About q and qo.
Plotting qo in Job's VQP shows the astonishing shift of its density into Balneo and Recipe folios which are Currier B. 77,7% of qo is in B folios while only 20,8 is in A folios (the remainder is undecided between A and B). And it is notable how little the distribution of q differs from that of qo: 77,6% in B with only 20,9% in A. (That's, of course, due to the fact that q is used mostly in qo.)
So the fact that q is rare in labels may be nothing more than the consequence of that labels are not very numerous in B folios - most labels are in Pharma and Astro.
It is notable that the first ever occurrence of qo (and q) - that is in You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. line 7 - is accompanied by the horizontal superscored line - like that designating an abbreviation in medieval plain texts. Maybe, this betrays a real abbreviation, and qo is an abbreviation?
Next, in You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. qo is a separate vord, not part of any other vord. The next occurrence of qo as a vord - You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. line 3 - features an apostrophe above (like that making s of e)! You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. line 10 shows a similar apostrophe in qoky. And then the scribe seems to have dropped the idea of superscripting qo. Or did he not? I did not follow all occurrences. If yes, then why? Probably because only a superscripted version is ever in place - so the superscript is trivial and can be omitted; while e.g. ch and sh are both required.
Plotting qo in Job's VQP shows the astonishing shift of its density into Balneo and Recipe folios which are Currier B. 77,7% of qo is in B folios while only 20,8 is in A folios (the remainder is undecided between A and B). And it is notable how little the distribution of q differs from that of qo: 77,6% in B with only 20,9% in A. (That's, of course, due to the fact that q is used mostly in qo.)
So the fact that q is rare in labels may be nothing more than the consequence of that labels are not very numerous in B folios - most labels are in Pharma and Astro.
It is notable that the first ever occurrence of qo (and q) - that is in You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. line 7 - is accompanied by the horizontal superscored line - like that designating an abbreviation in medieval plain texts. Maybe, this betrays a real abbreviation, and qo is an abbreviation?
Next, in You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. qo is a separate vord, not part of any other vord. The next occurrence of qo as a vord - You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. line 3 - features an apostrophe above (like that making s of e)! You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. line 10 shows a similar apostrophe in qoky. And then the scribe seems to have dropped the idea of superscripting qo. Or did he not? I did not follow all occurrences. If yes, then why? Probably because only a superscripted version is ever in place - so the superscript is trivial and can be omitted; while e.g. ch and sh are both required.


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