Syntactic feature or scribal convention?

Apr 18, 2012 by

Syntactic feature or scribal convention?

In an earlier post, discussing the birch bark document 607/562 (see image on the left), I mentioned a peculiarity of word order in this brief crime report: the appositive phrase (=extra description) NOVGORODSKE SMЬRDE appears not...

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Kirkdale Sundial: when was it inscribed?

Jan 16, 2012 by

Kirkdale Sundial: when was it inscribed?

The Kirkdale sundial and its inscription in Old English of the Viking period was mentioned in an earlier posting in connection with the technique — widely employed in various ancient and medieval manuscripts and inscriptions...

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Give me some space!

Oct 5, 2010 by

In yesterday’s posting, I mentioned that medieval manuscripts and inscriptions often used a line over the top of an abbreviation or an acronym to mark them as such. This was illustrated with the Kirkdale sundial. Another...

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