Transcription Conventions

The Whitney Research Group website uses the following transcription conventions:

Transcription Conventions

• Non-standard spellings are left as they are in the document.
• Abbreviations are expanded, except where the abbreviation is common knowledge, such as Mr. for Mister.
• When abbreviations are expanded, the missing letters are placed in ( ) parentheses.
• Crossed out words are designated like this.
• [ ] is used to designate any conjectural reconstructions of the text supplied by the transcriber
• & is retained as is, even in various versions

Example - Tironian 'et':

• Where letters or words have not yet been transcribed, they are replaced by approximately the same number of underscores as there are letters missing.

Common Abbreviations

• The letter "p" with a horizontal line through the descender is an abbreviation for "per-", "par-", "pre-", or "pro-"

Example - ""p(ro)secute":

• A long sweeping "e" at the end of a word is an abbreviation for "-es" or "-ies"

Example - "forty pownd(es)":

• A horizontal line over a word designates missing letters.
• A downward and backwards stroke through a long s stands for "ir", "er", or "ur", and this abbreviation alone means "Sir"

Example - "S(ir) David p(ar)son":

• Other abbreviations can be found in the book "Latin Palaeography - Antiquity & the Middle Ages"
• See also
  • Transcription Resources
  • Paleography: Scribal Abbreviations
  • Contractions and Suspensions
  • English Handwriting 1500-1700, An Online Course, Transcription Conventions
  • Court-hand Restored: Or, The Student's Assistant in Reading Old Deeds, Charters, Records, etc.
  • "English Handwriting 1400-1650" (great book with lots of example manuscripts with transcriptions)
  • "Latin Palaeography, Antiquity & the Middle Ages" (one chapter has an in-depth description of the abbreviations used in Latin, many of which were carried down and used in the English manuscripts)
  • "Revised Medieval Latin Word-List from British and Irish Sources with Supplement"
  • "A Handbook of Dates for Students of British History"
  • "The Comprehensive Genealogical Feast Day Calendar"
  • "Introduction to Manuscript Studies"
  • "The Court of Common Pleas in Fifteenth Century England, A Study of Legal Administration and Procedure"