
I'll post more about this later today if I have time (busy work week).