Re: VMs: Latin abbreviations

[Gabriel Landini <G.Landini@xxxxxxxxxx>]

On Wednesday 09 July 2003 19:47, Larry Roux wrote:
> I would say that "cannot be read back" is a bit harsh.  After all, I could
> write:
>
> nd thn thr wr wrds
>
> which is lossy due to loss of vowels, and while it could be read as
> "Aenid thine thor wore wards"
>
> it is obvious it is meant to be: "and then there were words"

I do not think it is obvious. It may be to you because you wrote it, but if 
you did not write it, you have no way of proving that it does not say:
"and then three were awards". So what is reversible to you may not be to 
anybody else. You knew the contents, the rest don't.

I would suggest that you have a look at Cappelli to understand the different 
types of abbreviations there are. (if you can read Italian, there is a full 
chapter on this in the dictionary).
The great majority of abbreviations are not single vowel deletions.
I am not saying that the vms is written this way, but if this is the case, the 
chances of reading it are very small.

Cheers,

Gabriel


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