The internet is filled with things. Here are some of them.
#symbols
2025
So you think you can read?2025 Sep 22en.wikipedia.org
I believe I can read. It's one of those things of which I believe myself capable, even when the language isn't English, of at least being able to match together similar words. And yet, when it comes to ancient Roman descriptions, what's on the inscription rarely seems to match what the scholar shows to me the words to mean.
And that's because of scribal abbreviations. Take normal abbreviations, and crank them up 1000% with steroids, and that's ancient scribal abbreviations. We have words in English common enough to be abbreviated (such as mister), but when you're engraving things in ancient times, every character is precious. And so, they would abbreviate any and every repeated phrase.
Most interesting to me, are the parts of the system that linger: such as the &, the @, the $, the % — just name a few. It's a Wikipedia link, so it's thorough to the point of banality, but there's plenty of juicy bits for a language nerd like me to feast upon.
I believe I can read. It's one of those things of which I believe myself capable, even when the language isn't English, of at least being able to match together similar words. And yet, when it comes to ancient Roman descriptions, what's on the inscription rarely seems to match what the scholar shows to me the words to mean.
And that's because of scribal abbreviations. Take normal abbreviations, and crank them up 1000% with steroids, and that's ancient scribal abbreviations. We have words in English common enough to be abbreviated (such as mister), but when you're engraving things in ancient times, every character is precious. And so, they would abbreviate any and every repeated phrase.
Most interesting to me, are the parts of the system that linger: such as the &, the @, the $, the % — just name a few. It's a Wikipedia link, so it's thorough to the point of banality, but there's plenty of juicy bits for a language nerd like me to feast upon.