Ↄ or ↃϹ/X (antisigma) to replace BS and PS, much as X stood in for CS and GS. The shape of this letter is disputed, however, since no inscription bearing it has been found. Franz Bücheler identified it with the variant Roman numeral Ↄ,[2] but 20th century philologists, working from copies of Priscian's books, believe it to instead resemble two linked Cs (Ↄ+Ϲ), which was a preexisting variant of Greek sigma, and easily mistaken for X by later writers. Revilo P. Oliver argued that Claudius would have based this letter upon the Arcadian variant of psi or .[1] This letter should not be confused with the "open O" letter Ɔ.
Ⅎ, a turned F or digamma (digamma inversum) to be used instead of the letter V when denoting the consonantal phoneme (w/β).[2] Thus, it resembles the use of the letter V in modern Latin texts, where the vocalic use of the letter V is represented by its variant U which has been recognized as a different letter only later.
Ⱶ, a half H. The value of this letter is unclear, but perhaps it represented the so-called sonus medius, a short vowel sound (likely /ɨ/ or /ʉ/) used before labial consonants in Latin words such as optumus/optimus. The letter was later used as a variant of y in inscriptions for short Greek upsilon (as in Olympicus). It may have disappeared because the sonus medius itself disappeared from spoken language.[1]
Claudian letters, with the ↃϹ variant of antisigma supported by manuscripts of Priscian.[1]
Claudian letters with the Ↄ variant of antisigma.
Claudian pomerium marker, where written words ampliavit and terminavit use turned digamma (highlighted in red)
Usage
These letters were used to a small extent on public inscriptions dating from Claudius' reign, but their use was abandoned after his death.[3] Their forms were probably chosen to ease the transition, as they could be made from templates for existing letters. He may have been inspired by his ancestor Appius Claudius the Censor, who made earlier changes to the Latin alphabet.[4] Claudius did indeed introduce his letters during his own term as censor (47–48), using arguments preserved in the historian Tacitus' account of his reign, although the original proclamation is no longer extant. Suetonius said of Claudius' letters:
Besides this he [Claudius] invented three new letters and added them to the alphabet, maintaining that they were greatly needed; he published a book on their theory when he was still in private life, and when he became emperor had no difficulty in bringing about their general use. These characters may still be seen in numerous books, in the [state] registers, and in inscriptions on public buildings.[5]
Support for the letters was added in version 5.0.0 of Unicode.[6] Although these letters, as all Latin letters in antiquity, originally occurred only in capital form, lowercase forms have been introduced to meet Unicode casing requirements.[6] The minuscule form for the turned F was designed as a turned small capital F and should not be confused with the IPA symbol ɟ representing a voiced palatal stop.
The letters are encoded as follows:
Description
Letter
Unicode
HTML
Script
TURNED CAPITAL F TURNED SMALL F
Ⅎ ⅎ
U+2132 U+214E
Ⅎ ⅎ
Latin
ROMAN NUMERAL REVERSED ONE HUNDRED LATIN SMALL LETTER REVERSED C
Ↄ ↄ
U+2183 U+2184
Ↄ ↄ
Latin
LATIN CAPITAL LETTER HALF H LATIN SMALL LETTER HALF H
^ abcOliver, Revilo P. (1949). "The Claudian Letter Ⱶ". American Journal of Archaeology. 53 (3): 249–257. doi:10.2307/500662. JSTOR 500662. S2CID 193082268.
^Ryan, F. X. (1993). "Some Observations on the Censorship of Claudius and Vitellius, A.D. 47–48". American Journal of Philology. 114 (4): 611–618. doi:10.2307/295428. JSTOR 295428.
^Suetonius pass, Loeb Classical Library edition, 1913‑1914, English translation is by J. C. Rolfe. Page 77, paragraph 41. (From LacusCurtius)
^ abMichael Everson (2005-08-12). "Proposal to add Claudian Latin letters to the UCS" (PDF). Unicode Technical Committee, Document L2/05-193R2 = ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2/WG2, Document N2960R2. Retrieved 2021-12-27.
May 05, 2023
claudian, letters, redirects, here, confused, with, redirects, here, confused, with, were, developed, roman, emperor, claudius, reigned, introduced, three, letters, latin, alphabet, ↃϹ, antisigma, replace, much, stood, shape, this, letter, disputed, however, s. Ↄ redirects here Not to be confused with ɔ Ⅎ redirects here Not to be confused with ɟ The Claudian letters were developed by the Roman emperor Claudius reigned 41 54 He introduced three new letters to the Latin alphabet Ↄ or ↃϹ X antisigma to replace BS and PS much as X stood in for CS and GS The shape of this letter is disputed however since no inscription bearing it has been found Franz Bucheler identified it with the variant Roman numeral Ↄ 2 but 20th century philologists working from copies of Priscian s books believe it to instead resemble two linked Cs Ↄ Ϲ which was a preexisting variant of Greek sigma and easily mistaken for X by later writers Revilo P Oliver argued that Claudius would have based this letter upon the Arcadian variant of psi or 1 This letter should not be confused with the open O letter Ɔ Ⅎ a turned F or digamma digamma inversum to be used instead of the letter V when denoting the consonantal phoneme w b 2 Thus it resembles the use of the letter V in modern Latin texts where the vocalic use of the letter V is represented by its variant U which has been recognized as a different letter only later Ⱶ a half H The value of this letter is unclear but perhaps it represented the so called sonus medius a short vowel sound likely ɨ or ʉ used before labial consonants in Latin words such as optumus optimus The letter was later used as a variant of y in inscriptions for short Greek upsilon as in Olympicus It may have disappeared because the sonus medius itself disappeared from spoken language 1 Claudian letters with the ↃϹ variant of antisigma supported by manuscripts of Priscian 1 Claudian letters with the Ↄ variant of antisigma Claudian pomerium marker where written words ampliavit and terminavit use turned digamma highlighted in red Usage EditThese letters were used to a small extent on public inscriptions dating from Claudius reign but their use was abandoned after his death 3 Their forms were probably chosen to ease the transition as they could be made from templates for existing letters He may have been inspired by his ancestor Appius Claudius the Censor who made earlier changes to the Latin alphabet 4 Claudius did indeed introduce his letters during his own term as censor 47 48 using arguments preserved in the historian Tacitus account of his reign although the original proclamation is no longer extant Suetonius said of Claudius letters Besides this he Claudius invented three new letters and added them to the alphabet maintaining that they were greatly needed he published a book on their theory when he was still in private life and when he became emperor had no difficulty in bringing about their general use These characters may still be seen in numerous books in the state registers and in inscriptions on public buildings 5 Support for the letters was added in version 5 0 0 of Unicode 6 Although these letters as all Latin letters in antiquity originally occurred only in capital form lowercase forms have been introduced to meet Unicode casing requirements 6 The minuscule form for the turned F was designed as a turned small capital F and should not be confused with the IPA symbol ɟ representing a voiced palatal stop The letters are encoded as follows Description Letter Unicode HTML ScriptTURNED CAPITAL FTURNED SMALL F Ⅎⅎ U 2132U 214E amp 8498 amp 8526 LatinROMAN NUMERAL REVERSED ONE HUNDREDLATIN SMALL LETTER REVERSED C Ↄↄ U 2183U 2184 amp 8579 amp 8580 LatinLATIN CAPITAL LETTER HALF HLATIN SMALL LETTER HALF H Ⱶⱶ U 2C75U 2C76 amp 11381 amp 11382 LatinSee also EditChinese characters of Empress Wu Reversed half H Ꟶ letter of the Latin alphabetReferences Edit a b c Oliver Revilo P 1949 The Claudian Letter Ⱶ American Journal of Archaeology 53 3 249 257 doi 10 2307 500662 JSTOR 500662 S2CID 193082268 a b Bucheler Franz De Ti Claudio Caesare Grammatico at Google Books Latin Elberfeld Germany 1856 Tacitus Annals 11 10 14 Ryan F X 1993 Some Observations on the Censorship of Claudius and Vitellius A D 47 48 American Journal of Philology 114 4 611 618 doi 10 2307 295428 JSTOR 295428 Suetonius pass Loeb Classical Library edition 1913 1914 English translation is by J C Rolfe Page 77 paragraph 41 From LacusCurtius a b Michael Everson 2005 08 12 Proposal to add Claudian Latin letters to the UCS PDF Unicode Technical Committee Document L2 05 193R2 ISO IEC JTC1 SC2 WG2 Document N2960R2 Retrieved 2021 12 27 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Claudian letters amp oldid 1133564594, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
