On the Chameleon
Textualis Rotundus: Letter d, Biting. Abbreviations
The letter d can take two basic forms in gothic textualis scripts.
The first is the upright, or half uncial d , which is rather uncommon in classic textualis scripts. The second type is the "uncial" d.
Uncial d is relatively easy to recognize. Check the boxes of the words that contain d :
How many d 's are there in the selection below?
Biting
Recognizing the letters next to the d can be more difficult than finding d by itself. This is due to the prevalence of "biting" - when letter strokes overlap. With d , this most often occurs with letters such as e and o, which are formed with curved strokes ("bows").Biting can happen before d :
(od)
But it is much more common after d :
(do, de, de)
Which letter comes before d in each of these examples?
Which letter comes after d in each of these examples?
Abbreviations
There are several common abbreviations using d.A d with a stroke that resembles a large apostrophe adds another letter or letters to the word. The trick is to know enough Latin to figure out what the letters should be:
In this example, it adds -um
(frigidum)
In this example, it adds -or
(Isidori)
Here, it adds -e
(de)
The word dicendum is used so often in some works that it has its own d abbreviation:
What letters does the stroke add to these words?
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Bonus: What word is this?
Challenge: Read the phrase!
Images
University of Victoria, BC, Bartholomaeus Anglicus 84-61, used with permission from the Department of Special Collections.
University of Prague, Metropolitan Chapter, M 80, used with permission.