Introduction to Palaeography
Introduction to Palaeography
When reading old documents the first thing you will notice is that it is written in a different script. Letters are often formed differently and even if they are formed in the same way they may look different because of the slant of the hand. Below is a link of an alphabet that forms the letter in a similar way to the documents we will be looking at.
At the bottom of this webpage there are examples of other hands you may come across during transcribing. You may want to print out a copy to look at when you are working.
Things you may have noticed
Differences in spelling
• Use of y for i, for example myne = mine.
• Interchangeable i and j. Iohn = John. Maiestie = Majesty.
• Interchangeable u and v, such as euer = ever. vnto = unto
• Long 's'. Don't get long s and f mixed up. The 'f' will have a cross stroke, even if it's hardly noticeable, and the context will make it clear whether it is a long 's' or an 'f'. Writers would often use both long and short 's', sometimes even in the same word.
• Use of a single consonant where you would find two in modern English, such as al - all.
• Use of two consonants where you would find one in modern English, such as allways - always.
• Minims. A minim is a single downstroke of the pen. An 'i' is therefore one minim, an 'n' or 'u' is made up of two minims, and a 'm' three. In modern handwriting, where each letter is individually formed and the 'i's are dotted, these letters do not cause any problems of comprehension. But in old handwriting, particularly in cursive hands , where the writer was writing very quickly and possibly not forming the joining strokes, they can be very hard to tell apart.
