[DCRM-L] Tironian "et" revisited: not an ampersand

[Jennifer K NELSON]

Hi Erin,

We had the same discussion while writing DCRM(MSS) (that a Tironian sign
does not stand for an ampersand) and, in fact, gave an instruction more
along the lines implied in Julie's question.

0G8.2. ... Transcribe the Tironian sign (⁊) as a coordinating conjunction
in the language of the manuscript (e.g., “et” in Latin, “and” in English,
“und” in German, “et” in French), enclosing it in square brackets. However,
transcribe an ampersand as such, without enclosing it in
square brackets"

Jenny



On Mon, Sep 20, 2021 at 11:34 AM Erin Blake <erin.blake.folger at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Julie Kemper posed an excellent question on the Folger blog post about
> Brevigraphs <https://collation.folger.edu/brevigraphs> last week, "
>
>> One question I have is why ampersands and Tironian notes are treated the
>> same. To me they are separate symbols and ampersands should be transcribed
>> as “&” while Tironian notes should be transcribed as “[et]”. Am I being
>> overly pedantic about something which hardly anyone cares about?
>
>
> That gave me a deja-vu feeling, so I went to the DCRM-L archives, and sure
> enough, back in 2003
> <https://listserver.lib.byu.edu/pipermail/dcrm-l/2003-March/000423.html>,
> then again in 2011
> <https://listserver.lib.byu.edu/pipermail/dcrm-l/2011-August/002495.html>,
> and again in 2013
> <https://listserver.lib.byu.edu/pipermail/dcrm-l/2013-September/003226.html>
> the collective "we" of this list identified the instruction to transcribe a
> Tironian sign “et” (⁊) as an ampersand as a problem: mounting evidence
> showed that "[et]" would be a more appropriate transcription than "&"  but
> the problem was set aside until "the joint DCRM" was being written. In
> other words, the time is now.
>
> Looking back at the discussions, I think the problem originated because
> gothic type ampersands (in no. 1 of the blog post, an "e" and "t" combined)
> were being conflated with the Tironian sign "et" (no. 8, short-hand
> representation of the sound "et"):
>
>> *1.* * [image: &]*
>> *[ampersand]*This is the easy one. Ampersands are still in use today, so
>> instead of expanding the brevigraph *&* in square brackets, rare
>> materials catalogers simply use an ampersand.
>> [image: &]= & (Latin, see in context
>> <http://collation.folger.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/09/Ampersand_in_context.jpg>
>> )
>> = & (English, see in context
>> <http://collation.folger.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/09/et_in_context.jpg>
>> )
>>   = &c. (Latin, see in context
>> <http://collation.folger.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/09/etc_in_context.jpg>
>> )
>> *8.  *[image: Tironian sign et]
>> *[7 at beginning of word]*An alternative shape for *&*, but actually the Tironian
>> short hand <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tironian_notes> symbol *⁊*,
>> which represents the *sound* “et” (rather than the word as such). If a
>> particular font didn’t have a dedicated Tironian sign et, then *ꝛ* (a
>> small “r rotunda <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R_rotunda>“) could be
>> used. Because the symbol is a representation of *&* and because *&* is
>> still used today, rare materials catalogers silently replace it with *&*.
>> See no. 1 for ampersandy ampersands.
>> [image: Tironian sign et]= & (Latin, see in context
>> <http://collation.folger.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/09/Tironian_sign_et_in_context.jpg>
>> )
>> [image: &[cetera]]= &[cetera] (Latin, with r-rotunda, see in context
>> <http://collation.folger.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/09/etcetera_in_context.jpg>;
>> see no. 3 for [cetera])
>
> Is it time to move the Tironian sign "et" into DCRMR's "Brevigraphs"
> chart, leaving "&" behind in the "Early letterforms and symbols" chart?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Erin.
>
> ______________________
> Erin Blake, Ph.D.  |  Senior Cataloger  |  Folger Shakespeare Library  |
> 201 E. Capitol St. SE, Washington, DC, 20003  |  eblake at folger.edu  |
> www.folger.edu
> <https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/-t5RCjRgpBtArRXC7R7_2?domain=urldefense.com>
>   |  Pronouns: she/her/hers
>
>
>


-- 
Jennifer K. Nelson, Ph.D., MLIS
Senior Reference Librarian
The Robbins Collection
UC Berkeley School of Law
Berkeley CA 94720
jnelson at law.berkeley.edu
(510) 643-9709
https://www.law.berkeley.edu/research/the-robbins-collection/
https://berkeley.academia.edu/JenniferNelson
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