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The "4" is only lowered to the level of the lower case letters when it
stands on it's own. When it appears in the gallows it is ascended.
"a character in a word-final position.."
Interestingly, the Voynich "4" almost exclusively appears at the start of
words. Could this be a clue that while written left to right the
characters are in fact in reverse order? Could the Voy "y" be a rounded
version of this 4?
****************************** Larry Roux Syracuse University lroux@xxxxxxx ******************************* >>> glenclaston@xxxxxxxxx 04/27/03 09:36AM >>> Nick, this description of the "4" symbol in Tironian notes certainly matches the "4" in the VMS, although I've always seen the symbol written smaller. I had often wondered why the "4" is the only tall symbol that is lowered to the level of lower case letters. "a character in a word-final position and shaped something like a number "4" (placed low on the line so that the top of it is aligned with the top of lower case letters) is frequently used to represent the syllable "rum" or "run" (or "arum" or "orum"); "line4" = "linearum"; "re4" = "rerum"; "eo4" = "eorum"; etc. This can also be used more generally for any cluster of letters which include an r: "A4" = "Aristoteles." GC ______________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, send mail to majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxx with a body saying: unsubscribe vms-list |